Eat. Sleep. Turbo.

Sounds easy enough.

EAT: I know how to eat, and never “forget” to do that, like some skinny and unbelievably annoying people do (don’t mind me, I’m just jealous. Never seem to suffer that sort of memory loss, lol). Plenty of food plans out there to keep me honest on track, and although the last 5 lbs to 10 lbs have proved to be the bitch of the entire journey, I can “live” with it, and feel the satisfaction of “not gaining.”

TURBO:
I work out 6 times a week for atleast 45 minutes, but my goal is an hour, and sometimes I go beyond that, which is GREAT. So why do I feel like dog crap? Like a drone, going through the motions of daily life without feeling engaged or involved? What is missing? Maybe it’s…………

SLEEP: Aha!! My sleep schedule. As diligent as I am about food journaling and getting my work-out in, I am remarkably blase about going to bed. Diligent about getting up at 5:00 AM, but not about getting into bed in the first place.

Oh, I go to bed at night, and I aim for 9 pm, but rarely make it on time. Always one more basket of clothes, 30 more minutes of sweating to get in, another trip to the library, a child pick-up, wood in the woodstove, dogs in, dogs out, tomorrow’s to-do list…you see what I mean…

The thing is, after weeks of missing an hour here and an hour there, my body gets spent. Exhaustion that is bone-deep and makes me wonder if I need medical attention. My chest hurt. My head hurt.

This past weekend, my body revolted. Friday night @ 8:30 PM, I put my HIIT20 in the player, pulled the dustcovers off of my Selec-Techs and said, “I’m just gonna sit on the couch for 10 minutes and get my second wind.” I woke up at 11:30 PM and went to bed. The whole weekend vanished into chores, school dances and 13+hours of sleep, ending with a crescendo of an 11-hour sleep on Sunday, topped off with a two-hour nap, & a 9:00 PM bed time.

Monday morning, 5:00 AM, I leapt out of bed. I felt AWESOME. I whipped through Fire60 with heavy gloves like I was teaching the class. Like my old self…(plus I had still lost 1 1/2 lbs!! How’d THAT happen?).

The important thing to remember is BALANCE:

Eat………
Turbo……….
but don’t forget to
Sleep………..

1 year ago  /  0 notes

Like Lazarus…

I am returned from the dead. Well, not exactly dead, just deficient. I wasn’t really sure anyone was reading my blog, and I guess I was wrong. Some things have changed since our last chat.

For instance, I am now (brag brag brag) also Hip Hop Hustle Instructor certified, as well as Turbo Kick Instructor certified. Many thanks to Meredith Roy-Campbell and MIke Saure who are rock stars in their own right, who taught the class.

I have attended (brag brag brag) Camp Do More (aka Camp Turbo) and it was life-changing to say the least, and piss-yer-pants funny on several occasions. I never saw a Hair-Off before (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YvL7AwE8UA).

I was in a (brag brag brag) SYTYCD video celebrating National Dance Appreciation Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0BYxAZLJsI).

I did (brag brag brag) one thing that scares the hell out of me. Got up on a stage and danced in front of people who really CAN dance (go Team IncREDible) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF5klzPwumQ). It was a competition, even.

It was so gratifying to sit with my fellow 500+ Chalooneys, laugh, dance, sweat and cry together. The Cosa Mesa Hilton was our own Chalene planet for 3 wonderful days. Met some wonderful wonderful people on this trip. Wow. Some of the ground covered at camp was learning to BE NICE, and that being nice doesn’t mean you’re being weak. Also, learning how to deal with prickly people, and recognizing that maybe, the prickly person in your life is YOU.

We also learned that we are all works in progress, and that we need to keep “Doing More” in order to keep growing, and that sometimes means Doing More For Myself. For some of us, me included, that means doing LESS stuff. It also includes doing stuff that is GOOD, not just for me, but for my family.

So we left CampDoMore armed with a notebook full of “To-do” lists, and goals broken into bite-size doable hunks that will help us reach our larger goals.

ANYWAY - My big goal was to clean up my overall “act.” One of the “bites,” is to pick up one good habit every month. The new plan for this blog is to follow that journey.

This week’s goal is to bring my (my children’s) food with me. Bring my lunch, bring my snacks, BRING the healthy clean food I should be eating with me, and staying OUT of Drive-Thru.

