Week three... going okay.
I made it to days 1-4 in week 1 which felt pretty good... then missed friday/sat and felt like crap. It sucks, the time that has to be put in to make it to classes, and when it's hard to have any free time at all in the day, carving that time out sucks.
I can list the excuses for missing classes, I suppose... trip to Iowa, visiting my aunt in the hospital... one day I had a headache and was dizzy. One day I had a pretty crappy day at work and just wanted to go home.
This week started a new 10-week challenge, so classes have been pretty crowded. Kickboxing classes are so noticeably lighter than the FIT classes, even though instructors have FIT members doing things between exercises like pushups, burpees, whatever. I miss doing hooks and uppercuts, though... so I threw some in on my own between sets... :-)
I was trying to focus on roundhouse form yesterday, turning my hips over when striking and pulling my leg back before putting it down to the mat. I figured since my right knee has been feeling fine the past week or so, I could start pushing it a little. Well, then late in the class my right hip started hurting deep down inside when I was doing right rounds. So I gave up on it and was just doing knee kicks... when we switched to left rounds, the right hip was still hurting the same... so did left rounds too.
I took a few days off of work... Sarah's on 'fall break' for school right now so I took the time off so she could have some real time off to recharge, was hoping to go this morning but sarah slept in (which she needs) and I wanted to get dishes done and was on kid duty. <sigh> Today is also our anniversary, so I guess I'll have a relax day and plan to kick tomorrow morning and then make it Saturday morning for five attendances this week. I made it to four in week 1 and only three last week. :-(
Randy came up to me Tuesday and said he has to take my picture again for the challenge... I laughed... because that's really fair right, taking my 'before' picture in week 3? He laughed and asked if I'd lost 20 pounds or something. Touche, Randy. At least he took the picture BEFORE the upper body strength training session (he took the first ones after the class)...
also, I checked my body fat yesterday, I'm down about 0.4%... what incredible progress. (note sarcasm). With ten weeks left, to get down to 22% I need to go down 0.5% a week. <sigh> I may have a 'zero carb' phase coming up.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Day 4...
Okay, for the first time since last December I made it to four classes in one week. I'm at 100% attendance this week. Whoo-hoo! It's been rough, it's definitely all FIT classes, this week and next week before the next 10 week challenge starts. it's been pretty rough, thanks to my slacking off the past few months. Well. Past six months. Okay, the past nine months.
Lauretta pulled me aside before class today because she took my body fat measurement wrong on Monday... so I'm at 28%, not 33%... which is great for my self-esteem but crappy for the challenge. Oh, well.. I'm not winning the challenge anyway, I just want to make my own improvements. I'll set some goals here...
After crunching some numbers, here are my goals:
22% body fat (this is what I was at in college when my buddy started making fun of me)
290lbs (this is what I should be at if I get down to 22% body fat without losing/gaining any muscle mass.
60 pushups (aggressive... that's up from 39)
80 situps (up from 45)
I have no idea what I might lose of my waist and belly and everything... be nice to knock it down, but wherever I end up if I meet the goals above are fine.
I want to the mile run again, too... in 7 minutes or less.
My lower back keeps bugging me... we did around the world lunges which I hate, I worry about my knees and ankles and turf toes doing those lunges every time and don't do them very well... plus it's crowded and I need a lot of room to lunge in every direction, so I had to make sure I wasn't hitting the wall or the woman next to me.
Other fun stuff from class today... Surrenders, burpees with pushups, hen pecks, donkey kicks, a bunch of ab stuff (been a lot of that in general this week). We also did sumo squats which wasn't terrible, seated flys, some isolated tricep extensions which went pretty well. Beat up the triceps though, there's been a LOT of pushups all week. When we started the second set of burpees with pushups, I went down for the first pushup and there was nothing left in my arms, I basically fell to the mat.
Sarah's taking it easy (like I said earlier)... she's meeting me for the 4:30 kickboxing class tomorrow. I hope we warm up with gauntlets through the bags instead of the stupid jumping and running across the floor. We'll see.
Lauretta pulled me aside before class today because she took my body fat measurement wrong on Monday... so I'm at 28%, not 33%... which is great for my self-esteem but crappy for the challenge. Oh, well.. I'm not winning the challenge anyway, I just want to make my own improvements. I'll set some goals here...
After crunching some numbers, here are my goals:
22% body fat (this is what I was at in college when my buddy started making fun of me)
290lbs (this is what I should be at if I get down to 22% body fat without losing/gaining any muscle mass.
