Just Build On It.

I was actually looking for a picture of a pushup and this one popped up- perfect. I love how it says, "Do One Push Up". Why? I've been fielding a lot of questions lately around a common theme- and it is a theme that always pops up again and again. It's the theme of essentially, "How do I fit all this fitness into my life/schedule?" or "How do I get motivated to do what I need to do in the gym?" or, "How do I workout when I'm tired/angry/feeling fat/fill-in-the-blank?"

You have to start small, and BUILD ON IT. You build on your momentum. You build on your motivation. You build on your pride of accomplishment. You build on your strength. You build on your cardio capacity. You build more every single day. 

Each week builds on the last week. Each month builds on the last and so on.

This is NOT rocket science obviously, but the more I've thought about the last couple of years and WHY things weren't sticking for me and why I've been so chaotic and up and down and all over the place -- I realize that a big component of previous success was missing.

I wasn't building on anything, and I wasn't using little tools and tricks that helped me to build in the past. 

Remember how a Gold Star Sticker when you were young was such a big deal?? It was a small visual that  told you YEA YEA YEA FIST PUMP BABY YOU ROCKED IT!! WOOT! (of course in different lingo.....) When I am most successful, and really in the zone, I sustain that by giving myself visual reminders in as many ways as possible - reminders of what I've done this week last week, last month, so I can see that I'M ON A ROLL (to getting rid of rolls, right?? LOL)

It was my FitFluential biznass partner Jennifer  who made me think of this a week or so ago--- we were talking about tracking calories and what is a healthy range, and she brought up how she uses stickers in her day planner to showcase days that she has reached a specific objective. It made me realize that I used to do something similar and haven't been doing it. I used to write my workouts- with STARS on how I rated the quality and sweat factor of my workout- on a Cathe Calendar. It was in my closet, so every time I went to get dressed, I saw that I was kicking bootie in my workouts. It was PART OF EVERY DAY and if I wasn't logging a workout- SOMETHING WAS MISSING.

IF I HAD MORE THAN ONE BLANK DAY ON THAT CALENDAR- IT WAS A BLINKING LIGHT THAT SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT!!! 

You want to finish a workout and wrap up a day feeling DANG GREAT- like you have something to celebrate. Maybe for you it isn't a calendar or a planner, maybe it's an app on your phone or a notebook or a picture on your fridge. I say focus first on visuals that ENCOURAGE YOU. You can also use some real life tools like--- say your big pet peeve (like mine is at this moment) is that your favorite jeans are too tight. And say that you know (Like I do right now) that your moment of weakness is later at night, when you sit down to chill and watch TV, that this is when you NOSH for no reason. NFNR. Why not bring your pair of jeans with you and set them on the coffee table so when you get up for some crackers or whatever, you have those jeans staring at you like WHAT IN THE HELLLLL ARE YOU DOING??

You know you can't wait to wear your KLASSY JEANS LIKE THIS:

That is one Klassy Broad. 

I'm here in NYC right now peeps. I've been up since 4:30am and I'm kinda draggin.....I have every inclination to "take it easy" tonight and not workout. But guess what- I've got my new planner that is organizing my work life and my personal life, and I WILL be recording a BOOYA today for my workout. And I'm recording it on DailyMile.com for y'all. And when I first thought about NOT working out, I thought about my jeans. Because today's workout brings me one step closer to ROCKING THOSE JEANS OUT AGAIN. 

I have my ValSlides, my TRX, my DVDs and my girl Zuzana on the YouTube to push me harder....I'm also gleefully excited to get home and see my new packages with KETTLEBELLS AND UGI AND THAT THING THAT ZUZANA DOES DIPS AND SUCH ON. Name? I don't know- dip machine? That sounds like my ex-husband LOLOLOLOL. 

Do you UGI? Carla @mizfitonline told me all about it...and I think clearly I can use this instead of the duffel bag thing Zuzana uses in her workouts right? Werd Up. 

I'm not having it any other way. On that note, I gotta go CRUSH IT. Here is my vlog from yesterday- sorry YouTube was being a fiesty nerd and not uploading anything yesterday. I have all my vlog equipment here, so I'll shoot another vlog tonight and tell y'all about my bada** workout. ;-) 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is your favorite reality show? I swore I'd never watch one and yet I can't lie, I am all about the Kardashians and I want to marry Kim, in a non-lesbian, let's just be BFF and go shopping all the time kind of way. 

Monday Manjoyment!

Gals, I'm hitting a wall with Monday Manjoyment. I NEED SOME NOMINATIONS. I like to keep it fresh, so please, unless you want to see Huge Jackman every Monday (and really, who would complain about that?) NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE Eye Candy. **Note-- in case you hadn't noticed, I try to keep our quirky Manjoyment tied to fitness, I only feature dudes that clearly are into training and being healthy. I'm not just featuring a ton of pretty faces. So keep that in mind, this isn't Teen Beat magazine. I have STANDARDS ok?? 

