![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Today, I had core and stability training with Jake. It was a little difficult because I am having some hip pain. Some days I really hate my hips. I have no idea why they occasionally want to pop out of joint or why they cause me pain on occasion when I haven't done anything crazy. Regardless, they are my hips and sometimes I have to be careful so as not to pop them out of joint. Today was one of those days. I also was not able to think too clearly today and it seems like I drove poor Jake insane because some of the things he asked me to do, I could not mentally figure out! At one point, he gave up and said, "Let's move on!" Sorry Jake!! I really was trying to do what you wanted me to do but my poor brain was just not functioning!!
After the gym, I headed over to Nicole's house. I love spending my time with Jacob and Jillian. They are such sweet and adorable babies!! I am really going to miss them next week!! I have really become quite attached to them! They are such sweet loving little ones and so good! They are growing fast!
After work, I headed to the mall and stopped to pick up my brow liner from the Clinique counter. While I was there, Charity tried out a new makeup set. It gave my eyes a more smoky look...I kind of liked it because it was different from my normal look. Then I met Jason for dinner at Outback...yummy :) Afterwards, I did a little shopping and then hit the grocery store. I promised James a pie to take to his family this weekend. The Tollhouse Chocolate Chip pie is made and hopefully it will be amazing! I also managed to pick up the stuff to make a pumpkin roll. I am hoping that this is the recipe that Tye's aunt uses and that I can make it just like she did! I guess we will find out!
Now, I am doing laundry and waiting for my pie to cool down. Then it will be another dose of melatonin and off to dream land! Tomorrow will be busy between work, training, cardio and packing. Jason and I are due to leave Saturday for Washington DC. I am pretty psyched to go visit Chuck and see a little bit of DC. It will be so much fun! And I certainly cannot wait to head to Richmond for Thanksgiving! I have so missed my niece and nephews and my mom and sister!! I cannot wait to enjoy some time with them!!
Anyways, that's about it for me...time to check on some laundry and hopefully head to bed soon!!
- Location:home
- Mood:
content
I did not skip my cardio though...I headed into the gym this morning and managed to get about 45 minutes of cardio in. Then, I had to shower and head over to Nicole's to spend some quality time with Jacob and Jillian! They were so sweet this morning. It was a good morning for them and I so enjoyed those little darlings!! Then it was back to the gym for core and stability with Tye. Since I am not feeling tip-top, I asked him to go a slight bit easier on me, which luckily he did. I made it through my workout and then headed home to have dinner.
I am currently doing a load of laundry and then I have to head back over to Nicole's. Right now, all I really want to do is go back to bed. I am hoping that as soon as I am done at Nicole's I can just head to bed. Tomorrow, I have to work and then I also have training with Tye and cardio.
Side note on my running shoes...I am adjusting to running correctly. It's not the easiest thing since I have been running incorrectly for so long. But, the longer I keep at it, the better it will end up being.
- Location:home
- Mood:
sleepy
When my friend told me that he had been thinking about that, I responded to him that I would love to have his life sometimes...he is young, passionate about his life and his job, never had a weight issue, both his parents are still living, etc. But at the end of the day, I love my life and have gone through a great deal to get to where I am. I believe that every step of the way has been worth it. I have worked very hard to get to where I am and I truly believe that God has greatly blessed me.
Today, I got to do something pretty amazing for a great person. I listen when people to talk to me. I try to pay good attention to what is going on with others so that if there is a need that I can help with, I am aware of it. A friend mentioned something to me in passing that he would like and I was able to swing it and give it to him as a Christmas gift. It was a great opportunity to let him know that he is appreciated and loved!
My workout with Tye was pretty intense! I had my new running shoes on this morning and it felt a bit strange to run correctly. Tye also gave me some feedback on my running style. He mentioned that I needed to try to run heel to toe and be a bit softer on my landing. It means that I am going to have to spend some time paying attention to my form as I run and my landing too.
Anyways, tonight, I am watching a little bit of tv with Jason and then I am going to head to bed soon! I have to head in to the gym early tomorrow for cardio and then over to Nicole's. Then I need to head back to the gym for a core/stability workout with Tye and then home for dinner and back to Nicole's. It's going to be a very busy but I will get lots of time with Jacob and Jillian and I so enjoy that :)
- Location:Home
- Mood: content
- Music:Blessed by Martina McBride
So, today was pretty awesome. Jason and I went to church this morning. Afterwards we headed home and got lunch ready. Tye was coming over to help Jason do some yard work. We had a yummy meal of filet mignon, salad, baked potato and for dessert, peanut butter fudge pie. Ok, I admit I had a piece of pie...it was just plain amazing!!! So not good for me, but I think I will consider it my cheat meal this week! It was so worth it though!
Anyways, Tye and Jason got started and then there was some issue with the chainsaw. And then Tye had to run out to help another friend who was moving. So, Jason and I resolved the chainsaw issue...by getting him an electric one that doesn't have as many issues as the gas powered one. It was a good purchase choice and we'll use it in two weeks when we are in Virginia.
So, while the boys were doing yard work, I was getting my massage! I am so thankful that I get to go in and have these done. And this one was a huge well-deserved massage! I have been working so hard the past two weeks and my muscles are so sore and achy! Jeremy is a great massage therapist...I told him today that I talk about him and his magic hands all the time. He said no one has ever told him he has magic hands...but I stand by the statement! He has magic hands and does an amazing job of fixing all the crazy things I do to my poor body! So, he is a keeper!
