JUST DO SOMETHING. The above EXCUSES have -- wait, I have ALLOWED THEM to get in my way over the past couple of years. Guess what? Every day has challenges. For me, I've found that I am CONSTANTLY making things worse, in my head, than they are. I think there is "no way" I have time to do a workout or I think that someone that hasn't called me back is SUPER MAD AT ME when I know deep down inside there is no reason for that to be true.
Give your energy and focus to thoughts like I CAN DO THIS. When you start to say in your mind, "OMG I have no time today, I've gotta do this and this and this and get there and go there and I really don't have time to workout and shower and then..." ----IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZE YOUR BAD KELLY VOICE and then give it a THROWDOWN.
Say- WATCH THIS. I'm in a hotel? What kind of excuse is THAT to not do walking lunges, TRX, planks, jumping jacks, crunches, plyo and pushups?
NO EXCUSES.
I was going through those thoughts this morning. I babysat last night and had a 5 year old over here. She's out playing Barbies with my weights and making a house with my Cathe High Step, while I blasted through my own homemade Circuit Blast- CAN I GET A BOOYA?? I MADE PROGRESS PEEPS- NOT EXCUSES.
Warmup:
Ran up and down my stairs 4x. Did 15 Kettlebell Swings with my 30lb KB, followed by 16 plyo squats, touching the floor each time.
CIRCUIT ONE:
UPRIGHT ROW 12X 15lb
BICEP CURL 12X 15lb
STATIONARY LUNGES 12X EACH LEG no weights
CIRCUIT TWO:
OVERHEAD PRESS 12X 12LB
HAMMER CURLS 12X 12LB
TRICEP KICKBACKS 12X 10LB WEIGHTS
REVERSE LUNGES WITH VALSLIDES
CIRCUIT THREE:
SIDE LATERAL RAISE 12X 8LB
OVERHEAD TRICEP PRESS 12X 20LB
SIDE LUNGES WITH VALSLIDES 12X EACH LEG
Finish up with 100 Walking Lunges. (Remember I go lighter with weights when doing a nonstop circuit like this.)
BOOYA! Now here is your theme song from Ms. Brit for today:
QUESTION OF THE DAY: What's your workout plan this weekend?? PROGRESS OR EXCUSES?
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.
Amen. Kittens, it feels SO good to be HOME. And....to know that I don't have to pack and be at O'Hare on Monday! DANG! I have SOOOOO much catching up to do, with you all, with my family.....and I'm very excited about making some big changes in my life. I've become aware of so much that is wrong....and now it's time to make it right.
Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living." and I wholeheartedly agree. It is when I examine my life, my inner self (oh whoa here comes Oprah moments again) and thoughts and my schedule- everything - wow, I've gained major clarity in so many areas.
More on that to follow. For now, let me say that GREAT BALLS OF FIRE ~ Aunt Flo arrived and greeted me at the door with a hammer to the head. I swear I have had a SPLITTING headache for three days. I'm not one to get headaches on a regular basis (although I do have a deeply intimate relationship with Excedrin PM, but that's about sleeping when you're on the road or have psychopathic neighbors from hell that keep you up all the time, bless their hearts....), but when I do, they usually make themselves KNOWN.
First of all, a good cup of coffee- and I mean GOOD, always makes things better. And- here is something you may or may not know about me. I love getting new BIG coffee mugs. LOVE them. I almost always buy a new mug in Starbucks because I heart Starbucks and I heart big mugs for lots of good coffee. See- it's the simple things in life that make me happy. Staying at a Ritz Carlton hotel? Doesn't rock my boat. Getting new shoes? As long as the heels are 4+ inches, that always makes me happy. Coffee and a great mug, always makes me happy. Things from my Amazon wish list (most under $20) always make me happy. A new book, QUIET TIME, massage, my bed, my robe, being at the beach, watching the cute squirrels out back of my house....yea, it's all the little things in life that I appreciate.
Also, Huge Jackman.
Anyway~ I got in a killer workout today!! BOOYA! I was psyched- did a lower body circuit like THIS:
CIRCUIT ONE:
Bosu Ball Front kick, followed by rear lunge, 12 each side
Squats with barbell, 55lbs
Static Lunge, 12 each side
Kettlebell Swings with 20lb bell
In between circuits- run up and down the stairs 2x.
CIRCUIT TWO:
High step-ups with 1 15lb dumbbell, 12 each leg
Dead lifts on Bosu, 12x
Squats, closed legs, 15lb dumbbell
Side Lunges with Valslides OMG 12x each leg
CIRCUIT THREE:
Valslides Rear Lunges with 1 15lb dumbbell HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
Bosu Ball Deep Squats 12x
Deadlifts with 45lb Barbell 12x
Valband Firewalkers
All from my home gym, where no one could SEE the sweatfest (375 calories torched in 51 minutes) Here is what I'm gonna tell ya. HOLY HECK this was killer!!! Kids, you know that Valerie Waters is my bestie so yea, I'm biased, but if you don't have Valslides and Valbands yet, you are crazy. I cannot describe how those rear lunges with the Valslides were KILLING me. If you could have been here and seen the gorilla face I had just to get through it, whoa. It was like pulling your legs through quicksand.
