More goals and stuff

So blogger decided to erase my first post so this one might not be as eloquent.

 Firstly, did everyone have a nice Christmas? I did the hubs spoiled me and got me the running and gym gear I wanted.

 I got these new Zumba shoes. Aren't they awesome?

Isn't that pajama'ed leg awesome?

I can't wait  for Zumba tomorrow. These shoes are so very comfortable.

Second he got me the Nike+ SportBand. I can't wait to try this thing out. I don't know how soon I'll be using it since its been sort of miserable lately, but I am excited about it nonetheless. I was hoping to be able to use it at the gym since some of the machines are Nike+ compatible, but according to Nike's website, they are not compatible. Sigh.

Anyways, back to the goals and stuff. When I set up the SportBand, I had to sign up for a Nike+ account and of course that led to some exploring and playing. I decided to start the coaching program for the 10k training. I'm excited about this because when I run the 8k in March I'll be ready, because the training will end two weeks after the race, but given the distance variance between the training and the race, I think I'll do ok.

My goal for next week is to  log 3 runs. Two 3-milers and one 5-miler. The latter should be interesting as I've never run that far before, but I'm hoping that my time doesn't suffer too much because of the added distance.

Anyways, that's all I wanted to ramble on about tonight. I hope you guys have a great evening.

New Goals...

So now that I'm sick and I have time to contemplate what I want to accomplish I have devised a new list of goals.

Firstly - I want to get better.
Second - I'd like to be able to finish 5 miles. I don't care how long it takes me, but I want to do it.
Third - To consistently lose weight throughout the month of December.
Fourth - Win one of the raffle prizes in the contest I'm participating at the gym. I know this is not up to me, but it would be nice!
Fifth - Get down to 260 pounds. Only 9 more to go!

I think 5 goals is enough. Don't you?

Do you have any goals this holiday season?

Crash and Burn

So I was feeling pretty awesome after the 5k on Saturday, then Sunday showed up and I ached. A lot. My calves and hips were aching pretty bad. Ibuprofen helped, so I went to aqua fitness on Monday. That didn't help. My calves hurt more after doing several laps of 'twinkle toes'. Oh well.

The Tuesday showed up and my plans changed so I didn't go to the gym, but Tuesday night I was feeling pretty pathetic. I was freezing. Piles of blankets did not help, a warm bath did, but I was also starting to cough. Crap.

Wednesday I felt better, so off to Zumba I went. I had a good  workout and I felt really good, aside from sweating my butt off, but I figure I can sweat whatever I'm fighting out of me. Cue - Wednesday night. The sweating did not ease up - even getting dinner served was a nightmare. I was hot, then cold. I'm coughing and it hurts a lot. I feel like there is a an 80 pound weight pushing down on my sternum. My throat hurts but not up high near the back of my mouth, no it hurts down low, near my collar bone. Eff.

Enter Thursday morning- this morning. I feel awful. Someone must've packed sandbags around me last night because everything aches. I feel like I've been beaten, but there are no bruises. I have no voice. Makes fussing after the kids fun. Any physical activity sends me into a hacking fit where I may or may not spit something up. This in turn leads to a fiery burning sensation in my chest and throat. Awesome.

I'm leaving for the doctor soon. Hopefully they can tell  me something, because I feel like hell and the stupid thermometer is telling me that my temp is 97.8. Its lying. I know it is. Stupid electronic piece of crap.

I hate being sick, and I hate that I'm missing the gym. Hopefully I can make it to zumba on Saturday. I hope.

Hot Chocolate 5k

Today was my very first event ever, and I wish I had picked a different one.

I was not impressed, and I'm actually more than a little disappointed with my time - well the time they clocked. 

The first 1/2 mile of the race was spent walking, because of congestion on the course. Irritating to say the least. 

So I finished the 5k in an unofficial time of 47:37

That's crap. I feel like I did so much better after I started running. Grumble. 

Oh well - the gym is running a new incentive and my sisters and I are thinking about running the St. Patty's Day 8k in March. Time to move on! 

