umm... excuse me... winter. You are in my way.

Lately two things have been getting in my way of living life the way I want to... winter and work. This week I got called into work when I was supposed to be off and we had another snow day (although not too bad). I wanted to go for a run today but after checking out my icy parking area and road I opted for indoor exercise. Doing an hour of cardio/strength.

I am still looking for something new to try this week... if anyone has any ideas.

Q and A

I have had a few questions about working out so I thought I would answer them in a new post...

1) How am I enjoying the personal trainer and does she push me really hard?
First off I like it a lot... mostly because the one thing that has stopped me from lifting weights in the past is the fear of hurting myself by doing it wrong. It is nice to have someone standing there telling to bend my arms a little bit more or stand up taller. I am hoping that after a few months of training I will know enough to do it on my own. Also, it's a great motivator to know someone is at the gym waiting for me to show up.

Secondly, I don't think she pushes me too hard, if anyone is pushing me too hard it's me. She isn't like Jillian on the Biggest Loser she doesn't yell or really even push me that hard. She says things like, "If you think you can do five more then do them or we can stop for now."

My arms are still a bit sore and I went to the gym today to try some weights on my own and the only thing that really hurt was the push-ups... those push-ups really kick my ass. I am going to conquer the push-up this year!

2) How do I like running?
Running is one of my favorite workouts but I often wuss out when the weather is cold or the roads look icy (I am really looking forward to spring thaw). When I think back about starting the couch to 5K running plan I had a few moments that I thought I should just quit... especially in the first few weeks when I couldn't make it 30 seconds. If you push past the point where you feel like you are going to die then you get to a point when you feel like you could run forever. Running makes me feel more euphoric than any workout I have ever done. It is sometimes difficult to get myself moving and start a run but I know when I am almost done I will such a great runners high that it will all be worth it... you really do feel like you can accomplish anything after finishing a run.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Great work out night

I went to the gym for Zumba class last night and for some reason I got the time wrong... What? I have been doing this for months now and suddenly I forgot what time the class started. I was 30 minutes early for class so I decided to jump on the dreaded treadmill. I picked one in front of the television thinking the mindless chatter of a game show would distract me. I started by walking and the first question popped up... "What President comes last when alphabetizing by last name?" Hmmm... I should know this. So I started thinking and I guess drifting because suddenly I stepped off the moving part of the treadmill and stumbled a bit (you are probably wondering why I considered this a great workout, trust me it's coming). I had this image of falling and causing a domino effect across all the treadmills, which were full. Luckily that didn't happen and I decided watching television was dangerous (the answer was Woodrow Wilson by the way).

At minute 3 I increased my pace to 5.5 miles an hour and on the treadmill next to me a woman (with a rocking body) gets on and starts running. She looks over and says hello. I am a pretty friendly person so I smiled and we starting chatting back and forth. She was regretting eating nachos before running and I was regretting eating that chocolate chip cookie. It turns out she runs marathons and she gave me a lot of good tips and a lot of motivation. Before I knew it my 30 minutes was up and it was time for Zumba.

I think I need a workout buddy.

I head over to the gym for an hour of Zumba (which is always a good time) and find out that on New Years Day the YMCA is going to have a Zumba-thon. FUN! What a great way to ring in the new year.

One last thing I would like to say congrats to Fat Free Me who reached her goal weight this week. That is so exciting and such great motivation for the rest of us who are almost there, or half way there or no where near there. She did it and so can the rest of us! You Rock!

Tried spinning

I gave spinning a try... it seriously kicked my ass. I went into this class think, "I have been running and taking zumba and riding my bike for months, this shouldn't be too bad." Wow I was not prepared for my legs felling like jell-o after only the first hill interval. Every time the instructor told me to "push it" I wanted to get off my bike and full body tackle that skinny bitch to the ground. The only thing that stopped me was being uncertain that my legs could support my own body weight. Ok... maybe I am exaggerating a bit. The instructor was actually very friendly and she told me at the beginning of class that she may tell me to do things in an attempt to push me further but I should ignore her if my body was telling me to rest. So I did. I didn't have a problem with sprints or jumps it was when she wanted us to stand for longer than a couple minutes that I had a problem. I didn't feel too bad after the class as far as sore legs (although my butt is sore from the bike seat). I will definitely try a spinning class again but what I really need is a different upper body workout. Does anybody have an upper body workout the enjoy and/or has shown results?

