my journey to becoming a runner

Thursday, July 31, 2008

A Fitness Miracle

Instead of actually working out this morning, I had a wonderful idea. What if I looked on the Internet, namely YouTube, to see if I could find a video of BodyCombat. It took a lot of research skills; many clips were just advertising the class at gyms. But then somehow, like a fitness miracle, I came upon it. It is the entire #36 launch (the latest one) in ten parts. It made me so happy to think that I could do combat at home. Of course then it was time for me to go to work so I didn't try it out. I put Erin to work trying to figure out how to download/copy the video and put them onto a DVD. Unfortunately, I had a bad food day, and it's all because of my job. Tonight was the Teen Wrap Party at Chipotle. So of course, I had to eat there. It's like a job requirement; and sometimes they give me free food. I had the chicken soft tacos but made myself skip the cheese and sour cream and guacamole. Then, as soon as I was off of work, to celebrate the end of Summer Reading (which believe me is a reason to celebrate!) Susan (the Eiseley Teen Librarian) and I went to Coldstone for ice cream. I sampled the new low-calorie yogurt they offer, but it was really gross, so I got the high-calorie yummy stuff instead. So even though I didn't plan on working out tonight, I just had to burn off some calories. I came home and tried the new online Combat class. It is the next best thing to actually being in class. The five instructors are great. They do a good job of telling you what to look for and work on. The video is good enough quality that I knew exactly what was going on most of the time. Sometimes I was confused if we were doing left or right, but honestly what does it matter? I sweated just as much as I do in class; it probably didn't help that my house was at 84 degrees. I burned just as many calories and had just as much fun. I sort of missed the mirrors, but in a way, not seeing myself might be better. I am just so excited! I have been so frustrated lately that I could only Combat once a week. Now I can do it whenever I want! Unfortunately I did it from 10-11 at night and now I am wide awake. This might be a great thing to do in the morning to start my day. If anyone has a big basement or living room area: lets start our own Combat group!!! This is going to change my life.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Happy Birthday Erin

Today is my friend/co-worker Erin's birthday. Lucky for her, she took the day off of work and won't have to put up with those annoying customers all day. I hope that she takes it easy, eats some cake, and works out on her Elliptical for at least a half an hour. And I hope she does it in the morning, so she earns us some challenge points.

Since I didn't make it to the gym the first two days of the week, I had to make up for it this morning. I went to the 6am BodyPump class all by myself. It was my punishment for skipping last evening; I knew what I was getting into. Of all the morning classes I like Wednesday's session the best. My usual Tuesday evening instructor teaches the class and she is much better than the girl who teaches on Monday and Friday mornings. Mary didn't ask me where the hell I'd been the last two days, but she didn't need to. I was feeling guilty all by myself. I stayed after class for an hour of walking hills. While I was there, watching Good Morning America, I saw the most touching story. I want you all to watch it, it will surely put a smile on your face.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

It's Not About the Bike

I was really sore yesterday from running those three miles. My whole body ached and I had to take three extra-strength Tylenol just to make it into the shower and to work. Although I was sore all day, it was better once I got to the library, where I kept moving all day and never had the opportunity to get stiff. As I mentioned I wasn't able to make it to Combat last night, which greatly disappointed me. And I was too busy after work to get a workout in (you know, errands, getting groceries, watching the last two episodes of The Office).

Tonight I was planning on going to BodyPump -- like I always do. But somehow Jennifer was able to talk me out of it. Nobody else was going to be there. And I was starving by 4:00. I had already eaten all my snacks at work, and just couldn't wait to get home and eat something. I also had plans with Jennifer to buy a new bike. I am pretty tired of the bike I have. It's about 15 years old; it doesn't have gear numbers, so I don't know what gear I am in; the handlebars are too low, or the seat is too high, and I am hunched over the entire ride. Anyway, it was time for a new one. It didn't cost too much, and if it gets me to ride more, well great! Once we got home I rode around the neighborhood for about 20 minutes. I guess that's better than nothing.

Monday, July 28, 2008

A Good Weigh-In

I had a great week. I lost four pounds; it seems this 1200 calories has shocked my body enough to create some change. This was just what I needed. I am back down to 13.5 pounds left to lose. Finally I can see results and it's all worth it. I haven't been this low since the beginning of June. On June 12th, I was down to 11.5; then it all went to hell. If I have another good week, perhaps two pounds, I could be down in single digits just in time for my High School Reunion. Obviously I am not going to be at my goal weight in time for the Reunion, but I came to accept that several weeks ago. Even single digits, even 9, would give me enough confidence.