Getting Ready

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I sure did. It was a nice relaxing dinner with a couple of our friends. :)

Today was a good day. I'm getting ready for the Hot Chocolate 5k on Saturday, so today I {finally} remembered my brace and it made a big difference!

I finished the 5k in 41:53. So proud of myself! It was such a good run. I think I went the perfect pace and didn't really push myself until the end.

I did get a cramp and had to slow down once, but still not to shabby. :)

I do need to start looking for some socks for this weekend. I don't know how cold its going to be, but there is a cold front coming in. Hopefully it doesn't get too chilly.

Hells Yea Bitches!!!!

I did it! I finally got  my 5k time to under 45 minutes!!!

Can you tell that I'm pleased with myself. :)

I set this goal for myself a while ago, and it has been my unicorn.

I just couldn't catch it. But not today. I caught the damn thing and braided its hair!

I feel really good too. I'm so happy that I was able to maintain the same pace throughout the entire run. Even when I wanted to slow down - I was able to alternate between jogging and power walking.

I should have remembered my brace, because my left knee is still giving me problems. That is getting annoying. I think I probably bruised the patella pretty well, because stairs and the like are killer when I've worked that leg to hard. Oh well. it will heal. I'm going to the gym on Friday and then I'm going shopping with my Mom.

I'm  also going tomorrow. Because its Zumba!

I have to get ready for the 5k on the 3rd :)

Maintaining Pace

I meant to write this post on Tuesday, but forgot.

I could have also called it sweatfest, but that's kind of gross. :)

It is what happened though.

Tuesday I ran another 5k, but I paced myself. I did this for two reasons. The first being that I did not want to continue on the jog/walk routine that I seem to be falling into. I'd like to be able to do a 5k while maintaining one pace, no matter how fast, but of course I had to push it a little. No work no gain, right?

The second reason is because a week ago, I hurt my left knee while  getting out of my bathtub. I have one of those big soaking tubs and the deck around the tub is kind of a pain to step over to get in and out of the tub. Well I was drowsy after taking my bath, and I wasn't paying attention as I got out and I came down wrong on my left knee.

So all weekend I rested my knee, but every once and again I would tweak it again, and the pain would come back full bore. Sunday I went to  the gym and played around in the pool. I did laps which was fine, as long as I didn't try to rotate my knee.

Tuesday - I did my weights and the 5k. It took its toll. The knee was acting up again, and the right knee was starting too. I'm glad I maintained at least a 3.8 mph pace, but the times I tried to speed it up to 4.2 or 4.5 were probably not a good idea, but at least I tried.

I ended up finishing 3.33 miles in 52:01 minutes, which includes a 5 minute cool down. It was a slower pace, but with my knee the way it was, I'm glad I slowed it down.

Wednesday was Zumba, and I felt like a beginner. I had a brace, and I should have worn it. My knee was feeling a lot better, so I left it off but the first time I came down on that left knee with any rotation or force the pain is was back. I know I flinched a lot during that class, because even though I tried modifying some of the moves it didn't always help. I know I held myself back because of the pain, and I'm really frustrated by it.

I haven't been back to the gym, but I'm hoping to get in a run on Sunday. Depending on the weather, I'm hoping to be outside, but I may not be. I need to pick up some outdoor gear for these temps.

Target is in my future. :) I'm hoping that the 3 day rest is going to help, but even walking around Walmart tonight was painful if I rotated my knees. And this time it was both damn knees.

I am really hating my knees right now, but hey - this is what I get for having dislocated them so many times, and carrying around so much weight on them. I'm trying to take the weight off, but its a process and I know that, and a knee injury now will just slow me down more. That would be frustrating, with a capital F.

So that's where I am. I'm hoping that rest will help them, but if not I'm going to take it slow on Sunday and put the brace on whichever knee is hurting me more that day.

Night guys!

21 pounds!!!!

Such a happy day!

I woke up this morning and hopped on the scale and the old girl read 275.5!

That's exactly 21 pounds lighter than when I started my journey in July/August!

Hell Yea!!!

*happy dance*

Had another aquatic fitness class today, and while I was late and did not get my full hour I still rocked the other 45 minutes.

Tomorrow is another day, and I'm hoping to get another run in.