(I don't make any money by referring you to Val and her products. I just believe in them soooo much- these are what I pack in my suitcase EVERY TRIP- you can do so many moves with them and not just legs- try ABS OMG!!!!)
So, it's time for me to clock out, as I got THINGS TO DO TONIGHT, OK?? :-)
Here's my mini-sweaty vlog from earlier in the week when I was a real dumbass and forgot my USB cord for the camcorder. #Fail Enjoy, and peace out. More tomorrow.
Good MORNING Kittens! I feel like I've been out of Blog-Land forever! Dang! I will say this, the title of this post is true. I'm BACK. For all of you that have been emailing me, thank you. It appears that everyone has 'turned the corner' sickness-wise. My poor niece broke her fever on Friday, after 6 straight days of a HIGH fever in the hundreds. I was SO worried about her! ;-( Anyway, she was happy that she got to go see "Tangled" over this weekend, so it's all good! AMEN!!
I'm so thinking of Amy at the Vegas Rock n Run right now. I can't wait to hear how she kicked butt, I just know she did. I'm disappointed I am not there, in a big way, but I know I did the right thing. I don't regret staying here one bit. I just got my latest Runner's World magazine and plan to pick my next first (ha ha!) 1/2 Marathon for 1Q2011. I think there is one in Miami!!! Yummy.
So I had to feature my girl crush Jessica Biel today because she's just killer badass chick. I love her workout approach, you can see that she mixes it up all the time, which is what I love to do, or I have found I love to do. I LOVE running now and can't wait to really be back at that on a regular schedule of some sorts, whether I'm training for 1/2 marathons or not. I love heavy isolation training in the gym, and I also love kickboxing, kettlebells, yoga, bootcamp and SOON.....TRX and Crossfit.! WOOT! That's me. What works for me and what I love may not excite YOU- and that is the key!! YOU have to find what you LOVE to do- because that is the training program that will be most ideal.
Granted, if you only like to sit on the couch and do curls with your Cheetos and Bud Light, you aren't gonna end up looking like this:
*Ahem*
And if your idea of staying active means twiddling your toes around while you sit at your desk drinking Frappuccinos with whipped cream and reading People.com, you probably won't end up looking like this:
So, be realistic. You want to lean? You gotta move. You want fantastic muscle? That doesn't come without moving some serious weight. Ladies, do we really need to get into the whole "I don't want to be bulky..." whine fest? I don't think so.
I've learned some GREAT (yet difficult) lessons in 2011. I've learned to conquer my psycho-diet mentality and have a more reasonable approach to food. (Yes, for those of you that have asked I will shoot a vlog about the ESE approach and how it helped me and what I'm doing now....) I've learned to stop adjusting MY training whenever I hear some advice, unsolicited or not, about what's the "best" cardio or the "most ideal" way to train in the gym.
Eat Less, Eat Good. Move More. Lift Heavy.
That's how I roll now.
I'm not obsessing over training in a Heart Rate zone and flipping out if I went to 161 instead of training at 155. I'm not losing my mind if I'm on the road and have to have Arby's for lunch instead of that ideal salad with tuna that I'd really like. I'm not pissed off if I only get in 45 minutes of working out instead of 90, when I'm at a conference that keeps me busy from 8am to 11pm.
I will run when I want to and not listen to ridiculous advice like (cough cough JNL) "No one that trains in the gym EVER runs!! We laugh at those people and call them skinny fat!" #FAIL.
Jessica Biel is my girl crush because she is buff and isn't trying to look like everyone else in Hollywood. She trains hard and it is clearly a lifestyle choice. I finally feel like that's where I have arrived....this is all part of my life, I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, I'm seeing MAJOR RESULTS now (fat loss AND muscle conditioning and growth plus cardio capacity that blows my mind) and I'm making no apologies.
I've read some questions sent in to fitness magazines about "waaah I'm bored with my workouts". Seriously? There are like 100,000 things to do to get/stay fit. My Gosh, I am at the point that if I wanted to, I could do a different routine every day for 5 years. Really. Get creative! Who is going to take the time to write in a letter to a fitness magazine instead of going online and reading some killer blogs and checking out YouTube and getting off you DUFF???
Do you see what she's using here? Those are the lovely ValBands from Valerie Waters that I've told you about in the past. AWESOME. I use these when I do Butts N Guts by Cathe. Holy Crap. (Firewalkers!!)
I've also told you about Valerie's Valslides. Seriously, if you want to invest under $50 for two little tools that travel well and have about 200 different moves for your core, your butt and your legs, BUY THESE. I have one set for at home and one set for travel. Best investment ever. I've provided the link HERE and no I don't earn a dime from sending you there. Val is my BFF and she is awesome.
This really is just a peek. I find that the more I vary my workouts, the more fun it is. It becomes more of a choice in my mind of "What do I GET TO DO TODAY?" as opposed to "What do I HAVE TO DO TODAY?"
Success is all in your head. The only way to FAIL is to QUIT.
So, the QUESTION OF THE DAY IS: How do you plan to kick it up a notch this month so you have a head start on 2011???
Saturday, April 23, 2011 at 12:03PM