I told him he was going to be mad at me because I had not been a good stretcher and that I had not done my homework from last time (more stretching for my chest, back, abs and hamstrings). He laughed and said I couldn't fail something I hadn't even attempted! He picks on me so bad!! Truthfully, I did try a couple of the stretches he told me to do and I did stretch last week...it was just a crazy week and stretching was not my priority. However, I have a new assignment...I am to stretch my calves and hamstrings. The hamstrings are going to be some partner stretches with Tye to try and loosen them up a bit.
The original plan was for us to do some work with my abs to get to some muscles in my back and thigh area that are connected in the ab area, but that didn't quite work out today. I woke up with a horrible pain in my neck. I couldn't seem to get rid of it at all. I tried all afternoon but every time I turned my head to the right it was painful. So, we spent quite a bit of time trying to work that out. There were some horrible knots in my back too and to be honest, there was some pain as he was fixing it. But we had a good time laughing and joking which helps me to try and stay as relaxed as possible.
Then again, this is me we are talking about, I am just not a very relaxed person...I am a control freak! Yeah, we had a few issues. Jeremy jokes and says that I spend too much time working out that I don't know how to relax! I think that I am okay as long as I know what is about to happen but if you try to move my body in a way that I don't expect, I tense up. So, we laughed a couple of times about me and my control issues! Then he started tapping me on my forehead to make me relax and do what he needed me to do. It made me laugh and we got through pretty well. I am not sure he has that type of relationship with any of his other clients. He told me today I am his favorite client :) And I told him that I think he is pretty amazing!!
After our massage, we discussed what I needed to work on. He was super excited with me about my new body fat composition! He told me he was still so shocked by looking at my before picture and now. He's a great encouragement to me! And I love the fact that even though I am not totally happy with how my body looks (I hate the skin in my abdominal area...unless I have surgery to remove it, I am stuck with it for awhile), he is not only sympathetic but encouraging and tells me I have nothing to worry about it. I told him it just makes me really uncomfortable, but I am willing to allow him to do what he needs to do in order to help my body stay in shape. He also noted that with the change of the training that my muscles are getting more toned! I had thought so too, but it's nice when someone else notices it.
So, my homework is to do some partner stretching which Tye and I agree to incorporate into our Wednesday workouts since they are the less intense ones. And then I need to do some more calf stretches and keep up the stretching on the rest of the body. It's going to be more difficult to do that when I am in Virginia over Thanksgiving, but I am sure going to try! I know the better I am at doing my stretching, the more flexible I will be and the better my body will feel!
So, it was a pretty nice day. I came home to find that Tye and Jason had done an excellent job takng out the diseased bushes and one of the trees. And I felt pretty relaxed and totally prepared to continue chilling out for a bit!! My future plans will be a shower in a little while...sleep :)
Tomorrow, I get to try out my new running shoes during training with Tye! It is going to be crazy and intense!! I am also working tomorrow. And I will be delivering James some pie and filet mignon :) Tomorrow is going to be a pretty great day too :)
- Location:home
- Mood: content
Here's what happened...I went in and the salesperson had me remove my shoes and sock and then he measured my foot. I, then, went over to the treadmill and walked on it barefooted as they videotaped. He thought that I overpronate which means my foot/ankle tends to roll inward during movement. So, he gave me a neutral pair of shoes and I ran on the treadmill while he videotaped. This definitely showed him that I am an overpronator. Then he grabbed some shoes for me to try on and see how they felt...he had me run to the door and back so he could watch how I ran in them. We both agreed that it was an improvement. After that, I explained to him that I only buy cute shoes. This tickled him to no end, but seriously, if you are going to have running shoes (or any shoes) then they should be cute not hideous :) He brought out several pairs of shoes and put different shoes on each of my feet. Then he had me run from his store to Five Guys and back. I would then choose which shoe was more comfortable. We did this two more times. And let me be honest after training today I was pretty exhausted before I got there so having to run back and forth was insane! After we decided on a shoe, I had both on and did my last run to see how I liked them. I love them! They are Brooks shoes...my very first pair of those. I usually tend to buy Nike or Asics. But I really cannot wait to try these shoes out on Monday.
He also told me some really good information. I shouldn't wear my running shoes on the days that I am just doing strength training or core work. On the days that I am running, then I wear them. Apparently I have been wearing my shoes out faster because I wear them for everything. So, by doing this, I should be able to extend the life of my running shoes! I admit, the experience of buying these shoes really made me feel like a real runner.
Training was really intense today. Tye pushed me hard and I barely survived, but it was a great workout. To follow that up, I had the pleasure of cardio. Oddly enough, I have just recently learned more about using my heart rate to calculate how I am doing on my cardio. I never really paid too much attention to it, except to make sure it stayed above 130. But really I always focused on how quickly I could complete a mile or doing intervals. My target heart rate is 138-150 for fat burning cardio. So, I have really been focusing on keeping my heart rate in that range while I am doing cardio. I admit trying to do that the entire hour after my intense workout with Tye was hard, but I did it. I have been trying to stay super-focused and to work really hard for Tye. He was pleased with workout today and said I have been performing where he expected me to be. I am really blessed to have such an amazing trainer.
Other than that, I went to visit my friend James for lunch...mostly because I can sit down choose a meat and he knows what sides I like and I don't have to think :) Yep, I am just that lazy! But it works for me and I am always surprised by what my sides are :) Also, Jason was enjoying a very yummy (but calorie and carb-laden) lunch with his parents. After lunch, I got shoes :) Then, I did a little shopping and then grocery shopping. Jason and I grabbed a yummy dinner at Olive Garden tonight.