Wish me luck!

Heather

Back on the Saddle

So now that the ill has left the house, it took me some doing to get back into the swing of things at the gym.

Why?

Because the new gym opened. You know the one that was supposed to open Oct. 1, but construction delayed it by a month.

Well it's open now, and it gorgeous. A little overwhelming but gorgeous nonetheless. Its also more crowded. I don't particularly like crowds.

I don't mind crowds if I know the people I'm with, but I'm not a fan of strangers. I get a little self-conscious. Especially at the gym.

So when I went back last week, it was wonderful and kind of dreadful at the same time.

That first day I did squat. I did do stuff, but it was like going around buffet and sampling some of everything.

Then I went to my first aquatic class. LOVE! I can't wait for tomorrow's class. I hurt {a lot} after it. Mostly my toes (I need aqua shoes), my ankle (I came down on it wrong during one of the exercises) and my obliques. Those jumps and twists are really felt afterward, but I'm such a water baby that I'm not giving up on this class.

So today I went back to get a run in. I would have liked to run outside but that wasn't in the cards. I couldn't find my jacket. Then I had no babysitter, so off to the treadmills I went.

The gym was wonderfully uninhabited today . There were people there, but it wasn't the crush that it had been during the week. So I dumped the kids off at the kids club and went off to find my bliss on the treadmill.

I punched in a 5k run and took off. Then I started getting some discomfort in my knee and my hips, so I slowed it down and walked it off. Then sped back up. After a bit, I had another cramp. Damn, I knew I should have eaten a better breakfast. So I backed it back down again, and walked that off. Much to my chagrin the cramp did not leave me and I couldn't figure out why. I also couldn't figure out why I was so out of breath while going 3.5 mph.

A look to my screen solved that. There was a 1.5% incline. WTH? Apparently I had chosen a nature path for my 5k that included hills and the like; which is fine, but I wish I'd known. I don't run hills, I take them easy because I have bad knees. Like, seriously, bad knees. They like to dislocate. I am not trying to injure myself here, so yes, I baby my knees. So I walked. As the incline reduced, I sped back up to 4.5 mph, but the damage was done. I decided to call it a day, rather than push myself.

In the end I ran 2.04 miles in 31:27. Not my fastest, not my farthest, but I'm not displeased with myself. Its been a while since I've run because of the things going on the house the last few weeks. I am disappointed that I didn't finish, but cest la vie. I'll get there.

In the mean time, I'm going to grab a shower, do some laundry, sew up some pillows and impatiently wait for tomorrow's aqua fitness class. :)

Some Comparisons

Not much to report, but I am starting to think about making myself some new clothes and with that I got the thinking that I should probably take some new measurements on myself.

So that's what I did and luckily I had my measurements from the beginning of September handy so I'm going to share them. :)

	September 8, 2011	October 29, 2011
Bust	49.5"	48"
Waist	40.5"	40"
Hips	54.5"	53.5"
Upper Arm	16.5"	15.5"

While those measurements do not denote a huge changed, I am pretty happy that most of them have gone down an inch or so. What this also means in the terms of my pattern sizes is that my waist is a 24 (retail - 18) and my hips and bust are a 26 and 24, respectively (retail - 20).

My sizes are all over the place, but they are shrinking which makes me happy :) time to go get some fabric prepped for sewing!

14:49 Baby!!!!

I did it! I got it done! And I am excited!

Can you tell?

I finished the 5k on the treadmill today in 45:51 and averaged a 14:49 mile and I am so happy about it.

I also have news on the calf problems. There not here right now. I got to try out some new insoles today and they're magic. I, apparently, have very low arches and all of my pressure points are in my heel and the very outside of my foot. The new insoles are amazing. I couldn't believe that I was able to run today completely without pain. It was so very nice.

In other news, I am desperately trying to stay healthy because all of the men in my house are sick. Well were sick. The boys were diagnosed with pneumonia and they have been a bear about it. Not that I'm blaming them, but thank goodness I was able to get out and run because that helped keep my head clear and sane.