60 pushups (aggressive... that's up from 39)
80 situps (up from 45)
I have no idea what I might lose of my waist and belly and everything... be nice to knock it down, but wherever I end up if I meet the goals above are fine.
I want to the mile run again, too... in 7 minutes or less.
My lower back keeps bugging me... we did around the world lunges which I hate, I worry about my knees and ankles and turf toes doing those lunges every time and don't do them very well... plus it's crowded and I need a lot of room to lunge in every direction, so I had to make sure I wasn't hitting the wall or the woman next to me.
Other fun stuff from class today... Surrenders, burpees with pushups, hen pecks, donkey kicks, a bunch of ab stuff (been a lot of that in general this week). We also did sumo squats which wasn't terrible, seated flys, some isolated tricep extensions which went pretty well. Beat up the triceps though, there's been a LOT of pushups all week. When we started the second set of burpees with pushups, I went down for the first pushup and there was nothing left in my arms, I basically fell to the mat.
Sarah's taking it easy (like I said earlier)... she's meeting me for the 4:30 kickboxing class tomorrow. I hope we warm up with gauntlets through the bags instead of the stupid jumping and running across the floor. We'll see.
Monday, September 29, 2014
12 wk challenge kickoff
Made it in this morning... 4:40AM to get my testing in quick. So per the Farrell's scale (and after I had a yogurt and like 20 ounces of water), I was 315lbs this morning, I think 33.4% body fat. I didn't write down all of my measurements, I should have . My hips were 48 inches, I think... don't remember my thighs, I don't think she did my arms. I did only 10 inches on the stretch, but that may have been in part due to my back being screwed up since yesterday. I did 39 pushups and 49 situps in a minute. The pushups felt great and then around 25 it was like all the strength drained out of my arms and they turned to jello. It was really a weird experience, honestly... I don't remember ever hitting a wall so dramatically. Lauretta ran us hard this morning, too. Like 50 squats during warm-ups... then pushups and situps....I started to do a situp and there was nothing there, my back said 'fuk you, buddy'. I did tabletop crunches instead and tried to stretch it out... I need to make a chiro appt I think, I haven't been there since April and I could use the adjusting.
I'm logging my intakes with MyFitnessPal again. I gotta be honest here, 12 weeks is daunting. I haven't made it to more than 12 classes in a month since last December, so this is going to be a serious commitment, considering I need 70% attendance, that's 4.2 classes a week... or I can just figure at least 4 classes a week and then one 5-class week a month at minimum. I'm shooting for 5 classes a week to start, though, and 6 classes when I can, rather than planning to do the bare minimum... :-)
I took a picture of my calves this morning. Everything between my thighs and my shoulders looks flabby and disgusting but at least my calves are toned. <shrug> I guess 51 weeks of Farrell's is transformative even if you're a crappy FIT member.
I'm logging my intakes with MyFitnessPal again. I gotta be honest here, 12 weeks is daunting. I haven't made it to more than 12 classes in a month since last December, so this is going to be a serious commitment, considering I need 70% attendance, that's 4.2 classes a week... or I can just figure at least 4 classes a week and then one 5-class week a month at minimum. I'm shooting for 5 classes a week to start, though, and 6 classes when I can, rather than planning to do the bare minimum... :-)
I took a picture of my calves this morning. Everything between my thighs and my shoulders looks flabby and disgusting but at least my calves are toned. <shrug> I guess 51 weeks of Farrell's is transformative even if you're a crappy FIT member.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
argh
It's just one of those days. I started writing this entry up and then for some reason I got logged out and lost it all. F-it.
The fall FIT challenge starts next week. Basically a 12 week challenge instead of the regular 10-week challenge... and it's with partners. I asked John but he's teaming with his wife, he helpfully suggested Justin or Jill since they're offering themselves as free agents for the challenge also. We'll see if they want to team with me or match me with someone else.
I hope I don't get hurt again. I screwed up my back in May and hyper-extended my knee in August, got sick last week... so many excuses.
I'm still around the same weight... 313. I think that testing for this challenge is on Sunday, I'll post my 'starting' data then. Man, I want a donut.
The fall FIT challenge starts next week. Basically a 12 week challenge instead of the regular 10-week challenge... and it's with partners. I asked John but he's teaming with his wife, he helpfully suggested Justin or Jill since they're offering themselves as free agents for the challenge also. We'll see if they want to team with me or match me with someone else.