Tye is coming over to help Jason with some yardwork tomorrow. I promised him a yummy lunch of filet mignon (perfectly marinated!), loaded baked potatoes, and salads. I also made the most amazing pie for lunch tomorrow...it is a peanut butter fudge pie. I cannot wait to see how it turns out :) The boys are going to LOVE it!!! And I love Nicole for giving me such awesome recipes :)
Also, I chatted with Jess today and we set a date for rock climbing...Dec. 2nd...Tye's and my one year anniversary of training together! So, yep, that will end up being our training session that day because there is no way I am going to pass up an opportunity to get out there and climb and Jess is available. So, it will be amazing and awesome and fun :) I cannot wait!!
And I am so thrilled to be going to see Jeremy tomorrow for a massage!! He's not going to be very happy with me because I have been a very bad stretcher this week and my muscles are super-achy. But he will fix it all up for me :) His magic hands will take care of all the muscle aches and pains. And hopefully, he won't yell at me too much (he never yells...he just gives me this really disappointed look and it's killer!) I am going to try and do my stretching video tonight and hope that it helps out a lot. Maybe I should stretch again in the morning and that could really give me a bit more help and make my body a bit less achy!
That's about it for the day. I am tired but I feel great! It's been an awesome weekend so far and tomorrow is going to be great too!
- Location:home
- Mood: content
- Music:We Weren't Born to Follow by Bon Jovi
I had a core and stability training session with Tye and it was tough! I actually chatted with him for a little bit. I gave him a huge hug because he is an amazing trainer! I wanted him to know how much I appreciate him and how much I appreciate the work he does with me. I also wanted him to know that had it not been for him that I would never been able to rock climb yesterday and I am not sure I would have even been able to get on that wall and attempt it. I also thanked him for helping me to work on my fear of falling. By making me get on things and jump on and over things, he has helped me to know that it will be okay if I fall. Anyways, our core and stabilitiy workout was really difficult. I was not very good at it. But I am hoping that I will get there soon. It was very challenging and I am excited about our next workout tomorrow. It's back to what I call insanity :) (our whole body/cardio workout!) I won't lie, this whole change has been tough for me. And I have been doing my best to keep my attitude positive and to work as hard as I can...Tye deserves a client who will work hard for him and do what he knows is best for us both! So, that's what I am going to do...be the best I can be!!
I also told Tye that one of our training sessions, we are going to go rock climbing with Jess. I hope I can find a Wednesday that she is off in the morning and we can do that. That would be awesome!
I got some cardio done after my workout. I have to admit that I just am not loving cardio right now. It would've been nice if had felt like running, but I didn't really want to do any cardio at all! I did it though and I will be doing some tomorrow too.
Tonight, I need to get some stretching done...enough stretching that I can hopefully get my muscles to ease up! I know on Sunday, Jeremy is going to notice that I have not done a good job of stretching lately. He will be disappointed in me for sure, but I am going to try and get plenty of stretching in today and tomorrow...that is my plan. So, we shall see.
Tomorrow, my only real plan is working out with Tye. I have cardio to do afterwards and then my only other plan is making a pie for dessert for lunch on Sunday.
- Location:home
- Mood:
sore
So, it's very strange to me that I am actually really enjoying more athletic things. I like running. I am still more of a sprinter, but we're building up my endurance and I am getting there. I think Tye really wants to make an endurance runner out of me...we'll see. I know that my strength in running is that I like to run short distances fast. I am not great at it, but I like it. I like the speed. Endurance running wears me out :) I get bored and I just want to stop running after awhile. But, for the most part, I really like running. I like the runner's high and just knowing that I can run is awesome. I choose to run now and maybe that makes all the difference. In the past, I was forced to run like a punishment and now I can choose whether I want to run or not.
Today, though I stepped up the levels on my active lifestyle. I went rock climbing with Jess. I have to admit I had a real misconception when it came to the "Bouldering Room." Mentally, I thought it was a big room with boulders that you climb to the top of. What it really was is a couple of rooms of the same hand and footholds used for rock climbing that you use to work on your technique. You learn how to climb in that room...you learn how to climb up and sideways and how to maneuver. It was pretty cool. You also learn to fall. I climbed to the top a couple of times and let go just so I could get used to falling in there. It was fun because there was lots of padding!!
About 15 to 20 minutes into the bouldering room, I ripped the skin off of the inside of my ring finger on my right hand! I felt it when it happened but apparently didn't pay too much attention to it except to notice that my hands were sore but I figured that was because I was holding on for dear life when I was up there. I noticed it when I was on the ground at one point because I saw blood on my left hand and couldn't find a cut. I went and cleaned it up and put a bandaid on it and kept going. How's that for pushing through!!! Oh yeah! Apparently I have really delicate hands...I would've figured my hands were tougher than that...I garden, lift weights and all. But I guess Bath and Body Works keeps my hands nice and soft and delicate. We messed around in the bouldering room for awhile. Jess is like a monkey!!! She is tiny and looks great while doing this and can maneuver around very well. Then we decided to rent harnesses and go climbing.
It never occurred to me that since it was my first time out that climbing the first day was a big deal. But apparently, a lot of people spend quality time in the bouldering room before ever moving on to the climbing. Jess is able to belay people (doesn't that sound awesome...I am using the terminology!!)...basically the person who is at the bottom anchoring you is your belayer. So, Jess' friend, Jessica, went up first so I could watch. And then, I got all strapped in and ready to go. I was so nervous. I was scared. I was afraid that I would not be able to pull myself up and that I was simply not strong or agile enough to do it. I was wrong.