Tomorrow is  Alpine Pass, oh and I'm down another 2 pounds. 278! I'm sitting at 18 pounds lost so far. Thursday is also 90 days at the gym. Sheesh - its such an eventful week, and I can't wait to see what else it brings!

Popped my cherry

Well I did it. I finally ran outside with the fresh air, the sun shining and the squirrels scurrying around. It was wonderful and difficult at the same time. The route I took is near my house and is not flat. There are flat sections but that's it. Even considering the inclines and such I still avereged a 15:24 pace for the length of the run, which I think is pretty impressive considering that my knee and calf were giving me some problems.

I really need to figure that out. I may try to stop by The Running Store today to figure out my gait and possible solutions.  We'll see how the day pans out. Both the hubs and my big guy have flu-like symptoms but so far me and small fry are doing ok. *knocks on all the wood she can find*

In other news, I'm down to 278!!!!! That's 18 pounds baby! Yes, I'm slightly ecstatic about this because I'm also starting to see it. I mean really see it. The belt is getting pulled tighter and the butts of my jeans are really getting baggy. Not to mention that my arms are firming up. I'm so very pleased with myself.

I'd still like to hit the gym to get in my weight work but that might wait until tomorrow.

Toodles y'all!

In a funk

So I didn't really want to go to the gym today. It wasn't a good day and I just wasn't feeling it.

I dragged myself there any way. I worked my back, which felt good, but then I hopped on the treadmill.

I dialed in the stuff for a 5k and then only completed 1.25 of it. Like I said - I wasn't feeling it.  I was keeping a 15 min/mile which I'm pleased with, but my right calf was giving me problems again, which is getting annoying.

It was giving me problems yesterday, so much so that during my run it cramped up so bad that I had to slow down to 3 mph for a while just to work it out. That slowed my mile down to 17:08 overall. Grrrr. I only managed 1.89 miles yesterday.

I think I need better insoles, but they'll have to wait, because I need to see if the plumbing issue in my master bath is going to cost me. If its under warranty (yay new homes) then I'm going shopping, but otherwise...well it'll involve cursing, drywall, water and more cursing.

Tomorrow is BodyFlow which I'm looking forward to for the stretching power. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. I should. The hubs will be back home. That should right my off-kilter world. :)

I did it!!!

So Tuesday was the first time I've ever run a 5k and I didn't do to badly. At least I don't think I did.

So today I went back to the gym to make up for yesterday's free day, and after working my chest, arms and abs - I ran another 5k.

I averaged a 15 minute mile this time!!!! Average speed was 4 miles, and I ended up running 1.85 miles of it. I'm so pleased with myself! I ended up finishing the 5k in about 46 minutes 50 seconds.

I can't believe how much better I did today. I'm so freaking pleased with myself. I did not get too tired, except for the last little stretch, but I think  that's to be expected considering this is round 2.

I'm so excited  to register for the Hot Chocolate 5k now. :)

Today was a good day

So yesterday after my run, I hurt. I hurt a lot. A. LOT.

Its been forever since I ran that far. I used to run track in high school. You know like 12-14 years ago, but seeing as how I haven't run track since I could drive....that makes it 15 years. ouch.

So today I knew I was going to take it easy. I worked my back, and that felt really good. I'm still working on my left arm, and getting it to the point where it and the right arm can lift the same weight, but otherwise the weight stuff was really good, and I felt good after doing it.

Then I hopped on a treadmill. I was not going to do the 5k loop again, so I ponied up and just started to briskly walk, but then I had a better idea. I'm going to put on the alpine pass routine.

I like the alpine pass routine because of the inclines. It makes me work harder, but since I'm setting the max incline and what not its not like I'm programming it for me to fail.

So I punched in a max incline of 4.5 and a max speed of 4.2, and off I went. I had 30 minutes to kill and boy did I. :)

I ended up finishing my 32 minute trek (2 minute cool down) with an average mile of 16:40, same as yesterday, and an average speed of 3.6. I'm pretty happy with those stats. I ended up running 1.9 miles in 32 minutes, which also makes me feel pretty good.

