The Fitness Warrior's First Attempt at CrossFit

Despite my sore back, my grumpy mood and my desire to lay out on the couch feeling sorry for myself, I went to the first class in the Functional Fitness program last night.  
Okay, truthfully, I went because Jo-Ann told me to.  :D
"Just come and watch," she said, "you don't have to do anything, just watch and listen to Kelly explain the technique."
Ah, she had me at technique.  For anyone who knows me well, they know that I am a huge believer in perfect technique.  This is due, in part, to my karate training.  As a small person with relatively little muscle, I need the best technique I've got to make self defense work.  I can't muscle through it like bigger people.  Plus, when it comes to working out, I believe that proper form will get the best results while leaving me with less injuries.
"Okay, fine, I'll come," I said, somewhat begrudgingly, "But I'll have a hard time not doing it."
Jo-Ann just smiled.  Of course, she understands. 

At 7:26pm, I arrived at the gym, grumpiness still wrapped around me.  However, when you are in a place that oozes motivation and a strong work ethic, it's pretty much impossible to avoid being pulled into it.
Kelly was well aware of my sore back and frequently made sure I wasn't doing anything to hurt it.
"Just do what you can.  If it hurts your back, don't do it."
Sounded good to me.   I've never really been a "watcher" anyway. :D

The class was amazing.  A short introduction and a thorough warm-up was followed by comprehensive teaching of technique.  Then we went through the WOD (Workout of the Day!).  We had to do as many rounds as possible in twenty minutes.  What an incredible workout!  I was completely soaked, my water bottle long emptied and my grumpiness was completely chased away.  Nothing like a great workout with fantastic people to bring me around!


Thanks so much to Kelly for a great class and to Jo-Ann for ensuring I was there to enjoy it!


Note: My back felt much better after the class...I was so stiff from sitting at my desk all day, it felt great to be moving and I stretched a lot after the class and again at home later.   The only problem was the shower I took as soon as I got home.  My arms were so tired from the class that it was almost impossible to wash my hair...seriously, it was the hardest time I ever had! All I could do was laugh...nothing could ruin such a fun night!

 

The Fitness Warrior is Down for the Count!

I got up yesterday at 5am, as usual, and left the bedroom eager to start my workout.  I can't believe I actually look forward to it now.  :)
Since I get bored so easily, I hate sticking to one workout for too long.  It's a great idea to change up exercise routines often because your body adapts to them quickly, but if you change them too much (like me!) you aren't able to track your progress as well.   Oh well!
I love keeping things fresh and trying new things!

So for Tuesday morning's workout, I did half an hour of Zumba to warm up (which worked really well, by the way) and then did the following:
15 - Squats
15- Stiff Legged Deadlift
15 - Lying Dumbbell Press
15 - Lying Dumbbell Flys
15 - Overhead Dumbbell Press
50 - Regular Crunches (slowly)
10 - Lateral Dumbbell Raise
15 - Bent Over Rows
15 - Bicep Curls
15 - Lying Tricep Extension
50 - Russian Twist (with weight)
50 - Side Crunches (Each Side)
25 - Reverse Crunches
10 - Leg Lifts (super slowly)
15 - Squats 
15 - Stiff Legged Deadlift
15 - Dumbbell Blast-Off Push Up Hold
15 - Leg Circles
(I used 10 lb dumbbells for any exercise requiring weight)
I also did a lot of stretching before calling it quits.  :)


Then the worst thing ever happened...after my shower, my back felt a little sore.  As the day went on, it got worse, until I was almost hobbling along.  When I woke up the next day, I could barely get out of bed.  A sore back??? Are you kidding me???
Did I overdo it?  Maybe.  :S

So...no workout this morning and I've been icing it often.   I'm struggling with taking it easy, but I will do my best.   I am signed up for the Functional Fitness Class that starts tomorrow night (Thursday) and I really don't want to miss the first one!  


Also...finally got some awesome shoes!  Got properly fitted and they are amazing!  I so badly want to try them out!!!  There will be no stopping me in my new shoes....when I can finally wear them. :(
 

Gettin' Goin' on Granola

My fitness journey continues this week with more running and ab work. :)

I started the second week of the Couch to 5K program that I chose.  I didn't realize there were so many until my sister and I were comparing the two we printed out.  
My program for this week is as follows:
5 Minute Brisk Warm-up Walk
Alternate between:
90 seconds Jog
2 min Walk
up until 20 minutes.
I have to admit....this morning's run was really hard.  Especially when my mp3 player died at minute 14.  I looked down at it when it stopped, wondering what was wrong...it actually read Bye Bye across the screen.

I haven't talked a lot about nutrition in this blog, mostly because I really haven't changed my eating habits at all....except that I gave up chocolate after dinner, substituting fruit instead.  I have a chocolate protein shake after my workouts in the morning, which helps to curb the chocolate craving that never entirely goes away.

