SO looking forward....

Happy Sunday Kittens. Well, it's Sunday night. I'm about to go to bed, and yet, I have so much excitement on my mind as I go to bed, I thought I'd belt out a quick blog post before I crash. 

Last night was the first night in 10+ days that I slept through MOST of the night. The past 10+ days I've been going to bed and my throat has been so in pain and so so so dry, I had to have like 5 cough-drops in my mouth just to like NOT be in severe discomfort. Either that or just drink water for 8 hours and not sleep. I think the anti-biotics may indeed be working and I am SO SO grateful. This (having the pre-whooping cough, sinus infection and the messed up shoulder!) has been awful and a huge wake-up call for me on what I need to change in my life. Pretty much everything I've been TALKING ABOUT HERE but not WALKING THE WALK. 

I am SO excited to workout again. I am SO excited to make myself proud. 

And, here is what 2012 is going to contain for Kelly O.

A LOT more hot yoga. OMG I have missed hot yoga SO MUCH the past month. SO MUCH- as much for physical benefits as it is for mental- I have MISSED. My shoulder is definitely WAY BETTER and I'm ready to go back.

P90X2. OMG- there is a different approach here in P90X2. 

(And yes, you can order either of these from me via my Beachbody website.)

I like workouts that are intense and allow me to feel incredibly bada** so of course that's why Crossfit appeals to me AND Sandbag Training.....Zuzana has been using the sandbag for a while, which is how I discovered one of my latest FitFluential Ambassadors- Josh Henkin, who owns Ultimate Sandbag Training.

Incidentally, it's been very bizarre to observe this transition happening over at Bodyrock....Zuzana was suddenly not there and then my personal observation is that replacing her with these two other people was a big downer. Then I saw this over the weekend and was pretty much OOOHHHH AHHHH in a big way. I really want to dive into these types of workouts-- shorter, intense, but building up major strength and conditioning your body.

And then last but not least:

Seriously? OMG. Cage Fitness really appeals to me. In a big way.

Lastly. What I will insist upon for me, so that I can reach my goals and not just be wishing for them to materialize.

• EAT. I will eat like a normal person, not rushed and unplanned and just finding the best option....I will eat to fuel my body and treat it like a temple, not fill up this machine with sub-par food. I will consume more protein, use protein powder 1-2x a day max, and make new healthy meals every week. 
• SLEEP. I will get the sleep I need. I will use everything I can to get sleep and be rested. Thank you, Technogel pillow. ;-) 
• MOVE. I will workout CONSISTENTLY each week. I will NOT overtrain. I will be CAREFUL so I avoid an injury.
• ENJOY. I will enjoy life along the way. 
• BE PROACTIVE AND PREVENTATIVE. I will take my vitamins EVERY DAY (like I used to in the past) so I build up a healthy immune system. I wll drink water like it's my job. I will stick with my commitment to not work in the mornings until my workouts are done, thus keeping stress levels lower. 

So, QUESTION OF THE DAY is: What are YOU going to do to take things up a notch in 2012?? 

Namaste. Get Your Zen On.

What's UP peeps? Yes. Today started with 90 minutes of Hot Yoga. Heavens. I love every session of Hot Yoga and I love seeing how I'm making progress. I need to shoot that vlog of my feet later-- to show you what I mean about shifting how you stand to strengthen your toes and use different parts of your shin and the ball of your foot more-- you need the full foot working to balance in many yoga poses. 

These are the poses, twisting both ways that have my foot wobbling all over the place. When hot yoga dude starts our class, he has us inhale, rising up on our tiptoes, then holding, then exhaling and coming HALF WAY DOWN on our tiptoes--that move alone used to have me wobbling but I've become stronger and can hold it. The move above and variations of it, I have a ways to go. But yoga teaches you to build on YOUR pace, focus only on you and your progress and what YOUR body can do - don't race with others. 

This is another pose I have a ways to go on- I have to use a block under my butt, while many others in the class can easily do this. Do I care? Nope. I'm working my way into that. When I get there, I get there.

This is butterfly pose. I got this ALL DAY people My legs are that flat to the floor. Now Frog Pose:

this is difficult, as I have tight hips but each week I get better and better. I put a link in the picture to the page with a bit more instruction on this pose. Killer. 

Here is a yoga sample from Rainbeau Mars on YouTube (there are a TON of yoga videos FREE hello on YouTube-- try!!!) 

Clearly Hot Yoga and I are dating in a big way. It just keeps getting better. Below is my ramble-on-a-thon, while I made some protein pancakes after Hot Yoga. MMMM. I'm doing really good on my "diet", i.e. how I'm eating while I'm losing weight. I will weigh and take measurements this Wednesday. Psyched about it. ;-)

Question of the Day: What's your favorite quick healthy meal- like protein pancakes or protein bread? Do you have any? 

