I started off the day by going checking out the local garage sales and running some errands. The hubby had to work today so I had to keep myself busy. I think I am starting to catch a slight bug or something, or it’s the change of seasons that is affecting me. My throat is sore and I woke up drenched in sweat last night. That’s alright though. I normally get one kick ass cold a year and then I’m fine. Better to get it out of the way now as opposed to when I start work officially. YIKES! The cold weather has definately set in. I find myself wanting to pull out the old cookbook and make stew and chili. I grew up on the coast so this 5 months of winter crap has NEVER settled well with me.

So anyways, today was yoga, cardio, and abs. My flexibility has vastly improved since starting this program. I was already pretty flexible for a 25 yr old, but this has most certainly been improved. My balance is getting along very well too. I really enjoy yoga. It seems to just work the whole body and really give you peace of mind. For lack of better words, it’s like a spring cleaning for your body. Cardio is always a great way to get you going. I find myself wanting to do this workout just because I’m cold. It really gets the blood flowing! I am still making it through 100% Those problems witht he hop squats are a thing of the past. Finished out the day with abs. I hope you guys can see the definition in my abdominals starting to take place. I can definatelt tell the difference! I can’t pinch as much as I used to. Now if I could just get those love handles under control! So far though, I have seen the biggest loss in my chest area. I know this sounds weird but my mother always said the boobs and the butt are the first places a woman loses and gains weight. The woman must know what she’s talking about because none of my bras or shirts fit right anymore. I guess I’ll have to treat myself to a new wardrobe here pretty soon. I think I like the sound of that! Well guys, until tomorrow……..

I went to my new job today. I start Oct 10th, but I had to go in to do paperwork and be fingerprinted. I am so excited. I can’t wait to start!!! I go to school first for 2 months and then take my state exams for CNA. Once I pass it’s all smooth sailing from there.

Once I got back from that I wacked out my workout. On the ticket for today was total body, lower body, and cardio. My dog and cat kept chasing each other around the house during my workout. I don’t know what got into them  but they were running in and out of my feet and everything! I had to pause my workout twice just to yell at them and get them to simmer down. They are almost as bad as a bunch of kids. Speaking of kids, no call from the school nurse today YAY! I took extra notice today to ensure my form was really smooth and I was using the appropriate band weight and all. I want to get the most out of these workouts. In order to do that you have to pay attention to these key areas. It is better to do 8 clean reps or 45 secs of smooth cardio work, than to rush through everything and not get the most out of this program. It really sucked having to do cardio as my wrap up workout. By the end of lower body I was already feeling the heat and definately didn’t feel like running in circles or doing tires. But I sucked it up and pushed that big play button. Which in the end actuualy makes the reward taste better because you know you pushed yourself.

We decided to switch the P90X off days today. Usually, when doing P90X, today would be Core Synergistics of the “Rest Week”. But our son has been feeling the strain of lack of one on one time at night. We devote a lot of time and effort to both of these programs and these blogs. That’s why we’re glad you guys actually read them and respond. We’re not the only ones putting in here, our kids do too. So anyways, our son was upset because we haven’t spent much time with him at night as of late. So instead of working out will use today as our off day and watch a movie with our son. So good night to you all and we’ll see you tomorrow for another fantastic day!

Hello everybody. Almost wrapped up for the first 4 weeks of 10 Minute Trainer. I can’t believe i’ve been doing this now for almost a month. What was it I said in the begining? You do something for 30 days it becomes a habit. Well, I don’t know if it’s quite up to the “breathing status” yet. There are certainly days I have to FORCE myself to push play on the DVD player, but eventually I do. So maybe in time it will actually become something like breathing LOL.