I hope I don't get hurt again. I screwed up my back in May and hyper-extended my knee in August, got sick last week... so many excuses.
I'm still around the same weight... 313. I think that testing for this challenge is on Sunday, I'll post my 'starting' data then. Man, I want a donut.
Monday, March 17, 2014
FIT challenge 1 complete.
Well, the challenge is done. It's days later, I know... it's been kind of a crazy week or so. Sarah just worked her fourth overnight in a row last night so I've been Mr Mom since Thursday. Also, my parents and niece and nephew came to visit Saturday and left yesterday. Even just now I had to take a five minute break from writing this to beat an Angry Birds level for Joshua. Today and tomorrow are no better than it's been... Sarah is sleeping now, Joshua's teacher will be here in less than an hour, then after that I think we're taking the boys so we can go get me a new sport jacket or suit for my interview tomorrow afternoon.
Anyway... excuses, excuses. I missed Thursday and Friday last week... FIT challenge testing was at 7AM Saturday morning with a FIT class before it at 6... which incredibly I actually made it to (Emma was here, so I woke her up to sleep on the couch for when the boys wake up so I could go). We started the class doing our pushups and situps testing... which went well. I didn't meet ANY of my goals but everything got better... and I was pretty excited that I didn't even start slowing down on the pushups until I was in the 30s.
So here is where I would post my results... but I can't because my book is somewhere in my bedroom and Sarah is sleeping. But if I waited until she was up to do this... I wouldn't be able to because either I'd forget or there'd be something else I have to do... dishes, laundry, cleaning up after the boys... whatever. ugh.
Anyway... I pushed hard at the FIT class and I'm paying for it now. I didn't go to either resistance class last week and then we did a lot of upper body on Saturday... so my biceps are both trashed and my right shoulder actually is messed up, I have a hard time lifting anything with it. So that's great.
I lost I think six pounds in the challenge and 0.5% body fat. Everything else went down a little... couple inches off my hips, gut, chest, etc... I improved my pushups from 41 to 55 I think (my goal was 60) and comparable with situps... maybe the pushups was 52 and the situps was 55, I don't remember. Better, though... which is the point. It's a long haul... I can see the difference in the mirror, I can feel the difference just walking around, etc. I've lost about 15 pounds total since I started Farrell's in October... which is not the dramatic weight loss that I've had in the past, but it's progress. Last week I ordered and got new running shoes that I had hoped to try out yesterday but it didn't happen. Marathon training starts in like six weeks, so I need to start getting into it, I'm excited for it. Also hoping I nail my interview tomorrow... it's nice having time to spend with the family, but I really should get back to work. Obviously, I'll never be a published author since I can't manage to make time to actually write, so I need to work for the man.
Anyway... excuses, excuses. I missed Thursday and Friday last week... FIT challenge testing was at 7AM Saturday morning with a FIT class before it at 6... which incredibly I actually made it to (Emma was here, so I woke her up to sleep on the couch for when the boys wake up so I could go). We started the class doing our pushups and situps testing... which went well. I didn't meet ANY of my goals but everything got better... and I was pretty excited that I didn't even start slowing down on the pushups until I was in the 30s.
So here is where I would post my results... but I can't because my book is somewhere in my bedroom and Sarah is sleeping. But if I waited until she was up to do this... I wouldn't be able to because either I'd forget or there'd be something else I have to do... dishes, laundry, cleaning up after the boys... whatever. ugh.
Anyway... I pushed hard at the FIT class and I'm paying for it now. I didn't go to either resistance class last week and then we did a lot of upper body on Saturday... so my biceps are both trashed and my right shoulder actually is messed up, I have a hard time lifting anything with it. So that's great.
I lost I think six pounds in the challenge and 0.5% body fat. Everything else went down a little... couple inches off my hips, gut, chest, etc... I improved my pushups from 41 to 55 I think (my goal was 60) and comparable with situps... maybe the pushups was 52 and the situps was 55, I don't remember. Better, though... which is the point. It's a long haul... I can see the difference in the mirror, I can feel the difference just walking around, etc. I've lost about 15 pounds total since I started Farrell's in October... which is not the dramatic weight loss that I've had in the past, but it's progress. Last week I ordered and got new running shoes that I had hoped to try out yesterday but it didn't happen. Marathon training starts in like six weeks, so I need to start getting into it, I'm excited for it. Also hoping I nail my interview tomorrow... it's nice having time to spend with the family, but I really should get back to work. Obviously, I'll never be a published author since I can't manage to make time to actually write, so I need to work for the man.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Week 8 started
Well, it started YESTERDAY.