Brandy wants me to run a 5k with her on the morning of our Reunion. Honestly, it would be a great start to the day. And I think it would be really neat if a few of us from High School ran it together. I know that Amy had been running last spring. And my friend Katie, although I don't actually know if she will be back for the reunion, was running last fall when she came to visit. We should have planned this earlier so that people could have been training for it. But I am a procrastinator. Brandy told me about it at least a month ago, but I just dismissed it because I had vowed never to run a 5k again until I could do it faster. That's why I really wanted to see if I was even capable of running those 3.1 miles anymore. Since I could do it, I am going to call Amy and see if this is something she would want to do. Jennifer even mentioned that she might be willing to do it, if she could walk part of it. I just think: what a great start to our Reunion day. High school friends doing something that we NEVER would have done in high school, thus proving how far we have come.

I have to work this evening. We are having a magician at Bethany. Unfortunately this means that I will not be able to make it to my weekly Combat class. I don't think I can make arrangements to make it to any other Combat classes this week either. So I will have to take a week off and resume next Monday. I have a new Kickboxing DVD from the library to try. Maybe I will do that this evening after work. I don't know much about it, but at least it's a whole hour long.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Jen, I did it!

I'm not gonna say that I did it for you; I did it for me. But I definitely did it because of you! Last night Jen was talking about how she had run three miles for the first time in a long time. And Brandy had me thinking about running this 5k that is coming up in a couple of weeks. I had no idea if I could even manage to run three miles in a row anymore. I haven't tried it since last October when I ran that race. Since then I have been working on running faster but only for shorter periods of time (one minute, one mile, maybe two) and we all know how well I have really done at that. So today after I had a small lunch with my mom, I hit the gym for 45 minutes. I ran 3.1 miles. I let myself do it as slow as I needed to. The first mile was easy, but I wouldn't let myself increase the speed because I wanted to make sure and finish. The second mile was a lot harder, and I let myself stop to drink. Then at about 1.75 miles the lady in front of me got off the elliptical and turned off her fan, which I had also been enjoying the benefits of. By 2 miles I was about to pass out. So I went and got the fan. That helped. I made it to 2.5, but the last .6 was really hard. I had to stop and walk for three minutes. Then I made myself run slightly faster for the last lap or so. I did it all in a little over 37 minutes! Maybe closer to 38, I was so delusional at the end, I wasn't sure when I quit. But it didn't matter, that was a fine time. Now, do I ever want to do that again?!? Perhaps...

Then I went to Jennifer's house and laid around for a couple of hours. Every muscle I had hurt. Including some random ones that I must have used in the 15 minutes Jen and I used Ryan's trampoline last night. But after two hours of cooling down and whining about my pain, I pulled myself up and went to BodyPump. I really wanted to get three sessions in this week, even though I didn't need the hours at the gym. I let myself go easy on a few weights (chest, squats) because I was already soooo tired. But I still got a good workout. Does anyone notice how the lunges without the step seem easy now after using that step so many times. I suppose I could just use it, but I don't want to be that girl in class who is better than everyone else!

I have had a really good week. I ate pretty well, except for several cookies at Ryan's Barbecue. I worked out for 8.5 hours even though 45 minutes was a Pilates DVD that didn't do much for me. I ran over 3 miles; took three BodyPump classes and have lost at least a pound. We'll see what the scale says tomorrow. I am thinking it will be a big loss. I earned 4 points in my CWE (total of 17) and another $16 toward my stereo; I'm about done adding that up, we all know I already use it. My mom said she had gained a pound this week, whereas I had lost a pound as of this morning. So it looks like I am winning!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Long Weekend

I took yesterday off so that I had a three day weekend. I didn't get a lot of stuff done, but Jennifer and I did spend like 3 hours at Walmart. That was enjoyable and we got lots of good stuff. I love having a three day weekend, because I can devote a large amount of time to working out, without having to schedule it around all my other responsibilities (i.e. work). Yesterday I slept in until 10:00 and then went to the gym in the morning. I ran/walked for 30 minutes. I ran one minute (at 5.5 mph) and then walked for two minutes (at 3.6). That was a challenging workout and I made it well over two miles in the short amount of time. This left me pretty tired so I allowed myself to bike for 15 minutes. After that, I had no energy to stay any longer.

This morning I went to BodyPump. I continued using the Large plate for the Chest track. Wow, it was much harder this time. I don't know if it was because the song was more difficult, or if my muscles were still fatigued from Tuesday's session. Does anyone remember when we used to go to Pump and not come out sweating? I used to be able to go to class and then go out in public afterward. Now I can't get out of the class without dripping in sweat. I don't know how I could be working so much harder, so I have to believe it has do with the humidity in the air. But maybe it is the increases in weight that make me sweat so much more than I used to. There was a point where Ryan winked at me today. Jennifer says he winked at someone else too, but I think she might be mistaken!! And this wasn't the creepy winking thing that Jesse does, this was sweet! I stayed after class for another 45 minutes of cardio. I walked steep hills for the entire time, and my calf never hurt once. That pain I had on Wednesday was gone by Thursday and hasn't resurfaced.

