Two books worth reading

Hiya all out there....
thanks for the votes for my post on the Planksta or Satan's Mistress workout blog.

The results are in and the winner is Planksta workout thanks for the votes and comments.

I have been reading two great books that have been helping me refocus and answer some questions for me.

The two books are called Winning by losing by Jillian(from the Biggest Loser) and Oxygen's Get off the couch(special issue).

They both offer great sections on getting started on your journey to better health.

Jillian's book has a section dealing with oxidizer which I found interesting and the quiz is easy to take to find out which type of oxidizer you may be.

Oxygen's Get off the Couch is a great starting point for all....it has many in depth articles on how to begin your journey off of the couch into the workout world.

I would love to hear about any books/magazines that have inspired you, please feel free to send your favorites to me. I love to read and look forward to expanding my library of fitness knowledge.

Indoor bike

Hi all
The weather here has been quite rainy lately so I have been focusing on indoor bike workouts.

I have been averaging 10 miles at a time on the bike and enjoying it.
The indoor bike does get a bad rep for being not as good the outdoor type but I feel that it is better than doing no activity at all.

I recently went away for a week vacation and had a great time. Every night we had fun checking out the number steps we did....somedays were over 20,000. I managed to track 5 days out the seven on my pedometer...two of the days were spent in the airports or planes so not much done then.

During our stay I managed to find a food court that sold whey protien shakes, I really enjoyed the chocolate peanut butter one.
I also found a great place that made burgers with freshly baked whole wheat buns, it was a big hit with me.

Now back home I am getting my bike workouts in while I am finishing a project for my Grandmother's 90th birthday. I am spending hours on it every day and night.
I had to adjust my workouts also to evenings at the gym since I am limited on when I can use the car. It is making it harder for me,but I know that doing alittle each day counts.

My adjustments make me think of the quote on the biggest loser...stand up and finish what you started. It makes no sense to me to quit on this weight loss just because I am not doing as structured as I was but...it just makes me able to cope and still progress towards my finish line.

Pushing yourself when life throws you curveballs makes the journey that much more rewarding.

Planksta or Satan's Mistress workout

Lately I have been thinking of new workouts and things I would like to try over the upcoming summer months.

Ranking high on my list is trail running and hiking. I will have to do more research to find some areas nearby. I am still struggling with my cardio and I may sign up for a running room class to help me learn to run.

I also want to think of new workouts to do at home indoors.
There are days during the week when I feel I need an extra tough workout and I have one in mind.

The new workout is yet to be named .... but my top two names I have in mind for it are: Planksta or Satan's Mistress.

As you have already figured it out it contains a few plank exercises.

This workout is inspired by a workout I have done with my trainer before called Stairway to Hell...hence the Satan's Mistress option.

Workout details...

Warm up of the day or your usual warm up.

gather the following items....

two barbells...(I use 15 lb each)
medicine ball
a timer to use at the top and the bottom of the staircase
two sheets of paper with numbers from one to ten marked on each
pen or pencil

Gather your paper,timer and pencil and place them at the top and at the bottom of the staircase.
Now you can bring the timer up and down the stairs if you wish and if you can keep track of your reps then no paper is needed.
Now you are ready...

Starting at the bottom of the staircase grab the barbells and walk up the staircase.

At the top of the staircase drop the barbells and begin to do ten reps of push ups.
When you are done with that do ten reps of crunches.
After the crunches grab your timer and set it for one minute....
push start and begin your one minute plank.
After the one minute is up proceed to mark off the number ten on your sheet of paper.

Grab your barbells and head down the stairs...
when you arrive place your barbells down and begin ten reps of jumping jacks.
When the jacks are done grab a medicine ball and begin ten reps of ball slams.
Once that is complete push start on your timer for one minute in the plank position.
Now mark off the number ten on your sheet of paper at the bottom of the stairs.

Congrats you did one round now head back up to do nine reps of push ups and crunches and keep going until you cross off all the numbers at the top and bottom of the staircase.

This workout is intense and worth every drop of sweat....
I hope others will try it....and help me name this workout

mind workout and summer plans

This week I have to sift my focus onto working out my mind and planning for the next months ahead.
My body is suffering and working out has been limited to low intensity cardio.
Today I was supposed to go workout but I wake up with a nasty head cold and losing my voice.
So I decided to put my mind into high gear and workout some other things that will help me in the coming months.

In the past when I am not feeling well, I would go for a swim in the pool of pity... it has wave after wave of poor me I can not workout so sit and be lazy and it also has a riptide pulling me back into the eat whatever you want because you are not feeling well.

This is the first time that I have stopped myself from entering the pool of pity....and I am finally getting the big picture. My body is trying to tell me something....rest and take this time to preplan some future workout activities and how to stay focused during the summer months.

So for the past few days I have been looking ahead and seeing what I did wrong last year and how to improve myself while getting closer to my goals.
This summer I have arranged to include a more defined plan for me to workout while enjoying the summer instead of having no plan and just seeing how the day goes,hoping to squeeze a workout in .

