Wiped Out

Did you think that I wiped out and hurt myself???  No not the case, thankfully...

I guess all that fresh air yesterday wiped me out.  My 5:30am alarm rang out and I shut it off and fell back to sleep. Oops!  My sister sent me a text at about 6:36am in regards to Christmas gifts for the kids, I looked at the time and thought no sense getting up now, so I went back to sleep for another 15 minutes.
It wasn't just all the fresh air...my daughter was up in the night with a really bad cough.  I heard her crying and I got up to check on her.  This was at about 12:30am.  I got back into my bed at 1:30am.  Before I fell back to sleep, I thought "ugh...my alarm is going to go off sooner rather than later".  I shut my eyes and hoped to fall back to sleep as quickly as possible.  I did, but as you already know, I didn't get up at the 5:30 alarm ringing out "I'm Sexy and I Know"...but I thought "I'm tired and I Know It".  Not to fear though, I still got my workout done.  After dinner tonight I made my way to my workout area and knocked out another day of the 30 Day Shred(30DS).  I know I said I might do Ripped in 30, but I changed my mind at the last minute.  I am not on any set program right now so I can change it up as I please.  I will be getting back to Jillian's Killer Abs workout.  I am going to try and fit it in 3 times a week(maybe only twice this week).  Ideally I would like to do it Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week.  So we will see how tonight's sleep goes and if all goes according to plan, I should be getting it done tomorrow morning along with some Yoga.  Looking forward to that.  On Thursday, I will resume the 30DS Level 1.

For anyone out there thinking of doing the 30 Day Shred for the first time.  Here are a few tips:

Don't give up - the first 3 days are probably going to be the hardest.  You will feel sore but work your way through it.  Every time you stop and then after a few weeks restart again...you will feel sore again...SO keep going the first time.  You will get through it!

Take a Rest Day - Even though the title is the 30 DAY Shred does NOT mean you have to do it in 30 days.  Your body needs time to recover(but not 2 weeks) 1 Day a week of recovery is all you should need to take and then carry on with the workouts.

Make sure you work on your form - Bad form throughout this workout and any workout for that matter can cause injury.  With the 30 Day Shred you will do A LOT of jumping jacks.  So watch your knees!

Have fun with it!

This blog post is coming to you from my living room tonight.  I am snuggled up on the couch with the Christmas tree in front of me.  I don't know what it is, but I LOVE sitting in the same room as the Christmas tree.  It's just SO relaxing.  Starring at the lights(yes...then my eyes only see bright light spots for a few seconds after), watching the spinning ornaments spin, and of course the not so relaxing part is watching our cats play, chew, scratch and/or paw at the decorations.  So far tonight they have been pretty calm.

Our cat Belle is sleeping under the tree as I write.

The house is all quite with everyone else asleep, it's very peaceful and calm.  I can actually think.  Although I can't think of where I put the garland that I usually put up outside.  I will have to go searching for it tomorrow.  I don't go too crazy with the Christmas decorations, because I have to do all the work.  If I put it up, I have to take it all down and put it away.  So I like to keep things fairly simple.  Like our tree for instance, I have beads and bows and ribbon that I COULD put on it, but looking at it right now, it looks so pretty without all that stuff.  And I know the cats would go crazy for the strings of beads and then I would find the Christmas tree toppled over in the morning.  SO...I think I will leave the beads off this year.
I know this whole Christmas tree ramble has nothing to do with fitness but it is keeping me calm and relaxed and THAT has to do with the Healthier Version of ME.  I am in a happy place right now.  With all the stress and troubles that some encounter over the holiday season, we all need to find that special place that makes us feel good, feel happy, feel calm.  Even if it's just for a few moments, take that time for yourself and enjoy it.  Breathe deep and let your troubles go.  If you don't have a Christmas tree to sit near, here are some pictures of mine...

Our Christmas Tree 2012

The Snowflakes and the Painter

Poinsettias and the Lights

It still works even if the polar bear is missing a paw.

Well now that I am all relaxed and calm, I am very tired.  So I will say good night and get my A$$ into bed.  5:30 comes early.  Fingers crossed that my daughter sleeps through the night tonight.  It will make for a much easier time waking up in the morning.

Until then...Stay Strong!