I have eaten alright this week. As of this morning I had already lost 4 pounds since Monday. I really want to keep that up for my weigh-in on Monday morning. So even though I am going to a Barbecue this evening, I am really going to try to eat well. I know that Ryan is grilling chicken, so that will be a healthier option than cheeseburgers. I am bringing watermelon, so I know that there will be something great for me to eat. But I also know that people are bringing cookies and other desserts. So I am planning to enjoy without going overboard. And I am going to get more than seven hours of working out done this week. We'll see what I actually do tomorrow, but I should be able to get eight hours in! That will make up for those cookies!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

I have no PowerHouse

So last night Jennifer and I tried a Pilates DVD that I checked out of the library. Turns out: Pilates is another thing I am no good at. I know I have no core muscles. That was made evident several years ago when I took the 30-minute Abs class at the gym and felt like a Mac Truck had run me over. I am often reminded of the same fact when we do abs in BodyPump and I can't hover the entire time, or I am in a slight pain after doing rapid crunches or bicycles for just 4 minutes. But never was I made so aware of the fact that my abs suck, then when I watched this perfect-bodied-probably-ballet-dancing-since-she-was-two-years-old lady lift her legs (without bending them an inch) off the floor and hurl them behind her head without flinching a muscle. Yeah, that didn't work for me! We continued attempting these exercises for 45 minutes until I decided it was late enough and I had to call Jen to wish her a Happy Birthday. We never went back to it.

I made it to the gym yesterday after work (at 4:00) but was surprised to find I had a new injury. After about 15 minutes of walking steep hills my calf muscle hurt a lot. I finished out the last five minutes but on a much flatter surface than I had planned. I had wanted to do the steps and the elliptical for 20 minutes each as well, but I knew stair stepping would be out if I could hardly walk. I went to the locker room for ten minutes and tried to stretch it out, but nothing made it feel better. Then I attempted the elliptical machine but after 5 minutes I could tell that my calf was in just too much pain. I was able to bike for about 20 minutes, but that's never as great of a workout as you hope it will be. Still, I manged to get 45 minutes of cardio in, plus another 45 of Pilates in the evening so it wasn't all awash.

For dinner last night, I had to go to LaPaz with my aunt who was visiting. I made myself drink water, and eat only a serving of chips and salsa (still 200 calories) and I took half of my burrito supreme home. I still felt like I was going to burst and it was obvious that I had eaten too much. But do you think that stopped me from having two bites of brownie at Jennifer's house just 3 hours (and a lot of Pilates) later? No.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Happy Birthday Jen!

Today is my friend Jen's 28th birthday! Luckily for me, I have already celebrated with her; meaning I have already consumed the extra calories required to ring in a new year of life! I am sure Jen is having fun celebrating all week though. I just want to take this opportunity to celebrate Jen. She is such an inspiration for me. She has proven that if you set your mind to something you can accomplish anything. It's not just that she has lost weight and kept it off for a long time now. It's more. She has become an athlete. And although as long as I have known her she has been into working out (remember the kickboxing class she took in college that required her to drink four glasses of milk at dinner!) she has truly become a strong and determined work-er-out-er. I am in awe of her because she didn't just lose weight, she changed her life. And anyone who does that is an inspiration. That is why we started these blogs, so that Jen would keep me motivated and I guess, I in turn would motivate her to keep working hard. And I think it has worked well. She brings me motivation every week. Every time I think: this is impossible, I remember that Jen has been through it, and she has come out a champion! I hope you have a great birthday Jen.

Bad news though, I took two hours of vacation on Wednesday so I could get to the 4:30 Combat class. Well, turns out the class isn't until Thursday. Today's 4:30 class is Step, and I am not about to take that, at least not alone the first time. There's no way I can take vacation time on Thursday to get to Combat class. So it looks like my work schedule will continue to ruin my workout life. I am still taking the vacation time though, I will hit the gym anyway to get some type of cardio in. Tonight I am going to do a Pilates DVD at home. I have no idea what to expect. I have never done Pilates, but I have heard it is excellent and hard. I'll let you know.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Working 9-5

