Now I Have a Smiley Face.

Hey Kittens! Happy Sunday! ;-) I'm back. Wow I have been a bad blogger toward the end of last week. Naughty Kelly. As y'all know, I was in DC, got home late on Friday night, so I slept in on Saturday, then had to do a ton of running around, had to get my hair "did", (which being this high maintenance takes like 3 hours....oh what I go through to remain vain and shallow...), stop by the grocery store and then FINALLY get home last night to get some CHILLAXIN in. Dang. 

This life of mine can be exhausting, I tell ya. 

However, as the title of my post says, "Now I Have a Smiley Face"- why? Because I feel like I may be on to something, as far as getting into a solid fitness/diet groove that is GOING TO WORK and DO WHAT I WANT TO DO. As you know, once I started using FitDay.com again to track my calories and eats, I was UNPLEASANTLY surprised to discover that my eats were WAY off in several areas, in fat specifically. We all know that the goal is not to design a fat-free "diet" but.....with a few things and doing the 4-Hour Body approach (and making some of my own "let's add some protein!" tweaks), I was just WAY off on what I was eating vs. what I should have been eating. 

After much thought and a bit more research, and going back and forth with my BFF Jessica (one of my first bloggy friends, who HINT HINT Jessica is going to re-launch her blog any day now!) I realized what I have been doing wrong....and what I'm comfortable with....and what I need to do for success. It is really important to find what works for YOU. What YOU can live with long term. Don't pick something that your friend loves if it sounds like a bore to you. And track YOUR results.....learn from YOUR mistakes and YOUR successes. Stacey's post CLICK HERE TO READ really mirrored a lot of what I've been thinking recently.

I have no problem making muscle gain, I have no problem improving my cardio capacity, and I've increased strength, flexibility and tried all kinds of new things. My issue has always been that I'm losing some weight, but not enough to make a real dent in what I want. This is about ME and my goals- for me. 

I also posted this picture above as a reference point- WE SHOULD NEVER STOP LEARNING. I firmly believe this. As you can see in the picture, this is an upright row. With me injuring this part of my shoulder area, I kept going back to the upper body workouts I'd done most recently. And when I saw that video from Monica Brandt, and then read in a couple fitness magazines the same thing, I realized that I'd be WAY hyperextending with my upright rows- pulling the bar WAY UP HIGHER than this, which also utilizes traps more than delts. Hello, I don't need to work my traps anymore. 

I don't think it is the upright row that did me in- as I mentioned, I think I blew it when I did some hammer curls at the tail end of a workout, when I was already fatigued, and then I used momentum on a 20-lb dumbbell and now- OY!! Wondering how much longer I should avoid upper body training- or should I go to the doctor, or a chiro? Chime in peeps, I would LOVE to know. 

Also the above photo is from Cathe's workout "High Reps"- thank you Jessica for telling me about this, how did I miss this workout?? Hello. I'm gonna need this. Cathe has just some of the BEST workouts to do in your home gym, and she has virtually every variation of cardio and weights training so you can constantly confuse the muscle. If you don't have any Cathe workouts yet, you are missing out. Big time. (again I'd suggest buying Cathe at Collage Video, when I've ordered direct from Cathe.com I've experienced shipping delays.)

Here is a peek of this soon-to-be-added-to-my-collection-DVD:

Dang! I wish that woman (well I almost wish) would stop making such great DVDs! I need a 2nd job to pay for my fitness gear/equipment/shoes/DVD addiction. Oy.

Anyway, I'm doing some kickboxing later today, and then tomorrow will be lower body training. Question of the Day: Is there anyone out there, other than me, that really is NOT that into all the football madness going on? I mean, I'm not gonna lie, it does not affect me either way who wins. I'd rather get a massage. Just being honest. ;-)