Good night

Trina

Back to the Beginning

Back to the beginning of what started me on the workouts of Jillian Michaels.  Back in the summer of 2011, I  picked up a copy of her 30 Day Shred and made my way through it.  LOVED IT!  I had great results and it got me hooked on her workouts.  I followed it up with her Ripped in 30 program.  After doing the Level 1 workout this morning, I checked my HRM, I noticed that I only had a calorie burn of 180 calories.  At first I though..."hmm that's not much".  But then I thought about it, this workout has more strength training than cardio with 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs(strength) per circuit(3 circuits total).  I still wanted to burn more calories because I was planning on making some ginger cookies today, and I wanted to be one of the taste testers, so 180 calories burned just wasn't going to cut it.

It was a nice day out today, so I took the daycare kids for a walk and burned a few more calories.  But that wasn't all.  Tonight my son had his acting lesson and my plan was to run to the Tim Horton's that my husband, daughter and I always go to, to wait for him to be done his lesson.  Right after the last daycare child left, I got into my running gear and headed out the door.  I started my music and the C25K program app on my iPhone, and I was on my way.  Well, from my home to this particular Tim Horton's is much more than 5K.  But that was okay.  I started up another round of the C25K program and continued on.  I made it to the Tim Horton's before my husband and daughter, so I continued on past and on to the bank.  My husband drove past a couple minutes later.  The bank was two doors down from the Running Room in Uptown Waterloo .  I was went in to register in person for the Resolution Run, but the sales associate was busy and I needed to keep going.  I will register online hopefully tomorrow.  I left the Running Room and headed back towards our meeting place.  I met up with my husband and daughter and then I looked at my time left...I had 9 minutes to go plus the 5 minute cool down...so I told my husband to order me a Chili and I would go and finish my run.  I know I wasted some of my time in the bank, the Running Room and at Tim Horton's but I wanted to finish this day of the program.  I finished the 9 minutes of running and then ran through a bit of the cool down to make up for the lost time.  I now have just 2 more runs to complete this program.  Yay!  I will get it done this year!  I am hoping this week.

I think with all this running that is going on now with me, I am definitely going to need to do some more Yoga.  More strength training tomorrow and maybe some Yoga on Wednesday morning with a run Wednesday night.

The only picture I took today was of my lunch...
Lunch: Chicken and Pomegranate Salad

One of the things that I learned from Jillian Michaels' Fat Burning Meal Plan Cookbook was "how to peel and clean a pomegranate" without getting red fingers.  Place the fruit in a bowl of water and cut it open and loosen all the seeds under the water.  It works GREAT!  

I mixed in some of the pomegranate with my chicken salad.  So good!

The other day I told you of MY day at the Santa Pur-suit...Well here is a recap from Run Waterloo...

You may even read about someone you know...Check it out...

http://runwaterloo.com/first-ever-santa-pur-suit/
Thanks Run Waterloo for adding me to your blog post.  LOVE IT!

I want to take this time to thank YOU for reading my blog.  All of YOU!  As of today my blog has had over 80,000 page views.  You ROCK!!!!  There are days where I think..."is anyone reading this stuff I write?"  But I know from the emails and the comments that I receive, you are out there and you are reading and I thank you so much.

I would love to show my appreciation with some prizes but I am not a millionaire and can not afford to be giving away things all the time.  BUT...I am going to look for some deals over the Christmas season and then do a few giveaways after Christmas/New Year. So watch for the upcoming fun.

Tomorrow I may just play around and switch things up with my workout.  I might switch it to Ripped in 30.  I did mention this the other day, so I think I will give it a try and see how it goes this week.

I know I will sleep well tonight...all that fresh air that I took in today is certainly making me tired now.  So good night to you, and thank you again for reading.  I will write to you again tomorrow.

Until then...Stay Strong!

Good night

Trina

The Day After Day 90 of Round 2 Body Revolution

The Day After = Rest Day and Planning on the next part of my journey.

So this "Day After" post is not going to be like the one after Round 1 of Body Revolution.  There will be no pictures of Before and After, no weights or measurement comparisons.  I am about the same as when I started, and that's okay.  You all know that after about a month into Round 2, I came down with a nasty cold that hung around for about a month or so.  Energy levels were down and my eating was not on track as it usually is/was.  Even though I did not hit my goal weight by the end of these 90 days, I am still proud that I stayed on track and did not lose sight of my journey to A Healthier Version of Me.  My journey just got delayed a bit and I hit a plateau.  We all hit plateaus in life, and we just need to work hard and stay focused on ours goals to break through them.  I can feel that my body is ready to change again.  I just need to get a massage and get my neck/shoulder/back on the left side back to normal.  I will not let that stop me though, I will just be smart of the weight that I use until I get straightened out.  It has gotten much better since last Friday, but it's still not 100%.  I will get to more of my plans for what is coming up after I tell you about my night out last evening...