My job has taken over my life. I hate that I don't control when I work, but that the needs of the public dictate when I have to put in my eight hours. I hate that I have to work Thursday nights now and never, ever get to go to BodyPump then. So in order to get to three BodyPumps in a week I have to wake up at 6am on Fridays. In general I hate that I work nights and weekends, I mean this is my career, not my high school job. I hate that I can only get to one Combat a week. And last night I decided I absolutely L-O-V-E Combat... more on that later. And I hate that certain people at my job, who will remain nameless, take advantage of their superiority to change the schedule whenever possible and work as little as possible. I on the other hand try to use my superiority to inspire change and hard work! (I am even posting this blog on my lunch break.) Well, I have decided that I have had enough of it. I have plenty of vacation time. I am going to start using it in wise chunks. If I ask to take two hour off on Wednesday afternoons, I will be able to go to the 4:30 Combat class. If I come in 1 hour late on Saturday mornings I can make it to the morning Pump class. These things are important. I don't have a family, I don't have kids, I'm not in school and therefore it is assumed I have no obligations. But I am making my health my obligation. So today, I am taking a half-hour lunch break and leaving at 5:30. I will get to the gym in time to do at least 40 minutes of cardio before I have to go to BodyPump. I am using no vacation time, just a little creative rearranging. And look at the great results.

Now onto how I am in love with Combat. I have never enjoyed sweating so much. I can seriously just feel the fat melting off of me with each jump, or jab or kick. I have gotten better at the moves each week and even though there are times when I am a tad lost, I pretty much pick everything up right away. My moves have gotten better, harder, more forceful and although I am always tight in my shoulders the next day, I am not sore. My heart rate is up the entire time but I never feel like I am not going to make it. Yesterday, even the jumping lunges seemed easier. And I love the track where you run up to the mirror and do belly rips before running backward. Oh, I just can't say enough good things about it. That is why I am going to try to use my vacation to make it to more Wednesday afternoon sessions. I don't love the instructor for the afternoon class and none of my friends will be there, but hopefully the sweat will keep me going.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Let's Try Again

Another slight gain this week. I added another .5 pounds to my total, taking me up to 17.5 left to lose. This has pushed me over the edge; I am going to get back to eating right. Obviously, I have figured out how to eat whatever the hell I want and maintain my weight, but I have not figured out how to eat that much and lose. So I am going back to eating 1200 calories per week. Perhaps with one day a week a little higher. This allows me to celebrate summer occasionally, but keep the calories down the rest of the time. For example: this week, Ryan is having a barbecue on Saturday. As long as I stay at 1200 calories the rest of the week, I will be allowed to eat a yummy cheeseburger and enjoy a summery beverage. I feel like I am going to be really hungry this week, but it's just what I have to do.

Sometimes my family over-exaggerates my weight loss. Yesterday my mom was exclaiming how tall and skinny I was. This baffles me a little, because I weight what I did in high school and nobody would have called me skinny then. I mentioned to my mom yesterday that I had 12 pounds left to lose (I really have 17, but 12 would be a great start). She said that she would love to lose about 12 pounds as well. So we are beginning a challenge. You know how that motivates me so. The first one of us to lose those twelve pounds get $25. It's not a lot. But I could buy a new pair of pants. And it's enough that I don't want to lose. So I am starting again. I am going to be more realistic this week. What you can't drink two giant Margarita's and lose weight?

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Too Hot

I made it to my third BodyPump of the week this afternoon. I have begun to enjoy Sunday afternoon class more and more. I am not as afraid of Jesse winking at me as much and it's a smaller class, which is usually nice. I went up on my squats today. So I am finally back up to the large, medium and small, that I was doing back in May before I got weaker or my back hurt or whatever else was wrong with me. I will work at this level for a few weeks, and then in August, I want to go up to two larges. I didn't increase my chest weight as I had talked about because I remembered those silly push-ups at the end and didn't want to be too tired. I think on Tuesday I will increase my bicep weight again. I had stopped doing the medium and the small when I stopped going three times a week. This track doesn't seem to be too bad for biceps; at least it has a break. This class was the first time I ever had to leave and get more water. It is just so humid and hot at the gym. Well, I guess it's pretty darn hot just about everywhere in this state!