Yesterday was really really bad. I think it's a combination of things. Firstly, last week Wednesday I weighed myself (or maybe it was Thursday morning) and I was 309... which is the lightest I've been in years. (if you can call that 'light') So I was super excited. Worked out resistance training Thursday... then we had a big nasty snowstorm and we didn't want to risk the roads on Friday so I missed Friday Funday. Then Sarah went and made an incredibly delicious banana cake this week. So... my diet was crap this weekend. On top of that, I had mostly coffee on Sunday and little to no water, so I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated yesterday. I also went to tan in the early afternoon and then I nearly froze my hands and feet having a cigar in the garage while reading...and this was all before I went to work out at 4:30. At least I didn't have a bowl of cereal or two before I went...
And Jillian worked us hard anyway. There were a fair amount of jump-squats and burpees... one set of burpees (20) was because she caught a bunch of people knocking off an exercise early. I may have been one of them, I'm not sure, I was trying not to throw up or pass out. I've never really felt that bad... it's very possible that my sugar loading over the weekend followed by me following diet proper yesterday really crashed my blood sugar or something. Whatever the reason, it was bad. Also, she had this evil abs 'pyramid' in the middle of the workout too... either four or five different abs exercises that she had us do 30 or 40 reps of going 'up' and then slightly less going 'down'. I fought through what I could... I'm planning to go to Sarah's back adjuster lady to try to fix my lower back/right hip. It would be great to not be hampered by that while doing abs stuff (toe touchers are the worst for it...)
Sarah and I are planning to hit resistance training tonight after Emma gets home from targeted services... so we should be at 6:30. I also got some new workout clothes from ShopKo yesterday... so that's pretty exciting. Obnoxious orange shorts and a blue sleeveless workout top. Alexander and Joshua were taking turns running around in the shirt last night like it was a dress.
Oh... my left elbow has been hurting ever since we went tubing on the 14th with the kids. I apparently strained something holding the tow rope with my left arm while keeping ahold of either Alex or Josh with the right. I do not like that. At least my turf toe hasn't gotten worse. I was worried about my right knee a bit yesterday, though, I got pretty enthusiastic with some right rounds and it started to hurt a little. I slowed down and took care to follow safe and proper form and it stopped hurting.
Not directly related to Farrell's, but I also knocked a little divot of flesh out of my right shin this weekend when I banged it into our open dishwasher door. THAT felt really good when I kicked the bag with it yesterday... so I had to be more careful to hit the bag right... and my ankles are kind of sore today from doing that too, I think. Kind of feel like my body's falling apart... ibuprofen time. :-)
Yesterday was really really bad. I think it's a combination of things. Firstly, last week Wednesday I weighed myself (or maybe it was Thursday morning) and I was 309... which is the lightest I've been in years. (if you can call that 'light') So I was super excited. Worked out resistance training Thursday... then we had a big nasty snowstorm and we didn't want to risk the roads on Friday so I missed Friday Funday. Then Sarah went and made an incredibly delicious banana cake this week. So... my diet was crap this weekend. On top of that, I had mostly coffee on Sunday and little to no water, so I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated yesterday. I also went to tan in the early afternoon and then I nearly froze my hands and feet having a cigar in the garage while reading...and this was all before I went to work out at 4:30. At least I didn't have a bowl of cereal or two before I went...
And Jillian worked us hard anyway. There were a fair amount of jump-squats and burpees... one set of burpees (20) was because she caught a bunch of people knocking off an exercise early. I may have been one of them, I'm not sure, I was trying not to throw up or pass out. I've never really felt that bad... it's very possible that my sugar loading over the weekend followed by me following diet proper yesterday really crashed my blood sugar or something. Whatever the reason, it was bad. Also, she had this evil abs 'pyramid' in the middle of the workout too... either four or five different abs exercises that she had us do 30 or 40 reps of going 'up' and then slightly less going 'down'. I fought through what I could... I'm planning to go to Sarah's back adjuster lady to try to fix my lower back/right hip. It would be great to not be hampered by that while doing abs stuff (toe touchers are the worst for it...)
