Zumba recap and plans for the week

Last night was Zumba!!  I just absolutely LOVE the class and last night I found myself pushing it a lot harder than I normally do and boy am I feeling the effects of that this morning.  We did a bunch of fun songs, but because I was in the front, I found myself concentrating harder and doing the dances more easily and I think part of it was because I could tell there were a few ladies that were following MY steps and Kelsie had to step out for a second in the middle of one of my favorite songs and then it felt like the whole room was watching me.  Either way it was a super fun class and I got a good workout, so mission accomplished.

Plans for this week include Vinyasa Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Kickboxing TWICE, Zumba TWICE, and whatever else I can get my hands on.  Proper fuel is a MUST this week and March is the last month of the Biggest Loser Challenge at Willowbridge and if I want one of those spa packages, I need to FOCUS!  I fully plan on trying a spin class next week and the following week a Core and Conditioning class.  Should be an interesting few weeks and then after March, it's back to boot camp for this girl!  All of that aside, it's time to focus on today :)

Namaste

Woke up this morning and saw how light it was outside and realized that I didn't set an alarm for kickboxing this morning :(  I figured I was up much too late and checked my phone 6:55!!!! YAY!!!  Perfect timing little miss internal clock!  I got up, dressed, fueled up (turkey, pea pods, and an apple) and headed out to Kickboxing followed by Vinyasa Yoga.  I feel AWESOME!  Came home, mid morning snack (fiber one cereal & Chobani Greek Yogurt) and hopped in a nice hot shower.  What a great start to my Saturday!!  Considering I was up late last night and up earlier than preferred this morning, I'll probably be napping with the kiddos after lunch.  Just need to run some errands today and do some laundry.  So I'll sign off the same way we end out yoga class.  May you have peace in your heart, may you have peace in your words, and may you have peace in your mind, Namaste.

Update

Last night I went to Zumba and it was a FULL HOUSE but so so fun!  I was a little hesitant about my breathing, but I brought my inhaler and only needed two puffs toward the beginning of class and I did ok the rest of the time.  On Thursdays, Kelsie lets us pick the songs, so I actually got to do a song I've never done before that one of the other girls requested - SLIDE click to watch the video of the dance :)

Today I did my Biggest Loser Bootcamp workout with 10 lb weights.  I thought it was going to be a piece of cake and boy was I wrong.  I could definitely do a lot more with better form than I used to be able to do, but I used to use 5 and 8 lbs weights and it's a heck of a lot harder to throw around those 10 lb weights.  I, however, did it!  YAY!  Hoping tonight to squeeze in a bike ride on my stationary bike or some Yoga.  We'll see.  But for now...workout....CHECK! WOOHOO!

Quote from last night's Biggest Loser

So Jillian said something last night on The Biggest Loser that really struck a cord with me and I could very much hear Tina in my ear with everything that Jillian was talking about.  The contestants have been running at 8, 9, and 10 on the treadmills.  She pushed them to 12 on last night's episode and everyone in the gym was absolutely floored, because they never thought they could do it and there they were, they did it.

Jillian said "What else in your life are you doing half assed?"

MILESTONE REACHED!

Well today, there was no mistaking it, I reached another milestone!!  I got my scale back a few days ago and got on it this morning 229.0!!!!  I am officially lighter now than I was in high school YAY me!!  Now to get "better" and starting working out again :)  Can't wait!  My first goal is to make it to Zumba tomorrow evening.  Until then, celebrating today!

Why not you?

Jillian Michael's shared this on her fb page today and to me it was really inspirational.  We have to stop and think about why we think others are so much more deserving than ourselves.  Can't give a good, solid, logical answer??  Go out there and get whatever it is you want!  You deserve it!

"Smart Tip - Today I want you to ask yourself this one question - "Why not you?" Why not you to do something for work that you love? Why not you to have a healthy body? Why not you to have healthy love? Why not you to be, have, or do anything you have ever dreamed?! We are so quick to think others are deserving over ourselves. The truth is that we are all deserving so WHY NOT YOU?!"