The protein shake also fills me up for a couple hours since it's usually not until around 7:30-8am that I'm able to fit in some breakfast.  Since I get up at five, there's no way I can make it until then without some food so the shake fits perfectly into my schedule.
My breakfast every day consists of a bowl of granola with milk and fruit on top....raspberries, blueberries, strawberries or banana...anything I can find in the fridge.  I make the granola myself using the same recipe I've used for years.
For anyone interested in trying it out, here it is:

Old Fashioned Oat Granola


1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ


1/3 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla


1/2 cup raisins


Mix the dry ingrediants all together in a big bowl.  I measure out the honey in a 2 cup measuring cup and then mix the rest of the wet ingredients in that cup.  Pour the wet into the dry and mix it up, once mixed, add the raisins.  Spread out the mixture on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet and bake for an hour at 250 degrees.
I always make a double batch and use two cookie sheets.  About halfway through, I take them out, give it a little stir and then switch their positions.  Depending on how you like your granola, you can adjust the cooking time.  Colton likes bigger pieces so I leave it more in chunks if he's going to be snacking on it as well.  Cassie likes it soft so less baking time is required, while I like it a little crunchier so I leave it in there for about an hour and a half.  I then store it in a covered container in the fridge. 


These quotes are for 1/2 cup servings: 299 calories, 6 g protein, 47 g carbohydrates, 11 g fat and 4.5 g fiber.  

Super yummy!!!

Finally Seeing A Difference!

After a few weeks of eating very clean,  drinking tons of water and getting up at 5am every day to work out, I noticed something spectacular in the mirror this morning.

Now, I feel I should set the scene a little bit... I had just stumbled out of bed after rolling my eyes and turning the alarm off at 5am.  I put on my workout clothes.  The nice part of working out at home is that I can wear whatever I want because no one sees me.  So today it was a pair of crazy red and pink flowered shorts (I can't remember when I bought these - I definitely wasn't thinking clearly that day) and a red sports bra.  I was just closing my closet door when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.  Something looked different. I stopped and looked again.  Sometime, maybe overnight, I had lost some of the bulge on my stomach and developed some muscle.  Not great-big-bulging-I-win-you-lose type of muscle but there is definitely the start of some definition going on.  Finally. 

I contemplated waking Mark up to tell him but instead I just stuck my tongue out at him as I headed out to the living room to do the same ab workout as the previous days.  It is apparently a good one. :)

When working abs, slow is always best...I can pound out 100 crunches and not feel anything, but if I do 20 super slow...you can bet I'll be breathing hard and feeling it by the end.  So I did the 75/50/25 program again and it was even harder this time.  No worries...I managed the whole thing and I wouldn't dream on shorting myself on the 1 minute bicycles.  Not when it's starting to work.  Another note: the bicycles - keep both knees bent, lay back and crunch up towards one knee, focusing on straightening the other leg, then repeat coming up towards the other knee...and do it slowly, concentrating on form.  Your abs will be crying by the end of the minute.   

It's kinda funny...at first I so badly wanted to see something....something that indicated that my workouts were changing my body, that my healthy eating was helping, and that it wasn't all for nothing.  And then life took over.  I struggled to find time to workout, struggled to keep getting up at 5am (especially since I wasn't going to bed any earlier) and struggled to drink as much water as I could.  I forgot to keep looking for results.  And I discovered something very true:

There is really nothing more motivating than results.

What Have I Got Myself Into Now?

I must say, my sister has incredibly good timing.  

While folding the never ending pile of laundry yesterday, I was going over the upcoming week's workouts in my mind.  I had already decided that I needed to increase the amount of cardio I was doing...I just hadn't decided how yet.   You see...I hate cardio.  I love lifting weights, I love doing karate and I love dancing in Zumba but cardio just for the sake of doing cardio bores me to tears.  

Then my wonderful sister called...
"You know what we should do?" she asked excitedly, "The Army Run...it's in September and it's only 5k."
Hmmm...I hate running...but I love setting, striving for and achieving goals!  And it would fit right into my new cardio plan.
"Okay!" I said.
"Really?" she asked, most likely discarding the prepared speech she thought she'd need.

"Sure!" 

"Yay! I'll sign us both up!"

So...only minutes later, arriving in my inbox from the Canada Army Run Registration people, was the confirmation that I was signed up to run 5K on September 23rd.  What had I done???

I took a deep breath and typed Couch to 5K into Google.  I knew of others who had used this program with success so it was worth a try.  So, setting the alarm for 5am today, I hopped on the treadmill and tried it out.  And it was pretty good.   This week is a 5 minute walking warm-up then alternating between one minute of jogging and one and a half minutes of walking for twenty minutes (twenty five counting the warm up) and I did it!  And managed to go 1.5 miles in the process!  And I get to take tomorrow off!  Loving this program! :D

I also found a crazy new ab workout that I thought I'd try.
It's called "Do you really want those abs?"  
So, since I do...I thought what could it hurt to do it too?