So far, the kids think it’s great! Fat-free pudding and yogurt cups, plastic spoons, cherries, bananas, nuts, trail mix, granola, water bottles, Crystal-Lite-To-Go packets, dry cereal in ziplocs…they LOVE that it’s in the car when we leave the house, and they can paw through it as we drive to our destination. I got a nice big Igloo, which holds all of it, and a bag of ice. I got the two gallon ziploc bags that I put the refridgerator stuff in, so that when we get home, it goes right back in the fridge. The other stuff stays in the cooler, including the water bottles. So that’s how I kept it simple. Leaving the house means filling a gallon ziplock with ice from the dispenser, and grabbing the perishables from the fridge, and dropping both in the igloo. SHORTCUT.

Here are some more short cuts. . (Many of these ideas are shamelessly stolen, so feel free to steal them again from here. The key, so far has been to follow the KISS principle, which stands for “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”) The plan? To include shortcuts with groceries, as well as some nutritional info on fast food that may keep you from ruining your eating day, if you find yourself in a crunch, with no food in the pail.

Short cut#1:
If you have to use your food scale to measure out, say, a portion of taco meat (one of my lunch favs - 2 lbs of 99% ff ground turkey, packet of Taco Bell seasoning, 2 T olive oil), do all the measuring at once. You want 3 oz portions? Break it down all at once, put the portions in ziploc freezer bags and throw in freezer. That way, when you’re packing your lunch on the fly, you throw A ZIPLOC in your lunch pail. You aren’t wrestling out the food scale, muttering under your breath to yourself, or WORSE…not packing anything and hitting drive thru @ lunch time. I do it with my granola, lunch meat, almonds, ANYTHING that needs weighing or measuring, and prebag them all, so that I walk up a shelf row and throw a baggy of each in my lunch pail. Voila - lunch is served.

Hardest part is doing it the first time, because you have to measure out EVERYTHING the first time. After that, you only have to bag the stuff you’ve run out of. After that first time, it takes 5 minutes tops.

Short cut#2:
In the produce section, Mann’s sells a product called Rainbow Salad mix, and another one called Broccoli Slaw mix. These are fresh raw vegetables: broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, red cabbage and white cabbage shredded slaw-style in a bag. Grab a handful to throw on top of your fresh spinach or salad greens. Make it a big handful. These vegetables have already been cut up for you, and great for fixing a salad on the fly. Don’t like broccoli? They have shredded carrots there, too. Love slaw? Use the broccoli and get that added vitamin bonus. I mix up a cup of shreds with a tablespoon of low fat vidalia or poppyseed salad dressing in (yes another) ziploc, and shake it up.

Hope these helped.

WORK-OUTS:

Now that I am finished with Insanity (for now), 3 weeks into Turbo Fire, and back from camp, I am doing things MY WAY this time. We will see how it works out.

My schedule: Turbo Fire regular schedule (not hybrid) every day and Chalean Extreme Lean circuits 1 - 3 every other day. So far, it is my perfect hybrid, since I’m not teaching yet. Today, that meant HIIT25, Stretch 10 and Lean Circuit 3.

Thanks for reading. Hope you stay.
~tracy

1 year ago  /  1 note

itslikethiscat

Thanks for the read and for following my silly little blog. I am curious to hear your own take on Insanity, as I am a whiney blatty baby, and was through most of this, lol. But it was such a game-changer, fitnesswise, I could not quit.

1 year ago  /  2 notes

So long, kids…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoBFhdeR9PE

Day 63 - Last fit test. Posting my final results here: Interesting that on some of the exercises, I ran out of time before I ran out of reps. Please believe me that the results in which there was little or no improvement simply indicates me losing to the clock. I had steam left, just no seconds, except for Globe Jumps, which, I don’t know why, but they kill my glutes, and push-up jacks which, sometimes my body just crushes them out and sometimes it screams “NOOO.”

I know I stated in my last blog that I would amend my count on the switch kicks, give the number as indicated on the card and poster (2 kicks = 1 rep). But here’s what I’m gonna do…leave it as 1 kick = 1 rep. It’s how they were counting on the DVD anyway, so this will, mostly, just save me a lot of typing (cut and paste), and partially, impress myself with how many I could do. If you are counting yours correctly, cut my number in half to see how you measure up.

