Yup. I kicked some serious workout A** today. I got that boxing mood going in my head with yesterday's post and since my glutes were on FIRE from the Brazil Butt Lift stuff going on, I wanted to do upper body today. I wanted to punch some things as well and pretend that they were certain people I detest stressful thoughts.
I had a headache. I had the beginnings of another Aunt Flo migraine. I weighed myself on my new BFF EatSmart Digital Scale and my weight was EXACTLY THE SAME AS LAST WEEK. I got pouty at first, then I realized that I should be glad in the midst of an Aunt Flo sleepover that my weight hadn't gone UP what with normal water retention and all that baloney. This unpretty number on my scale put me in a sour mood. My working out plan? I didn't FEEL LIKE IT. (working out) IN fact, I felt like taking a nap pretty much from the moment I woke up. But, I remembered my calendar in here, in my office and the pretty stars and such that I put on great workout days. I thought about my favorite jeans and what I would encounter if I put them on AT THAT MOMENT-- and that made me say JUST DO IT KELLY.
That's right. Every day, I'm getting stronger, leaner, faster and just plain BETTER inside and out.
This is SOOOO TRUE and a lot of what I've been sharing with you and will be sharing. What's different about me NOW are the new HABITS I am creating. I'm replacing some bad habits and negative thought patterns and attitudes (many that I didn't even realize I had) with new POSITIVE and more POWERFUL ones.
EVERY SINGLE DAY THAT YOU DO SOMETHING AGAIN, YOU ARE MAKING IT MORE OF A HABIT. SO WHEN YOU CHOOSE TO NOT WORKOUT, THAT'S ANOTHER POINT ON THE SLOTH BOARD. WHEN YOU CHOOSE TO HAVE DESSERT AFTER YOU HAD A BIG YUMMY CHEESEBURGER BECAUSE, "WHAT THE HELL?", YOU ADD POINTS TO YOUR FLABALANCHE BOARD.
When you choose to kick butt, work up a sweat and push yourself, you get closer and closer to your ideal and optimal physical state of wellness. You don't create abs and arms like that without HARD WORK and discipline. You don't have to stop enjoying life- just make SMART CHOICES. Balance it out.
She rocks = and this had a nice cardio/sweat factor. I did 35 minutes of this and then moved on to my friend Steve Pfiester's little lower body challenge, HOLY SWEET MOTHER OF GOD!
I dare you to do this tomorrow. KILLER. I was crying during this but sooo killer. Notice- no equipment needed. This is a portable workout- can be done anywhere and will smoke your lower body. NO EXCUSES!! Then, as I shared in my sweaty vlog below, I wanted to "round off" my workout with some extras that would complete a killer circuit blast for both upper and lower body....I took "inspiration" from Charlotte's review in her book (The Great Fitness Experiment) of Tracy Andersen's workouts. OMG people as much as she gets on my last nerve what I chose to do works. Why does she get on my nerve-- well take a peek here, I talk about how she discusses her "dance moves" as if she's Janet Jackson or Britney and um, she looks like some 11 year old girl dancing in her room, and she calls THIS choreography:
I die laughing when I see her try to discuss that as something you have to learn. Like I have to learn how to hold a fork. Anyway, I did 100 each of these:
100 Walking lunges
100 Arm circles, arms to side
100 "Door Opens" arms to side
100 Bent Arm Shoulder raises
100 Basketball Toss Pushes, arms overhead
100 arm circles, arms directly in front
Bent Arm Plank- 1 minute hold
Straight Arm Plank- 1 minute hold
All in all, my total sweatfest workout was 600 calories burned. **Note- I only targeted a 500 calorie burn, the rest was slightly accidental--I'm NOT getting back into overtraining. Just was enjoying the experiment. See my video below where I explain the moves and how much they KILL your arms even with no weight-- and then my theory based on hello- fact/observation of basketball players:
And....
And:
And:
Basketball players, although men with issues and generally man-whores, have the best ARMS. Why? 95% of the time they are training and playing, they are using their arms-- always above their shoulders--when your arms are above your "heart" as they say-- and in motion, pushing or throwing, you are conditioning the heck out of them. Try doing any repetitive arm motions == with your arms above your heart, without putting them down for 5 minutes straight. Get back to me.
See what I mean?? Find me at Sweat.com. Or YEAI'MYOURDADDY.COM.