I stayed after for just 15 minutes to finish up my seven hours for the week. Yeah! I got two more points in my CWE (total of 13). That is not nearly enough. We have to get to 30 by the end of August. I better make that a goal for this week: to get 4 morning points. I also earned $13 toward my car stereo (up to $62). But did I mention that I already bought the stereo? I am still making myself earn the money -- I am almost there! I'm thinking that it was a pretty good week. We'll see tomorrow morning. I am hoping for just a two pound loss.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

More Pumping

I made it to my second BodyPump of the week this morning. Saturday morning class used to be really full, where if you didn't show up at least 5 minutes early, it was impossible to get a spot. I haven't been to Saturday morning class for a few weeks. But today, it was lovely, only seven of us were there. Again we did the new songs; there's still a week left of that. There are somethings that I just can't do all the way through: the oblique hover, the arnold presses with the medium plates, all the pushups in the chest track. However, there are several things that I can do all the way through which make me very excited: the lunges on the bench and the tricep dips! I am going to go to class again tomorrow afternoon. I am planning on increasing my squat weight (back to where it was when I was going three times a week) and my chest weight. I have never thought avout going to a large on my chest, but this track doesn't seem as difficult (well, until the pushups that is!)

I stayed after Pump to do 30 minutes of cardio. I was hoping to do some running/walking intervals. But I was so sweaty from class, that I decided to just walk hills instead. I love working out for 30 minutes. The time just flies by. When you are used to doing an hour of cardio, half of that feels like nothing. Jennifer went to Pump with me, but then spent those 30 minutes going over to talk to her dad at Kia. I could have gone with her, but think of all the extra calories I burned just by staying at te gym a little longer. Looks like I can have a bigger Margarita tonight at dinner!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Injury

Have I mentioned that I have hurt myself. A few weeks ago, during Combat, I noticed that my left leg really hurt when I was doing all the knee lifts. You know the ones: where you take the intruder's head and pound your knee into their groin/stomach! Yeah, those are fun! But it was hurting the connection between my own groin area and my leg. More like the muscle on the very top of my thigh. Over the next couple of weeks I would feel a pain if I crossed the leg, or made other slight movements, but not often. Then last week during Combat, I had to quit doing the knee lifts altogether on that side, there seemed to be so many. This new launched didn't have quite as many and I was able to make it through them all, even though I could totally feel it. Since then, I have been in pain. Lifting that leg up to my body for any reason (to cross my legs, to tie my shoe, to put on socks, to examine my pretty toes) HURTS. I am trying to find a stretch that will help it. Until then, I might need to take a break. Not from the class, just from the left knee lifts! In further Kickboxing news. I am going to get other DVDs from the library and try to do one per week. Eventually I will find one that is as great as Combat. Right? Does anyone want to share anything about Tae Bo? I've never tried it; but if someone has, please comment on it's effectiveness.

This morning I met Erin at the gym. I used the Elliptical machine (set to Gluteal) for 30 minutes. I don't know if it was the humidity or the fact that I was working pretty hard, but I worked up quite a sweat. Then we moved over to the treadmill where I ran/walked for 30 minutes. I only did 1-minute running, 2-minute walking segments, but I made myself do them at 11-minute miles (pretty fast for me). It also had me sweating quite a bit, but by this time, we had rounded up a couple of fans. This puts me at 4.5 hours of working out this week. I am going to let myself and my left thigh muscle take tomorrow off. But I will be back at it Saturday morning for BodyPump!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Kickboxing at Home

By the miracle of technology I tried something new tonight. I checked out Fat Burning Kickboxing for Dummies from the library. It's on DVD and allows me to do Kickboxing in the confort of my own living room. I am torn about whether or not I want to add it to my routine.
Pros:
- Saves me 30 minutes of gym travel.
- I can do it at anytime. No more waiting until Monday night every week.
- Uses all the same moves as Combat.
- Privacy. Two words: Naked Kickboxing! Well, or just a sports bra and shorts.
- I get my own living room fan all to myself.
Cons:
- Only 40 minutes long. What am I going to do for the other 20 minutes? I added 5 minutes of ab-work tonight, but still...
- I don't sweat as much and probably don't burn as many calories.
- No running or sprinting or punching bag work.
- The music totally sucked.
- It's hard to shuffle forward four steps when my living room is only three steps wide.
- No cute gay instructor to keep me motivated.

Tonight I was able to make it into an hour workout because I went through the 15 minute tutorial at the beginning. Even though everything was review from Combat, it was good to see the punches and the kicks broken down into steps. Although I am still confused about the difference between a Roundhouse kick and a side kick. Especially since the DVD does Roundhouses to the side and not the front.

