Burpee Madness

It's not the same as burpee hell.

Burpee hell is basically a billion burpees mixed in with 20 yard sprints, a lot of times in a ladder formation. It's brutal and I feel like dying throughout the entire workout, but at the end I'm totally winning at life!

Last night though was something else. Curtis called it a "shitload of burpees." I call it Burpee Madness. We did 21 rounds of burpees, 60 seconds of work/30 seconds of rest. If a regular burpee didn't already beat your a$$, try adding in some crazy flair Curtis came up with. I actually liked most of them. I had to pee the entire workout but had to see and do the next variation. I couldn't miss a whole round! What's that saying again? "Suck it up, buttercup!"

Since I'm using the tire for mine, the variations he introduced really helped me get more bang for my buck. A few examples were diagonal, T-up, single-arm/leg, frog jump, around-the-world, and my favorite slalom kick burpees. I woke up this morning feeling like I got run over by a truck.

I think I hurt my ankle doing the single-leg burpee. Just a little, not enough to fuss about it and it's probably because I didn't stretch. I don't even care though because I was doing single-leg burpees!!

BOO-YAH!

Weight Vest

When Curtis first brought the weighted vests to boot camp I really {sorta} wanted to try one out. I kind of thought "I've already got so much weight to lose, why the hell would I want to add 10 more pounds?" On the other hand, the whole point was to add weight so you had to work a little harder. Well it didn't matter if I wanted to wear one anyway because the sizes he had wouldn't fit.

Months pass, I see the vest being worn by everyone small enough to fit and the desire to wear one increases more and more each time.

Then BEHOLD! Curtis got new vests! I don't know how I missed it, maybe I'd just come to the conclusion that the weight vest would never fit me so I just stopped even thinking about them. He'd had them for probably a few weeks before I even noticed. (Now that I think about it, he probably brought them in during the time Joel broke his hand and I missed quite a few days of boot camp.) He got a few larger sizes, XL... that totally had to fit me.

I tried to get it on before boot camp one day last week and I couldn't get it zipped. Pretty sure "the girls" are too damn big, but that's the story of my life. I don't even think it'll zip if we make it a team effort. So that's become a new goal of mine.

Wear that stupid vest!

{STONED}

About a week ago I was awakened by some major discomfort in my back and upper/center stomach. Right under my sternum, around my rib cage and all the way around. First I thought "ah man, not this again." See, it's happened to me before, for YEARS actually. I've probably had 20-25 of these episodes in the passed 5 years or so. They're not small, they're very painful and keep me up all night. This attack was a little different though then the ones before. In the past they were mainly annoying. Still painful but I could tolerate it until it subsided. This one was so painful that I was just about ready to go the ER because I thought I was about to die from internal combustion... okay a little dramatic... but that's just where my mind takes me! So what does someone do in the middle of the night with a sleeping family and not quite ready to go to the hospital? Of course turn to Dr. Internet. I looked up all my symptoms on The Google and I was surprised that my exact symptoms actually had a reasonable explanation tied to it! The answer, I was having a gall bladder attack! (I'm not excited about it, just that I figured it out). So then I ask all my friends if they know anything about this, had any experience with gall bladder issues, etc etc just trying to get as much information as I can. Of course I scheduled an appointment with a REAL doctor. When I told her my symptoms she agreed they sounded gall bladder related and then I had an abdominal ultrasound. That confirmed it. A gall stone(s).

Now I needed to research. Why/how/when did I this happen? How do I make it go away? IS THIS ALL MY FAULT? Well the answer to the last one is pretty much YES.

Turns out eating greasy, fat, processed foods can do a whole number on your gall bladder. It has trouble properly breaking down the hydrogenated and processed oils/fat in the crappy food I ate and formed gallstones. Lovely huh? These pains I got frequently, I blamed on other things. Like the back pain-- I have a large chest, so that explains that. Stomach pain? Well for one I ate crappy food and knew it, and had indigestion...Everything was so easy to blame on something else and I just never realized that these specific symptoms were related and there was a reason.