For this to work and not feel guilty about the time I am spending on myself, the plan is to include my family in the workouts.

One of the workouts that I have arranged is to go trail running/walking with my oldest girl once a week for the summer.

Another workout with my youngest girl is to do a 9km bike ride around our area weekly, it involves a few hills and is quite a challenge.

I am also allowing myself one workout a week to try something new be it a dvd workout, ladder workout or a class at my local gym, hopefully one of these will become a new passion for me.

Vacation talk has already begun and if we go back to Vegas again I have a better plan of action.

Getting up early and doing some workout(cardio atleast) before breakfast will allow me to keep on track and not interfere with our family plans.
Making healthier choices at meal times will be my main goal which will be hard but it will be done.
I have also found a great website that I can book a 2-3 hour hike in the mountains in Vegas....they actually pick you up at the hotel supply lunch and it sounds like such fun.
The great thing also about the hiking website is I have to prebook...so no backing out !!!

This summer is shaping up to be great and keeping myself focusing on myself becoming great also is the plan....whats yours?????

fail to plan is planning to fail

New workout toy

Just a quick update for you.

I have just bought another piece of gym equipment to help me on the days that it is raining out and when the treadmill just looks like a piece of torture equipment.

I bought a six foot slide board.
It was over a hundred dollars and came with black booties.

Today I managed to give it a try and wow what fun it was.
I wish I had bought it sooner...it hardly seems like working out at all.

This will keep me going when I have my days of wanting just to lay on the couch.

I was only able to do 10 full minutes of back and forth but wow did I ever feel it in my legs after.

I now plan on adding this to my list of fun intense workouts that I do weekly.

Monday's Workout

Yesterday my workout was called the stairway to hell part three.

The workout involved stairs of course and what I call full burpees. The full burpees are also known as lay down stand ups on X-Weighted(a tv weight loss show here in Canada).

Before I began this workout I always do the same warm up of the day to loosen my tight muscles and to get focused.
Here are some of the warm up exercises before I do my main workout:
arm circles,scorpions,lunges,toy soliders,turkish getups using a kettlebell and also jumping jacks.

The workout begins at the bottom of the stairs doing 10 full burpees, then I picked up a 9kg medicine ball and proceeded to head up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs I placed the ball on the floor.
I learned my lesson in an earlier stairway to hell workout about placing the ball down instead of dropping it. The ball will roll around and it managed to have a mind of it own and it headed back down without me. My trainer yelled up at me to come back down grab the ball and start my reps all over again since I let the ball come back down. ARRRGGHH never again will I let the ball make me do another extra set.

After I place the ball at the top the stairs, I begin my full burpee set of ten.

The workout then heads back downstairs carrying the ball to do the next rep of nine full burpees, and then back up to nine up top.
This continues until you reach the magic number of zero full burpees remaining.

The workout is a great one, it sounds pretty basic but it is a great total body drill.

Once I had finished the stairway to hell part three I managed to catch my breath and asked how my time was.
My trainer said I had a great time and even some leftover so get ready for some push ups.
Eighty push ups later my workout was done....

Not bad for early Monday morning....
I wonder what Wednesday's workout will be???

Heres hoping it will involve some dealifting or bench pressing and setting a personal best!!!

My bathroom scale

I have a scale in my bathroom that is running my life.

I am not proud to admit that and wish I could just never set foot on it again.
But alas, I know I will be using it everyday and more than three times a day.
It has such power over me that somedays I decide what my plans on by what number it flashes.
If it shows a great number I feel like a million bucks and want to workout all day long to continue my progress.

Other days I see a six pound gain in two days and want to throw in the towel, grab some chicken wings and eat until I grow feathers.

Now I know in my mind that there is no way I can gain that much weight in two days...but I have been told that the scale does not lie...well mine does!!!
How else can I justify the number it showed me????

When I returned for a workout with my trainer I told him about what my scale said and I knew he thought I had binged on booze and bad food. Yes it is hard to stay on the eating plan when you are away from home, yes not eating every two hours messes me up.
But I did not screw up that much not even close.

Marching downstairs to weigh in and workout seemed like a one way trip to loserville and I thought I was doomed to be fat forever.I honestly wanted to turn around and head home.

How surpised was I when his scale said I was down a pound...what was going on here?

What a wake up call on how much pressure I put on myself everytime I weigh in and how much three little numbers can ruin or make my day.

That darn scale at home had me quitting,depressed and feeling like I was never gonna be a skinny person.

But what really did my bathroom scale teach me this weekend?

Lets see....

that number that I see every morning can and will change for better or worse

weighing in is a part of the weight loss journey...not the most important part

the number on the scale does not determine the quality of my day


After all this drama, I do plan on keeping my bathroom scale to remind myself that nothing is perfect,things can change and the three little numbers it shows me are just that three little numbers.

My best workout so far

I was asked the other day to talk about my best workout ever.

I was really surprised by the question because I am not an elite athlete, or a person whom tries every class offered at the gym.