Anyway, I have gotten a good start to my workout week. Of course I went to Combat on Monday. Then on Tuesday I went to my normal Pump class only to find two different instructors. And never did they mention where Mary was. The nice thing about two instructors was that Ryan walked around and made sure everyone had the right form. Three days of lunges in a row pretty much had me dead on the floor. But I love adding the step. It takes it up just the notch I need. Then Erin and I stayed after for 30 minutes on the treadmill. Mixed with tonight's at-home workout and the fact that I am meeting Erin at the gym in the morning, leaves me well ahead for the week. Which is a good thing because Jennifer and I are trying to finish out our Dining Cards (which expire in August) so we are doing a lot of eating out.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Book Review

I recently read the book "Such a Pretty Fat" by Jen Lancaster. It is her personal memoir of weight-loss. It sort of reminds me of my workout blog and makes me think how hip and trendy we all are! Erin had mentioned that she was going to talk about it on her blog, but I have been waiting for her to review it and she still hasn't. So I am going to say a few things about it and then she can add whatever she wants. Overall, it's not the greatest book and I wouldn't say that you all need to rush out and read it. But it's not a bad read if you're looking for something. It's like Chick-lit meets biography. And I really love memoirs, so it seems like something I would pick up. It describes Jen aversion to working out, how much she enjoys food an the emotional issues she has to deal with in order to overcome her eating problems (disorder?).

Some things I loved about it:
- She goes to a weight watcher's meeting and everyone there is bitching about the office cake. I can so relate to this, seeing as break room food is one of my biggest obstacles. However, she hates how the WW leaders encourage people who boycott office parties, or skip the cake and in privacy later throw it away and spread dish soap on it so it doesn't tempt them. Jen's thinking is: if you don't teach me how to deal with these type of things in a normal way, then I will never be okay with my food issues. Does this remind anyone else that Miranda dated an over-eater, and he over-ate-her! That's all I could think about throughout that chapter.

-She joins Jenny Craig but stops after a few weeks because they only believe in eating special frozen meals. If you can't eat at a restaurant, she's not about to get on board.

-She begins her 100 pound weight-loss program with the Adkins diet. She figures the jump start will be exactly what she needs to get started. Turns out she can only go about three days without drinking alcohol or bread or potatoes or pasta. She never gets past the first two weeks, so she never makes it to phase two. Like me, she just loves food too much.

-She hates working out. But she hires a personal trainer (which Erin despises about her) and it totally makes over her life. I wish I could afford a personal trainer. I also wish I got paid to write about my working out and paid to go to the gym.

-She agrees that pretty matching outfits make working out much more fun.

In the end she is only down between 40 and 50 pounds and still has over 50 left to lose. But she's on the right track and that's what she wanted. She doesn't discuss how to get the last 15 pounds off your body though. That's what I need to know. I can only hope that there will be a sequel that will explain it all to me.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Combat Update

Oh. My. God. This new Combat routine killed my legs. And my arms. And made me sweat a ton. But was very do-able. I think I can tell that it is getting easier and that I am getting more and more physically fit. The songs were pretty fun. I enjoy a final track that is only abs and not a whole bunch of push ups. But the jumping lunges were so so so hard. Oh yeah, and I think I have pulled a muscles or something in the place that connects my pelvis to my leg. What muscle is that? Whenever I have to do those leg lift things on the right side, it leaves me in a lot of pain. And it hurts whenever I cross and uncross my right leg (like in normal life) that can't be good. I just wish I could go more often. I am really considering driving up to Omaha every Saturday just to take the class with Jen!!

Not this Week

This wasn't the week I hoped it would be. I actually gained a pound; putting me at 17 above my goal. And I had wished for a big loss. This makes me wonder if the 1600 calories is too high, because I really did stick to that guideline. I did eat some salty food last night, which could alter it slightly, but as I mentioned, it hadn't budged all week. I think I will stick with this plan for another week, and then I might have to make some changes. Obviously gaining is not the way I had wanted to go. I am just so aggravated. Sometimes I think I should do some hard-core diet to lose these last pounds. Perhaps low-carb. eating would be just the boost I needed. But then I remember that I love to eat, and that I like bread too much.

Tonight I am going to go to Combat. Like Jen, I am excited to hear the new songs. I always think that Combat songs are great. What I am most looking forward to is the repetition of the launch songs. I like that we do the same thing for two weeks in a row. It is the only time I really feel like I know what is going on. I do not like this phenomenon in Pump, because I get so tired of the same thing in there. As difficult as Combat is, I am looking forward to it. It's the only thing I have that just melts the fat away!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

If you Believe in Music

Today I made it to my third BodyPump this week. I haven't done that in a while. (I know you missed the graphic!) Yesterday was the launch, and therefore all new music. And I have to say that it was excellent. Almost all the songs were things you could sing along to. And when you're thinking about the songs you don't spend so much time noticing the burning in your muscles. I had been thinking about adding weights to my lunges, because I haven't been struggling with them as much lately (and I would do anything to get better calves) but the new tracks make us use the bench, so I did that instead. That is definitely more difficult. But I enjoyed it. There was a whole bunch of oblique work in the abs track, which although wasn't difficult, left me with major mat-burn on my left elbow. I don't know how to fix that next time... a towel? I feel really good though. I love going to Pump three times a week. I haven't been able to keep my weights as high when I only go twice a week, and everything seems so much harder. I don't know what to do about my schedule. I have to find a way to go back to working Wednesday nights.