I am pretty flexible so I could spread out pretty well and cover territory. I spent most of my time strategizing my next move and deciding how far I wanted to reach or push from. I got almost to the top and slipped off the wall. Jess caught me and didn't drop very far at all. I reacted well. I think I said "Whoa!" and then I swung back toward the wall and got my footing and kept going back up. I got to the point where I had fallen from and tried to determine my next move. I didn't like the handhold that was next in line which made it difficult for me to determine where to go next. At that point, my leg started to tremble and I knew I probably needed to come down. So Jess let me down. Jessica went back up to show me how to maneuver around that point I got stuck at it. We decided I would go back up. I got a quarter of the way up the wall and my hips started to bother me. I ended up coming back down. They convinced me to stretch for a second and go back up. So, I went back up and got about halfway up the wall when my hip flexors started screaming. They were not happy at the way I was about to spread them againtst the wall to move up. So, I knew that I needed to give my poor legs a break, especially when the legs started to tremble again!
I came back down and then we decided to take a break and get water. Jessica ended up having to leave and Jess only had about 20 more minutes but the room had gotten really crowded. So, I decided that I had done a great job today getting as far as I had and that I probably needed to give the hips a bit more rest. We headed on out and I headed home. I am already sore but also want to go back and do it again!! I can't wait!
And today was Jake's first workout in Core and Stability...it was tough. I am not a very well-balanced person and most of our work was either on the bosu ball or balance board...and he tore my core up! It was a good workout...I sweat buckets! Tomorrow, Tye is going to take over for Jake and do Core and Stability (Jake's going to be out of town). And then Saturday, Tye will do the insane whole body/cardio workout again. And right now, I am living for Sunday, when Jeremy gets to fix all the abuse to my muscles during my massage! Crazy, isn't it? Jeremy will not be happy with me this time around. I have not been as diligent with my stretching. So maybe if I get a good stretch in tomorrow and Saturday, he won't notice...ok, probably not, but I am sure he will fix whatever is aching!
Well, time for bed....busy couple of days coming up!!
- Location:home
- Mood: impressed
Anyways, Sheila has been doing my body fat for several months now. She rocks! I told her today that she is among the very few who get to see certain areas on my body. She laughed :) So, this morning, we headed back to the back of the locker room to start getting our numbers. I was really nervous. It's been about 2 months since we last measured and I wanted to see that body fat number move! I was happy with the 3 inches I lost last month but with minimal weight loss, I wanted to see that my body fat comp had changed. So, I was over the moon when she started doing the measurements and we were seeing the numbers going down. My official number per Sheila is 21.3%, however plugging that number into the program that Elizabeth originally used, it is 20.27%. Either way, I am no longer in the fitness range...I am in the athlete range! I am so stoked!!
Anyways, that was my amazing accomplishment for the day! I am going to continue the current workout regime and continue making more progress. I cannot wait to see how things will look in another month! Tye and I have our 1 year anniversary of working together coming up and I really would like to see the scale move a little bit more and a whole lot more inches going down! Either way, I am so happy with how far I have come. What an accomplishment for me...it's still a bit hard to believe!
Tye and I had training today...it was a calmer training than Monday. When I say calmer, I mainly mean that we were doing a little less cardio, but other than that it was still a great workout. Saturday will be back to our insanity! It should be pretty awesome! Can't wait to see what he has in store for me then!
Tomorrow, I have my first session with Jake in the new workout regime...so it's stability and core! In the afternoon, I will be heading out to go rock climbing with Jess. I am still nervous about that...but I think it will be tons of fun! Can't wait to try it out. I think I will start in the Bouldering Room first to get some technique and then head over to the Rock Climbing wall. I am sure I will have lots to blog about it!
- Location:home
- Mood: jubilant
I was walking into my house. Jason's car was in the driveway. When I walked in, I saw a dozen roses on my dining room table. Jason was walking down the hall into the dining room and he got down on one knee. He looked up at me and with the engagement ring on his ring finger turned around so I couldn't see the diamonds, he said, "How do you like the look of this on my finger?" I responded, "I like it a lot and can't wait until we can make it official!" Then, he turned the ring over and looked me in the eyes and said, "Well, then will you marry me and let us live together happily ever?" Of course, I cried and said "Yes!"
Shortly after he proposed, I cooked dinner...meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green peas. I love meatloaf...it's one of my favorites!! My brother, Jason, ended up coming over and bringing my nephew, Damien, with him. They joined us for dinner. Unfortunately, my brother was in the midst of a divorce and having real issues with that. So, it was a slight bit of a downer during dinner, but we made it through. After dinner, we headed down to my parents to tell them. While we were at my parents, their pug, Savannah, spent the majority of the time jumping on my stomach. We headed back home to enjoy some alone time and as we were almost there, I started to feel a bit ill.
As soon as we walked into the house, I ran into the bathroom. Jason followed me (which I admit was embarrassing). And I puked! I was embarrassed that he was there to witness it. He was there holding my hair back and handing me a clean wash cloth. He took good care of me. So, now when he tells the story of our engagement, he says "I proposed and she puked." I will never be able to live it down.
But 9 years ago, he made my life complete. I am so blessed to have such an amazing man to love. I love him more and more each day! It's not the most romantic proposal ever, but it's our story and I love it :) There's humor to it and well, it's ours. 9 years ago today, I made the best decision ever and I have never regretted it for a moment! I love that awesome man of mine!
- Location:home
- Mood: content
For starters, Tye had me doing intervals on the treadmill. I know I usually do those on my own but I am also a wimp and I don't push myself as hard as he does. Also, he had me running for longer than I normally do on my own. It was crazy and really kept my heart rate soaring! I did what Tye said were the best push ups ever (for me!). He put me on the assisted pull-up/dip machine. I don't know if I have ever talked about it before but that machine drives me mad. It scares me beyond belief. I don't know why but it psyches me out and makes me feel weak and incompetent and heavy! So, I hate that machine and Tye loves to make me get on machines I hate! I especially hate that even after a year that machine still makes me feel so bad! The goal was for me to do 10 pull-ups today. I managed to do it the first time around but not without some fear and a bit of trembling! The second time around, I felt much less confident and a lot more tired. I got through the first few and then Tye had to encourage me to keep going. It was tough and painful but I knew I couldn't stop. I made it through but it was really tough!