Started off today with a protein shake (mixed berry and banana…mmmmmmmmm). I took it down to the bus stop with me and turned a few heads. These are the ladies who generally have coffee or, believe it or not, soda in tow. I love doing the smoothies for breakfast. It is quick, not a big mess, and it tastes great. I am a busy gal so anything quick and easy does the trick for me. A little while after the kids got off to school I started the morning routine, even colored my hair (shhhhh it’s a secret). About an hour into it though I got a call from the school nurse. My daughter has already started with the faining sickness routine. This isn’t normally like her so I told her to straighten her butt out and get back to class. Once that was resolved I started my workout. I did the 30 mins today. As my daughter would say “Easy peasy lemon squeezy”. Cardio was a blast today for some reason. Just felt good to get up and get pumped, maybe because it was so cold this morning. Afterwards I worked on those abs. It is definately getting easier than it was 2 or 3 weeks ago. I am doing more reps and my form is a lot cleaner! My favorite one is the move where you lay on your back, put your leg/feet in the air, and then open your legs sideways and bring them back up top. I always laugh when I do this when my kids are around. They stand on the other side and go “peekaboo”. As always, nice finisher with yoga. What a beauty! There is nothing better than a good relaxing stretch after exercise. i think they should make it mandatory.

After dinner we went to the Meet the Teacher night at the kids’ school. I always look forward to this time of year because you get to see howl they’ve adjusted and what they’ve been up to. I am happy to report they are both doing well (other than frequenting the nurse a little too often). Once we got back I joined my husband for his Stretch X routine in the P90X program. This is their version of our Yoga X. Basically an hour of really stretching your entire body. Very relaxing and calming. I even started yawning a few times!

So I will see you all tomorrow for more updates. I hope to keep hearing from you guys. You seem to have become quieter recently. Come on! Let me hear ya!

Thank God is all I got to say!

Whew! I am feeling it today. These 2 workouts a day are really taking their toll. Not that I can’t handle it though. My body is still a bit sore from yesterday’s 10 Minute Tariner workout coupled with the P90X Yoga X wokrout. So needless to say, I was not in any hurry today to do my workouts. I lounged about the house a bit and took advantage of the morning. Started it off with a whole wheat bagel, some cottage cheese, and an orange. Quite scrumptious I must say. After that I got the kiddies off to the bus…….only to be called by the school nurse an hour or so later. It seems my son some how managed to get his finger stuck in some part of the seat belt buckle on the bus. Two nurses, some soap, some ice, and an hour later and he was free! No major damage to report thank God! Only my child…….. After that fiasco I met my husband for lunch. We went out this time and enjoyed a nice adult lunch at Panera bread. We ordered fat free turkey breast on whole grain with some fruit. We even ate outside. I am thoroughly enjoying the adult time again with my husband before I go off and start a job. So after a nice afternoon I came home and started the total body/cardio/lower body workout for 10 Minute Trainer. Really enjoyed it! It felt like I covered the map today. Got my heart pumpin’ and worked some major muscle areas. I really like the lawn mower exercise in the total body routine. It is basically like pull starting your lawn mower with your bands. I like it when you can add a little pretend to your workouts! I am still feeling the burn like crazy on lower body. This being the less toned portion of my body I try to give it my all. There is one series of exercises that I find quite humorous. It’s hard to do them while laughing. You get down like you’re a jockey riding a horse and you do little hops on the balls’ of your feet. You change position and speed slightly throughout, but it is hilarious to see and do! After dinner we watched Speed Racer with the munchkins. I was already falling asleep on the couch and in no mood for another workout, but transition I must! So we shooed them off to bed and started Core Synergistics for P90X. Let me tell you……..my least favorite workout of all time. Strictly for the fact that it is HARD! It is exactly what it says, it works the core. Not just abs, but back, butt, thighs. There were a few things I couldn’t complete due to being so sore from yesterday. I gave it my all and sweated like cray though. In the end I felt good just having made it through without killing myself. Definately not for the weak and weary. So I am taking my sorry butt to the showers and then to bed to dream of workout bands, water bottles, and a 45 year old man that yells at me to “bring it”. LOL. Good night!

10 Minute Trainer Week 3

Here are my week 3 pics guys, I hope you’re seeing some of the changes that are going on!

Hey guys check out my week 2 recap video.

So after much thought and deliberation I have decided to move up to the P90X program. I am finishing up this week of 10 Minute Trainer and also intergrating myself in the X Program. My friend’s sister wil be taking this blog over so you guys won’t be left hanging. I just need more of a challlenge. I used to be a gymnist and still am a very active person. This workout has been grat for building my endurance and stamina. I highly recommend it for anyone. I am just ready to take it to the next level. I have had my eye on the X for a while and I think I might be ready to take it on. So for this next week I will be doing my workouts as well as joining my husband at night to do his workouts.