I have had an alright week. I averaged less than 1600 calories per day. I worked out for seven hours. I earned two more points in my CWE (total of 11). I got another $10 for my car stereo ($49). But my weight hasn't changed all week. Until yesterday, I thought that my scale was stuck, but luckily this morning it moved... UP. So we'll see what tomorrow morning brings. Maybe 1600 is too many. It hardly feels like I am limiting myself.

Friday, July 11, 2008

I Rock!

I have accomplished my workout goals for the last two days in a row. Last night I drug my tired-self to the gym after work. Although I was very gung-ho about it at 6:00, I was much more reluctant by 9pm. When we were walking to our cars Kelley told me she had to go to her other job still. I said that I was going to the gym so we could feel sorry for each other. It was a nice motivation to know she wasn't going home to sit on her couch either. It was far too muggy and too dark to do anything outside. So watching TV at the gym was a nice alternative. I walked steep hills for an entire hour. Now that's definitely something that could strain my back. I will have to watch that. Then today I made it to the gym for BodyPump and an hour of cardio.

Tonight Brandy is having us over for some games and cocktails. I have been eating lightly all day so I can partake in the snacks and drinks. And with my newly added 400 extra calories per day, I should definitely be able to enjoy. Tomorrow is Launch Day for all fitness classes at the gym. I had considered taking the 8am Combat class. I have to work, but getting done with class at 9 would make it possible for me to get to work before 10. However, I doubt I will feel like getting up that early, plus I have never tried to work a full day after Combat. So I think I will stick to my plan of taking tomorrow off from working out. I only have to workout for one hour on Sunday, and I think I will save that for an afternoon BodyPump class.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Day after Day after Day

I have managed to workout Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I let myself sleep in this morning, but I am going to try to workout after work. I am not sure yet if that means going to the gym or attempting to get a workout outside. I will have to weigh the humidity level vs. the rain factor vs. the dark effect. Honestly I got about a 30 minute workout at work today moving a whole bunch of shelving around; I was even sweating! But I won't count that -- that's just my job, exercise must be on top of that. Tomorrow I have the day off (this is one of those weeks where I work Saturday and never get two days off in a row). I plan on going to BodyPump in the afternoon with a half an hour of cardio on each side of it. If I follow through will all my plans, I will be able to take Saturday off. Otherwise, I will have to cram it in somewhere.

Now onto a complaint. The point of this blog was to keep me accountable. And for the most part I think it works pretty well. But, someone explain to me why nobody has asked me what happened to my five-week running plan. Remember the one I started in the middle of May, that was going to get me to run two 11-minute miles. Yeah, that died after about two weeks. Yet, nobody said: why aren't you running fat-ass? That really might of helped. As it is, I have stopped all running plans. I did run a little last night at the gym, but nothing worth writing about. The only good thing about running is the intensity. I have a hard time sweating that much unless I am doing Combat.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The Perfect SAT score

On my new plan I am allowed to eat 1600 calories per day. This seems like a ton of calories to me. I have been starving myself (not literally) for months now trying to only eat 1200 a day. I have developed a pattern of eating 200 for breakfast, 400 for lunch, a 100 calorie snack and around 500 for dinner. It works out perfectly; assuming my snack isn't a 300 calorie brownie from the break room. So allowing myself to eat an extra 400 calories per day is like eating a whole other meal, or a candy bar, or that brownie or a whole bunch of yogurt. I haven't been able to actually get to 1600 either day this week. Not that that is horrible. Any extra will just help me lose weight faster, but still... I feel great; like I can eat anything. My goal is to increase my metabolism by eating more. I hope that plan works!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Fresh Start

The last few weeks I have been horrible. I have been eating like crazy. And as I continue it gets worse and worse. At first I was just not counting calories and enjoying a beverage or dessert here and there. Then I started enjoying both. Then yesterday I order fried food!!! (Gasp!) I haven't done that in almost two years. It makes me a little sick to think of it. It's as if I went though all the work to quit smoking and then yesterday I lit one up. Luckily it's not like I am addicted again after one taste. And it's probably a good sign that it makes me ill thinking I would eat chicken strips (when they aren't even that great for the enormous amount of calories they contain). So today I am starting fresh.