So, it was a pretty intense...okay, majorly intense workout! I was scared and at one point felt pretty sick to my stomach. I ended up having Tye reduce the speed on the treadmill. Then, I caught my breath and regained my stomach (without puking) and upped the speed back to where Tye had me at. It was scary but I knew that I needed like 2 seconds to recompose myself.
I asked Tye how I did after our workout. I needed to know if he felt good about how I did. I knew he had said that I was doing phenomenal and I know that he doesn't compliment lightly...ever. I told him my goal was to give him 150% today, I felt like I gave him about 130%. He said I gave him 170%. It was pretty awesome! He asked me if I enjoyed it and if I liked it. At that moment I was tired, exhausted and carb & protein depleted and I said not yet. However, after a good meal and shower, I responded with a yes. It was fun...it was challenging and scary, but also fun.
So, tomorrow, I was supposed to have the twins but it is supposed to rain all day. Nicole called and said that she was just going to stay in. I have tomorrow off :) I am going to go into the gym in the morning and get some cardio done. Tye gave me a pass on cardio today but I am supposed to do cardio five days a week. I will need to get some form of cardio in tomorrow.
And Jess called this morning and it looks like I will be making a trip to Stronghold gym for some experience in the bouldering room or rock climbing room on Thursday. I cannot wait!! I am going to face my fears and climb to the top of the boulder and jump off. I am going to get over my fear of falling. I am going to fall and relaize that it will be okay. Tye keeps trying to convince me to just get over it and realize that I should stop underestimating him because he would catch me and today, I almost fell and he would've caught me too. He was prepared and ready to catch!
Anyways, after talking to my hubby, I am going to head off to bed. Looking forward to Tuesday!
- Location:home
- Mood:
accomplished
Tomorrow morning, I will go into the gym and be prepared for whatever Tye throws at me. If I feel like I am going to puke, I will have him grab the trash can, puke and (hopefully) keep going. I think some of the puking feeling might be from my nerves being all wrung up about the workouts. I need to let the stress and fear go and just give in to what is in store. I know that this is what I need right now and as much as it feels insane and scary, it's the right way to go. So, today, I am giving up this fear and uncertainty about this new workout plan. I am going to go in with a positive attitude and a willingness to work and hopefully, I will start to get some renewed energy back.
Other than that, not too much going on. Just a normal week for me. I am finishing up laundry and I may end up pulling out the Christmas decorations this week. I normally do not put up my tree until after Thanksgiving but I am feeling like putting it up early this year. I guess I want the happy Christmas season feeling. I have been listening to a ton of Trans-Siberian Orchestra and not even their Christmas stuff. I love them and I am super excited about seeing them in concert at the end of this month!
Anyways, that's about it. Heading off to bed in a little bit!! I will definitely need a good night's sleep for tomorrow!!
- Location:home
- Mood:
determined
We did measurements this morning and I have lost 3 more inches total. I am really hoping with this new workout that the inches are going to drop off a bit more (and the pounds too!). I will be getting a new body fat composition done on Wednesday and I am nervous. I really want to see some results there. So, hopefully we will see that the body is become much less fat and much more muscle.
On to our workout...we did wind sprints, kettle bell swings, some agility ladder work, and several other things that completely winded me, made me feel lightheaded and I even saw double at one point. Oh and did I mention that I really wanted to vomit...like majorly vomit. I had to sit at one point with my head between my knees and Tye went and got a trash can for me. It made me feel pretty bad...honestly, I felt very weak because of that. I hated that feeling. But Tye says it was good and that it showed how hard I was working. I didn't want to feel that ill or that weak. But part of me has to realize that this new workout plan is going to challenge me in ways I didn't expect and it's going to be exhausting and motivating and it's going to be exactly what I need. Tye says he is training me like an athlete and I feel like I am still new to being an athlete. Truthfully, I am not new to being an athlete, but Tye is bringing me up to a new level of athlete. It's scary and nervewrecking and exciting all at the same time.
I had a few minutes to talk to Tye's old mentor/trainer, Dargan. He was honest and said that even when this gets a little bit easier for me, it's still going to be hard and challenging and the level will kick up more to keep it at my current level. But he promised I would be thrilled with my results. It felt good to hear that everything that was going on was exactly what should be right now...even if it's uncomfortable and frightening. After all, this journey is more than just weight loss, it's about facing my fears and overcoming them.
After chatting with Dargan, I headed in to do some cardio. And I don't know if it's my workouts or if it's the music I am listening to, but the past two times I have headed to do cardio and gotten on the treadmill, I have to run. I just need to run. I did interval running again today but with a bit more intensity than usual. I don't know why I needed to run, but I just had to. It was awesome and exhausting and just amazing.
So, I am sore and I ache and pain relievers just aren't cutting it and neither is my stretching. I am dying to call Jeremy for a session next week but I am going to stick it out until my scheduled appointment. I will survive. I will be amazing and I will impress Tye. It's going to be crazy and difficult and painful and all worthwhile.
Other than that, Jason is under the weather. I am hating that he isn't feeling well. Today, I texted Amy to see what we could do to make him feel better. He has sinus issues and fluid in his ear and he's coughing. Luckily, Amy is the most amazing woman ever. She called him in some meds and I am hoping that tomorrow morning he will be much improved.