Sarah and I are planning to hit resistance training tonight after Emma gets home from targeted services... so we should be at 6:30. I also got some new workout clothes from ShopKo yesterday... so that's pretty exciting. Obnoxious orange shorts and a blue sleeveless workout top. Alexander and Joshua were taking turns running around in the shirt last night like it was a dress.
Oh... my left elbow has been hurting ever since we went tubing on the 14th with the kids. I apparently strained something holding the tow rope with my left arm while keeping ahold of either Alex or Josh with the right. I do not like that. At least my turf toe hasn't gotten worse. I was worried about my right knee a bit yesterday, though, I got pretty enthusiastic with some right rounds and it started to hurt a little. I slowed down and took care to follow safe and proper form and it stopped hurting.
Not directly related to Farrell's, but I also knocked a little divot of flesh out of my right shin this weekend when I banged it into our open dishwasher door. THAT felt really good when I kicked the bag with it yesterday... so I had to be more careful to hit the bag right... and my ankles are kind of sore today from doing that too, I think. Kind of feel like my body's falling apart... ibuprofen time. :-)
Monday, February 17, 2014
challenge week 7... Monday...
Okay, after a week of being sick, I've managed to only gain one extra pound. I HATE how much it feels like starting over when you miss some time from Farrell's though... I expect resistance training tomorrow to be pretty bad. I need to make it every day this week. There are four weeks left in this challenge, I can do a lot of damage if I focus. NO MORE BAKED GOODS. I have a terrible tendency to finish my kids' leftovers because I hate wasting food. Corn dogs, macaroni and cheese... ugh. It is not good to be a human plecostomus. I need to go wake Sarah up so we can make it to the 9:30 class... (and wake up Emma to watch her brothers). It's snowing a wet nasty snow out there, should be a lovely drive.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Happy Valentine's Day!
I've been sick all week. I kicked on Monday... figured the lightheadedness was due to being so into it, maybe low blood sugar... super congested and achey Tuesday morning (Monday evening really). So it's been a really fun week.
Supposed to be having a dryer, dishwasher and microwaved delivered today from Home Depot. Dryer's fine... but they called last night to tell us something's on backorder so the microwave and dishwasher won't be delivered until March 21st. That's really great, considering I placed the order on February 3rd... nice planning. That might just give me time to look for other deals for product that's in stock so I can get my stuff before March 21st.
Anyhoo... we're supposed to be taking all the kids tubing tonight, along with Nathan's girlfriend. Should be interesting. I'm sorry for my terseness, I'm kind of pissed about the appliances we've been looking forward to for almost two weeks.
Supposed to be having a dryer, dishwasher and microwaved delivered today from Home Depot. Dryer's fine... but they called last night to tell us something's on backorder so the microwave and dishwasher won't be delivered until March 21st. That's really great, considering I placed the order on February 3rd... nice planning. That might just give me time to look for other deals for product that's in stock so I can get my stuff before March 21st.
Anyhoo... we're supposed to be taking all the kids tubing tonight, along with Nathan's girlfriend. Should be interesting. I'm sorry for my terseness, I'm kind of pissed about the appliances we've been looking forward to for almost two weeks.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
FIT challenge week 5 day 3
It's only Wednesday, feels like it's been a long week already. Kickboxing Monday and strength training yesterday... both times were with Jillian. I don't know if it's just her or if someone went to a clinic and decided to add in some new tortures, but there have been some new evils added in. Yesterday we did the three-position pushups drill deal where you have position 1 is arms straight, position 2 is midway and position 3 is the lowest point... and she calls out positions for you to move to and hold it there. This was after doing like 20 pushups anyway, it was pretty brutal... I couldn't do it, my arms gave out. Then later we were holding a straight-arm plank and she had us just shift to an oblique straight-arm plank, then shift to a reverse plank, then oblique the other side, then back to straight arm planks. That was in one way cool, but also pretty tough... which is good. I just have weak points in my shoulders that don't support my massive weight when shifting around like that yet. :-( Kind of like how the angle of dips is a really weak area for me.
Yesterday's evil was jump squats after doing drop sets of squats. Jump squats started from holding a squat, then jump, then down and hold the squat... repeat. I don't know why that burns so exceptionally much, I was about to fall down.
