Monday Manjoyment!

Happy Monday Kittens!!!

MEOW!

How was your weekend? Mine was great, but boy was it hard to be in that "Back To Work" mode. And whoa, let's just say, after looking at my travel schedule for the first quarter, I may not even need a house anymore LOL! For Realz. I'm out there a LOT! But, it's all good. 

Last week, I am SO proud of my first "official" week of the "30-Day No Loose Ends Challenge". I am pleased with my eats, with no cheats (outside of Friday, which was my cheat day) and solid workouts. This week will be even BETTER! Kids, I had to go to a dinner- a birthday dinner no less- yesterday. The menu had a ton of yummy side dishes like mashed potatoes and that green bean casserole (yes I love that) plus an OREO cake, a Carrot Cake, and homemade brownies!! DOH!! I didn't touch ONE thing that was not on my "plan". Not one bite! ;-) Yes, I was absolutely tempted toward the end to sneak one brownie, but then, really, kids, who am I fooling? I'm only screwing my own results there...and if I did something like that every day- with a brownie here, a piece of bread there- then I'm not really 100% on this "plan" am I?

One of my MOST IMPORTANT goals this year is to be 100% Focused. Be 100% present on the task at hand. That means, no Blackberry with me when I'm working out. I'm only checking emails 2x a day. I take NO unscheduled calls- even from friends. No more multi-tasking and being half-assed at anything.

I'm not approaching my fitness goals with 33% effort. It's ON. Do you know how significant my results were this past week? I can see in the mirror my abs are flatter and my hips have lost some fat. I FEEL IT as I move. Everything is working. I had two different people see me- and they'd seen me the week before, and the first thing they said was, "Wow, you've lost some weight!". Score.

And Vin has been texting me ALL DAY. I had to tell him, I have other plans tonight, but he wanted to try out my new TRX system. hehehe and then bake me a cake, and then.....WHAT? Ooops. I got carried away with unclean thoughts.

*Ahem*

So, I am very encouraged and digging the "4-Hour Body" approach. It works for me, is easily adaptable and I also don't have the tummy aches I was having before (when you simplify your eats this much, you realize how much the "other stuff" was bothering you.) As of right now, I am not doing the workouts in the book- simply because I like all the stuff I have, and the ability to mix that up. For me personally, I don't want to be on someone else's plan~ and remember, those are simply suggested plans that worked for Tim and others he tested in the book. For me, I'm all about running, hot yoga, TRX, P90X, isolation training (in the gym) heavy and hard, Insanity, eventually some Crossfit (oy, when I'm in town! DANG!), RevAbs (holy heck you guys, my abs are on FIRE from Saturday's workout!!!!!) and some Cathe, Tracy Effinger and Ilaria Kickboxing. Amen. 

HOLY CRAP- they are coming out with a new version of INSANITY:

I'm packing for my trip- will be in Vegas again this week. I'm bringing my TRX with me and am so excited. I have 3 new circuits that you get when you buy your TRX so I will start with those, and then incorporate some of the videos on YouTube. I'm really psyched about using TRX- both on the road and at home. So I'm packing that, my workout clothes, my protein powder, my bands, my ValSlides, ValBands, Polar Heart Rate Monitor, iPod of course and that should do it. I also pack some detergent so I can wash workout clothes in the sink, let them dry overnight and then I don't have to pack 900 changes of clothes. OY. I'm already using 2 suitcases for long trips so I can bring all my STUFF. 

Since many of you enjoyed my BFF Scott Herman and indicated that you felt he was Manolicious, here is Scott demonstrating some killer ab moves on the TRX:

And some other football dude getting his sweat on with the TRX:

Can you tell I'm psyched to use this?? Slightly. And for those of you that have been telling me, "I'm so jealous of your TRX"- CLICK HERE and get your own!! You know you want to!!

Now- my QUESTION OF THE DAY is: What plans do you have to do things differently in 2011, to create different results?? 

On that note, I'm going to go watch Fast and Furious 4. Or 5. Or 3. Who cares really? I don't even remember the plot, just that there was Vin, and a lot of fast car chases and beating people up. Works for me. #Don'tJudgeMe

;-)

No Loose Ends.

Hey Kids!! Having a great day?? ;-)

I had another KILLER workout today. Wow. I did RevAbs for cardio and then Tony Horton One On One: Bun Shaper. Honestly, I had such killer DOMS in my legs today, I didn't think it was wise to try and do a leg workout so I chose this. 