Product Review - Chobani Greek No Fat/Low Fat Yogurt

I got this picture from the internet, it is not of MY actual yogurt containers :)

A fantabulous friend of mine, Emily, bought me a little goody bag of some of her favorite healthy snacks/treats on a week she knew I was struggling (yes, she's pretty awesome!)  In this bag of treats were two different flavors of Chobani Greek Yogurt.  One was non fat the other was 2% fat.  They were AMAZING and way yummier than any other greek yogurt I've tried.  Greek yogurt in general has a very thick, custard-like texture.  I had yet to find a brand that offered more flavors than honey, vanilla, and pomegranite.  All of the greek yogurts I'd tried in the past were not GREAT.  They were just alright.  When I tasted the Chobani yogurt, my heart and taste buds sang together in unison.  They offer a wide variety of flavors including, but not limited to: strawberry banana, PINEAPPLE (my fav!!), blueberry, peach, vanilla (of course!), etc etc etc. Each cup of Chobani Greek Yogurt is around 140-160 calories for 6 ozs.  Fat ranges from ZERO (hello awesome!) to 2% (about 2.5g - still really good!)  All ingredients are natural and it's REAL fruit in this yogurt and it's puddled so beautifully puddled at the bottom of the container.  Right now they are selling at Cub Foods for the low price of 10 for $10.  Yes, that is more than the artificial brands, but totally worth the price if you ask me.  Good for you and absolutely delicious...what more could you ask for?

Chobani Greek Yogurt - BY FAR my absolute favorite greek yogurt!  YUM to the O!

Decision

I've decided I'm going to also start doing healthy food reviews on my blog.  There are so many products out there and all of them claim to be so fabulous and include misleading labels, so I'm going to do my best to diagnose and rate the "health food" industries claims while providing you all with a taste test type review and price comparisons to the best of my ability.  Obviously all of my reviews and input are going to be my opinion and have not been "approved" by anyone.  I'm not being paid by any company of affiliate for my opinions, I've just a girl in this world trying to do the right thing for my healthy and my family.  Here goes nothing!

P.S. My blog will still contain all of the things I've been posting so far, but the food reviews will be in addition to everything else.

HATE THIS!

I absolutely hate being sick AND having asthma!  This horrible horrible head cold blind sided me Friday evening and has yet to make it's exit.  When I get any type of upper respiratory illness or cold my asthma flares up like no other.  Which in turn means I haven't been able to work out since our last day of boot camp last Thursday.  I'm starting to feel sluggish and am having a hard time staying on track with food, because I can't taste any of it anyway, but I'm holding on as tight as I can.  I feel like I'm hanging off the side of the wagon, holding on by only the very tips of my fingers and my feet at dragging.  DON'T LET GO!!!  I just have to hold on long enough until this nasty illness is gone and I can use the fab abs I've built and hoist myself back up on the wagon fully, throw my arms in the air and yell "I'm the queen of the world".  Wish me luck :)

Hup Two!

Well last night at bootcamp was awesome!  When I showed up I was sooooo not ok with running in the 20 degree windchill that was going on outside without a hat, gloves, or my inhaler, but guess what....I survived and Tina knew I would right along with everyone else :)  It was a different type of run....we ran straight down the road to a certain point and turn around and came back.  The first person finished had to run back and get the second person and finish with them, then they both had to turn around and go get the third person and finish with them and so on.  I couldn't tell you the amazing feeling when I had about 6 girls running to me cheering me on with every running step I took.  We all had headlights on along with our reflective vests because it was dark out and as soon as I saw those little bobbing headlights and knew they were coming for me I picked up the pace and all I could do was smile.  I felt very alone the whole run because I didn't have my inhaler I ended up trailing behind most of the group and it was an incredible feeling to have all those girls coming to finish with me.  Absolutely incredible!