Jill was telling people to band up and I caught her glaring at me... or at least in my direction... on squats. I hate that because my legs are strong so I can squat a lot but when I've got two purples and a blue band that I have to hold to do the squats, it's not my thighs that burn out, my shoulders, elbows and hands/wrists start to hurt like hell from holding the bands up. Actually, I think I injured my right thumb, it's been hurting since last night. I wish we had squat racks with free weights for that exercise... or maybe just a bar I could hook the bands onto... maybe I'll think about doing that with the bars we have. I'll probably break them. :-(
Sarah felt no desire to go to strength training yesterday, we're going to 5:30 today (after Emma gets home so she can watch the boys). I need to be careful doing backfists kickboxing because I think I started tweaking/injuring my left ankle pivoting on it. It was sore last week on Friday Funday, too, but that wasn't from pivoting, it was just pushing off doing jabs and whatnot. Just to cover the rest of my injuries, my right knee is fine, I've been really careful to keep my form good when doing knees/rounds with it... and my turf toe (left big toe) is pretty good, I can do pushups without it hurting too much. Lunges still suck on it... but it's getting better.
Yesterday's evil was jump squats after doing drop sets of squats. Jump squats started from holding a squat, then jump, then down and hold the squat... repeat. I don't know why that burns so exceptionally much, I was about to fall down.
Jill was telling people to band up and I caught her glaring at me... or at least in my direction... on squats. I hate that because my legs are strong so I can squat a lot but when I've got two purples and a blue band that I have to hold to do the squats, it's not my thighs that burn out, my shoulders, elbows and hands/wrists start to hurt like hell from holding the bands up. Actually, I think I injured my right thumb, it's been hurting since last night. I wish we had squat racks with free weights for that exercise... or maybe just a bar I could hook the bands onto... maybe I'll think about doing that with the bars we have. I'll probably break them. :-(
Sarah felt no desire to go to strength training yesterday, we're going to 5:30 today (after Emma gets home so she can watch the boys). I need to be careful doing backfists kickboxing because I think I started tweaking/injuring my left ankle pivoting on it. It was sore last week on Friday Funday, too, but that wasn't from pivoting, it was just pushing off doing jabs and whatnot. Just to cover the rest of my injuries, my right knee is fine, I've been really careful to keep my form good when doing knees/rounds with it... and my turf toe (left big toe) is pretty good, I can do pushups without it hurting too much. Lunges still suck on it... but it's getting better.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Happy Groundhog's Day!
Gee, I wonder if we're going to have 6 more weeks of winter. It was -18 this morning. Definitely having a 'real' winter this year. I'm pretty sure it's the coldest overall winter on record, at least here in MN. I looked at records back 30 years to see if those cold winters of my youth were like I remembered... they weren't. I mean, most of the past month was below zero temperatures. I don't think we've ever had it that cold for that long.
Anyway... I kind of turned things around last week. I made it to class every day Monday through Friday... did not make it in Saturday. I took a hot bath Saturday night, Sarah worked overnight... I woke up at 7 Sat morning with a bad headache so I caved. I really wanted to spend some time with Sarah before she had to go to bed, too. Excuses, I know, but I made it to five classes last week! :-)
The resistance classes were pretty tough and odd. Tough because honestly I haven't really been to them in a long time. Odd because some things I'm really strong with like rows, then there'll be something that I'm super weak with like flies or something. Thursday was funny, I was at the 4:30 class with John. The whole 'middle' row was full and I wound up going to the front in the corner because I didn't want to be in the back looking at John's butt. So up front at one point we were going sitting rows and I used my two purple bands and the blue band... John laughed over at me and asked why I don't band up... it's funny, but I mean, I finished all the sets, it's just one of those muscle groups that really developed on me. Later we were doing kickbacks which I hate. What I hate about them is just having to lean over and hold my elbows back and up, it's an awkward position and tires my thighs and back. I know, it sounds like I'm whining... because I probably am. So I used a blue band and after the first set, I look back at John and he gives me this look like 'wtf' and kind of nods and mouths 'band up'. I sighed and grabbed the purple. He's right though. I'd gotten soft and comfortable since my 10wks ended. I tried to focus more on really kicking as hard as I can when we're doing rounds for power... really hitting the bag when we're doing burnout jabs or stick and move, etc.
I really liked Friday, it's been a while since we did the rotating wheel, it was fun. Sarah and I were both there at the 5:30 class. There were a lot of pushups between exercises, but it was like 'five pushups and rotate'... which is great because I can always do five pushups. If it was 20, it might have been a problem but I've always got enough left to knock out five quick.