My Rest Day was called for after a late night out last night.  A very much needed night out.  My husband and        I went out to a Christmas party given by the band, The Wormwood Scrubs.  A local band and friends of ours ready to hit the BIG time.  They released their second album this year titled, Now Dig This!!

Check out their Facebook page and give them a LIKE...

http://www.facebook.com/thewormwoodscrubs?fref=ts

On MySpace http://www.myspace.com/thewormwoodscrubscanada#!

On Twitter @WWScrubscanada

Check them out!!!!

We met up with our friends and had a great time.  My husband told me on the way there, not to let him drink too much, because he knew he would be paying for it today.  So last night I told him that he should not have anymore to drink and he just laughed at me.  I didn't really care or get mad because I knew that he was the one that was going to suffer today.  I drank WATER all night and that was fine by me.  Since we didn't get to bed until after 2am, we needed sleep this morning and sleep we got.  However, it was broken sleep as our children, well our daughter decided to shout at us to wake up and then she decided, coaxed on by her brother, to jump on our bed.  That got us up, well me anyway.

Anyway, we had a blast last night.  Laughing with great friends and listening to great music...

Thanks for the fantastic Christmas party boys.  I wish you much success in the New Year!

Last night when we were at Maxwell's Music House it reminded of the movie that I just recently watched a number of times...Rock of Ages.  The young lads of the WWScrubs were up on stage singing and playing their hearts out.  Doing what they love to do and having a great time doing it, with their fans, friends and family cheering them on.  While we were there, it made me think of my son watching that movie last week...him with no shirt on shouting..."I wanna Rock!...ROCK!"

The WormWood Scrubs...You ROCKED last night!

Alright...getting back to what is next for me and my own journey.  I think for the month of December, I am going to mix things up a bit in regards to my workouts.  My body is ready for another change, it's time to break through this plateau that I have been riding on.  I am going to continue with my running when I can.  Even though I completed my first 5K race yesterday, I still have not completed the C25K program App on my phone.  I don't like leaving things unfinished, so I will complete the 4 runs that I need to do in order for Sergeant Block's approval.  Yesterday afternoon I downloaded the app for the 5to10K program.  Hopefully it won't take me over a year to get this one done. LOL.  

I am hoping to get a new workout program from Santa this year to start at the beginning of 2013 or maybe right after I open it.  Even if I don't get something new from Santa, I have plenty to chose from right here in my own home gym workout library.   I know I won't be able to start my Christmas day with a workout(do you really think MY children are going to wait for Mummy to finish her workout before they open up their presents????) I don't think so!  So I will get something done while my husband is cooking Christmas dinner.  That's right ladies and gentleman...he has taken it upon himself to cook Christmas dinner.  He has done this for the past few years and it's always SUPER delicious.  I just wish everyday was Christmas...LOL.

Maybe I should write a letter to Santa and ask him for a new workout program...maybe that would work?!?!?!?

It would go something like this...

Dear Santa, 

I have been very good this year and will be even better next year.  For Christmas this year I would like a NEW workout program, for example...Les Mills Pump or TapOut XT or Zumba or Peak Fitness or anything that I don't already own.  I would also like a new pair of Nike Lunar Eclipse running shoes too, size 8.

Love 

Trina 

P.S. I will leave you some healthy cookies, a big glass of water and some good chocolate for you to enjoy.  Well the chocolate may be gone before you get there, so I will put some extra cookies out.

Do you think that will work???

Well tomorrow is Monday and the start to a new week.  I will decided in the morning what I will be doing for my workout.  It's a toss up between 30 Day Shred and Ripped in 30.  I have both of these workouts purchased through iTunes so I can load them on my iPhone and do them pretty much anywhere.  I did this last year so that I could keep up my workouts while on holiday in the summer.  I took a few weights with me and continued my workouts whether I was camping outdoors or staying in a hotel.  NO EXCUSES!  I might even combine the two programs.  Day 1 30DS, Day 2 Ri30, Day 3 Cardio of some sort, Day 4 back to 30DS and so on.  Variety is the spice of life they say.  I will keep you updated on what it is that I am doing each day...starting tomorrow.

Until then...Stay Strong!

Good night

Trina

P.S. Make sure you check out The WormWood Scrubs.  Their CDs would make great Christmas presents for the music lover on your list.

www.thewormwoodscrubs.com

thewormwoodscrubs@gmail.com

Day 90 of Round 2 Body Revolution

Day 90 = Cardio 3...not quite

Instead...I ran my very first 5K Race.  It wasn't just your normal 5K race though.  It was the Santa Pur-suit 5K.  There were over 1000 Santa's running the races this morning...1K, 3K or 5K.