After we finished running, we came back inside and did stations with partners.  There were two exercises at each station, so while you were doing one, your partner was doing the other and then after 30 seconds you'd switch.  We ended up switching 3 times at each station before we moved on to the next station then after we were done we all went around one last time, 30 seconds at each exercise one more time around.  One of the exercises was a sprint on the treadmill.  The first time around Tina has the treadmill set at 7.2 speed and I was having a very hard time staying on without holding on.  The last time around it was set at 7.6 and I looked at Tina like she was wacko.  She told me I could turn it down to 7.2, but she was going to come increase it after I got on.  I turned it down to 7.0 and when I saw her coming bumped it up myself to 7.5!  Tina, of course, bumped it up to 7.6 (to prove I could do it I'm pretty sure) and I took it upon myself to bump it up again to 8.0!!  I ran at 8.0!!!!  I couldn't even believe it.  But then again I've done things at bootcamp with Tina that I NEVER thought I could do before.  I can't tell you how amazing it feels when someone else believes in you so much!  Bootcamp this session has truely been an absolute blast!  I've made friends, I've connected personally with my trainer and found she is probably the most wonderful, inspirational, motivating person I know.  I am truely VERY sad that I will need to miss the March bootcamp for financial reasons.  As I write that I'm almost in tears, because I honestly love my boot camp experience.  The women are awesome, the trainers are awesome, the workouts are hard but VERY awesome.  I've improved not only physically but mentally this session and I can NOT wait to do it again in March.  My month off WILL be productive.  I WILL have better numbers all the way around when I start my next bootcamp.  I WILL continue attending as many classes as I can at Willowbridge, I WILL workout and do strength training at home.  I WILL succeed!!

To Tina - Thank you so much for everything you've taught me.  About nutrition, about fitness, about this horrible, wonderful, hard, trying, mentally crazy journey of mine, and most importantly thank you for what you've taught me about myself.  You are an inspiration in more ways that I can even describe.  I value your opinion, loyalty, and friendship more than I can even put in to words.  Thank you for the endless before/after bootcamp chats to reinforce my belief in myself.  Thank you for taking the time out of your own personal life to let me know that I CAN do it and that I WILL do it.  There are so many times I wanted to give up, I wanted to be done, I thought I couldn't do it anymore and because YOU believed in me, I began to believe in me again.  I will miss boot camp tremendously, but I'll be back.  You have NOT seen the last of me.  Next time I join boot camp you'll literally see less of me :)  I promise! :)

I CAUGHT THE WAGON!

So I chased that wagon like crazy, I jumped back on, and I'm holding on for dear life.  I've hit a couple bumps, even some that felt like massive pot holes and ALMOST fell right off again, but found something to hang on to.  Something that will keep me on this wagon.

Sounds like we'll be running outside at bootcamp tonight.  A little nervous and excited all at the same time.  Better find my inhaler, or I'm not going to do well at all.

Got Run Over by a Wagon

Yup folks, you read it right.  I fell off of a wagon and got run over by it.....a few times!  But guess what?!?  I licked my wounds, shed some tears, got pissed and today I'm chasing the wagon and will jump back on.

What I mean is.....my assessments last night were not up to par.  I lost about an inch....JUST ONE over my whole body, and the scale was up 7 lbs from my starting weight, putting me at 246.6!!  YIKES!  (This is where the crying came in).  Truth is, this weekend was a BAD weekend.  I slacked...a lot!  In fact, the whole last week has been challenging.  I'm looking for a reason why I can't seem to stay focused.  Is it my anxiety?  I am SUCH an emotional eater and my anxiety has been through the roof lately.  But then I wonder if the new anti-anxiety meds that I'm on are causing the cravings and such.  Do I need a higher dose or a lower dose?  The dr said my thyroid levels were normal so I didn't need to be on any medications, but I still fall asleep at the drop of a hat and wonder if maybe the readings were a little off.  Either way, I can not place blame anywhere but on myself.  I messed up, I chose to eat the things I did (pizza, cookies, cupcakes, chocolate chips) and I am going to own up to it and start over new.  It is now in the past and I'm moving on.  I made the choices, I've owned up to them, and now it's time to put the work in to fix it.  GAME ON!