They posted the prizes for the FIT challenge... $1000 for the overall winner with decreasing amounts for second and third place... and everyone on the first place team gets 100 bucks. Not that it matters, I won't be winning any of it. I am focusing on making the 70% attendance... I've really screwed myself the first three weeks. And getting my weight down. I was actually down this morning about five pounds since last week (311). It's so encouraging. I hate seeing the same 314 to 316 every day. The past few days kind of worked down 314, 312, 311. :-)
Tomorrow starts week 5. Six weeks left... I shouldn't have any problem dropping two pounds a week for six weeks. Might be much easier, Sarah's starting South Beach phase 1 tomorrow again, so there shouldn't be any more baking going on around here.
Anyway... I kind of turned things around last week. I made it to class every day Monday through Friday... did not make it in Saturday. I took a hot bath Saturday night, Sarah worked overnight... I woke up at 7 Sat morning with a bad headache so I caved. I really wanted to spend some time with Sarah before she had to go to bed, too. Excuses, I know, but I made it to five classes last week! :-)
The resistance classes were pretty tough and odd. Tough because honestly I haven't really been to them in a long time. Odd because some things I'm really strong with like rows, then there'll be something that I'm super weak with like flies or something. Thursday was funny, I was at the 4:30 class with John. The whole 'middle' row was full and I wound up going to the front in the corner because I didn't want to be in the back looking at John's butt. So up front at one point we were going sitting rows and I used my two purple bands and the blue band... John laughed over at me and asked why I don't band up... it's funny, but I mean, I finished all the sets, it's just one of those muscle groups that really developed on me. Later we were doing kickbacks which I hate. What I hate about them is just having to lean over and hold my elbows back and up, it's an awkward position and tires my thighs and back. I know, it sounds like I'm whining... because I probably am. So I used a blue band and after the first set, I look back at John and he gives me this look like 'wtf' and kind of nods and mouths 'band up'. I sighed and grabbed the purple. He's right though. I'd gotten soft and comfortable since my 10wks ended. I tried to focus more on really kicking as hard as I can when we're doing rounds for power... really hitting the bag when we're doing burnout jabs or stick and move, etc.
I really liked Friday, it's been a while since we did the rotating wheel, it was fun. Sarah and I were both there at the 5:30 class. There were a lot of pushups between exercises, but it was like 'five pushups and rotate'... which is great because I can always do five pushups. If it was 20, it might have been a problem but I've always got enough left to knock out five quick.
They posted the prizes for the FIT challenge... $1000 for the overall winner with decreasing amounts for second and third place... and everyone on the first place team gets 100 bucks. Not that it matters, I won't be winning any of it. I am focusing on making the 70% attendance... I've really screwed myself the first three weeks. And getting my weight down. I was actually down this morning about five pounds since last week (311). It's so encouraging. I hate seeing the same 314 to 316 every day. The past few days kind of worked down 314, 312, 311. :-)
Tomorrow starts week 5. Six weeks left... I shouldn't have any problem dropping two pounds a week for six weeks. Might be much easier, Sarah's starting South Beach phase 1 tomorrow again, so there shouldn't be any more baking going on around here.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Busy yet slacking
Long, LONG overdue. Sorry.
So over Christmas break I went to like three or four classes, that's it. I signed up for the FIT challenge January 5... basically the same as the 10-wk challenge but with FIT members, and we all chipped in for the prizes and whatnot. Around 55 members in the challenge and let me just say there's no way I'm winning it. I've been to at most three classes in a week the past three weeks (this is the start of week 4), have not been eating great. I've lost like... two pounds, that's it. I don't really have any good excuse. I took a couple of business analysis classes so that I can get a certification for my resume padding... to hopefully help me get a new job... so that ate into my time available to make it to class, but that's only 4 hours a day. Not a good excuse. At least I got sick last week... a chest and then head cold that knocked me out good Friday and Saturday... so that's my excuse for two of the four days last week that I missed last week.
I don't know what the magical switch is. It really is like any addiction, you don't just choose to stop doing it (I'm referring to eating right now). The only time I've really been successful with changing how I eat was right after the boys were born. I think I've been distracted and unfocused... and then I think 'ah, fuk it'. Honestly, there's a chicken and egg relationship with this blog, too. I don't want to post if I'm not doing well... and then if I'm not going to post, I have less motivation to get to class. And then I think 'well, nutrition is more important than going to class anyway... I'll skip class today and just focus on my nutrition plan' (that was last Thursday). But then I DON'T focus on my nutrition plan. I hate feeling like my body is weighing me down, but still I do it. It's so stupid and not worth it.
