Another 6 Weeks of the Find Your Fit Challenge For Me

First of all I would like to apologize for not writing a post on Monday or Tuesday.  I know that I told you that I would post my "After" pictures the next day.  I should have said the next blog post.  It's been a busy work week, and my son's class is having a bake sale this Friday, so I decided to make use of the cake tops and scraps that were left over when assembling the anniversary cake.  So my nights have been busy with not so healthy things, causing me to be too tired to sit down and write a post.  I was busy making them and NOT eating them.  I had to make 7 dozen.

I have taken my "After" pictures.  And I'm not sure if I am ready to share them yet.  I can tell you this though...I feel better than I look in the pictures.  I can't really see a difference from Day 1 of Week 1 to Day 5 of Week 6.  Unfortunately I did not take any measurements before starting this challenge.  It was a challenge to get my motivation back, and if I gained strength, lost fat and inches, then that was a bonus.  Well, I did get stronger and I am sure I lost some fat and inches.  Back-fat-Betty has started to ship out, taking Tina-the-talking-tummy with her.  I have definitely got my motivation back too.  I have submitted my pictures to Chris Cole of cxtpersonaltraining@gmail.com <<<email Chris to start on your way to Find Your Fit.  I also asked him not to share them on social media.  I mentioned to him that most people unfortunately judge a book by its cover and would not be able to see the change that HAS occurred within me.  I will be using the photos that I took as my "Before" pictures for this 6 weeks ahead.  I can't say it enough about HOW MUCH this challenge has helped me.  I never knew that I could do so many Burpees and still not mind doing more the next day. 6 weeks ago I didn't want to do anything...nothing...nada...zip...  Well...except maybe for eating like crap and watching T.V. between renovation stuff.  Oh yes, and sleeping.  Sleeping in everyday.  Now I wake up at 5:30am or 6:00am on weekdays.  Yes, there have been the odd day where I have slept in until 7am(like yesterday), but for the most part, it has been early wake up calls.  I have been gardening again, creating edible flowers for that cake, been busier with work and I have been writing to you again.  This challenge has made me stronger again.  No, I am not where I was 2 years ago, but things have changed since then, and now is the time for change.  A good change.  A positive change once again.  I have found my positive self again.  I know that by not showing my pictures is a little UNpositive, but it will help keep me in a positive light and frame of mind.  Does that make sense?  So just bare with me and give me a little more time to build up my confidence once more.  We all fall in life, and sometimes it just takes us longer to stand up tall again.  But remember how I said that I was stuck in that pothole on my journey.  Chris and his Find Your Fit 6 week challenge definitely has me back on the road with the potholes behind me...far behind me.

Continuing my journey to A Healthier Version of ME...

All of my Find Your Fit workouts are now in this note book of mine.  

Plus, I have them all entered into my Seconds PRO app.  Easy reference for travelling.

Monday morning I started round 2 of the #FindYourFit Challenge.  As I mentioned in my last post, it is 6 weeks until my birthday, and I will finish the day before, on the 25th of July.  I am trying to incorporate more cardio into this round.  Yesterday morning, Tuesday, I slept in...tisk, tisk...I did not beat myself up over it though.  I went for a walk with the daycare children, pushing 3 out of 5 of them in the triple stroller that I have.  So THAT was a workout in itself.  After a long day with the kids, and then cake pop decorating and packaging, and then gardening, I was ready for bed.  But before I went to bed, I set my alarm for 5:30am.  An early wake up call to get things done.

And that is what I did...Day 2 happened this morning.  29 minutes of the Find Your Fit workout, followed by a 32 minute spin session.  I was a sweaty mess, but feeling great.  I hope to get some sort of cardio in almost everyday.  Whether it be a spin, a run, a walk or something else, I hope to add that little extra in.

Day 3 of Week 1 will be taking place in the morning so I will be getting to bed shortly.

I hope that some of you that follow me will email Chris at cxtpersonaltraining@gmail.com to join the next #FindYourFit 6 Week Challenge starting Monday June 22nd.  Let me know if you are and I will be there to support you.  Well not there right beside you like a spotter, but I will be there in spirit getting you through those Burpees and Jump Squats and Push Ups...I will be there.  Been there, done that, doing it again.  It's SO worth it! WHY?  Because YOU are worth it!

Until next time...Stay Strong!

Trina

The Final Days of the #FindYourFit Challenge...and The Cake

I came to the end of the #FindYourFit 6 week challenge on Friday, but I just couldn't do the Day 4 workout on Friday morning.  I stayed up too late working on the flowers for the 50th Anniversary cake.  I slept in Friday morning and did not have the energy to tackle Day 4.  So instead of the workout, I hit my spin bike for a quick spin.  It was just what I needed.   Some CARDIO to get things loosened up.  My plan was to do Day 4 on Saturday and the final Day 5 400 REP Challenge on Sunday morning.  Let's fast forward to Saturday morning...

6:00am Saturday morning my alarms sounds...I'm up and ready to tackle the Day 4 workout.  It was a tough workout, but it was great way to finish the 6th week.

BUT...it wasn't over quite yet.  After I completed Day 4, I was contemplating on doing the final workout on this day instead of Sunday.  I went upstairs grabbed a drink of water, caught my breath and decided to head back downstairs to face the 400 Rep Challenge.

100 Push Ups, 100 Bent Rows, 100 Russian Twists and 100 Body Weight Squats.

Well if you remember the first time I did this Challenge...THIS is what I said,

"OMG...I thought I was going to puke.  The first part of today's workout was fine, tough, but fine.  The second part...like I said, OMG!  The 400 rep challenge was more than tough.  Well the first 100 was.  I will tell you this, doing 100 push ups made me want to puke.  Now I didn't do the 100 non stop.  I started with 20, took a breath, then I did another 10, 10, breather, 5, 5, 10, breather, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 3 and I wanted to puke.  But there was no time for that, my next 100 rep exercise was waiting to be done."