I did my cardio, lower body, and abs today. I really brought it and tried to push myself to the limit. I want to go out with a bang and make sure I am fully prepared for the next step. I have been able to do those damned hops squats for a week now and I am very proud of myself. I said it would be my 4 week goal and here I am on week 3 and rockin it. I am really noticing changes in myself continuously. I eat healthy, follow the nutrition guide (though not always to a T), and try my hardest during my workouts. I have notice a change in my posture, my sleep patterns, my endurance, even my poop! Strange as that may sound it is true. Because of this diet I have noticed my stools being a little more “firm” shall we say? I highly recommend an increase in fiber, just to be on the safe side. Who knows, maybe that’s just how my body is reacting. But it is just a change I noticed that I can attribute to the program.

Tonight I started my first workout with my husband on the P90X program. We did Yoga X. For those of you that don’t know much about it…….it is the mother of all workouts as far as I’m concerned. It was and hour and a half of yoga! I like to pride myself in being a good little yogi. I must be mistaken. After 30 minutes I was dying! Sore as hell and sweating like a pig. Sweating…..during yoga! It was great though. It wasn’t as killer thoughout, just the beginning. The last half was just a wonderful stretch. It ended great with some relaxation poses and breathing/chanting. I think tomorrow is something called Core Synergytics. I will continue to keep you guys posted. Hope you all are having as much success in your endevors! I wish you much health and happiness!

Today was a relaxing chill day witht he family. I started off the morning making all the traditional family apple stuffs. Like I mentioned yesterday, we make applesauce, apple chips, and apple bread. It’s all mighty tasty and not all that bad (well…….not really). I spent most of my AM in the kitchen and my house smelled fantastic!!! After that I kind of konked out on the couch. So that means I had to do my workout in the afternoon before dinner. Usually I don’t do this so it was a little out of the norm. I did the whole shebang today with 30 mins. I made it through cardio no problem (although the sweat was pouring). Abs is still a real burner. I love it though. I can really feel it working, and I’m glad my foot is still holding out. The stretches and all are really doing their job so I can do mine. Lower body is one of my favorite workouts. It’s is probably the one that you definately feel the most. Your legs burn and shake and it is excellent because you knowit’s your body telling you “Hey, I’m working it here!” I am really noticing as of late that I am excelling in these programs. They still get my heart pumping, but the intensity isn’t holding me back. I have increased the intesity of my bands hoping that proves to be more of a challenge. I definately plan on moving up to P90x after this. My husband is doing it now and it looks great! Well, back to the kitchen for me. Must go check on my second batch of bread. Don’t you wish you could smell my kitchen right now?

What a wonderful day! You wouldn’t know it by the way it started out. It was rainy and dreary outside. Really felt like fall. But by early afternoon the sun was out and it was hot. We decided to take the kids to the local aple orchard (this is a family traidtion) to do our yearly round up of apples. We had such a great time. We rode of the hay wagon out to the trees and icked for about 1/2 hour. After we loaded up our van we went to visit the honey house that they had. The kids and I tried real honeycomb. It was delicious!!! All in all a fantastic day spent together as a family. Tomorrow we will start on another tradition. Every year after we “harvest” the apples we come home and make aplebread, applesauce, dehydrated apple slices………we basically go apple nuts! We find these things are great to give as gifts during the holidays. Poeple really appreciate homemade things.

Before we left for the day I did my workout. Started off with a nice round of yoga. Great way to wake up and start the day. PS-I don’t recommend working out on an empty stomach. I find that you will tire more quickly and not perform at your best. Your body needs the energy, so eat a god breakfast and wait about an hour or two. After yoga I did the total body and cardio circuits. I am really starting to show a lot of progress as far as being able to keep up and do a maximum amount of reps. I have a lot of energy and am not as sore as when I first started the program. Now it is more or less an itch to take it to the next level with the advanced program.

Well gang, sorry to cut you guys short today. I’m gonna go spend the rest of this glorious day with my family. If you’ve been on the fence with Tony Horton’s 10 Minute Trainer, all I can say is give it a try, you won’t regret the decision. I will see you all tomorrow!!!