Here's the plan:
75 Crunches
75 Side Crunches (each side)
75 Back Arches
1 minute Bicycle Crunches
1 MINUTE REST
50 Crunches
50 Side Crunches (each side)
50 Back Arches
1 minute Bicycle Crunches
1 MINUTE REST
25 Crunches
25 Side Crunches (each side)
25 Back Arches
1 minute Bicycle Crunches
COLLAPSE. :)

I better feel that tomorrow!
Also...since I didn't work shoulders, I had no trouble washing my hair after!
Gotta love a new plan!
Oh...if there is no blog from me tomorrow, it will probably be that I couldn't get out of bed. :D
 

Confession Time

So...I have a confession to make.  I absolutely love muscle soreness.  There is such a feeling of satisfaction when you wake up and feel soreness in muscles that you worked the day before (or even two days before), you know then that you are accomplishing something.  Now, I will admit that sometimes muscle soreness can get in the way, such as for the couple of days following the All About Abs class when I can't even sit up in bed.  Oh well, I roll out instead with a big smile on my face. 
I've been doing the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred Video for a week and a half now.  I really like the format of the twenty minute long workout (fits into my morning really well!) with it's warmup, two minutes of strength (two exercises, each for 30 seconds, then repeated), two minutes of cardio (same format as strength), one minute of abs then the strength/cardio/abs combination is repeated twice more with different exercises followed by some quick stretching.  There is only a few seconds of rest between each exercise.  At first, I found cardio really hard in the morning.  I don't have a problem doing Zumba first thing (maybe because I love it!) but jumping jacks were a little hard to take.  Now that doesn't bother me either.  I definitely sweat a lot doing this video and because I find there are a lot of shoulder exercises in it, my arms are usually feeling pretty jello-y when I attempt to shower right after.
However, I haven't had any muscle soreness.  Not at all.  Not even a little.
Not once.
And this does not impress me.
So...since I like to change things up and I'm always looking for a better way to do something, I've decided that for next week I'm going to combine the parts I like from the 30 Day Shred video (the strength/cardio/ab combos and the zero resting) and the exercises that give me the muscle soreness I'm looking for and see if that makes a difference.  If anything, it keeps me and my body from getting bored. :)

I realize that in the competition going on between myself and Mark, everyone is able to keep up with what I'm doing but not with what Mark is doing.  I know there are a few people who will come right out and ask him but for anyone else, let me fill you in. (If you haven't sensed a tone dripping with aggravation yet, you will shortly)
He is doing nothing.  No exercises, no getting up at 5am, no watching what he eats.  While my dinner plate is loaded with veggies, his has a side of Fritos.  
And while he still has to lose a bit of weight on his stomach, I can clearly feel his abs.  However, I do NOT tell him that. Instead, I tell him that if you can't see them, they don't count.  
So..as long as he doesn't change his eating habits or start some kind of cardio workout, I still have a chance. :)
I haven't had a chance to check the flyers this week, I'm hoping Fritos are on sale somewhere. :O

Are You Brave Enough?

Unfortunately, trouble with our internet has kept me from doing my daily blog.  Even more unfortunately, always needing something to write about keeps me motivated to get up in the morning and work out.  Luckily I've discovered a couple tricks that I'm finding to be very motivating.

1 - If you've been reading my blog since the beginning you will be familiar with the 10 lb. bag of Cadbury Mini Egg story.  Therefore, you will have no trouble believing me when I say that I am a bit of a chocoholic.  I love it.  Pretty much any kind.  From chocolate bars to brownies to chocolate ice cream.  Add to that a nice black coffee and I am pretty much ecstatic.  Obviously, I've now cut chocolate out of my daily eating habits which is proving to be an incredibly hard task.  I've mentioned that I avoid buying crappy food at the grocery store and that certainly helps, but it's the running in to Shoppers for some shampoo or paying for gas at Canadian Tire where I find I need to exercise a huge amount of restraint.  All those chocolate bars staring at me!  And I'm so hungry! What to do? Argh!
So...in order to help satisfy the craving and since I've never been one to deprive myself of what I really want, I now get my chocolate fix daily...in the form of a protein shake after I've finished my morning workout.  So, no workout, no yummy chocolate shake.  It's simple and it's working.

2 - Also, I'm still doing the Jillian Michael's video every morning since she keeps promising I'll be "shredded" in thirty days.  But she kind of drives me nuts.  Her safety explanations were good the first couple of days, but by now I have them memorized and I can't stand listening to her any more.  We are no longer on speaking terms.  But since it hasn't been thirty days, I don't really want to stop.  So, now I mute the video and listen to the awesome songs on my mp3 player.  And Jillian and I can stay friends.

Instead of looking for excuses, I'm looking for solutions.
And I'm starting to see results.

However, the results I'm seeing are in the mirror and not on the scale.  Which is fine with me, so long as my clothes fit better.  I've promised to list my original numbers including weight and body fat percentage but before I do, I thought we should make a game of it.

Any guesses as to what I weigh?  It hasn't changed since I've started working out so you don't have to worry about whether it was before or after and I really don't care what the number is so long as I'm okay with what the mirror shows me, so no one needs to worry that I'll be offended.  In fact, if someone thinks I can fit 200 pounds into my 5'2" self, that would be sort of impressive. :)

So...be brave and have a guess at it...I'll let you know if anyone gets it right!