Saturday, November 26, 2011

Pausing...

There is a lot to be thankful for this year.  A wonderful, caring husband, great kids, a job I love.  But there is one thing that gets me agitated.  My body is like the body of a 70 year old.  My knees crack, I have sciatic nerve pain, and now, I have a pulled ab muscle.  Never had this problem when I didn't have abs.  Now that I'm trying to get some, they decide that walking pushups are too much for them and they go on strike.  On the bright side (I'm stretching here because I really am upset about it), it's a good time for it.  I'm heading out to California tomorrow morning, so instead of packing the DVD and weights like I planned, I'll leave them here and give my ab a few days to heal.  I haven't tried running yet (was thinking about getting out today, but I may just have another rest day), and hopefully won't have an issue with it when I try in CA.

Keep your up exercises!  And be sure to warm up good!

Friday, November 25, 2011

No JM today

I hope I'm not disappointing anyone, but there will be no Jillian Michaels today.  It's been a busy day, and I'm stuffed with pizza.  My mom probably doesn't want me to puke the pizza on her floor.

I'll get the workout and a run (I hope) in tomorrow!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

30 day shred, day 10


Level: 2

Date: November 24, 2011 (turkey day!)
Time of exercise: 9:30am
Qty (each strength is done twice):
walking pushups:    
squat and row: 
dumbbell row w/
static lunge:      
pendulum lunges w/ 
hammer curl**:  
military press w/
leg extension: 
chair squat w/
v fly lift  :     
weight: +2.5 lbs 

* - didn't complete the strength for the whole time allotted 
** - due to my bad, crackling knees, I won't do the lunges.

Notes: 
There was no counting exercises today!  I did my workout with my 3 kids, a niece and a nephew.  There was barely enough room to do anything, but we made it through it!  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

30 day shred, day 9


Level: 2

Date: November 23, 2011
Time of exercise: 5:00pm
Qty (each strength is done twice):
walking pushups:     5, 4
squat and row:   17*, 15*
dumbbell row w/
static lunge:        23, 16
pendulum lunges w/ 
hammer curl**:   31, 28
military press w/
leg extension:  16, 10*
chair squat w/
v fly lift  :      23, 5*
weight: +1.5 lbs 

* - didn't complete the strength for the whole time allotted 
** - due to my bad, crackling knees, I won't do the lunges.

Notes: 
 Just a real quick note today because I'm ready to start my Thanksgiving vacation!   Even though I only did about 1/2 of the plank exercises yesterday, my abs were still sore today! Hopefully I'll be able to see some abs soon.

Even though I've got crummy knees, I'm thankful for my body and all that it can do.  I ran 2 miles before this at a 8:19 per mile pace!  I felt great.

Happy Turkey Day!

30 day shred, day 8 and level 2!


Level: 2  Oh wow....
Date: November 22, 2011
Time of exercise: 6:05am
Qty (each strength is done twice):
walking pushups:     5, 4
squat and row:   27, 19
dumbbell row w/
static lunge:
pendulum lunges w/ 
hammer curl**:
chair squat w/
v fly lift  :
weight: +1.5 lbs 

* - didn't complete the strength for the whole time allotted 
** - due to my bad, crackling knees, I won't do the lunges.

Notes: 
 You might notice that, after the first two exercises, I don't have any quantities filled in above.  I did do them, but I was flabbergasted on how much harder this level was, that I forgot to count!  If levels were named by how hard they were, this would be level 250!  This is not a step up from level 1, it's a run, a hop, a skip, a spider man swing, and a superman jump over a building away from level 1.  Wow, is all I can say.
This level has a ton of planks in it.  I hate planks.  I've done yoga and pilates a time or two, but have never stuck with it.  Mainly because it is filled with planks.  I am unable to do them!  I blame it on my three kids and the toll they took on my abs (I guess the real reason is that I've never really worked on my abs so I have no foundation).  I'm looking forward to next week when I will think these are easier!  For the walking pushups, I watched twice and I think I went down about 2 inches into the pushup.  Maybe I can make it 3 inches in a few days :)

In addition to all of the moves involving planking, this also has a lot of strength and cardio that may hurt my knees.  I'm going to take it easy the first few times to see if my knees can do it, otherwise I'll start modifying more than just removing the lunges.  The cardio from level 1 I thought was pretty easy.  I thought it was because, cardio wise, I was in shape.  What a slap in the face it was that I had to rest during cardio this level!