I feel like I should get extra brownie points for the incline though. Most of the 4.5 incline was at a 3.6 speed, which is a brisk walk for me, but the flat areas, which still had a .5 incline were at 4.2. I did have to slow down every now and again, because I did get another cramp, but it was not as bad as yesterday's so I'm going to put a point down for progress there. :)

Overall - I'm pretty happy with my performance today, but I am looking forward to tomorrow when its BodyFlow, because the stretching will be just what the doctor ordered.

See you guys later!

I did it!!

I ran the 5k today!

I'm feeling it now though. Ugh. I could take a nap and a half.

I ran the whole thing in 51:45 and averaged a 16:40 mile. I'm pretty happy with  myself overall. I need to speed up that mile if I want to qualify for the 5k in December, but I'm pretty confident I can do it. I jogged 1/2 of it today, which was the 2nd thing I wanted to do after just finishing it. :)

I can't wait for tomorrow. I'm not doing the 5k again tomorrow, but I will hop on the treadmill and just go at it. :)

Goals.

So I have some new goals.

Tomorrow I'm running my first 5k. On the treadmill. Just to see if I can do it, because I would really like to participate in the Hot Chocolate 5k in December. So since this is my plan, my knee has decided to act up. Of course.

I am not going to be deterred though. I will run/walk/jog the 5k tomorrow.

My other goal is to run the 5k in under 40 minutes. I think its a completely doable, but it is going to take some work and determination.

See you guys later!

Just Chugging Along

There's not much to share and there hasn't been lately. I'm still chugging along with the exercise and the getting healthy.

I'm down 16 pounds which is freaking amazing. :)

I'm so proud of myself, although I may throw a party for myself when I get below 275. Just sayin'

I turn 30 on Friday.....Not sure how I feel about that. I guess I'm ok with it. I mean I kind of have to be don't I? Oh well. I'm going to celebrate by going to the gym, wearing my new gym clothes, and then hitting up an Irish pub with the family and enjoying the last First Friday down in Warrenton.

I could not ask for a better birthday. Oh and the hubs gave me an ipod so I can finally stop singing to myself while I run. Thank god!

Checkin' In.

Well there's not much to report on.

We met with a personal trainer and got some good tips about planning out our workouts and what to include.

I found out that I suck at  one of the machines. I have no idea which machine it is, but its the one where you support yourself on your forearms and then lift your knees/legs up and work your lower abdomen. I suck at this exercise. I can't even support myself.

My girlfriend has to hold one of those large yoga balls for me and I bounce my knees up as high as I can go, because I'm so uncomfortable on this machine. She's my ball holder. *snicker* :)

In other news - I'm the mayor of our gym on 4square. I've been 29 times. Actually I've there more, but I've checked in that many times. :) yay!

Ok so I'm done rambling. Its time to head out to the bus stop to get my big guy!

Zumba!!!!

Well today was Zumba day!

Its been a few weeks since I've been to Zumba and oh how I've missed it.

Our class was taught by Dana today, and I gotta tell you I love it when she subs.

For some reason I've been having really bad cramps the past couple of days, and no matter how much I seem to  hydrate the cramps don't seem to be lessening. I am going to try hydrating more at home. Hopefully that helps, because its annoying to get into a stride and then have to stop or slow down because of some pain.

Well, that's all that's going on now, I made it through the class with a lot of energy, except for the part with the cramp, I kept my energy up. So yay!

Ok  - I'm off to finish this cup of hot cocoa :)

Lucky Number 13!

So remember when I was lamenting not having lost much weight and I was getting frustrated? Well really it wasn't even about the weight loss, but its was just a lack of results in general?

I am not complaining any more! I am so happy with the changes I've begun to see.

I'm down 13 pounds, but more importantly my waist has decided to show back up. Not to mention some tone to my arms, and my hips! I can suck in my tummy without getting winded and I'm super excited about my trainer meeting on Friday with Dana! (yep that Dana) :)

I should take some new pictures for you guys, maybe I'll get on that this week. :)

Oh and I've upped  my weights again, so I'm excited about that, and we've started running and are doing a 5k in December. Fun times!

TTYL!!!
Heather

Guess What's Hard?

Getting back into the swing of things after a week of vacation.