You might be confused as to why I was having this attack in the first place since I don't eat fast food or any junk really anymore. So how did this happen? Well, you're right, I don't eat that crap any more...BUT. A few weeks ago we had some friends over for game night, ordered pizza. Then it was mine and Joel's 5 year anniversary (awwww <3) and we went out to this great Mexican food restaurant. The next day (this was a Saturday) was RSBC's camper appreciation pizza party. The next day was a dear friend's wedding. So the events of 2 weeks had all taken it's toll on me. Monday night was when it happened.

Just like that.

Not only have my poor choices with food throughout my life made me gain lots of weight, they've also effected my organs in a way that produces physical pain. It's so easy to eat a piece of pizza and not realize the negative effects because usually you don't feel yourself gaining weight. But now, for me, eating a piece of pizza means disrupting my gall bladder and sending me into an attack.

So that's it. No more for me. Except on very rare special occasions, I just can't afford the pain and damage it's doing to my body.

If you're still reading, I'm sorry if this was all TMI!

Since figuring this all out, I've made some changes in my food plan. We've upped the vegetable intake even more, cutout most red meat, and even are trying to limit the amount of chicken we eat too. We're doing this "vegetarian during the week, lean meat only on the weekends" thing. Only because it's easy to remember. So far I feel great. My doctor wants to just cut me up and take out my gall bladder but Joel found a natural non-invasive gall bladder flush that I'm going to try. It wont hurt and most of the reviews have said it worked. So we shall see.

Oh and did you know that some research has said that gall bladder dysfunction can slow down and hinder weight loss? Since I've  been changing things around, the weight has started dropping off again. I'm "smaller" than I was before my wedding :)

I'll be doing the gall bladder flush next week. You probably won't want to know how that goes, but I'll tell you... {if you ask}

It's Friday?

Sometimes being a WAHM (work at home mom) has it's disadvantages. I don't "go to work" as in leave the house every morning, do my 9-5, then return home.. No weekends off. No vacations. So sometimes it's hard keeping track of what the actual day is. It's Friday? Well hurray for the weekend, even though weekends don't really mean anything. Anyway.

Friday does mean that there is no boot camp for a few days. Well there IS boot camp tomorrow, HOT boot camp actually that I can't go to. Joel has to work at 4 (YES FOUR) am so he's going to miss it too. Maybe we'll go hiking when he gets home!

I don't remember if I posted about my blood work results... Everything came back normal, somethings are amazing actually.  My heart is in pristine condition, blood pressure is great, blood sugar is great. I had to really pin point why I wasn't losing weight as fast as I thought I should. I came to the conclusion that I just needed more cardio. A lot more of it. The kind of cardio that has me gasping for air, my side cramping, legs shaking. I know that now because after the brutal Gladiator race, which ended up being OVER 7k when we all thought it was 5k, I lost 4lbs almost immediately.  So I basically need to almost DIE to get the results I want. After my victory of completing the race and losing 4lbs, I got very sick. I had a cold before the race but then it got worse and hung out for about 3 weeks. I'm just about better.

I worked out all last week so for the most part, I'm healed. I still have a stupid clogged ear (my fault, squirted the shower hose at the race directly into my ear--twice) but that's mostly just annoying at this point. Now that I'm healed, I plan to go hiking every weekend. See, at the Gladiator race, we ran up a mountain trail. Switchbacks, up & down, slippery rocks... you get the picture. I was very surprised I survived and to be honest if I knew about that mountain I wouldn't have signed up. That mountain was the most challenging part of the race. It was long... brutal... seemed never ended. The hardest obstacle though was this wall.