"Determination - The ability to see past challenge rather than just staring at it."

Update

Zumba and Restorative Yoga was great on Sunday and I felt amazing yesterday, but for some reason I have not been doing very well as far as nutrition is concerned.  I don't know why.  I'm wondering if it has something to do with the new anti anxiety medication I'm on.  I've been eating very impulsively and my serving sizes seem to have gotten out of control.  Time to crack down!  Boot camp assessments are tonight and I can NOT be drug down. I MUST do better!  I WILL do better!  Today is a new day :)  I'll update ya'll tonight when I get home of my results :)

So Sore!

Well yesterday was definitely productive in the way of exercise.  I'm a HURTING UNIT today!!  I did kickboxing at 8am and then proceeded to do an hour of Vinyasa Yoga, which I was a little nervous about given the description that the flyer gave and from I'd heard from others.  When I was putting my jacket and boots on after kickboxing I started talking to some of the gals that were prepping for yoga and they said it was definitely "manageable" and that you just had to be ok to work at your own pace, so I called up hubby and asked him if he was ok with me staying for another hour to try out this yoga.  He told me to go ahead, so I did and so so so glad I did.  The poses and such were the same as restorative yoga that I've done in the past.  It just moves a lot faster.  I really enjoyed it and will be doing it again :)  Can't wait!  Needless to say after kickboxing AND a high impact yoga workout I'm so so soooooo sore today!  YOUCH!  My butt muscle are KILLING me!  But tonight is Zumba and Restorative Yoga, so more YOUCH in store for me!  Can't wait!  It's hurts so good!

Battle

So today it's all out war at my house!  Yes, there are 7 kids here, but they are all being great.  The dozen and a half cupcakes sitting on my counter on the other hand ARE - THE - DEVIL!  Every single time I walk in to the kitchen they sit and talk to me.  I've reached for them and even ALMOST took the paper off of one, but talked myself out of it.  I've so got the angel on one shoulder and devil on the other shoulder going on today and man are they bickering!  And here I am, caught in the cross fire.  Dear angel, please be the one I hear loudest!

Best Workout!

So last night at Bootcamp was nothing short of amazing!  It was probably the best workout I've had in a LONG time!  We were in the studio with all the equipment/machines and did circuits.  There were very few people attended last night and I'm not sure why, but I kind of liked the small group.  Had a talk with a really awesome bootcamper and it sounds like she and I will be keeping in close contact to help encourage and support each other, which will be awesome!  I love having new people join my support system and I love being able to help whoever I can.  I'm very sore this morning, but it "hurts good" :)  We did sprints last night and I amazed myself running at a 7.5 for about 30 seconds before I had to regress to a 7.0 and even that I thought sure I would never be able to do.  My abs are killing me this morning which I'm absolutely thrilled about, but I was VERY focused last night and concentrated really hard on pulling my belly button in so I didn't arch my back, plus we did a few ab/core moves.  All in all it was a great nice and I'm feeling really great today, except for the pain in my neck (LITERALLY!) from the stupid squat machine bar.  I feel like I have a bruise but obviously can't see the back of my neck :(

The plan for the weekend....RUN!  Yes folks, it's supposed to be around 30 degrees and when/if it is...I will be running!  I NEED to get my endurance up for all of those 5Ks I would like to do this spring & summer.  I also plan to do kickboxing Saturday morning and Zumba and Restorative Yoga Sunday evening.  Should be a great day and weekend :)

What are your plans to tackle the candy filled Valentine's Day that is quickly approaching?