As for me, I am going to go fold some laundry and crawl into bed and hope to feel less tired and more energetic tomorrow!!
- Location:home
- Mood: sore
I did chat with Tye earlier this morning and let him know that I was concerned about how things were going to work for the new workout plan with my fitness coaching with Jake. He promised to talk to him and formulate a plan. When i realized that I wasn't going to be able to handle my fitness coaching today (which luckily was during my warm-up), I caught Tye and Jake before they headed into the locker room and told them I wanted for the three of us to get together and talk about my training plan. They kicked me out of the staff locker room and then came out later. Jake told me his new focus was going to be working core and balance, where Tye's focus is more of the cardio and whole body workouts. Jake said we will no longer be training me like a bodybuilder. He says this is more of a "mud-run" workout. And that is also what Tye had said too. I told them both that I was not sure I could handle it if I stayed this exhausted while we were doing this! They both promised that my workouts would continue to be tough like this, however, I would adjust within the next couple of weeks. I sure hope so because I am so wiped that it's 7 p.m. and I want to go to bed already!
After my chat with Tye and Jake, I did about 40 minutes of cardio and then I was just done. So, my hope is that I can get a great night's sleep and feel amazing in the morning! I have training scheduled with Tye at 8:30! I am hoping my pain relievers will kick in and that I will feel really good. I want to do an awesome job and impress my trainer in the morning. I have been working hard to give my workouts all I have.
So, my night involves watching a couple of DVR'd shows. And then, off to bed. Jason is out hanging with some friends for a little bit. He's not feelng great...sinus and an ear ache. So, he probably won't be out too late. But I probably will already be in bed by the time he gets home. Right now, i am looking forward to tomorrow afternoon and hoping that there is a nap in my near future!! Crazy, huh?
My best part of the day was getting seats for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert this month! We are going with Tye and Emily (it's our birthday gift to Tye this year!) I cannot wait!! We've seen them three times already and they are amazing!!!! It's going to be awesome!!
Well, that's about all my brain can process tonight! Time for some tv and vegetating!!
- Location:home
- Mood: exhausted
So yesterday was crazily insane for me! I was unable to keep my regularly scheduled training appointment with Tye on Wednesday because Nicole had a doctor's appointment and needed me. My solution (which has worked in the past just fine) was to book Tye after Jake on Thursday. Normally, that works fine because we used to split up the body parts and it meant that I had recovery on the muscles that Jake worked and I could maintain a level of energy. This did not happen yesterday! We have changed the way we do our workouts. Tye wants them to be more cardio-based and for it to be an all-body workout.
Here's what happened...Jake and I started our workout at 8:30. We did biceps, triceps, and abs. It was an intense workout with very little time for breathing or breaks! After my half an hour with Jake, I had some time to get a protein shake and then jumped back on the treadmill to warm back up for Tye. When it was time to workout with Tye, I went over and started stretching. Tye came over and we talked. I told him I was terribly afraid of this new workout plan. I also told him that the tread climber is seriously pulling at my hips and causing pain. I also told him that I would do whatever he asked of me to the best of my ability. So, Tye and I got started. There was a lot of plyo box jumping, side-to-side jumps over a weight bench, something called burpees (whole body exercise that strengthens upper body, core, hips and increases the power of your lower body. Start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart and then squat down reaching your hands towards the floor. Drop onto your hands and kick your feet back into a push up position. Do a push up and then jump your feet forward in between your hands. Push yourself off of the floor into a jump. Bend your knees slightly when landing), jogging laps, a few weight machines and some free weights. It was crazily intense and a couple of times, I thought I was going to die. I got very little time to actually catch my breath and three-quarters of the way into the workout, I was wearing down! By the end of the workout, I was seriously tired and felt like I had burned out all of my carbs. Apparently, Tye forgot that I had worked out with Jake before him! Afterwards I had 45 minutes of cardio to do!!! When Tye and I finished, I grabbed another protein shake and then headed to do my cardio. I was supposed to take it easy but still work up a sweat. I didn't necessarily follow the plan, I hit the treadmill and decided to do some interval running. It kept my heartrate up and by the end, I was completely drained.
I headed home and grabbed a quick shower. Then I grabbed a quick lunch and headed out to the dam for a walk. I walked the dam and got in a pretty good walk. After I had dinner, I got my stretching in and then iced the knees and ankles.
All in all, my new workout is not my favorite. I will miss working the specific muscles of the body. But I think I will adjust to the new workout plans. And I think they will definitely get me the results that I want.
Today, I have training with Jake and cardio. And tomorrow is training with Tye and cardio :) Sunday is somewhat of a rest day!!! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!
- Location:home
- Mood:
bouncy - Music:Trans-Siberian Orchestra
So, this morning, I went into the gym early and I hit the tread climber and got a really good sweat going. I also got my heart rate up pretty high and maintained it in the 140-160 range for the duration of my cardio. I am hoping that I will get used to the tread climber because it pulls at my legs and makes me walk in an awkward fashion which puts pressure on my hips. I hope that if I do it regularly enough it will stop pulling at my hips so much. It doesn't help that my hips have issues to begin with...they like to pop out randomly (and sometimes during awkward moments and occasionally at the gym). When it happens, it can be painful and I have to pop them back into place. It makes for interesting times!!! So, hopefully the tread climber and I can work things out, but I am going to keep at it because it was a good sweat and the heart rate was skyrocketing!