Why would someone want to know how this 40 year old obese mother of two teenagers workouts out?

Whenever I casually mention that I do workout in friendly conversations I get a look of ya right you probably just hang out in the change area talking for the whole time you spend there.

Even my workout clothes are subject to questionable glances in the gym…my shirts are at least two sizes too big, and I wear many layers of clothing to keep myself covered up because I am so ashamed.

Many people when asked about the best workout ever begin to recall various personal records or finish times in various races.
Since running is something I am learning to do, I knew it would not even enter as a possibility for my best workout ever. I will admit to also thinking of a recent workout where I managed to create a new personal best.

I began recalling the last few weeks of training and thought of my recent dead lift workout. It was the end of my workout when we (my personal trainer Curd and I) started some dead lifting. The dead lifts went fantastic, the bar felt like it was a toothpick I was picking up off the ground. We kept adding weight until we ran out of time…I started at a weight of 135lbs and kept going until I reached 205 lbs., but was it my greatest workout….No not by a long shot.

Could my best workout be the time I spent working out with a famous TV personal trainer? Well it does come close…he worked me really hard, spent time talking to me and I would workout again with him again anytime.
Would it be the time with another famous TV trainer that encouraged my eldest daughter to workout also?
He was such fun, great personality, made me feel like he was happy I showed up and worked out with him. That time together with him and my eldest is a very special weekend memory but not my greatest workout.

How about the time I brought my youngest to a class that my personal trainer runs on Saturday mornings?
She plays hockey so I knew that she is used to physical activities and knew to put forth a major effort. When we worked out that morning we were so competitive with each other and the other class members it was an awesome feeling to finish together ahead of the class of men. Again that is a great memory of quality time together but not the greatest workout.

I finally figured out what the greatest workout for me was.

Monday February 8,2010 was the greatest workout for me so far.

No great feats of dead lifting, no fastest mile ran, no squatting personal best, no bench pressing attempt and no other personal best effort that day.
It all came down to one exercise in a set of many.
Leg day was the name of the workout of the day, believe me today my quads are reminding me of it.
Various exercises were listed to do among them were squats, lunges, planks and knee raises.
During the workout it required me to also use a 20 lb bag for squat thrusters, overhead lunges and overhead squats.(in other words hold the bag above your head while you do the squat, lunge etc)
The workout was progressing very well the overhead lunges were hard but I enjoyed pushing myself.
I then had to do the overhead squats and that when all hell broke lose.
The bag I had so loving held above my head for the lunges, squat thrusters turned evil.
I do not know what occurred to cause me to become so afraid of even touching the bag that I have used moments ago. It was like if I touched it millions of snakes would pop out or if I dared to actually lift it above my head my arms would give out and I could picture myself with a bloody nose and two black eyes.
The fear just came over me like a chill up my spine. I managed to do only two overhead squats that first set. The weird part is that once the time limit was up on that exercise and later I came back to using the bag for a different move the bag did not even phase me…it was light as a feather pillow.
The second set was great until the overhead squats…the fear came back again even Curd asked me did you pull something?…are you ok? I even started to get tears in my eyes it was that awful for me. He convinced me to try and do one at a time to get past the fear. I managed to do a few more and finish the set. During the rest break I had to have a talk with myself about what was going on with the overhead squats.
That darn over head squat exercise was not going to break me…time to get mad and chase the fear away.
Last set and the over squats were coming up…I took a deep breath and got mad and picked it up and the fear was gone.
I felt so proud and so happy that I could get over that huge mental block.
Once I did that the workout was so carefree and effortless….I even asked for an extra set of knee raises and a plank timed set.

Sometimes it is not what record you break at the gym sometimes it the limits you place on yourself that you break through that really make the difference.

back on track

Have you ever had one of those times when you have everything primed and ready to go ....
then life throws you a curve ball and you have to start over?

My life took a spin like that earlier this week. My body had other plans and demanded that I rest for a few days. I was so sick that I would sweat buckets just walking up two flights of stairs.

I missed two intense workouts with my trainer and I have only managed some wimpy bs cardio sessions. That's all I could handle at the time.....

Skip ahead four days later and I am still not hundred percent but I plan on working out with my trainer tomorrow morning.

Knowing what hard workout awaits me tomorrow morning is daunting, but my goal of getting healthy is not going to be a straight line fast journey, but a challenging battle of will, strength of body and mind.

I plan on getting back up and dusting myself off after every bad day/disappointment and illness.

That alone gives me the power to keep going and to progress towards my dream of a healthy strong body.

Hi there

welcome to my blog...

I plan on focusing on the journey of my daily grind in the areas of fitness.
Please feel free to suggest ,comment or just say hi.

Workout details will be included along with personal records, best times, general tips and funny things I do to keep going daily.

Some days I will be in the slow lane of this journey, other days I may need several posts to cover my day/challenges.

Videos will be added along with a pic or two that will show that yes I do what I blog about.

I will also include a quote of the day to inspire me and hopefully you to continue and be great at whatever you choose to do.