Question of the day: How do YOU talk yourself into working out when you don't feel like it??
What's up Kittens? How is your day so far? Good Lord, another crazy day. I might as well resign myself to the fact that I am a disorganized frazzled fool who will never be caught up have a lot on my plate and that this will not change, so GET OVER IT KELLY.
Isn't her tattoo adorable? I'm serious y'all. I'm gonna face my fear of ("How Much Will It Hurt?") and get my tattoo this summer. I'm doing it. NO FEAR.
Ok, now I have to just plain old PIMP OUT SOME COOL STUFF FOR Y'ALL. I'm all about sharing amazing stuff that I think you'll dig....why? Um, how did I find out about mostly everything I love, fitness-wise? Other bloggers. So- check this out.
Not sure WHY I haven't shared this before, but if you want to get your butt handed to you Boot Camp Style, you gotta read on (oh and it's FREE! HELLO!)
Remember a previous Wednesday Woot! Factor with Bonnie Pfiester?Well, she and her equally gorgeous hubby (They look like there should be a Barbie and Ken doll set made after them, don't you think?) Steve, run a health club in FL and now they are part of our growing Sears FitStudio team.
You can see their BIOS on their BCX page by CLICKING HERE.
That's Steveykins. And here's Bonnie the Babe:
I started seeing some posts on our FitStudio Facebook page about the BCX Boot Camp that Steve and Bonnie are doing but DUH on my part- I didn't realize that it was all ONLINE AND ALL SPELLED OUT and FREE for anyone to use and kick their own butt!
Isn't that killer? I love how they've made it easy for you to print out the workouts too. LMK if you are gonna try it for a month. I'm certainly going to work these into my rotation! My BFF @sarahkayhoffman is doing the rotation to get in buff shape for a wedding coming up.....Cool.
For a little peek of how flipping intense Steve is as a trainer, check this:
Do you hear me now? Kids, if you aren't checking out the FitStudio Facebook page, you will be missing out. We have TONS of fitness peeps from trainers to nutritionists to - well, just plain awesome chicks like me- and then dieticians, etc. etc. all sharing workouts, recipes, articles, events, promotions (i.e. coupons! Deals! Giveaways!). I suggest y'all LIKE us if you see fit- and then, sign up FREE at FitStudio.com for workouts and MORE FITNESS STUFF that rocks.
Um. The weather is getting nice and I feel the urge to RUN again - outside. I do like running on the treadmill, but I'm just saying, I think I'd like to work some runs back into my activity. No overkill but definitely some running. Do any of you find yourself only running when it's nice weather out- because you don't dig the treadmill as much (for running)?
Also- TODAY IS TUESDAY- which is weigh day- I stepped on my new digital EatSmart scale and I LOST ONE MORE POUND. I was a bit bummed, I have to admit it. But that's 4lbs in two weeks. That's SMART. I love that the scale shows weight to the decimal point- I talk about it in the vlog I shot today(which you'll see tomorrow, sorry, I have to share a vlog today that I shot last night, post-workout). So--- good stuff!!
Another pimp to the Kettlebell Bombshell DVD. Kids, I love it. Here is my review I did last night after the experience:
And- you'll see in my vlog tomorrow- I AM totally bruising and I love it. But I do plan to get some wraps and more gloves for the Kettlebell workouts. For sure.
HAVE YOU TRIED KETTLEBELLS YET?
Now, after all that pimping out, I guess I should talk about the title of this blog post eh? Tomorrow's vlog will talk a lot about how I'm tracking my progress. And this is just to serve as an example, we all have to do what works for us. But I'm sharing also--- because it is a HUJAZZ lesson I've learned personally that when I'm NOT tracking my body and my activities and my "diet", I found- the last two years that I'm MORE OFF TRACK THAN I THINK.
This is just a random fitness calendar I pulled online, but I've shown you guys what I use- a calendar pinned up in my office, and each day I record my workout, how I 'rate' it 3-5 stars, and what caloric burn. Then I can look at a month and see it either FULL of activity or lacking. I can see as I look at each week, how my week is "adding up". It's in my head all the time. Then I used FitDay.comto record my daily "diet" (= eats) and my weight each week. It also charts what calories I should be consuming each day to lose weight as I plan to do.....safely at 1-2lbs per week. I also have this little dorky Excel spreadsheet to record my measurements and my weight- weekly.....because I think it will be interesting to see how they compare.