Bootcamp Tuesday

I was so NOT excited for bootcamp last night, but it was awesome!  Tina sure knows how to work a group out!  I am going to be so sad if I have to miss the next boot camp :( :( I feel like I have made a bunch of great friends and I will miss them dearly, but I WILL be back.  I do NOT want to miss two boot camps in a row and I suppose I'll see them in passing at Willowbridge.  Next week is our last week.  Assessments on Tuesday.  VERY nervous!

I also got to share my wonderful news with the group and I think I took some of them completely by surprise lol.  I shared the fact that on Monday my dr informed me that I no longer needed to be on any thyroid medications and that according to the dr's scale I was officially down 152 lbs.  I had the dr look back and see what my highest recorded weight was and he found 382 lbs when I was pregnant with my daughter.  I know it went up from there a couple months after I gave birth from a broken ankle, but I refused to weigh myself so that's the magic number.  382 is my "starting weight".

Results

Well ladies and gentlemen....apparently I wasn't reading the gym's scale right when I thought it said 224 LOL.  Last week I got on it and while there was big huge number 24, the LBS on the scale was still at 238.  Even at the clinic on Thursday last week the scale recorded 238, which is exactly what my starting weight was at the beginning of bootcamp.  At my mom's yesterday (I HOPE HER SCALE IS RIGHT!) I weighed in at 230.  However, I haven't been eating a whole lot due a loss of appetite from not feeling good.  But then again I haven't been working out much either.  In fact, now that I think about it.  I haven't done an OUNCE of exercise since last Tuesday (boot camp), because of how I've been feeling.  Yesterday and today I've felt absolutely AWESOME!  Not dizzy or fatigued AT ALL anymore, in fact, I MIGHT be able to actually get up early on certain days and squeeze in a workout, since getting out of bed at 5:15 is getting easier and easier.  This morning I'm pretty sure I figured out why!  I got my blood work results from the clinic and after being off of my thyroid hormone for a week my numbers were NORMAL!!!  I have no need for a thyroid hormone replacement!!! YAY!  One less pill to take and I'm pretty sure THAT was the reason for the constant sleepiness.  All of this wonderful news has given me the motivation to keep on keeping on and gives me the strength to overlook the battle I lost with a box of Girl Scout's Thin Mints last night.  It was a mistake, I admit it, but I'm not going to dwell on it.  I'm going to move on and do what I need to do to make sure it doesn't affect my journey.  I will win the battle of the bulge!!

Missed

So I'm so sad that I missed bootcamp yesterday :(  I was not at all feeling well, but am feeling a little better today.  I'll have to figure out a way to get in some good workouts this weekend!

Warrior Dash

I just saw one of my friends on facebook posted this.  It looks like SO much fun!!  Challenging maybe, but so so soooooo fun!  I think I  might give it a shot!

Warrior Dash

Hup Two

How I left early and showed up to bootcamp late is beyond me!  Oh yeah, I know, I got wrapped up in grocery shopping a lady biffed it at Walmart right in front of me.  Not good!  So I walk in to boot camp late, jump right in to the workout, figuring better late than never.  That was the FASTEST boot camp I've ever experienced.  The time FLEW by and what a great workout!  However, due to the crazy idea to color my hair I was sweating pink.  It dripped on my white shoes and now I have hot pink spots on my shoes too. LOL.  Kinda funny, but love my hair either way.  It was a great workout and I'm definitely feeling it this morning, but for some reason during bootcamp, all night last night and now even this morning my one ankle is REALLY hurting.  It feels loose and sloppy and unstable.  That's the only way I can explain it.  NOT fun!  Hopefully it will repair itself by tomorrow before boot camp again because it sounds like we are going to be doing a pretty hard workout on the equipment again (running on the treadmill, etc).

Either way, great workout and I feel awesome this morning!

Two Bob posts in a row...I know I know, but he is a fantastic motivational speaker and I got a lot out of his video.  I plan to watch it whenever I'm having one of those days feeling like I can't do it anymore, because I can.  "There is no finish line", this is what the rest of my life will be.