It was an angry wall. I remember being at the bottom watching this tiny little thing struggling to get up and over. I knew she would eventually because Curtis was at the top barking at her that she "will not give up, GET.YOUR.BUTT.UP.HERE!!" She tried 3 times before finally making it, if that skinny girl could barely get over, there was NO WAY on earth I could haul my big booty over. Hayley made me go first, so I did. I was awesome doing it by myself for the first 2 steps, but once I had to actually go UP the wall I thought it was over. Then I felt a push from underneath me and it was Hayley. I reached up for Curtis' hand and started to move. I took one step then realized I was scared to death of falling and BEGGED, I mean BEGGED for Curtis to just let me go. I pleaded, tears in my eyes and voice to please just let me go, I can't do it. You think he listened? Um NO. Giving up is not part of the Rock Star code.. I don't even know why I wasted my breath, I knew he wouldn't let go. He shouted for help, two other people grabbed my arms and "hey you big guy" came over to help from below. I had a freakin' TEAM of people getting me over that wall! When I got up to the top the crowd below cheered. And then I cried. Joel even told me that he got choked up when I made it to the top... don't tell him I said that :)

Don't mind the funky picture quality, the settings got bumped and I had to recover this photo as much as possible. This is what I was left with, but it's proof I was on the wall. Curtis used this time for a photo op from the top view lol!

Anyway, where I was going with this was I need crazy mountain climbing cardio. I can't do it every day because for one I don't have time and I do boot camp 4-5 times a week. So the weekends it is. Now that I'm better I'm going back to North Mountain. If you remember the time I went hiking with Carmen a while back? It sucked, I hated it, I didn't even make it to the top. I waited for her while she went all the way and when she was done we went back down together. Well I'm going back to do the whole mountain. All the way to the top. Of course it's going to be hard but I already went up Estrella Mountain! I can certainly do North Mtn.

Since I've re-evaluated what's been going on, tweaking my food even more, I've been losing weight at about 2lbs a week. I guess that's okay. I read that 1-2lbs a week usually results in healthy fat loss and muscle gain and keeping the weight off instead of gaining it all back right away. So as long as I'm losing AT LEAST that much, I think I'm on the right track.

Tonight for dinner I'm making chicken patties with mixed veggies (mostly broccoli). It's my favorite go to meal right now and couldn't get any easier.

Contractions

Don't worry, I'm not having another baby.

Tonight at boot camp was one of the hardest workouts I've done to date. Seriously, I threw up in my mouth- twice. Just a little, but it happened. I was grunting like a warthog, and quivering like I was in Rhode Island in January, in a bikini. Cold was the least of my worries though. Curtis had us doing Isometric holds again, but not just any hold... Contracting every single muscle we could possibly contract WHILE holding. It's amazing what a little butt-clenching can do to you! I was shaking at the start and throughout each round. I'm actually very surprised and pleased that not ONE time did I have to stop or drop down to my mat :) Doesn't mean I didn't want to though.

I never thought I'd experience contractions when I wasn't in child labor or having a charlie horse. And definitely not intentionally. When I was in labor with my oldest Elika, my mom would say things like "relax" and "breathe" and "calllllm"... well duh.. But it's not that easy. You THINK you're relaxing, but until you focus on an exact body part to relax you're still tensing up and not realizing it. I thought it was so annoying listening to my mom coach my sister through her labor.. She had this soothing voice, I'm sure it was amazing for my sister, but as an onlooker, I couldn't wait for the whole event to be over just so I wouldn't have to hear the "breeeeaaatthee, reelaaaaaxxxxx, shhhhhhhhhhhh." So when it came my turn, I dreaded that voice HA HA! Little did I know when she told me to "relax," the way she actually said it was totally different to me. She went down the list of every muscle I was tensing and said to release it. "Relax your face" was more like "relax your eyebrows, your cheeks, your lips" Etc. Probably sounds bogus and weird, but having that focus brought to my attention really did amazing wonders.. I'm SO glad my mom was there!

Why does any of this matter, besides the part of contractions during labor and contractions at RSBC? What my mom was doing has the exact effect for the contrary. Curtis was saying "contract every muscle". I thought I was, until he stood right in front of me and went down the list. "Are you contracting your:

butt-cheeks?
shoulders?
tri-ceps?
bi-ceps?
calves?
back?
lats?"

check-check-oh wait, missed that one... missed that one too...check..hmmm. I THOUGHT I was flexing everything I possible could. WRONG. Once I was fully activated- wow. After that I was able to make a mental check list and make sure I was really flexing every single thing I could. I was totally spent by the end of the night. Totally.