He looks sad and frustrated doesn't he? Poor thing, bless his heart. He probably forgot to put his pants on before he came to the gym and he wonders why everyone is staring at him. Anyway, why am I TRACKING so much and talking about it, sharing it with you? Because I truly believe that this is a HUJAZZ part of why the last 2 years have been sucky in my fitness journey. I want to help YOU learn the lessons I've had to learn and maybe save you some time. Because for me, it feels DANG GREAT to have finally "figured it out FOR REAL" and be able to move forward the right way. And make PROGRESS.
For those of you that are new to my blog- about 2 years ago this chick's body changed and not in the pretty way. It was like BAM weight gain and hormonal issues, I knew something was jacked but it took 3 doctors and 2 years for them to figure out it was early perimenopause. Basically, Hormones.com. But I spent the better part of that time PANICKING, FREAKING OUT and then trying to change OVERNIGHT what had happened. I kept thinking MORE was better and verged on either serious OVER-TRAINING or serious LOAFING and being depressed, wondering "Why am I not losing weight? I don't get it...." and then just plain STRESSING ABOUT IT.
Over-Training + Stressing + Inconsistency in Diet and Training = MAJOR STALL.
I wasn't tracking, even though I thought I was. I kept thinking- I'm blogging! I'm accountable. I wasn't. It wasn't until the very end of last year and early this year that I had some eye-opening moments, read some great books and started seeing what needed to change. The STRESS had to go, and I had to get back to doing FITNESS the way I enjoyed it. Eating in a way that I know I like and that works for me. NOT comparing myself or my workouts or my progress or my diet to anyone else. And tracking! Because--- when I don't have a visual in several places of what I'm doing....it sure is easy to OOPS not realize that I haven't worked out in FOUR days (when in my head I think it was 2)...but on the calendar, you don't miss that.
Also- when you are working out CONSISTENTLY, you are wearing workout clothes, right? Maybe not like the above, but most workout clothes are TIGHT and they, let's be honest they are designed to show off your body. If you are regularly putting your body in workout clothes, it is easy to see your physique. When you aren't working out regularly and spending more time in sweats or clothes the camoflouge your "tough areas", it's easy to ignore the trouble that is growing.
These are all things that were missing for me in these now bracketed two years:
Consistency --- which I would have noticed more if I was....
Tracking ---- Daily Food, Daily Workouts, and Weight/Measurement
Peace of Mind -- the stress level in my life was THROUGH THE ROOF for myriad reasons but that much stress is DAMAGING.
Some of you might think- "That's too much work! I don't want to have to write down my workout or track what I eat! Life is too short...." I can see that, but here is my reply~~ first of all, once you get in a groove on tracking in a way that works for you- it doesn't take much time. I record in FitDay after each meal ~ that takes about 2 minutes max. Writing on my calendar - another 1 minute. Once a week I weigh myself. Big deal. Furthermore, life is short- exactly. For me, life is short and I don't want to spend any more nights before going out PISSED OFF that I can't just slip on my favorite pair of jeans and go out. Life is too short to not feel your best. That's MY VIEW.
Good Lord. Holy Long Blog Post.
The other little Pimping-Out-Check-This-Out-Freebie I forgot is ---as I was wrapping up today's workout (Cathe Butts N Guts- KILLER! Burned 575 Calories! WOOT!) and doing the abs part, I remembered that one of my all time oldie-but-goodie workouts from CHER, yes CHER is on YouTube for free. Her trainer, Keli Roberts, now has a ton of workout DVDs but this one was one of my first VCR tapes yes VCR tapes I bought in the 90's. It had 3 parts- a Step workout then a 10 minute AB routine (featured below FREE on YouTube hello!) and then a like 30 minute standing leg routine that will make your legs shake, I swear- check it out and put in your favorites to use when you travel or at home! FREE!
I remember watching this video and going out and buying the big slouchy socks to match my Reebok high tops. I owned that look bitches. You know I did.
Here is a peek at the lower body part:
If you want the whole video, just check out the others linked to that one and you can have the experience I have had. Enjoy. And seriously, I have ALWAYS ALWAYS WANTED CHER HAIR from these days:
Don't say you wouldn't rock that hujazz hair if you could. I would in a HEARTBEAT. So I have a little drag queen in me, apparently so. #ItWorks
QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is your favorite cereal-- doesn't have to be healthy? I was doing the Twitter Party tonight with Multi-Grain Cheerios and they truly have always been a healthy staple. I can't lie. I also like Capn Crunch. I cannot lie.