But I did go back to the gym so yay me!

I'm also still weighing in 10 pounds under my original weight so that's awesome, especially since I weighed myself after getting dressed, eating breakfast, sending my baby to school for the first time and craving a Pumpkin Spice Latte. :)

Here's to tomorrow and our first class in a while. :)

30 Days Bitches!

Tomorrow is 30 days at the gym. 30 days since attending my first Zumba class and 30 days since I sat in that sales guy's office and signed over some of mine and hubby's life.

Yay me!

You wonder what we're doing to celebrate? We're going to Bertucci's! Yep lots of carbs!

Who cares, I walked a mile in 17 minutes 31 seconds on Monday, and then on Tuesday I jogged a mile in 15 minutes 21 seconds. Yay! I actually jogged! My knees didn't collapse. My calves were on fire (forgot to stretch, doh!) but I survived.

Then I survived Zumba - the calves were more achy after that class, but its progress!

No more weight loss, but I'm getting thinner and more toned, and people are noticing my new skinny-ness!

HELL YEAH!

Getting Skinny

Well 4 weeks is here, and I've lost a total of 8 pounds.

I've gained back 2 pounds, but we're going to call that muscle.

However, I am looking skinnier, and while that makes me happy, I do wish that I've lost more weight.

I have noticed though that my stamina is improving along with some of my muscle tone.

Today I power walked 2.25 miles, which felt good, because a month ago I could barely do a quarter mile. Oh how far I've come, but still so far to go.

See you guys later!

Stagnant...

Well - I have not lost any more weight, but my jeans are getting looser! That's something.

I'm also noticing that I'm slimming down through the torso! Yay!

Today my obliques hurt, so during Muscle Up I did not do a lot of the exercises that involved them, but I focused on my abs.

My abs now hurt. Oh well. No pain, no gain right? :)

Bring on the Pilates!

Stamina Baby!

So I have not lost any weight, but I have increased my effort and weight in all the classes and I'm seeing improvement!

I have stamina now! At least a little bit of it.

Today was Zumba and it was such a fun class,even if my arms and calves feel like jelly.

I tried and I tried hard today!

Tomorrow is muscle up, so we'll see how that goes. :)

Adding the weight

So last week - I lost had lost 10 pounds, but then I somehow added 2 pounds, and then managed to lose 1 of those pounds.

So all told I'm 9 pounds down, which is not bad since tomorrow marks 3 weeks of going to the gym, but I'm kind thinking/wishing/wanting to be losing the weight a little faster.

I'm taking in anywhere from 1800 to 2000 calories a day, and with the hour at the gym plus all of the rest of the stuff I usually do around the house, I burn between 2400 and 2700 calories a day.

Why is the weight not coming off?!?!

Grrrr - but 1) its been only 3 weeks and 2) towards the end of the week I stopped pushing myself as hard.

Well I can alter the latter. So today at BodyPump - I upped the weights, and I'm so glad I did.

My arms, glutes, calves and shoulders were burning by the end of class, but I know that I  pushed it a little and that I did a good thing with it. :)

So I'm going to keep the weights where they are until they feel light, and keep with my plans and goals. :)

Just have to keep focused, and as my torture, I mean work out partner says - Its a marathon, not a sprint. :)

See ya!!!

Friday and Saturday.....

Friday was a good  day.

We did Pilates again and I was pretty happy with the my performance. I was able to transition from a modified plank to downward facing dog as smoothly as I've ever been able to.

All in all - I'm quite happy with how my balance and flexibility are coming along.

Friday night, for some god forsaken reason, I talked to my girlfriend and we agreed that we felt we could do with some more cardio. So we decided to meet up at the gym for an 8:30 class of BodyStep.

It might have the been the worse class ever. For some reason I wasn't feeling it. I wasn't graceful, and I'm certain that part  of it has to do with the fact that I woke up at  7:50 and had 10 minutes to get ready and out the door. I didn't have breakfast and I didn't end up eating until 1 pm, which has ended up with me having a headache because I didn't eat.

I also didn't like the instructor's approach today. I think that if I were to do a Saturday class, I'd like it to be Zumba with Dana.