The Ventura marathon is September 7th this year. That's the last chance to qualify for the Boston marathon in 2015. I have to finish in 3hrs 15 minutes. It's easy to say/think 'there's no way in hell' and just fuk it. But then again, I'm getting old awfully fast and my body won't be able to do this kind of training forever. Hell, I'm shocked that I haven't really injured something just at Farrell's... maybe the multivitamins and glucosamine are doing their jobs. I kind of feel like this is my chance, though. It's not like I have a job to distract me, right? But then again, I'm not going to pay to fly out to California to run a marathon if I don't have a job so I better find something by then. Anyway... the Hal Higdon training regimen has me starting the program the first or second week in May in order to run a Sept 7 marathon (and the Grandma's half-marathon is right about at the perfect part of the training schedule for me... late June) so I have that to look forward to in a few months. Hopefully I'll be able to run outside for at least a few weeks before then to start getting into running shape, though the way this winter has been going, there'll probably be snow on the ground into June.
Anyway. Sarah and I hit the 4:30 class today. It was crowded and I was exhausted. I think it's because I've been sick, but I haven't been that exhausted since that FIT class I went to back in October. Jill pushed me good, too, made me kick harder on low/high rounds. She means well but I hate her. No, I don't hate her or any of the other instructors, they really are great. It's me that I hate and that's my problem, I think.
I don't think I've been to a strength training class in three weeks... I haven't done a donkey kick since December! This is stupid and so am I.
So over Christmas break I went to like three or four classes, that's it. I signed up for the FIT challenge January 5... basically the same as the 10-wk challenge but with FIT members, and we all chipped in for the prizes and whatnot. Around 55 members in the challenge and let me just say there's no way I'm winning it. I've been to at most three classes in a week the past three weeks (this is the start of week 4), have not been eating great. I've lost like... two pounds, that's it. I don't really have any good excuse. I took a couple of business analysis classes so that I can get a certification for my resume padding... to hopefully help me get a new job... so that ate into my time available to make it to class, but that's only 4 hours a day. Not a good excuse. At least I got sick last week... a chest and then head cold that knocked me out good Friday and Saturday... so that's my excuse for two of the four days last week that I missed last week.
I don't know what the magical switch is. It really is like any addiction, you don't just choose to stop doing it (I'm referring to eating right now). The only time I've really been successful with changing how I eat was right after the boys were born. I think I've been distracted and unfocused... and then I think 'ah, fuk it'. Honestly, there's a chicken and egg relationship with this blog, too. I don't want to post if I'm not doing well... and then if I'm not going to post, I have less motivation to get to class. And then I think 'well, nutrition is more important than going to class anyway... I'll skip class today and just focus on my nutrition plan' (that was last Thursday). But then I DON'T focus on my nutrition plan. I hate feeling like my body is weighing me down, but still I do it. It's so stupid and not worth it.
The Ventura marathon is September 7th this year. That's the last chance to qualify for the Boston marathon in 2015. I have to finish in 3hrs 15 minutes. It's easy to say/think 'there's no way in hell' and just fuk it. But then again, I'm getting old awfully fast and my body won't be able to do this kind of training forever. Hell, I'm shocked that I haven't really injured something just at Farrell's... maybe the multivitamins and glucosamine are doing their jobs. I kind of feel like this is my chance, though. It's not like I have a job to distract me, right? But then again, I'm not going to pay to fly out to California to run a marathon if I don't have a job so I better find something by then. Anyway... the Hal Higdon training regimen has me starting the program the first or second week in May in order to run a Sept 7 marathon (and the Grandma's half-marathon is right about at the perfect part of the training schedule for me... late June) so I have that to look forward to in a few months. Hopefully I'll be able to run outside for at least a few weeks before then to start getting into running shape, though the way this winter has been going, there'll probably be snow on the ground into June.
Anyway. Sarah and I hit the 4:30 class today. It was crowded and I was exhausted. I think it's because I've been sick, but I haven't been that exhausted since that FIT class I went to back in October. Jill pushed me good, too, made me kick harder on low/high rounds. She means well but I hate her. No, I don't hate her or any of the other instructors, they really are great. It's me that I hate and that's my problem, I think.
I don't think I've been to a strength training class in three weeks... I haven't done a donkey kick since December! This is stupid and so am I.
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