Hello perfect delt specimen. How was YOUR day today? I had a jam packed day and I also just plain KICKED A**! Thank you. Also- please note, I had to share, I talk about this in my ramble-on-a-thon vlog at the end, how I want to make new healthy recipes and stop boring myself to tears by eating tuna salad or chicken day in and day out- but...tonight I made Fish Tacos! MMMM. I had a recipe from Oxygen magazine, and I hadn't even tried Fish Tacos until earlier this year with Ms. Amy.
I was hooked. And when I heard you can make them with Tilapia, I was all like, YEAAAA.
This was totally how I looked in my kitchen today. And if you believe that I am also running for President in the next election. But, the recipe is as follows, edited for simplicity:
Bake your tilapia in the oven. I do 425 degrees for 6 minutes, flip then cook another 6 minutes. Done. I only season with olive oil and pepper with some garlic salt.
They have you make a sauce with 1/2 cup unsweetened non-fat Greek Yogurt. I only had my Chobani Vanilla but it was fat free so I went with it. You add 1/4 cup lime juice, I used one lime and whatever that juice was. Then you mix that up and flavor with garlic salt. That's your white sauce. Then you chop up some green or red cabbage, take your tortilla, fill it with cabbage, salsa, fish then the white sauce. I had no tortillas so I put it in a bowl and it was delish. I also made my own salsa cuz I was feeling all Giada and stuff.....with cilantro which is the key to any good salsa! MMMMMMMMMMM
This is me eating my fish tacos. Only I don't have my nails painted blue. But other than that, this is totally me. #IAmSoNotLyingWhenITellYouIWouldSoHavePinkHairNoJokeDon'tJudge.
Don't you love this???????????
UPDATE!!! Ok, I mention in my vlog below that Tuesdays are going to be my WEIGH DAY right? And yesterday I got up and ate my breakfast and forgot to weigh. So I weighed this morning (which is Wednesday) and I am down 3.2 lbs!! WOOOT!!!!! I am really loving my EatSmart scale that shows weight loss or gain to the decimal point! Every number counts!! LOL
So, today's workout was P90X Shoulders and Arms. Awesome. I pushed it hard today and it felt GREAT. Really bothers me how I can't show you (those of you that don't have P90X) any previews of this workout because for some reason they've only made a preview of the SERIES not each individual workout, which annoys the life out of me. Sigh.
That said, I actually wrote myself a note because I have SOOOOO many new workout things/DVDs/products to try out and review and incorporate into my days and weeks....I have to make sure I take time, preview them, and then work them into my schedule. Every day is like Christmas now...I have:
More TRX. As y'all know, I stopped doing TRX in late January until end of March because of my shoulder injury that I had to baby for about 6-8 weeks. I need to hook up with Amy's friend here locally that is certified in TRX so I can learn all the killer moves you can do with this fabulous contraption.
UGIFit. So psyched- I'm thinking I can use the UGI with some of Zuzana's workouts in place of a sandbag....but I will check, not sure if she makes her sandbags 20lbs or what.....
Insanity Asylum. OMG. So excited to try some!
Brazil Butt Lift. Yes. We must lift that bootie!!!!
KETTLEBELLS: New books, new DVDs and new heavier Kettlebells. Time to crushit!
So.....my Question of the Day: What is the newest workout DVD or gadget or change you've tried and loved?
I LOVE THIS!! I actually just stumbled upon a blog I used to read in the past but had stopped for some reason ~ I think a lot happened when I made the switch from the Blogger platform to Squarespace....many of the blogs that I was following got lost in the transition. Anyway, not sure if any of you read Josh Hillis' blog, you can check it out by CLICKING HERE.
It was cool to read up on his latest posts and see that he's all about strong sexy women and training HARD. Like I've said before, if I'm SHOWING UP to workout, I'm gonna GO BIG OR GO HOME. I'm not here to superficially sweat! I'm here to make a difference! It got me really amped to hit the GYM. Usually I'm all about my home gym, but there is something to be said about going really heavy and hard on some moves that you can't do at home without a spotter. So, I'm gonna be mixing in some HEAVY time in the gym with my home gym workouts. Yummy!