Also, I enjoyed my CoreMax DVD that I got by Cathe Friedrich. My first time out I was unable to do the stability ball pike ab exercise. It's one where you get in a pushup position, then rest the tops of your feet on the stability ball]. Keeping your legs as straight as possible, bend your hips and try to pull your feet toward your chest so that the ball rolls forward. It's not easy....but I can do it. I am not coordinated/stable enough to do multiple ones yet, but I find it to be a grand success that I was able to do it!! I am going to keep at it and soon I will be knocking out several in a row :) I am getting stronger and more hardcore with each workout. Tye is training me like an athlete and I truly am becoming more and more that athlete!
I would never in a million years have imagined that I would be doing so many un-Melissa things. I would never really imagine that I would start to resemble the word "athlete." But, truly, I am an athlete and I cannot wait to see how much stronger and hardcore I will get. I will no longer stay in my head and think about things I "can't" do. I am going to believe in myself more than I have in the past. I have already proven that I am so much stronger and capable than I imagined! So I cannot wait to see what the future holds!
For now, the future has bedtime in store for me. I need to get up early in the morning and hit some cardio early so that I can go play with the babies in the morning!! So, the tread climber and I have a date tomorrow morning :)
- Location:home
- Mood: determined
- Music:Beethoven's Last Night by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
I was pretty happy that I found out that my stretching is working. I will continue to do it several days a week. And hopefully we will continue to see results from that. Jeremy was pretty happy with the extra stretching and said that he was going to continue to work on keeping my body in balance. He says we will continue to address any issue areas but we will put focus on different areas each time to keep things balanced.
And he freaked me out a bit. He mentioned that next time we were going to do some work on the abs and back area. The back area doesn't bother me much, but my ab area is where I am storing all my extra skin and it makes me very uncomfortable for anyone to see it. so, I asked him why my abs needed to be massaged and he explained that there were muscles there that if he hit he could help with areas in the inner thigh muscles, as well as some back muscles. I explained to him that it made me uncomfortable and he said "Do you trust me?" To which I replied, "I didn't kick you the last time you massaged there, so I guess you're good to go." I like the fact that he understood my concern and gave me advanced warning about it, so that I could think about it and decide before our next session. I really like him and I like the fact that he is encouraging and overall just a great guy.
I told him about how I was feeling about the whole scale issue and he was so encouraging to me. He was patient and kind and very sweet. Honestly, it's what I needed to hear today. He understood why I felt the way I did and even if it might be slightly unrealistic and though it may not be as important as inches since I am building muscle, he got it. It was pretty cool to have him encoruaging me. He saw my before pictures today and encouraged me to keep on going. I definitely know I have found the right massage therapist!
And I know I have the right trainer. As painful as it was, Tye pulled me into the office this morning to talk before my workout. I dreaded going in today because I did not want to talk about it and I did not want to dwell on it. I wanted to get to my workout and just kick butt. That was my plan. That was not Tye's plan. He had talked to Sheila and Antony and gotten some feedback on some thoughts for how to kickstart my program back into progress. He reminded me again that muscle weighs more than fat. He reminded me that my time of the month can fluctuate my weight by up to 5 pounds. He reminded me that I have not been doing things wrong but that I need to keep going and not quit. And he reminded me that this is up to me to figure out...it's up to me to encourage myself and not look for affirmation from him or Jason. He gave me some real tough love and some good encouragement. It was what I needed to hear. We are going to be changing things up for awhile. Our main focus is going to be adding a great deal more cardio to our workouts. We are not going to be working on fatiguing my muscle groups each session but we are going to really be kicking my butt.
Also, I am going to scale back my eating out because there is probably a lot more sodium in my food when I eat out then what I suspect. So, my goal is to eat out only twice a week...steak days :) And we'll see how that works for me. He decided that we can up my fat content closer to 40 grams and try to continue to keep my carbs in the lower range 110. So, we'll see how all that works. It's not going to be easy to make all these changes but I am willing to do what I can to make this work.
And next week, we will check measurements and body fat composition. And we will re-check the scale once the time of the month is gone. Hopefully, when that happens, I will see that things are going along just as they should be. I will continue to work as hard as I can to get things moving in the right direction. I am going to sit down tonight and make a meal plan out for the rest of the week and try and get things ready for this week. I am going to kick butt and teach that scale who the real boss is! I am back and I will not let one bad weigh-in drive me to devastation!
Tomorrow morning, I go in to the gym and I will hit the arc trainer and the tread climber for some cardio and I will kick my butt! I will do this because I have a goal and I will reach this goal!!!
- Location:home
- Mood: determined
- Music:No Boundaries by Kris Allen
So, yesterday, I spent the day wallowing in my misery. I told myself all the reasons why I am at fault for why there hasn't been much change lately. I have been working my butt off and building lots of muscle but maybe I haven't spent as much time doing my cardio. Or maybe my cardio has not been intense enough. Or maybe I have been way too slack. Or could it be that my diet has been slightly off. Whatever it is, I totally feel like it is my fault and that I have screwed something up. I don't want excuses though, I want results. And this weigh-in, no matter how inaccurate it may be due to the timing, really ticked me off.
Both Jason and Tye tried to make me feel better. They both mentioned that I am building lots of muscle and that it's the inches that really matter. We are not due to take my measurements again for another week. And we are also doing my body fat composition then too. Bottom line, I just truly wanted to see something for all the extra effort I have put in lately. I wanted to really kick butt. And there was nothing that Tye or Jason or anyone else could say that would make me feel better.
So, today, I am in a better place. I am still really angry, but I am going to use that as motivation to really kick butt in my workouts this week. I know that I have not been as zealous in my cardio and I am going to step it back up a notch. I have already added into my routine a new ab workout by Cathe Friedrich that I have been doing a couple times a week (and it's kicking my butt!). And I have her Butts & Guts DVD to try too. Bottom line, I am going to use this frustration to refuel my passion. I am going to kick everything into overdrive this week. I am going to wait until we do measurements and body fat comp before I get overly ticked off and feel like all my work has been for nothing. Mostly, I am not going to let that scale rule me or my emotions.