In yesterday's post I mentioned about the bad things happening in 3's, and I told you what had happened to me.  Well...good news...I had nothing to worry about with any of them.  I did rip my pants though...my Santa pants!  LOL  I will get to that later.

The snow that had fallen yesterday and overnight made it a very festive event.  I live in Canada, and it's December 1st, there should be a little bit of snow on the ground.

My husband and I and our children arrived at the Stork Family YMCA just after 9am, race time 10am.  There was a sea of Santa's when we entered the building.

We waited inside for a bit so that I did get too cold before the race.  The kids were bundled up, so they were probably boiling.  We made our way outside and waited until they called all the Santa's to the START line.  I followed suit(the red suits of course)and found a spot near the front.  Almost race time.

After the singing of O Canada we had 60 seconds to get ready.  I started my HRM since my heart rate was already going with excitement and got ready to go.  I could see my husband and children but they could not see me.  I put my husband in charge of taking photos of the Santa Sea...

I don't know if I had already passed him at this point or not.

I was on my way with the other 600+ 5K running Santa's.  I am such an emotional sap though.  I was doing one of those silly happy laugh/cry thingys as I started out.  It was just such an AWESOME sight to see all these people dressed up in Santa suits bringing a smile to the onlooker's faces...and I was one of those in both cases.  I was a Santa and an onlooker.  No...I didn't break down in full tears, I'm not THAT bad, but it was a very happy and proud moment for myself.

After making it past the 1K marker, I was warm...very warm.  I think at this point I should not have layered up my clothing as much as I did.  That Santa suit was quite warm over top of my other clothes.  Next time I will know.  Since I was feeling warm, I was also feeling very slow and sluggish, but I think this is where the ripping of the pants happened.  The pants were huge and hanging down in the crotch area.  I guess with my strides, something had to give...BUT I did not know this was happening until I finished the race and was inside, I opened up my jacket and my son pointed and said, "Mummy you ripped your pants".  LOL too funny.  As I was running, other Santa's were losing belts and some were even taking their pants off...LOL.  If I would have realized my had ripped, I may have taken mine off too and then just finished in my new running pants.

During the second K, there were some cars waiting to get through the upcoming rush of Santa runners, but they waited patiently until we all passed by.  As I approached some of the cars, a lady had her hand out her window to "high five" the runners.  I was glad to give her a High Five.  A little encouragement goes a long way.  It brought a smile to her and to me as well.  Before I turned the next corner, I was dreading that it may be colder running down the next stretch of the course.  As I turned that corner I saw a man with his child holding a sign.  This bring in to account one of the "3 Bad things" that happened yesterday.  Many women refer to their period as TOM, Time Of the Month.  Well...this man was holding a sign that read..."Go TOM Go!"  I had to smile at this sign.  How did he know it was that time for me?!?!?! LOL  My thoughts exactly, Go TOM Go!  Anyway, that stretch of the course was not windy and cold and I was in my groove.  I passed the 2K marker and was well on my way.  I felt great, still sluggish, but great.  I was out there and running with the rest of the Santa's.  

As I was running, I felt like there was no one behind me until someone came up and passed by me.  Then I really felt like there was no one behind me.  I passed by a few runners that began to walk or stop to take their Santa pants off.  I knew that I was not the last, but it just felt that way.  The only time I looked back was when I made the last turn onto Fischerhallman Road.  I turned just to confirm that there were still some people behind me...not to be mean to them but rather to give myself a bit of a boost.  I was getting closer to the YMCA and the finish line.  I was almost back, "when, what to my wondering eyes should appear"...my husband and my daughter along the roadside cheering me on.  He snapped a picture of me, I gave my little girl a High Five and carried on.

They climbed over the hill and were back on the other side at the finish line.

Here, I was reaching to give my son a High Five.  Just before this, I could see the finish line and the timer, so I picked up my pace and finished the race.

My time was 31:30.7

 

My first 5K race completed and still smiling.

As you can see I wore my earmuffs because the hat barely covered my ears.  The earmuffs doubled up as head phones plugged into my iPhone.  

I know I look like a goof, but I DON'T CARE! I had a great time today!

I must cut this off now because I am going out tonight.  WooHoo!  The kids are being watched and my husband and I are going out.  This doesn't happen that often.  Tomorrow is my Rest Day and my planning day, to plan was is coming up next.

Until then...Stay Strong!

Have a great night!

Trina