;-)

Now most of you that know me know that the last time I sat down and watched a football game was probably when the Bears were last in the Superbowl, but wait, weren't they just in the Superbowl last year or something? I'm about YEARS AND YEARS ago......anyway, I LIKE football. I like a lot of sports I just don't want to spend every weekend watching it, when there are sales going on at the mall. 

I've got priorities. 

So anyway, apparently this guy is Mark Sanchez from the Jets. Cute, buff and obviously from my Google search, he dates 17 year olds. Shocking right? A pro-football player with a SCANDAL? Shocking.

Here is another warning: do not nominate this guy:

Tom Brady probably would've been eligible in the past, until he started getting more queer by the day. Exhibit A:

Exhibit B: 

Really? I think he is more eligible for the new covergirl of Morton's Salt:

Agree? Not to mention the fact that because he cheated on his girlfriend, who IS BEAUTIFUL- (EXHIBIT C:)

with Gisele, and then married her and continued his course of study in BEING A JAG, he is INELIGIBLE.

This is Gisele probably 5 minutes after she gave birth to their baby. Don't act like you don't wish she'd disappear and go live on Mars or something? For real?? She's like 6'1 with boobs, long long long legs and flat abs and I just want her to have SOMETHING wrong with her but other than when she opens her mouth and starts babbling about breast feeding or some other nonsense, she's kind of like a mannequin. And I reserve the right to despise her for that. Agreed? 

I'm being silly today. JUST SILLY. 

SO SEND ME YOUR NOMINATIONS AND DON'T MAKE ME BEG. Try to avoid wimpy dudes that don't workout and overall Jag-a-Muffins like Tom Brady. 

I've been trying to upload my vlog for about 200 hours today, so as soon as it is finished I will share. I'm off to NYC tomorrow, back on Friday. I've packed my ValSlides, my TRX, Jackie Warner's AB DVD, Cathe HIIT and a TRX Video. Today's workout was Jackie Warner's KILLER Circuit followed by some Shoulder isolation. Total Burn of 378 calories in 40 minutes. BOOYA!

Now that my shoulder is better, I'm excited to get back to the TRX:

Also, I just ordered this bad-boy because I'm all about doing more Zuzana workouts:

If you haven't tried out any of her workouts, you are out of her mind. I'm gonna start buying her a cup of coffee every day- let's support her content y'all. They are some of the best workouts on the PLANET?!!! CLICK HERE TO VISIT BODYROCK TV.

And.....I have 25lb and 35lb Kettlebells on the way too! BOOYA! The 20lbs are just not hard enough anymore! WOOO!! I'm so excited about my training now. So excited. 

Does anyone know when Spring will REALLY BE HERE? DANG!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you watch sports? If so, why? ;-)

I LIKE IT> I LOVE IT> I WANT SOME MORE OF IT.

OMG. Am I saying I LIKE FREAKING BURPEES?? OR MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS? Um, I guess in a sick twisted way, that would be a yes. Today, my friends, I did a 20-Minute Interval Cardio workout. You read that right. 20 minutes. I was DRIPPING in sweat. Burned 250 calories.

And that was it. I stopped. That's the plan. No more hours of cardio. Today's plan was a 20 minute session (these will get progressively a bit longer, and sometimes I will be throwing in a 35-40 minute Insanity session for cardio, but my point is.....I'm not OVERDOING IT. I'm not doing what I would've done 6 months ago, which is to look at my Polar HRM and see a 250 calorie burn and feel that there is NO WAY THAT'S ENOUGH- and then I'd do something else to make it a minimum of 500, always shooting for 800 or more.

WHERE WAS THAT GETTING ME? A long road to nowhere. 

I'm telling you guys and gals, reading Rachel Cosgrove's book was a good thing for me. And Chelle- a lot of the cardio workouts- the intervals, they remind me of Sexy Biotch Zuzana and her killer workouts, so I am going to try some of hers too-- in fact, here is something funny. I've noticed that in many of her workouts, she uses a duffel bag with WHATEVER in it for a weight.....so here I am in my hotel room doing my "weight" circuit yesterday- and I obviously had no "weights" right? I needed to do step ups for part of my circuit. 

GIVE ME SOME CREATIVE APPLAUSE NOW.

I used my duffel bag filled with RANDOM STUFF- my makeup, the hairdryer, icebox from the hotel room- you name it- and I held the bag up against my chest while I did step ups......ON THE TOILET!! HAHAHAHA I'm so not joking. And yes, the lid was closed!!! (if doing this on the road, test the seat first to make sure it's not one of those that dent in when you step or sit on it LOL)

It worked. 

Do you see how NON-PERFECTIONIST OCD KELLY I WAS?? I OWNED IT!