Friday (tomorrow) I have a doctors appointment with my general practitioner to see if there are any underlying issues that I'm having that might hinder my weight-loss. Sadly I haven't lost much poundage since I started this whole thing 36 weeks ago :( It's depressing. I've lost about 10-15 pounds, and that fluctuates. It's so frustrating to work so hard, harder than I ever have in my life, and not have results. Yes I'm slimmer, I'm more toned, I'm stronger. At this size though, the number on the scale really DOES matter. Anyway, I still have my goal of 50 lbs by summer. I still have time. Hopefully I can get some answers and maybe I just need to increase my activity even more.

March 17th I'm doing the Gladiator Rock N Run 5K obstacle challenge. I'm a little freaked out, but I can do it. Seeing my fellow campers complete The Spartan Race was so motivating, I had to get a piece of that action. My husband is going to join in on the fun too! Hopefully someone will be there getting pictures as evidence that I did it!

So here is the big picture update, I see a little difference from the last one I took at week 21. Overall-- wow. My legs look pretty nice in those tights, not gunna lie.

Excuse the phone pic-- I had Joel snap it right before I left for camp!

Delicous Coconut Milk Smoothie

So I walked in the house tonight after my nightly workout at Rock Star Boot Camp to a blender full of a post workout smoothie for me. My husband made it and it was all ready, fresh blended, sittin' pretty waiting for me to gulp it down. I admit though I was a little nervous about it at first. He doesn't usually come up with recipes on his own very well and I'm pretty picky about my smoothies because if the protein:fruit:yogurt ratio isn't exactly right... I won't drink it. He wouldn't tell me what was in it and said, "Please, just TRY IT!" So I did. I was VERY impressed. Then he showed me the recipe. He got it from the Silk Pure Coconut Milk Website and he HAD to try it. Our daughter drinks coconut milk, no dairy, so we had lots already in the house. The other night at the store we were buying organic frozen fruit for smoothies and strawberry and mango were the only ones on sale, so that's what we got. This further convinced him that MUST make it for me. Afterall, the strawberries and mango being on sale was a sign.

So on to the recipe: (c&p'd from the website linked above)

Mangoberry Smoothie
1 cup Silk Pure Coconut Original coconutmilk
½ cup fresh or frozen mango pieces
½ cup fresh or frozen strawberries
½ tsp freshly grated ginger (he didn't add this, but I would've done without it anyway)
1 tablespoon honey or agave

½ cup ice

Blend until smooth. Sip with a bendy straw ;)

He added a scoop of my whey protein to make it suitable for my post workout concoction. He was smart not to tell me what was in it before I drank it though... I have NEVER liked coconut milk. EVER. So he tricked me, but I ended up loving it. WIN/WIN. Let me tell you.. He totally gained some brownie points by making this. I loved it.

The nutrition info for the recipe above is:

Calories 125; Fat 3g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 18mg; Carbohydrates 26g; Fiber 2g; Sugars 21g; Protein 1g; Vitamin A 12% DV; Vitamin C 70% DV; Calcium 24% DV; Iron 6% DV


My protein powder added 28g. I think next time I'll add in a little yogurt for some extra protein.

Other news: My good friend Lindsay started coming to boot camp with me, YAY!! I've been talking about it for months and I'm so glad that she finally joined me. She also brought along Isabelle.. can't wait to spend more time with these ladies. I love working out with friends!

I've basically moved up to 15lb weights. I've noticed the last few times I've kept 12lb bells at my mat "just in case" I haven't even touched them. That's pretty exciting. My arms are killing me after tonight though so I know adding the weight is pushing me even more. Next up is the 20lb Beast Status weights.

Oh... I still need new pants.