My final assessment: To improve your fitness, you MUST improve your cardio. You MUST suck air more efficiently when engaged in the daily pleasure/pain of working out. MUST. Insanity can get you there. And when you start to feel “sluggish,” it can bring you back “there.” Not a lot of laughs, but sometimes I would put it in and just WANT it to be punishing,…just WANTED it to ache and burn and be sore so I felt like I accomplished something.

I started out burning through my rescue inhaler every two days. I have exercise-induced asthma. By week 3, I wasn’t even taking the inhaler to the work-out. But the end of the second month, I was chasing my runaway chihuahua up the street (WAYY up the street) and realized I wasn’t sweating or even out of breath. I am not a runner. Well, I wasn’t. But I might be now.

THANKS to Shaun T and the Insanity creators for a life-changing experience.

My results:

Switch Kicks - #1 - 41 reps, #2 - 84 reps, #3 - 111 reps, #4 - 132 reps, #5 - 147 reps +15 reps
Power Jacks - #1 - 31 reps, #2 - 63 reps, #3 - 80 reps, #4 - 95 reps, #5 - 95 +0 reps
Power Knees - #1 - 70 reps, #2 - 84 reps, #3 - 101 reps, #4 - 113 reps, #5 - 115 reps +2 reps
Power Jumps - #1 - 33 reps, #2 - 47 reps, #3 - 61 reps, #4 - 70 reps, #5 - 89 +19 reps
Globe Jumps - #1 - 8 reps, #2 - 12 reps, #3 - 12 reps, #4 - 13 reps, #5 - 14 +1 rep
Suicide Jumps - #1 - 18 reps, #2 - 20 reps, #3 - 23 reps, #4 - 24 reps, #5 - 25 +1 rep
Push-Up Jacks - #1 - 17 reps, #2 - 31 reps, #3 - 25 reps, #4 - 33 reps, #5 - 34 +1 reps
Low Plank Oblique - #1 - 59 reps, #2 - 72 reps, #3 - 91 reps, #4 - 100 reps, #5 - 102 +2 reps

You can find me…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd0Y1Sko7hA

My future plans - Turbo Fire/Chalean Extreme hybrid. Starting tomorrow. If you would like me to blog about this work-out, too, message me. Otherwise, thanks for reading. Ciao!

1 year ago  /  1 note

4 to go….Insanity

Why is this the longest week ever? OMG…taking forever. Must be that TurboFire singing to me in the corner. Been wanting to just do the remaining Insanity work-outs back to back so I can start already. Gotta finish, tho. GOTTA.

I was perusing my Insanity materials again, was actually just flipping through the meal plan, looking for inspiration, and realized I was counting my switch kicks wrong!! 2 switch kicks = 1 rep!! So when I do my final fit test, I will amend all of the scores. I can only imagine what some folks must’ve been thinking with THOSE results, lolol. Either I was the bionic switch kicker or, more likely, I was counting them wrong. Eh, it’s still progress.

Wondering if anyone will morph Insanity/TurboFire/P90X/ChaleanExtreme into a program some day. If that program doesn’t generate muscle confusion, NOTHING will. Bet it would make a great maintenance program.

OK, off to do today’s Insanity which is Max Interval Circuit - my least fav. Yep, I’m a day off, but I mixed things up earlier in the week and did the wrong work-out one day. You’d think, after all this time, I could read the calendar, but apparently not. Insanity makes you stronger, but I guess not necessarily smarter, lol.

Be good!

1 year ago  /  1 note

For those getting double replies from me…

…my twitter keeps saying “Message not sent” then deleting what I had typed, THEN sending BOTH messages. I really don’t have ADD, but sorry for the weirdness just the same. LOL.

1 year ago  /  0 notes

10 to go - Insanity

I tweeked my damn back. Come ON. How does this even happen? I am at the freaking END of this work-out!! Of all times. It wasn’t even during the power jacks or side suicides, either. I did it during LOW PLANK OBLIQUES…the wimpiest of the exercises. I must’ve gotten sloppy. I was “IN IT,” cruising along, sweating and happy, and then suddenly, the right side blew out like a truck tire.

OK, SO~~ since I am gonna finish this no matter WHAT, I subbed in Max Cardio Recovery today even though it was supposed Max Cardio Conditioning and Core Cardio. I opted for the super stretch, hoping it will straighten me out. It helped alot, as will the extra PiYo I’m gonna squeeze in when I get home. We’ll see how I wake up tomorrow. Cross your fingers. It’s too late in this game to get injured. I have CAMP to get ready for.