FYI, today's circuit blast was this:

• Circuit One: Hopscotch, Single Leg Burpee, Mountain Climbers, Jump Squats (30 seconds each then 30 seconds rest. Did 3 rounds)
• Circuit Two: Lateral Ski Jumps, Lunge Jumps (Like Mary Katherines in P90X), Plank Cross Toe Touch, Burpees. (Same as above)

Here is the sweaty evidence:

Ok, so this was a SHORT vlog because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to upload it- well, how long it would TAKE to upload is what was concerning me. So I kept it short, tomorrow I'll do a wee bit more, but when I'm on the road, you might have shorter Kelly O Blabathons.....I know, I know, it's sad. I'm like coffee, so addicting. ;-) 

Yesterday, I did a "weight" circuit based on Rachel's book - again, just using this philosophy of weights every other day, cardio every other day and no INSANE long-ass overtraining workouts. Eating reasonably and keeping portions normal. I have to tell you kids also- maybe I'm crazy, but being back on the Pill for 2 weeks now- I swear to God I think it is having a POSITIVE effect on my old crazy-a** hormones! I swear my tummy is way flatter this week- I know right!! Anyway- I did the circuit yesterday all with TRX and then the above mentioned step ups and some static lunges etc. 

OMG. You guys, I'm gonna tell you, when you focus on accurate form with the TRX, I am AMAZED how hard you can work your muscles and....AND AND AND you are always using CORE to do everything. I did some chest moves and holy MOTHER my core was on fire. Today I have serious upper body DOMS. I am VERY EXCITED to do more and more TRX. I'm sold. 

Good Lord. What IS it about Aussie accents (really any accent---from OVAH THERE anything Hugh Grant-ish) that makes me say, "Ok Yes, here is my hotel room key" WHAT?? Did I say that out loud? Yea I did. Mom, sorry. Your daughter has unclean thoughts. ;-0

And since so many of you ladies keep asking me about my BFF Scott Herman, here he is doing some TRX Core Destruction:

Yes, I have touched those abs in person. They are real. And he eats like a Manimal. 

I found a ton of new songs for my iPod, this is one of my new ones that makes me SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE IT. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What are your favorite tunes for working out- I want new ones!!!!

Monday Manjoyment!

What's UP Kittens?? Happy Monday!! Today's Manjoyment is some dude named Joe on some show I don't watch, but heck, I needed to mix things UP a bit here on Mondays!! HELLO remember I take nominations people- bring it. Otherwise, I tend to go with my old favorites. Nothing wrong with that.

Anyway, I'll be in Miami this week. Yea, I am actually NOT complaining about this trip fo sho but still people, never being HOME in your own house and never getting to like sit down or see your friends and family is NOT a fantastic thing. I'm glad that I get to see my work friends on the road but I'm looking forward to maybe some of this travel insanity calming down a bit. It seems to go in spurts....anyway. I'm thankful to be employed in a line of work I love, so there's that. (A little "Quit Your Bitchin" moment)

I bought myself a little mini-mixer for the road, I have my Met-Rx shake packets packed (thanks to spending some time with my BFF Carla aka MizFitOnline in Nashville), my green tea packed for the room, my multi-vitamin/supplement/fish oil packs from GNC, my TRX, my workout clothes, my iPod (with new tunes), my ValSlides, my short HIIT workouts from Cathe and my new obsession- BEEF JERKY! Again, thank you to Carla for having some at Blissdom, I'm like OMG- protein that travels well and works with the "plan" most of us are on. Bonus. 

I'm fine with facial hair. Are you? I mean, not on ME obviously but on a guy, yes. Although a full beard does indeed make me think of Grizzly Adams:

Yes, this is a show I used to WATCH in my youth. Correction; my father dug it so by default, we children also "enjoyed it". Um yea. Do you think he had highlights put in his beard, to match his fur coat? #ChannelingLiberace

I've been finishing up the book by Rachel Cosgrove, The Female Body Breakthrough. I REALLY DIG IT. Her approach is a LOT in alignment with almost everything I've been reading and hearing lately- focus more on weights FIRST, cardio second- and not hours and hours of cardio but specific more "bang for your buck" interval training, and lastly, if you really dig the lower steady state cardio like running (for LONG distances like an hour) you add that in....now, this is not an approach for everyone, but it is something I'm liking. 

Take a peek at this type of training:

Now here is Kelly channeling her inner Southern Diva again:

So kids, as I fly off to the warm beaches of Miami, I want to leave you with a thought:

TO GET WHAT YOU'VE NEVER HAD, YOU MUST DO WHAT YOU'VE NEVER DONE. (I've shared this before and we all go, yea yea, right, I get it.....but the key is, at least for me, sometimes WE THINK WE ARE DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT, OR DIFFERENT ENOUGH TO MAKE A CHANGE IN OUR BODIES, AND YET WHEN WE LOOK CLOSELY, WE HAVEN'T BEEN.....this was my lesson most recently with 4HB and guess what NOW I AM DOING IT ALL DIFFERENTLY.)

QUESTION OF THE DAY: If you use protein powder - what is your preferred brand?