The only thing that made me giggle and pay attention was that Natalie (the person you watch if you want harder exercises) cheated a couple times and it made me laugh.  Jillian caught her one time.

I got up early this morning to do the exercises and I like that.  I didn't have to worry about it later in the day.  Except for I didn't carve enough time out for blogging about this and I forgot to do it last night!  Hence the 5:30am bog this morning.  Stay tuned for my level 2 trek this afternoon!

Monday, November 21, 2011

30 day shred, day 7!

Holy cow!  It's been a week!


Level: 1
Date: November 21, 2011
Time of exercise: 10:00am
Qty (each strength is done twice):
pushups: (girl)     18, 14
squat and press:  15*, 7*
dumbbell row:    15  , 15
static lunge w/ 
bicep curl:           26 , 25
chest Y's:            completed all (didn't count these because I knew I could finish them)
anterior raises w/
static lunge**:        22, 16
weight: +1.5 lbs 

* - didn't complete the strength for the whole time allotted 
** - due to my bad, crackling knees, I won't do the lunges.

Notes: 
 I got up with the kids this morning (I usually lay in bed until they start yelling for me on Mondays :) and weighed myself.  I was up 1.5 pounds.  Pretty discouraging!  I decided, instead of throwing the Wii remote at the tv (I weigh myself using the Wii Fit scale), I'd just try harder this week.  When I looked at the overall calories burnt last week, I was a few hundred calories below my goal (I try to burn 2,000 calories a week).  I felt like I was exercising a lot, but I guess it wasn't enough.  So I started off the week with Zumba!  What a fun activity to do with friends.  I made up some moves of my own.  I didn't do any of the lunges (my tiny way of saving my knees).  My arms were tired from Zumba, so I really had to focus on getting the reps in this morning.

I enjoy getting these exercises done in the morning because I feel like I've accomplished something and I don't have to think about it later in the day.

Before shredding today, I did Zumba.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

30 day shred, day 6


Level: 1
Date: November 20, 2011
Time of exercise: 8:30pm
Qty (each strength is done twice):
pushups: (girl)     18, 14
squat and press:  14*, 10*
dumbbell row:    15  , 15
static lunge w/ 
bicep curl:           26 , 25
chest Y's:            completed all (didn't count these because I knew I could finish them)
anterior raises w/
static lunge**:        23, 18* 

* - didn't complete the strength for the whole time allotted 
** - due to my bad, crackling knees, I won't do the lunges.


Notes:  Are you noticing my '*'s going down?  I am!!  (The * represent the strength exercises that I wasn't able to do the whole time.)  I wish I could say that I feel stronger and more energized, but I really don't notice much of a difference.  I struggled to do pushups for the whole time, but I knew I was only one away last time, so that pushed me through today.  I was wondering if I could do all of the strengths exercises today, but my form started to go bad in my presses, and I don't want to count those.
Tomorrow will be 7 days of Jillian Michaels, so I'll weigh myself and see if I've shredded anything!  I think I'll do a day or two more of Level 1, but I think I'm ready for something new in Level 2.

I plan on doing this every day (I was only home for 5 hours yesterday, with 3 of those hours sleeping, so I didn't have a minute to put towards this), unless I have another day away, or something comes up. I have training next week in California and I plan on bringing the DVDs and weights (I don't think they weight carry ons).  That's dedication :)

Before shredding today, I got in my long run of 6 miles (59 minutes).  That was at 2:30, so I did wait a long time to do these exercises.  I didn't stretch after the run today, so it was nice to get a second chance to do that.
   