Great Work-Out Week

I was a work out freak this week, getting in a workout everyday. Saturday I had Zumba, Sunday a run, Monday a run, Tuesday zumba class and a run, Wednesday water yoga, a 4 mile walk and zumba class, and Today was a run and zumba class. I was feeling particularly energetic today before going for my run so I mapped out a 10K route and decided to see how well I could do on this hot 100 goal. I didn't run the entire distance (but I didn't expect to either) but I ran for most of it walking for about 1/2 mile, maybe a little more. I am feeling pretty confident that I will make this goal.

Also I had a fun NSV this week... I was taking a walk around our local mall looking for good deals. I wandering into Payless shoes and one thing I have always wanted was pair of knee high black boots but I have never been able to get a pair completely zipped. I saw a pair that I liked a lot, although the heel was a bit higher than I would like. I pulled them on fully expecting them not to zip but they did! All the way up over my calf and I loved them. That night I was going to a see old silent Laurel and Hardy movies with my movie group so I put on a knee length red and black skirt and my new black boots... I loved it! I have always wanted to wear something like that.

Weigh in Day: Week 14

Is it really week 14? It doesn't seem like I have been here that long. I can definitely see the results and sometimes when I walk past a mirror or window and catch a glimpse of myself from a different angle I have to stop for a second and admire.

Sometimes life gets in the way of plans.. for some reason this week at work things just kept breaking. I had planned on running 6 days but the one night I ended up at work for several extra hours because of faulty GC method, and after working 15 hours all I could think about was food and bed. Then the next day was so stressful that when one of the guys suggested a night out with the crew I just couldn't resist the fun. So my plan of 6 days fell to 4 days. But... I really don't feel all that bad about it.

This week was not the best in exercise or food but the scale was still my friend and I lost 2 pounds so that puts me at 217.6.

This week I am off from work so running and/or Zumba every day! I am really loving Zumba now that I know the routines.

Whip it or Skip it?

I am looking forward to this movie... I am planning to see it on Sunday. I bet Roller Derby is good exercise. I bet they wouldn't sit on the sidelines because their thighs hurt.

If you haven't already guessed I am sore today... either from Tabata or the Tabata/Zumba combo I tried yesterday. I am avoiding getting into a sitting position because I know it will ache to get back up. Tomorrow morning I am planning on running (probably with some walking too) 4 miles and right now I am wondering if that is a good idea. What do you do when you are sore from working out? Do you push it through the next workout anyway or do you take an extra day to rest your muscles? So what would you do? Whip it or Skip it?

Great work out day

Yesterday was the season premier of The Biggest Loser, and I had never seen the show before but since many people have mentioned the show on their blogs I figured I would watch it. It's an interesting show and by the end I was literally cheering them on from my living room sofa.

When I woke up this morning I was motivated to work out, I ran 3.5 miles then brought my bike in to get the tires fixed so I could ride my bike around town again (it has been sitting on my deck with a flat tire for weeks), and then I decided to give Zumba a try again tonight... and I rode my bike to the gym. It's a good thing that I did all that exercise because my eating wasn't great today, it wasn't terrible but I really wanted to eat anything and everything. I have always been a bored eater, when I can't think of something else to do I look in refrigerator. While sitting on the couch channel surfing to kill time (since I had the afternoon off from work) I wanted nothing more than to eat... eat chips or ice cream but I don't keep that around anymore so I had some grapes. When I finished those I wanted something else so I decided it would be a better idea to get out of the house for a while.

Came home in time for dinner and my urge to empty the refrigerator (much like Cookie Monster emptying a cookie jar) had passed and I am ready to settle in for the night.

PS... if you ever try Zumba and feel lost after the first class give it another try, it gets much easier the second time around.