Can I Get a Double WOOT?

WHAT'S UP PEEPS? How is your week going? Yes, today should be Wednesday Woot! Factor interview day but your friend Kelly O is a bit behind!! OY! You'd think I'd have all this extra time since resigning my 'day job' 2 weeks ago but, HECK NO. It feels like a blur. Totally a blur. I barely have enough time to duck in here and publish a blog quickie for you-- then I have 2 more meetings this afternoon and Hot Yoga tonight. Namaste and Hot Yoga Boys! That's right girls, yoga is bringing out a LOT MORE dudes than you'd think. NOT that this is my primary reason for going or anything and NOT that I spend a lot of time checking out the totally ripped cut buff tattooed brilliance represented in our classes...I'm simply trying to learn from them. And by learn I mean, learn how to get the DIGITS. 

What?

These yoga pants for men amuse me. In myriad ways. But anyway, I find them more agreeable than the uber-short shorts that this one dork at my gym wears, and then he spends time ON THE TREADMILL in all kinds of inappropriate stretching moves. #FAIL.

Here is my post-walk/run vlog from earlier:

At the moment, for many of you that have been asking about the Running Bra thing~ the Under Armour bras that Miss Amy recommended to me in the past are the best I've found thus far for taming the TaTa's. I'm getting better at my running each time out, but I tell ya, it's really like starting all over again for me....especially with my breathing and such. I'm not letting it get me down, because I get to see progress each time. 

My workouts have been KICKING BUTT all week-- yesterday I did Cathe's HIIT 20/20 followed by her High Reps DVD. Wow that woman knows how to make you scream for mercy. 

I'm also going to have to ask Cathe about the bands she uses in the video, because I could not use them to the degree that the girls did in the video. Maybe she sells new colors because they had a range of motion that was much bigger than I could achieve and I am pretty strong...I also blasted out my shoulders on Monday, using some of these new twists on moves from Monica Brandt:

GREAT tips in there on avoiding working the traps, as I need to do. Anyway, my eating has been spot on as well, I'm focusing on drinking more Green Tea at night, when the temptation is to eat!;-) I'm also digging my GNC Lean Shakes 1-2x a day....really easy to mix and drink without feeling like I'm eating chalk. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How do you make sure you eat enough veggies? Do you focus on salads?? Or cooked veggies? 

Just Don't QUIT.

Girl has some bada** delts going on. Today I focused on shoulders and wow, it's been a few weeks since I've done some hardcore shoulder work. I noticed the difference, in a bad way. I was not able to do my usual # of reps....and this shows me how important and beneficial it is to truly "cross-train", which in MY book means you do your 'cardio' type workouts like running or kickboxing and you do your yoga or pilates and you do your weight training-- it's all surprising and confusing to your body and they all complement your body because they all work the muscles in a unique manner. 

I also have some SERIOUS DOMS going on today from Hot Yoga last night. It was killer and she did a ton of extended chair pose, where I was thinking "DANG GIRL can you tell us to come up out of the pose for crying out loud?" My glutes and quads are screaming today and I love it.

This is my favorite version of chair but we held each side forever! I was starting to see visions of Huge Jackman carrying me off to Starbucks for a Frappuccino! I will tell you this, EACH time I go to a yoga class, I am able to push myself deeper into a pose, and it can be painful, but I'm able to get what the whole "breathe into it" concept means. I'm getting stronger each time...I have a WAYS to go on certain poses and that's where it's awesome to be in a class with a goddess or sexy yoga man instructor there, because when I do this one, I ALWAYS ATTRACT THE INSTRUCTOR OVER TO HELP ME (which in translation means, I'm doing it so off, they are like, "whoa this chick is messed up, I better fix her")

Triangle pose. Kids if you have yet to do yoga, do NOT be mistaken and think this or any pose is as easy as it looks. Once you have someone correct your form and you feel your body PULLING and stretching and your muscles shaking as you try to hold the pose and breathe-- whoa. That's all I can say. I LOVE IT.

Today's post is titled "just don't QUIT" because the ONLY way we FAIL in this fitness journey is TO QUIT. Stop comparing yourselves to others. This is your body, your day, your life. Just make each workout better in some way than the last. And keep going. 

Today I did GSP Rushfit Full Body Conditioning and Strength:

I really have a problem doing what they call the Hindu Pushups. But other than that, I was a dang sweaty MESS people!! Check it out:

Wow. Be careful, this vlog may have hurt your eyes. I'm sorry to have done that to you. ;-) 

Anyway, I'm off to chill out tonight and watch a movie. I have to pack for BlogHer in San Diego- who will be there? Come out and see us! WOOO!! 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Have you "mastered" push-ups yet? I mean, I can do like 12 boy pushups before I get tired, but I'd love to progress to one-hand or these Hindu push-ups. How about you?