Friday, November 18, 2011

30 day shred, day 5


Level: 1
Date: November 18, 2011
Time of exercise: 2:30pm
Qty (each strength is done twice):
pushups: (girl)     18*, 14
squat and press:  14, 5*
dumbbell row:    15  , 15
static lunge w/ 
bicep curl:           26 , 25
chest Y's:            completed all (didn't count these because I knew I could finish them)
anterior raises w/
static lunge**:        18*, 14* 

* - didn't complete the strength for the whole time allotted 
** - due to my bad, crackling knees, I won't do the lunges.


Notes:  Maybe you've noticed (but probably not), but I completed a full set of pushups!  The first set (I did 18), I didn't realize if I did one more I would have done pushups for the time allotted. But the second set I did pushups the whole time!  I'm pretty proud of myself.  Even just after 5 days, they feel easier.
One thing I forgot to note yesterday, was that the presses (squat and press, minus the squat) without the weights were hard.  I thought that was weird.  I wonder if I'll ever be able to both sets if it's hard without weights?

I enjoy working out earlier in the day, because my evenings can now be filled with wine and good company (hi mom and Rachelle!).  I may be on my 3rd....or 4th glass, so I better cut this short now!

One last thing.  I am leaving for Chicago for all day tomorrow.  I won't be back until after 11pm, so I know I'm not going to get a workout in (Meredith, please don't cry!).  I don't plan on having day 6 without exercise, so my day 6 will be on Sunday.  Stay tuned until then (and thanks for reading :)


Thursday, November 17, 2011

30 day shred, day 4


  1. I'm so tired
  2. I ate McDonalds and now I feel sluggish
  3. I think I'm getting a headache
  4. I can barely keep my eyes open
  5. I started my period
  6. Just a quick nap first
  7. I'm already in my pjs
  8. I'm still a little sore
  9. The kids are still up
Level:  1
Weights: none today
Date: November 17, 2011
Time of exercise: 8:30pm 
Qty (each strength is done twice):
pushups: (girl)     15*, 10*
squat and press:  -, -
dumbbell row:    -,-
static lunge w/ 
bicep curl**:       -, -
chest Y's:            -
anterior raises w/
static lunge**:        -, - 

* - didn't complete the strength for the whole time allotted 
** - due to my bad, crackling knees, I won't be doing the lunges

Notes:  Above are all of the excuses that went through my head after dinner.  So what did I do?  I went upstairs and reluctantly put on my sports bra (tho I was still wearing my pajamas, "You're shredding in your pajamas?" asked my husband).  I can rest later. (though this decision looks easy here, it was a hard one to come by!  I didn't want to become a failure on day 4)
I don't think I have ever worked out 4 days in a row, so I shouldn't have been surprised when my mind was like "What?!?!"  But now that it's done, I'm glad I did it.  Guess what I would have been doing instead of exercising?  Sitting on the couch with the rest of my children's halloween candy I'm sure.  There may be more silver lining in this daily exercise than I thought!

Like I mentioned yesterday, I decided not to use weights today.  I'm not nearly as sore today as I had been, so a nice, lightweight workout was what I needed.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

30 day shred, day 3


OUCH!!  It's been a long time since I've been sore.

Level:  1
Weights: 4 lbs
Date: November 16, 2011 (Happy Birthday Eli!)
Time of exercise: 7:50pm 
Qty (each strength is done twice):
pushups: (girl)     10*, 9*
squat and press:  8*, 5*
dumbbell row:    15  , 15
static lung w/ 
bicep curl**:       26 , 25
chest Y's:            completed all (didn't count these because I knew I could finish them)
anterior raises w/
static lunge**:        15*, 5* 

* - didn't complete the strength for the whole time allotted 
** - due to my bad, crackling knees, I won't be doing the lunges

Notes:  First of all, working out last night at 9:30 was not a good idea.  I looked at the clock the last time at 12:19am.  So, of course, 6:20 came too early this morning.  I could also feel my chest being sore while lying in bed.  There will definitely be an early bed time tonight!