I also....did my first 'official' weigh-in this morning on my Eat Smart Scale. Kids, the anticipation I had or the anxiety that I was STARTING to build up internally was pretty big. But then I recognized that destructive negative self-talk and stopped it. I stepped on the scale and Amen it was not as horrifying as I thought, I was kind of exactly where I had told my BFF Sherry I thought I would be. So-- I will inevitably share my #s with you all, LATER. Not yet. I'm taking baby steps ok??
I do love the scale- it's all digital and even measures by the quarter pound.....I was waiting for it to talk back to me and say WHOA GIRLFRIEND! YOU WANNA BACK UP THAT BOOTIE? COME ON NOW! SUMMER IS ALMOST HERE, LET'S DO THIS!! haha I should help them create a talking back scale. And then a talking REFRIGERATOR!! And pantry! Can you imagine? Every time you go to have an extra Klondike 100 calorie ice cream bar, you see a video that's like "Ain't that your second piece TODAY? Are you sure about that?" hehe
Later in April, we'll be doing some contests and giveaways with the Eat Smart folks, so stay tuned. I'm digging the bathroom scale. It's my friend.
Now, I've been so delayed the past 2 weeks in announcing our winners from the Multi-Grain Cheerios Twitter parties!! So, our first winner was Ms. Julie of Adventure is Out There won the 2 Biggest Loser Cookbooks and food scale! WOOO!! And Miranda from Chicago won the Biggest Loser "video game"! WOO!!
So, tonight, BOOM BOOM POW! I get to host another giveaway. I'm working with the folks at General Mills every Tuesday night to co-host Twitter chats at 7pm CST on Twitter- with Multi-Grain Cheerios and NBC's The Biggest Loser! (#client). Join us by jumping on Twitter and following the hashtags: #MGCheerios and #BL11! (#client). And tonight, we will choose a winner for this cool as heck fitness video game, AND your own box of Multi-Grain Cheerios!
You like that? No, it doesn't come with Bob or Jillian, for those of you that asked. I will tell you, I've always found Cheerios to be a yum cereal that actually has a reasonable serving size (um, not a tablespoon!) and low-cal, low-fat. I dig it. And now, new flavors! Sweet.
They have a GREAT website set up with recipes and videos and tips; CHECK IT OUT HERE.
To be entered to win, leave a comment telling us the last time you had Cheerios, and if you have tried any of the new flavors. I PROMISE I'll announce our winners this Friday!! ;-)
Now- yesterday I shot a vlog and YouTube must've been having a rough day because it would NOT upload. So bear with me on this vlog actually from yesterday. I'll be back tomorrow!!
UPDATED: I just finished my workout (BOOYA to me for doing a workout this late in the day when I really "didn't feel like it"). I did 20 minutes of Cathe HIIT 30/30, followed by a Shoulder Circuit, designed by me.
Circuit One:
Front Raise 12x
Lateral Raise 12x
Bent over Raise 12x (Rear Delts)
I used 8lb dumbbells here and did not stop between sets. BEFORE starting this circuit, my heart rate was up and then I ran up and down my stairs 2x, followed by 12 kettlebell swings with a 20lb kettlebell, followed by 16 plyometric plie squats, hands touching the floor each time. I did this circuit 3x, and in between each circuit, I did the stairs, kettlebell swings, plyo squats to keep my heart rate elevated.
Circuit Two:
Side Lateral Raise- single arm, at an angle. 12x each arm
Upright Row - 12x, focusing on not hyperextending
Overhead Press- 12x
I used 8lb dumbbells for the side raises, 12lb dumbbells for the upright row and overhead press. NO pauses between sets, and between the circuits, I did the stairs/kettlebell/plyo squats as mentioned above. I finished the whole workout by taking 10lb dumbells, then 12lb, then 15lb and doing "static" overhead presses- where the range of motion is like 2 inches, it burns!!
Overall Calorie Burn was: 380 calories. Breakdown: After the 20 minutes of HIIT I was at 167 calories burned, after the first circuit I was at 262 calories burned and then 343 after the last one, then a stretch. Only 50 minutes total! NOT bad.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you weigh yourself? Measure yourself? Or neither?
When you choose to kick butt, work up a sweat and push yourself, you get closer and closer to your ideal and optimal physical state of wellness. You don't create abs and arms like that without HARD WORK and discipline. You don't have to stop enjoying life- just make SMART CHOICES. Balance it out. 
Cathe MMA Boxing, 