Normally, when things like this would happen throughout my journey, I would keep it to myself and just cope. I want to be real though and I want others to know that there are times when things don't go as well and when I get really ticked off. Bottom line on this is that when this happens, I do get emotional but I also use that frustration to fuel my workouts. I bust my butt a little harder. I try to be realistic about what it all really means. But I do NOT let this become an excuse to quit and I do NOT let it keep me from where I want to be. I want to be healthy and happy.
So, starting today, I am even more committed to this journey. I am going to re-evaluate my workouts and my cardio and my diet and I am going to kick it all up a notch! Today, I go in for quad work with Tye. I don't know how he is going to react to my text about the weigh-in. But I do know that I can expect that he is also going to ramp things up a bit and he's going to continue to try and console/encourage me today. I don't want to dwell on yesterday though. I want to keep moving forward.
And lucky for me, I have a heavenly massage scheduled with Jeremy today. I am so ready for that!! I need some relaxation and a nice relaxing massage is just what I need. I have no muscle pain or cramping or issues this week, so it should mean that I get a nice hour and half of relaxation. Hopefully I can relax a little sooner than I usually do. I am guessing it won't take as long since I am getting more used to Jeremy and more comfortable with him altogether. I still believe he has magic hands!!!
Alright, I am signing off so I can make some plans and figure out a few things before training today. Hope everyone has a great day!!!
- Location:home
- Mood: determined
- Music:Night Castle CD by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
The proof will be on next Monday when I see my massage therapist. If Jeremy notices a distinct difference in the way my muscles feel, then I know it means that the extra stretching has been a huge benefit. I truly hope that he is able to see a real improvement. Either way, Jeremy has magic hands and will definitely stretch my muscles out well! He has an amazing gift. Every time he does my massages, he ends up healing whatever damage I have done to my body. He laughs and asks me if I am a masochist because I keep going back to Tye and Jake and they torture my body, but he gets to heal it! He says that means job security for him :)
I did learn something new about stretching this week. Apparently, it is not a good idea to spend so much time stretching prior to your work out. I stretched for like 30 minutes on Monday before doing quads. During my quad workout, I injured a muscle in my inner thigh. It hurt pretty badly!! It is better now but I know that the major stretching is for after your workout. You should only do a minimal amount of stretching prior to your workout, just a bit of warming up of the muscles.
And I love Cathe Friedrich so much that I have ordered two more of her DVDs, Butts and Guts and CoreMax. I cannot wait to try them out! She is pretty amazing!
- Location:home
- Mood: content
Today's massage was a bit less relaxing and a bit more about breaking up some of the "knots" in my muscles. There was a lot more pressure and I am kind of sore. But it was a great massage and Jeremy did an amazing job. He told me that we would communicate throughout the massage to determine if h was applying too much or not enough pressure. This was definitely a change over any other massage therapist I have had. Once I had one that put so much pressure on my chest that I felt like an elephant had sat on my chest. It took a lot of time for that pain to ease too. What was nice was to be able to admit to him whether or not I felt there was too much pressure. There were a couple of tmes where I had to have him back off just a bit. But for the most part he applied just the right amount of pressure.
I do feel so much better now. The pain in my shoulder has definitely subsided which means that he totally released the pressure and loosened up those muscles pretty well. I am hoping it means I can get a chest workout in tomorrow!! Bottom line, massage therapy rocks and I am enjoying it immensely. I might even say I am getting slightly addicted to it :)
I also learned that when I get pregnant, I will not be able to have a massage during the first trimester. And my therapist is not certified for pregnancy...I informed him today that he has a couple of months to get certified on that :) I really hope he does, because I really don't want to have to work with anyone else when I get pregnant.
And this was a great day for my massage because I worked out quads with Tye today. He was intense. I did something that I have never done before...plyo jumps. I am not fond of jumping on anything but it was really cool to be able to do the jumps! We totally trashed my quads today! And it was pretty awesome to be able to work out with Tye and see what his workouts would be like. I am glad we had the opportunity to try this.
- Location:home
- Mood: content
- Music:Crazy Love by Michael Buble
And I pulled out some sweaters this weekend from last year and they were just way too big. I thought that maybe I could wear some of them and not have to purchase new ones, but I am absolutely swimming in them. So, I decided to go through my closet and pack up most of the summer clothes and see what else fits in there. I emptied out quite a bit. Also, I had to go shopping to get a few tops to supplement the wardrobe that was now pretty sparse. JCPenney had a pretty great sale yesterday and I was able to get several sweaters that should last me through this winter! I am pretty psyched about it.
And for fun news, I tried on one of Jason's leather jackets because my jackets are way too big and his jacked actually fit me. I could zip it up and everything. It was pretty awesome!! I was so excited about it! I have never been able to wear my boyfriends' or my hubby's clothes. So, it was really neat to be able to put on something of his and have it fit. I can wear a couple of his shirts too but those are the ones that are really a bit big on him.
After cleaning out my closet, I got together a huge donation for goodwill and I called a couple of friends to see if they might want some of the clothes. So I am getting rid of a lot of things and I feel good about it. It was pretty freeing to be able to go through my closet and get rid of clothes that were way too big. In the past, I have only been able to put clothes away because they were too small. Shopping in the past was always an experience in misery and now it's fun to be able to look at cute new styles and be able to wear them!
- Location:home
- Mood: content