Picture a tube top with cap sleeves on it.  That is where I'm sore.  I barely made it past the warm up today!  Jillian says "If you feel like you are doing to die, follow Anita."  I followed Anita the whole session.  I think tomorrow I may do it without any weights to give my muscles a little rest.  I love feeling my abs sore though!  I'm kind of considering taking a before and after picture of my mid section to see if I can tell a difference.  I'm scared I'll be disappointed if I don't see any results though. 
Unfortunately, I could feel more pain in my knees, so I took out all the lunges.  I need to find a way to work my butt now.  Any suggestions?

Before shredding today, I had to get in a weekly run (I usually try for 3 times a week to run).  I ran 4 miles in 36:34, ate dinner, helped put the kids to bed, and then started the shred. 

Thank you all for following me!  I wouldn't have done this workout today if it wasn't for you! So THANK YOU!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

30 day shred, day 2

Day 2:  A little sore in my pecs. Guess even  a few pushups count!  Decided to let my stomach rest after dinner by watching Glee and then shredding afterwards. When I told my husband about this, he says "That should be easy."  Easy never crossed my mind!

Let's get this official!  Here's my template for the next 30 days.

Level: (Jillian has three levels) 1
Date: November 15, 2011
Time of exercise: 9:30pm - this was way to late, cuz now I'm wide awake; started running at 9pm
(there's probably some way to put a table in here, but I can't find it real quick right now)
Qty (each strength is done twice):
pushups: (girl)     15*, 13*
squat and press:  15*, 10*
dumbbell row:    15  , 15
static lung w/ 
bicep curl:           26 , 25
chest Y's:            completed all (didn't count these because I knew I could finish them)
anterior raises w/
static lunge**:        15*, 10* 

* - didn't complete the strength for the whole time allotted 
** - due to my bad, crackling knees, I can't do the lunge.  This is the exercise that was the straw that broke the camels back, but in this case, the lunge that broke my knee and sent me to physical therapy for 6 weeks.
Notes:  All weights today were done with a 2 - 4 lb weights (one for each hand).  I know!  I'm a weakling!  I hadn't felt my abs at all today, but when I started doing the crunches, they felt a little sore.  Good for me!  Before doing the shred today, I walked 5 minutes, ran 15, and then walked 5 for a total of 2.2 miles.  Felt a little sore when doing the push ups and maybe that was the reason I let myself stop.

Background:  I'm a runner, and have always been a runner.  Occasionally I have done kickboxing or step aerobics, or some other hot-off-the-press aerobics fad (P90x), but have never stuck with it.  I've stuck with running (for most of the time anyways).  About 2 years after my third son was born, I had to go to physical therapy for my knee (see Notes above).  I took some time off of running, and my knee stopped crackling when I walked up and down the stairs.  As soon as I started up again, the crackling came back.  Now, within the last 2 months, my knee kind of pops when it's extended (think walking stairs, but not running because I must not fully extend my leg when I run).  This doesn't hurt at all when all of these noises are going on, but today I noticed a little bit of a very, very slight pain.  I didn't think much of it, but when I started doing the lunges again today, it made me wonder if that little, slight pain was from the lunges that I did yesterday.  When I was doing the lunges again today, I felt that slight pain again, so I may have to take lunges out of the mix all together.  I'd rather save my knees for the few years of running that I have left :(

Anything you want to do for 30 days?  Tell me about it and let's do it together!

30 day shred

Jillian Michaels promises "dramatic weight loss and body definition in only 30 days" with her 30 Day Shred DVD  (http://30dayshreddvd.com).  Jillian Michaels and I have a love/hate relationship.  Pretty much I hate her DVD.  I love that it is only 20 minutes.  I dusted off the DVD case yesterday and wondered if I could really do it 30 days in a row.
Her DVD consists of warm up, then 3-2-1 intervals (3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute abs, repeated 3 times), finally cool down.

I decided why not give it a try and blog about it while I'm doing it!
I've got my weight measured, so let's see how "dramatic" this is.