I am back up to 16 pounds. I am not concerned about losing it in time for my reunion. I am just concerned with it going down and not up. I am going to get back to writing down (in my online food journal) everything I eat. I am going to allow myself 1600 calories a day. I will continue to workout seven hours a week. This should result in a one pound loss per week. Which means I won't be done for 16 weeks (the end of October). I think I need to go that slowly to lose these last few pounds and to allow myself to celebrate the joys of summer. Increasing my calories might boost my metabolism as well. I am going to move my weigh-in day back to Monday. It makes all my calendars line up better. Hopefully I can lose several pounds in the next week. Sometimes that happens after I have been gaining for awhile. I am aiming at a 4 pound loss this week!

Oh yeah , my back went out last night. I slept about two hours. Then I called in sick for work, because I couldn't get off the floor and I had hardly slept. Eventually this morning around 9:00 I fell asleep and my muscles relaxed. So now I am doing alright. I thought about going into work at 1:00. But then I realized that I never call in sick, and there are usually plenty of people there in the afternoon. I told them to call me if they absolutely needed me. Now, I don't know when/if I will be going to the gym this evening. Although I think working my back would be good for it, I am always scared to pull something after it goes out. Unfortunately it's a strange muscle thing when it goes out and seems to have no connection to any physical things I do before or after.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

H H B K

Today was my half birthday! Although, I have no hopes in hurrying to be 29, I do enjoy celebrating everything that has to do with my birthday. I am now closer to being 29 than I am to being 28. And seeing as that isn't the happiest thought, tonight I had TCBY. I also ate too much, played with Jennifer's niece and nephew and never worked out the two hours I was supposed to. I only made it to the gym 5 hours this week. I earned 2 points in my CWE (total of 9) and I made $8 toward my car stereo (a total of $37). However, I found a really good deal on car stereos last week, so I already bought one. My car turned over to 150,000 miles this weekend. So the stereo was a birthday present for both of us. Jennifer says I should make myself listen to only one station until I have earned enough money. We'll see...

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Pain in the Neck

I have had cake two days in a row. I went from never eating it and passing it by every time to eating it twice in a row. I haven't been watching what I am eating at all for the last few weeks. For the most part my weight has stayed pretty much the same, but I know it won't keep that up. All those chips and Margaritas and servings of cake will catch up with me. I am going to need to get back on track.

I have been working out really well this week. I did a Pump/Combat combo on the 4th of July. It was very tough. Even Pump was hard; it was so humid in the classroom that everything seemed more difficult. I was so proud of Jennifer for taking it with me. She even stayed when we found out that Jesse was going to teach Combat. Hopefully I burned enough calories in the class to make up for the drinks I had to celebrate Independence day. However, something I did yesterday made my neck really stiff and painful. I am not sure if it was all the exercise or something regarding swimming and attempting to jump onto floaties. Either way, I hope that I am back in top shape tomorrow. I am hoping to get up early and go for a bike ride. Then I am still contemplating taking another Pump class tomorrow afternoon. It is the only way I will get three sessions in this week and seven hours of workouts. But, I have some family obligations and other fun things planned. So I will have to see if it all works out.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Red, White and oh so Blue

Generally I don't discuss my mental/emotional health because a) this is a fitness blog and b) I don't know who is reading it. But this week has been really really tough on me. As many of you know, the 4th of July is my most favoritest holiday of the year. The whole celebrating freedom bit requires me only to sit outside, eat yummy food, enjoy the sun, and alcoholic beverages. That's a holiday I can get into. It's not based on anything religious, so I am not required to feel bad for not including that in my celebration. I don't even have to spend time with my family and therefore nobody can make me feel guilty. I am celebrating our Freedom and my right as a woman to be independent (which is not true in many other countries). Not to mention the fact that I enjoy the colors red, white and blue, whereas you will never see me wearing a Christmas sweater! Nothing about this holiday isn't great!

So you can understand my depression at being all alone and having nobody special to celebrate the holiday with. I have literally cried every day this week, just knowing that the best three day weekend of the year is almost here, and I will be wishing that I was working instead. I know that I cannot allow myself to hole up in my house and wait for the holiday to be over. I know that I need to celebrate this year like I always have. What better way to declare Independence than by behaving like a brave, strong woman. But I am not brave, and I am not strong. I am sad and lonely and feel like I will never be able to move on. But it's more than just needing a boy by my side. I don't have enough friends either. I have nobody to invite me to things and I don't even know enough people to have my own party. Don't get me wrong, I have plans. By default I have been invited to someone else's celebration, with someone else's loved ones, in someone else's pool. Even that makes me sad.

For crying out loud: I have flag flip-flops that I only allow myself to wear on the 3rd and the 4th every year. And a girl with that much pride in the holiday, shouldn't feel this sad about its arrival. I just don't know how to fix me.