New Pants

I haven't bought any new clothes since I first started working out... well not counting my FIRST pair of workout pants, and new Rock Star shirt.. those don't count. But since I've been losing inches, I haven't gone down to a smaller size. I think I want to wait until I literally can NOT wear my clothes anymore before I buy something. Probably because I don't want to have to keep replacing my too big clothes.

My stretchy fat pants have already been sitting on a chair in my room for too months. Even with the elastic tightened, they're too baggy (WHOOP WHOOP). For the past few workouts my current workout pants have been falling down a little and I have to keep tightening the strings. Over and over and over throughout camp. It's pretty annoying. Last night I was a little puzzled... while working out they kept falling down and I had to pull them up several times. But while just standing thing, they were tight... I had fat rolls hanging over the side. They were as tight as I could make them without cutting off circulation. Why were they still falling down though?

Well turns out, I no longer have this fat shelf/donut/spare tire, whatever you want to call it around my belly that I guess would hold up my pants. HURRAY! The other day I was passing by a mirror and happened to glance over at myself and did a double take, took a step back and was a little amazed. My stomach looked flatter, not puffy anymore from my workout hiatus. Another YAY!!

Pretty soon I'm going to update my picture. Not yet, I just don't feel confident enough that I've made much of a difference from last time. I want to make sure there is a difference for me to see, so I don't get discouraged.

Other news...

A co-camper Tony constructed this monstrosity of a wall for the obstacle racers to practice getting over.

From the Rock Star Facebook page.

 It's intimidating. Frightening...I don't think I'll be even attempting to try this for quite some time. I'll watch the others and remind myself "someday". It is pretty cool though, Curtis needs to spray paint a big logo on it :)

The Spartan Race is coming up in February, so the wall will be great practice for those participating. I'll be there to support and snaps some pictures but it's not for me... this year. Next year, definitely.

.......... I had more to write, but I'll save it for another post because as I finish up this last sentence, my two year old is emptying the silverware drawer... SMH. This is my life.

Fluffy McFlufferson

Man am I ready to REALLY get back to working out at camp. I'm totally recommitting myself to daily exercises and attending camp as many times as I can during the week. Not to make excuses, but as with everyone, the last few weeks were pretty hectic with the holidays in all. First my family was sick, then I wasn't sick but couldn't make it to camp because of work conflictions, then there was the break... and here we are now.

Honestly I've eaten pretty well over the break, I don't think I had more than 1 or 2 baked goods and those were very healthy versions of a cupcake. I didn't have any Christmas cookies, no angel food cake... no ice cream.. no fudge.. I did have ham though. Spiral sliced, brown sugar glazed, delicious ham. I haven't had that in like, two years or something and man was it good.

One thing that I've really noticed when I started working out a while back was I "toned up".. I quote that because how much can FAT actually tone? Anyway, I did slim down quite a bit, felt tighter and more firm, I guess less jiggly. Even though I still had plenty of fat above my muscles, I stil didn't feel as fluffy. Now that I've had time to slack off, I have never felt...fluffier. I probably have in the past but I've never been this AWARE. It's gross.

I seriously can not WAIT to tighten up again. Curtis posted this one the Rock Star Facebook page today:

"Serious about obtaining your fitness goals? You must set EVERY workout and activity session as an appointment with yourself that you must keep – just like a doctor’s visit. Let nothing, except real emergencies, come between you and your workouts."

It's exactly what I needed, like usual, to jump start me back into motion again. I literally just put in my smartphone daily appointments to go to camp, and on the off days to "Bust A Move" (yes that's what I named the event in my calendar). An alarm will go off once in the morning to remind me to plan ahead, and then again an hour before I need to get it together. No excuses. I've going to the beach in May, I have goals to reach!

I'm looking forward to seeing my camp friends again daily. Hey if you see me not pushing the hardest at camp make sure to bark some orders my way... preferably before Curtis notices. He has a way of sensing the mere millisecond I start to slow down, so it might be best if the encouragement is on a constant flow ;) I'll return the favor. 

Cheers to a new year and a smaller booty!