Day 1:  Fit in 20 minutes while Bryson was napping.  Hud joined me for awhile.  It was actually fun.  I did 15 push ups (on my knees!) the first round and only 8 the next (pretended that Hudson needed help with something).

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Conference #1

Since we had Carson's conference first, I'll dedicate this blog to the start of his 2nd grade year.  Next week, we'll see about Hudson!

Carson started off the school year a little resistant.  He had told me all year how he wanted Mrs. R for 2nd grade.  After talking with a few parents, I was told all 2nd grade teachers were wonderful this year, so I left it up to the school to decide.  His two best friends were in Mrs. R's class, as well as a ton of other names I recognized.  After reading him his class list, he quietly went and sat back in the car.  From that moment on (this was about 2 weeks before school started), he never talked about school (and for Carson not to talk, you know that's odd!).  We went and met his teacher, which ended up being kind of quick because she was talking with a talkative parent.
Why in the world was I worried?  After the first week, he had stories about all of the kids that he was playing with, and he was able to see his two BFFs at recess.
It got me thinking to his 1st grade year and how we had his teacher look up her recess schedule to see if theirs overlapped with his BFF from kindergarten who was in another class.  He ended up with different BFFs in his class at the end of the year and it couldn't have gone any smoother.
How could I forget what an easy going, play with everyone type of boy I am raising? And based on his conference a couple of days ago, his teacher couldn't agree more!

Here's C with his best class friend who, coincidentally, had the same costume!

Mrs. N said that Carson is always the first one done with his work, always keeps his desk clean (they take time out on Fridays to clean their desks, if they are clean, they get to go play), and has the highest points in the reading comprehension tests (the kids take tests after reading the books and you get .5 - 1 point for each book).  My conclusion?  Carson likes to play.  Why not learn the material so you can get done faster?  Why not keep your desk clean all of the time so you can play for the time that is allotted for others to clean their desk?  Why not read little kid books so you can get more points?  Oh. Wait.  He's a little sneaky too!  At the beginning of the year, he started reading kindergarten & first grade level books, which he could read a couple during library time and take the tests to get the points (it made me wonder why he had checked out a book that we already had at home).  The teacher caught on quickly enough and made him take a week off of the tests and is making him read grade level or higher books.  He now enjoys reading chapter books ("MOM!  The hamster was in the closet!") which is wonderful.
His kryptonite?  Music class.  Not so good of a review.  How do you not even get satisfactory in music class?  Ta ta tee tee ta.  The teacher even said that all you had to do was move your lips and pretend to sing.  So I've got to follow up with her.
I've very proud of my oldest son and the young man he is becoming.  I'd totally buy him a "Plays Well with Others" shirt and maybe a "Mom is so Proud of Me" shirt.  :)

Ten

Ten things you may not know about me (in no particular order):

  1. I hate removing fingernail polish, so...
  2. ...my toes are almost always painted.  My pedicures last MONTHS!
  3. I wholeheartedly enjoy having only boys.  I can't even figure out how to do my own hair most days.
  4. I sleep with my comforter over my head.  I sometimes only have a small spot opening for my mouth/nose to breath.
  5. I am SO jealous of the average height women who can go to almost any department store and buy a fabulous outfit.  Even corporations that have tall sizes, don't have them in the store!  Apparently they think tall women are hermits and not allowed out of their houses.
  6. My favorite color used to be blue.  But now that my house is overflowing with blue (and testosterone), it has switched to purple.  In the past, I never liked to wear purple, only admired it, but now I even have some purple shirts.
  7. (this may not surprise you) I grew up as a tomboy: riding motorcycles, sprees, lawn mowers, go carts, building forts in the woods, flinging kids off the back of snowmobiles, washing cars, doing oil changes, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  The first time I went to an oil change place was when I started my job at Consumers and bought my Grand Prix GTP (yes, I paid extra for the bigger horsepower!).
  8. I LOVE dancing!!
  9. I despise gardening.
  10. I don't have Facebook on my phone.