This time around, I did NOT feel like puking. I felt STRONG.  Yes it was still tough, but I did it and I did it much better than the first time.  My push ups were done in increments of 20's and 10's.

My Russian Twists were strong.  I even picked up an 8 lb dumbbell for the last 20 twists.

I double checked my time from the first 400 Rep challenge from Week 1 Day 4.  I had given myself 12 minutes to get through this challenge, it took me just over 19 minutes.  I thought it took me longer, it definitely felt like it took me longer.  This time, I did it in 16 minutes.  So I shaved some time off, but more importantly, I improved my strength in a great, great way.  This 6 week challenge has been the best thing I have done for myself in a long while.  I want to thank Chris Cole for designing this excellent program and helping me improve my health and fitness.

Chris will be starting up another #FindYourFit 6 week Challenge on June 22nd.  Email him at cxtpersonaltraining@gmail.com for more information.

It is now Sunday evening and I am SO feeling Saturday morning's workouts.  My upper back feels like there are muscles popping out everywhere.  It feels SO good.  I am excited to see and more importantly, feel the great changes in my body.  I only lost about 5 pounds according to the scale, but I know that I have lost fat and gained muscle.  I will have my "after" pictures tomorrow.

My plans for the upcoming weeks...I have 6 weeks until my birthday so I am going to run through the #FindYourFit Challenge program again.  I will be adding some more cardio in during the next 6 weeks.  I have a week of holidays coming up soon, so hopefully I will get in a few short runs.

If you want to put yourself to the test to find your fit, contact Chris today (cxtpersonaltraining@gmail.com) and get ready to #FindYourFit on June 22nd.  I will be cheering you on.

So the reason that I went to bed late on Thursday as I mentioned, the flowers for the CAKE.  The deadline for the cake was TODAY.  I got it completed.  YAY!!!

I baked the cakes on Friday.  Took everything to my Mum's home on Saturday, and started to put it all together.

The cake board...

The lemon filling...

The iced cake...

I was concerned about having the flowers on the cake overnight, so I decided I would finish the cake off today.  My deadline was 1:00pm, the party was starting at 2pm.

A work in progress...

Here is the finished cake...

All the flowers and pictures are edible.

I was very pleased with how this cake turned out.  Wishing my Uncle Fred and Aunt Helen a Happy 50th Anniversary.

I really enjoyed working on this cake, but I am so glad that it is done and that it got there in one piece.  And that they loved it.

Well it is time for bed now.  My next 6 weeks starts at 6am tomorrow.

Until then...Stay Strong!

Trina

Week 6 of the #FindYourFit Challenge Already

Today was the start of Week 6 of the Find Your Fit Challenge.  It was a rough start this morning when the alarm sounded at 5:30am.  Over the weekend I tackled the weed infested side garden of horror, along side our home.


I finished up Week 5 with the Optional Day 5 workout early Saturday morning.

 I was planning on hitting my spin bike for some extra cardio but the garden of horror was screaming my name.  At the end of the day, the extra cardio on the spin bike was not missed.  I worked out hard gardening.  It wasn't just your regular gardening of planting a few plants here and there.  It was hard core weeding, digging, planting, mulching...and REPEAT.

Five full yard waste bags.

My Suunto Heart Rate Monitor watch indicated that Sunday was a Rest Day.

No rest for the wicked.  Or for the determined gardener.  

I did however sleep in until just before 8:00am.  I ate breakfast quick and I was outside at about 8:30am or so.  Another long day of weeding, digging, planting, mulching...and REPEAT.  Plus, in between all that I had to take and pick up my kids from play dates and get groceries and more MULCH.  I think the people at the store probably think I'm eating the mulch for the amount of it that I have been buying.  Saturday I picked up 6 bags.  Sunday my neighbors gave me 2 bags, and later on Sunday I bought another 10 bags.  But it is completed now.  And by the end of the day, so was I.

I still need to fix up the grass between our home and the neighbors home.  We have wild violet growing in that area.  It is evil!  Any tips on how to get rid of it would be appreciated.  

And because I don't know how to stop...I decided to start on a side garden for my neighbors.

With their permission of course.  It will help to get rid of the wild violets, as I will be digging many of them up and getting rid of them.  Plus I have extra shade plants that will thrive in this location.  The fixing up of the grass will happen another day(s).  And once that is completed, the gardens will look SO much better.

Once I was all finished for the day, I checked my email and found Week 6 of the Find Your Fit Challenge workouts.  I printed them out, put them in my book and entered Day 1 in my Seconds PRO app.  I was then ready for bed.  Do you think I could sleep???  NOPE!  I was so sore and tired and uncomfortable, that I could not fall to sleep.  Then the thunder storm started.  I got up to make sure the windows were not open wide.  Ah bed...finally.  Then my daughter comes into our bed because she is frightened from the storm.  Still awake...  The storm subsided, so I took her back to her own room, where, thankfully, she remained for the rest of the night.

So as I started off, it was a rough start to Week 6 Day 1.  I was so tired and sore...BUT...I dragged my BUTT out of bed and got through the workout.

Feeling great...but still very tired and sore.  I am looking forward to this weeks workouts.

I must continue to get them done in the morning because I am in the home stretch of making the 50th Anniversary cake.  I haven't made any more flowers in over a week, and I NEED more.  So my evenings will be spent making more gum paste flowers.  The party is this Sunday coming.

So I need to put my flower making game face on.

The workout for Day 2 of Week 6 of the #FindYourFit Challenge is loaded up into my Seconds PRO app and ready for the morning.

Until then...Stay Strong!

Trina