1 year ago  /  0 notes

Insanity - Day (oh what day is it? lol) 49!

I took another fit test yesterday. I put the DVD in, quite confident that I would not in any way be able to cram one more rep of anything into that minute-per-exercise that Shaun T gives you. That this would be the fit test that actually disappoints on an 8-point scale. I was also pretty sure that the longer Month 2 work-outs weren’t really adding anything to my fitness level other than endurance, which, while a positive improvement and good for me, would probably not do much in the way of increasing the reps done in such a small time frame. Endurance makes me go longer, but not necessarily faster….right?

WRONG!

And so, with great trepidation and shock, I post the results of my completed fit tests:

Switch Kicks - #1 - 41 reps, #2 - 84 reps, #3 - 111 reps, #4 - 132 reps +21 reps
Power Jacks - #1 - 31 reps, #2 - 63 reps, #3 - 80 reps, #4 - 95 reps +15 reps
Power Knees - #1 - 70 reps, #2 - 84 reps, #3 - 101 reps, #4 - 113 reps +12 reps
Power Jumps - #1 - 33 reps, #2 - 47 reps, #3 - 61 reps, #4 - 70 reps +9 reps
Globe Jumps - #1 - 8 reps, #2 - 12 reps, #3 - 12 reps, #4 - 13 reps +1 rep
Suicide Jumps - #1 - 18 reps, #2 - 20 reps, #3 - 23 reps, #4 - 24 reps +1 rep
Push-Up Jacks - #1 - 17 reps, #2 - 31 reps, #3 - 25 reps, #4 - 33 reps +8 reps
Low Plank Oblique - #1 - 59 reps, #2 - 72 reps, #3 - 91 reps, #4 - 100 reps +9 reps

(and I also offer the tiny confession, that I did have some nice dry heaves at the end. Hey, I was digging deeper, man. Had to beat those numbers. HAD TO. Non-negotiable.).

I would also like to express EXACTLY how much Max Cardio Circuit sucked after. LOL.

I want to hate this program. I want to say it makes you suffer, and the results are negligable. I really do, because the exercises are not fun. I am missing my Chalene. But Shaun T brings motivation, and as much fun as can be brought to a program that will give you insane results. Unbelievable results. I am typing this in my size 8 Ralph Lauren skinny bermudas. They need a belt. Pants that, before this program, I would not have even bothered taking into the dressing room because no way could I get them on. I see sixes on the horizon. THAT motivates the HELL out of me.

And it doesn’t get much sweeter than that.

The end is near… and with it, finally, the FIRE…
I can’t wait.

Thanks for reading.

More Later!!

1 year ago  /  1 note

Insanity - Day 46

Don’t you love how God laughs and points @ you when you say something really arrogant?

Remember in my last blog how I said I hadn’t missed a single work-out since I started the program?

OK, so on DAY 43 (yes, that’s right, the DAY AFTER I blogged my “aren’t I just such hot Insanity shit?” blog), I missed the last 11 minutes of Max Cardio Circuit. I overslept, followed by preparations for the 6th grade moving-up ceremony (of which my son is, thankfully, moving up to 7th grade next year), followed by “If I don’t stop working out NOW, I will either be late or have to attend the graduation sans shower (which, if you do Insanity, would require you to sit outside, so as not to gag the other attendees with your amazing sweaty BO, and you can’t see anything from the parking lot). And even with the BEST intentions of coming home, after graduation and AFTER 8 hours of going to work (at 10 pm at night) to finish what I started, it did not happen. Nope. Life said, “You don’t get those 11 minutes today, you will not get to do that last circuit or cool down stretch. And you don’t get to say ANY MORE, that you didn’t miss a work-out.”

And I didn’t either.

Oh, I know it’s only 11 minutes…really, I could whine and say, “But I did most of it. Doesn’t it still count?” Maybe a little.

My point? If Life gets in the way (which it can), and you miss a day (which you might), hit it all the harder the next day. Even if it’s your Max Cardio Recovery Day (although Recovery with Shaun T is a bit of an oxymoron…my quads didn’t just shake, they QUAKED. Love those slow tricep push-ups tho…), dig that much deeper.

And don’t brag. Otherwise, God may point and laugh at you. :D

Be good. Til next time.

~~tracy

1 year ago  /  1 note