Dana is intense, but the class we had with her on Wednesday was so much fun that the pain from it has been forgotten.

Off to celebrate a friend's birthday with bbq! Yay!

See you guys later.

Oh and I'll be doing my weigh-in tomorrow morning, since my ever faithful small alarm clock was absent this AM.

Transitions

So  today was BodyFlow. It was our first class.

It was pretty nice. The class was small and the teacher was really informative, except that she's like 5'2" and as limber as a wet noodle.

Me - not so much. I'm 6'2" and the only limber thing on me are my hips and I'm attributing that to child birth.

So during our tai chi, pilates and yoga conglomeration we're supposed to transition smoothly. Ha!

I do not transition well from anything to downward dog, and transitioning from downward dog to plank is laughable.

{source}

 

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My transition to said poses was more of a jerky hitch movement. Oh well. I tried. I sweated my butt off and there is no way I'm going to be able to do the crane pose.

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I hurt just thinking about trying to do it.

I have also decided that Saturday morning is when I'll do my weigh-in's, so hopefully I'll start to see even more improvement then. :)

Oh! But I can rock this pose!

{source}

Yep - its the corpse pose! 

Zumba, Zumba, ZOOOMBA!!!!

I had such a great time at class today!

I mean - A REALLY FREAKING GOOD TIME!

We had a substitute instructor today - it was Dana.

This would be the same Dana that told me I was cheating myself last week.

I like her, sometimes - ok most of the time, but I really liked  her today in Zumba. :)

She pulled out those little wrap things with all the coins on them and handed them out to about half of the class (there were 45 in class today). We were going to jingle jangle our butts and hips into heaven today. :)

So I picked an orange one. Shocking, I know. I would never pick orange. :) Oh if you're wondering why I'm smiling over this, go check out my craft blog, Straight Stitches, to see why. :)

So I tied my orange jingle jangle thing around my hips and waited. Luckily, my girlfriend who goes with me also had a jangling butt so we sashayed a bit to see just how noisy we'd be. :)

We didn't have to wait long. We started out of the gate with a full gallop and it was fun. :)

We shuffled, hopped, mambo'd, salsa'd and shook our way throughout the hour.

Dana was was really easy to follow and she projects really well so you know when she's changing up the moves.

I did get a cramp today, first one in two weeks, but I worked through it and took a few more water breaks and I was good. I must've sweated out at least 2 pounds today, but it was worth it. I  have not had that much fun at the gym ever.

Of course, we left the gym just before noon, so the kids were asking for McD's. So I had McD's for lunch but it was a grilled chicken club, so at least I did ok there. :)

I'm excited about tomorrow's class because it's BodyFlow and we haven't taken that yet, but I'm excited.

Oh and it also doesn't hurt that the hubs noticed I was getting thinner. :) Love him.

Oh I have to give the hubs props too, because he dragged his butt to the gym at 6 this morning to meet with his personal trainer, and she tortured him. She also scolded him for not eating breakfast, which is what I do too, but apparently its ok for her to do that  because he's paying her to get him in shape and to yell at him.

I don't see what the problem is because  I'll yell for free. :)

Well, I'm off to peel off this gym clothes and get ready for the pool this afternoon!

See you guys later!

2 weeks

Well it's been 2 weeks, and I am super proud of Lauren and I. We've gone to the gym every week day for two weeks.

Wow.

Yay us! :)

I'm also down 10 pounds exactly today. :) Yay!

Not so happy that Muscle Up was completely full today and we couldn't get in, but we still worked out. Did 15 minutes on the elliptical, along with some weight stuff. It felt good to push myself a bit.

Tomorrow is Zumba!

One foot in front of the other

So for anyone who knows me - I am not a patient person when it comes to results.

I can wait and wait and wait for a deal on something I want to buy, but when it comes to changes (especially changes of the physical sort) I want them done - now.

I have to keep reminding myself that this journey is going to be accomplished one day at a time and not all at once.

Its frustrating, especially in some of the classes because I can't keep up with what everyone else is doing, but I am going to revel in my small victory today.