For those of you unfamiliar with RevAbs, here is a peek- sorry they don't have up any videos of the individual workouts (annoying):

This was a lovely sweatfest workout that burned a total of 675 calories. WOOT!!! My "diet" is just spot-on. I'm following the principles in Tim Ferris' book, The 4-Hour Body. (plus I had just started The Primal Blueprint before that- "paleo" in nature). I feel GOOD. Not getting stomach-aches and I do feel- call me crazy- that even in a few days (we "officially" started our No Loose Ends 30-Day Challenge on Sunday) I can see a difference in some weight lost. BUT- I must persevere!! I'm nowhere NEAR my goal. That's ok- because I WILL GET THERE. No doubt. 

Just to clarify- this "NO LOOSE ENDS" mantra I'm throwing around and this 30-Day Challenge. What IS this all about anyway? Well, as I've shared before, 2010 was my "back at it" year, after a year of BLLLAAAAHHHH. So, it really was great to be "back at it" but I'm at the end of 2010 and I'm not anywhere NEAR my fat loss goal. That kind of bites. So, I can choose to whine and complain about it, or I can choose to figure out WHAT WAS MISSING.

When I really analyzed my workouts and my eats- or WHAT I REMEMBERED OF THEM (hint hint because I haven't been TRACKING THEM EVERY SINGLE DAY SO I REALLY ONLY HAVE A GENERAL IDEA!! NAUGHTY!), I realized that THERE WERE A LOT OF LOOSE ENDS. 

I realized that I could - in no way - look back at the last 90 days and say, "Well, I've done my workouts every week and I've been spot-on with my diet...". No. Way. Kelly. 

Many of you give me props because I travel and still fit in workouts. Yea- life as a road warrior is a huge challenge; trying to eat right and fit in workouts in different time zones when you are booked from morning to late at night. But it CAN be done. I know this. 

If I look back to any week on the road, I've always packed my workout stuff- but I'm usually packing at the last minute in the morning, hoping to throw everything in my suitcase before the limo shows up. This is NOT like me, I'm a major pack-in-advance-person but I have been so busy this year, I've allowed time and work to overwhelm me, and thus I'm flustered and running around like a madwoman ALL THE TIME. Anyway, I go on my trips and yea~ I'll fit in a great run, or a hotel room workout but NOT ALL OF THEM. And I'm not eating bad - but here or there you eat in an airport and get a sandwich or a sushi meal with a client and those are calories that can get HIGH when you aren't tracking.....

YOU CAN GAIN WEIGHT OR NOT-LOSE-WEIGHT BY EATING TOO MUCH.....OF ANYTHING. OF FRUIT. OF CHICKEN. OF TOFU. TOO MUCH IS TOO MUCH. 

So, the more I looked back over this week and that week, it was really again and again- a bunch of weeks that I'd give myself a "C+" for diet and workouts. Then I get home and I'm so beat/exhausted, I skip another workout. I comforted myself that hey- I'm not eating bad....so it's not that bad.....but guess what?? It all adds up. Activity or no-activity. It adds up. Eating a bit too much here and there in addition to not enough activity = SUCKY. 

I refuse to go through another month and look back at results like that. To me, that kind of "winging it" approach is simply unacceptable. I realize how much the days blend into weeks and weeks blend into months and suddenly wow, it's the end of the year and you aren't at your goal! SHAME!!!

That's when it hit me- while reading Tim Ferris' book- THIS MAN TRACKS EVERYTHING. And he urges everyone to TRACK EVERYTHING so you can see what works and doesn't work for YOUR BODY. Remember, we are all unique. How can I complain about my results if I don't really even know what I did for the past 90-days?? 

ENOUGH. 

Sherry and I committed to each other- to go 30-days with NO LOOSE ENDS. We took our measurements. We are taking pictures this week. We are tracking EVERY WORKOUT AND EVERY MEAL. We will go 30-days SPOT ON (we are both following the 4-Hour Body diet philosophy) and then analyze our results. 

When this 30-days is over, we start tracking again. Never again will I go without monitoring my efforts and measuring the results. What is the point of buying running shoes and workout clothes and equipment if you are going to "wing it"?? 

FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL. 

Here is my first vlog, shot after I did RevAbs for cardio:

Wow! Vlogs UNDER 10 MINUTES!! SCORE!! I shot another quickie after I did the Buns of Fire with Tony Horton. Wow that sounded dirty. WHAT?

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you track your diet and your workouts? Why or why not?