I increased the weight that I was lifting today in BodyPump. I used 2 sets of 1 kg weights and then added sometimes would substitute one of those weights with a 2.5 kg one.

So proud of myself, of course, by the time class ended my arms and glutes were on fire. :)

Tomorrow is muscle up, and I will increase my weights tomorrow too. :)

Every little step counts.

Pilates was not supposed to hurt...

So Friday was my first pilates class.

I've done pilates before. I enjoy it.

It was not supposed to hurt.

I felt like I was giving birth again. The instructor wanted to focus on the 'baby pooch'

Cool, I'm game. 2 kids (one being 10+ pounds at birth) and just being overweight in general leads to a baby pooch.

I did not anticipate being so sore from working 'it'. Seriously, birth may have been easier than that pilates class.

Oh well. Monday brings either step or bodypump. I forget. Either way....I'm probably going to hurt some more.

You're cheating yourself....?

These would be the words uttered to me today during Muscle Up by the instructor/leader.

Uh? I've been to the gym 8 times in the last 10 days, and to this class twice, and she told me today I needed to up my handheld weights.

Excuse me? We did 190 reps of all the exercises today. My arms felt like jelly even with 2.5 lbs and you want me to lift 10 pounds? In each hand.

You're insane.

I'll admit I probably could have gone a little heavier during some of the exercises, and definitely 10 pound weights would have made awesome braces for all of the 190 push ups we did today, but I seriously cannot imagine doing 190 shoulder presses with 10 pounds.

I might have injured myself.

My elbow might have failed, thus causing said 10 pound weight to fall upon my cranium and then give me concussion.

Then where would I be? I'll tell you where - pissed off and with a headache.

I will increase my weight....but to 5 pounds. There's no need in injuring myself because you think that just because I did the final 4 reps with 10 pounds that I would have been able to do all of them with them.

I do love the class though. I have just the right amount of soreness for doing all of the work we did today, and I can't wait for next week. :)

I'm trying not to....

I'm really trying not to focus too much on how much weight I've lost, but I'm not going to lie when I say that I'm a little more than pleased that today, exactly 1 week after joining the gym, I've lost 8 pounds!

I think I lost 2 pounds in sweat alone today, but still!

What I am more proud of, and I think this is far more important, is that last Wednesday I could only do a quarter mile in 15 minutes, and that took some doing. I really had to work for it.

Yesterday, I did .55 miles in 15 minutes and I still felt like I could have gone a little more, but I didn't want to push it. Plus, it was the very beginning of my work out and I still had all those machines to hit.

I am so proud of myself. I am also proud of the hubs. Who has started joining me at the gym! Yay!


Oh so yesterday, we ended up just kind of free styling it and taking it easy, but today was our step class.

I loved it, because it made me work really hard. I hated it because I could not keep up. I felt like I was keeping half time while everyone else was on 4/4 time. I'm still definitely going to do it though, even if just to catch up to everyone else!

Killing Me Healthy

Well I finished a week. Almost. I went to the gym 4 days in a row, and I'm feeling it everywhere.

I'm looking forward to relaxing this weekend and healing a bit. Monday brings bootcamp. I'm a little scared.

Its started

Today I went to a class called Muscle Up and while I'm sure that eventually I will 'muscle up' right now I just hurt.

Even picking up H hurts. A lot. Well not a lot, but enough to where I don't want to move.

I also weighed myself after lunch. There's probably a reason they tell you to weigh first thing in the morning.

I have some work to do, but I have set some goals for myself, so that's good.

I'm going to go back to snuggling with H now. :)

Day 2 ...

Well I've been to the gym twice and I'm feeling pretty good. Tomorrow is going to be another story though, because I'm going to a weight training class. We'll see how that goes, but today I did 15 minutes on the elliptical, 45 minutes rotating through various weight machines, and then 20 minutes on the treadmill.

What I really like about the gym I signed up with is that they have child care and H is finally able to socialize without me there. :)

I'm Back!

I just wanted to write a quick note to say, I'm Back!

I joined a gym yesterday! I went to a Zumba class, and I almost died, but it was a lot of fun.

I'm going back today, in about an hour.  Wish me luck!

Heather