Progress, not Perfection !!

SusanMcL

Cathlete
In mid-August 2011, msdeedee3 and I started the Official Cathe Beginner Rotation. Along the way, Faithnveggies and Stacy adopted us --- much to our delight.

We have now reached the point in our journey where it's time to graduate and for that we need a clean slate. It's a new beginning.

Our mantra has become "Progress, not Perfection"

We strive to eat healthy foods (non-processed as much as possible), do our workouts on a regular basis and drink 64 oz of water daily.

However, we know that we won't do it perfectly every day. Life gets in the way - work, school, family, injuries, stress and those days when we just plain struggle.

So we don't beat ourselves up if we don't do it perfectly. We work hard to do what we have set out to do, but we look at the long term progress we are making and forgive ourselves and support each other if we stumble along the way. The only thing that matters is that we are making progress in the right direction !!!

We also cheer each other on with our successes. Success for one is inspiration for all.

So here's to continued success my friends - Deanna, Stacy, FnV.

We CAN do this. We ARE doing this !!!

Go Team.... we ROCK (tm FnV) !!!!
 
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Welcome home Stacy. I hope you had a nice visit with your family.

Deanna - I know you're ready to Rock 'n Roll with your new rotation !!!

FnV - I always enjoyed American history - and still do - but my favorite was Russian history. All the Czars and Czarinas and Rasputin... it all seemed like a Grimm Brothers fairy tale... lol

My program for today..... is.... go to the gym and do some treadmill because I know my back soreness can take that... then come home and do some gentle weight stuff. probably Muscle Max Upper Body ... yea.. I know.. that isn't gentle... but.. I can do it with very light weights and fewer reps just to get a good range of motion. And I'll follow that with a good overall stretch.

I'll report back later...

Make it a great day my friends. Thank you for your continued support !! I couldn't do this without you .. and that's the truth........
 
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Progreess not Perfection is up and running. :)

I woke up this morning and told myself I was not going to look and see if it was up, until after I got my coffee....lol How exciting.

Susan, you have not worked out and your back is still sore and you are talking about doing Muscle Max (gently)? I am not sure about that buddy, you may want to just do Stretching and no weight lifting. Do you think you should see the doctor just to be on the safe side?

Well my new Cathe dvds (Muscle Max, and GYM style Legs) should arrive today. I always have them delivered to my job, I am going to try to view Muscle Max while at work. Not sure which dvd I will do tonight the choices are Butts & Guts, Jump, Pump & Crunch and Legs and Gluts or Muscle Max.

Okay time to get ready for work will check in after my mid-morning walk.

Go Team Progress not Perfection!

Deanna

TRY TO GET YOUR MINIMUM 64OZ OF WATER IN TODAY :)
 
Good morning Deanna !!!

Thanks for the water reminder --- you KNOW that I need to be reminded !!!

I'll take it easy. This is an old injury that sometimes gets "re-injured" so I know what to do. I just need to be real careful. If the weights are too much, I'll just stretch after treadmill, but I know I can do things like biceps and triceps... some of the others... maybe not....

So exciting to be getting new DVDs !!! Enjoy !!! I know you are going to love Muscle Max !!!

okay.. I'm off to the gym..... see y'all later :D

Edited to add: Against my better judgement... lol... I got on the scale. Due to my inactivity last week while letting my back rest, I gained some back. So my official starting weight on our new journey is a nice round number - 180. I like round numbers.. just not THAT one.....

oh well.. it is what it is... Progress, not perfection !!!
 
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A thought that I am pondering :p

I was reading in another thread where someone said that in order to lose weight she had to learn to go hungry.

That got me to thinking.... since I am now 45 pounds overweight... clearly I was not letting myself go hungry ... lol

But the serious thought is this... because I tend to be a grazer and eat a little bit a lot of times thru the day, I don't think I know what it means to be or to feel hungry. I used to know... when I weighed 120 pounds, but not now.

Most of the time I eat meals because it is time to eat a meal and I have my mid-morning, mid-afternoon and evening snacks just because I want them. I don't think I have ever gotten to the point of feeling actual hunger for a number of years.

So today... as an experiment... I'm going to see if I can feel hunger.

That really is pathetic considering how many people in this country and around the world suffer from hunger every day of their lives. Makes me feel like an insensitive fool.......

but you know what I mean and where I'm coming from. It seems to me that I need to re-train myself to eat when I'm hungry, not just because grabbing something to eat is a deeply ingrained habit.
 
Susan my friend, it sounds like you have too much time on your hands today.....ROFL




A thought that I am pondering :p

I was reading in another thread where someone said that in order to lose weight she had to learn to go hungry.

That got me to thinking.... since I am now 45 pounds overweight... clearly I was not letting myself go hungry ... lol

But the serious thought is this... because I tend to be a grazer and eat a little bit a lot of times thru the day, I don't think I know what it means to be or to feel hungry. I used to know... when I weighed 120 pounds, but not now.

Most of the time I eat meals because it is time to eat a meal and I have my mid-morning, mid-afternoon and evening snacks just because I want them. I don't think I have ever gotten to the point of feeling actual hunger for a number of years.

So today... as an experiment... I'm going to see if I can feel hunger.

That really is pathetic considering how many people in this country and around the world suffer from hunger every day of their lives. Makes me feel like an insensitive fool.......

but you know what I mean and where I'm coming from. It seems to me that I need to re-train myself to eat when I'm hungry, not just because grabbing something to eat is a deeply ingrained habit.
 
lol.... yea... I'm procrastinating instead of doing the decluttering/cleaning that I need to do before my friend arrives in 11 days...

okay... I'll go get to it :p
 
Still awaiting my package delivery, I hope my dvds are delivered today.

Well, if my dvds are not delivered today I will definately do Butts & Guts or Jump, Punch & Crunch and Legs and Gluts or maybe Low Max.


MY PACKAGE WAS DELIVERED AND I AM GETTING READY TO VIEW GYM STYLE LEGS. MORE THAN LIKELY I WILL BE DOING CARDIO TODAY LOW MAX. I WILL POST THIS EVENING AFTER EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE DONE.
 
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Just a quick shout out to you!! I'm enjoying the posts already! I'm just getting home from work (early for a change), have some things to do around the house and need to workout, but first a quick snack!

I'll bbl for a longer post!

Deanna...do you mind reposting your rotation?? Thanks!

Susan...I got on the scale too, my number wasnt round, but I didnt like the shape of my number either!

History...do ppl actually like that subject?! Me, I'm a math girl!
 
Hey Stacy, I have not decided which rotation I am going to do but it will be out of the 3 listed below. I am going to try to creat a 3 month Rotation to tighten/tone up. This information was provided by Fitnessfreak.


So for instance if you were to go with building, you'd do something like this:

Day 1 - GS Chest and Tri's
Day 2 - Cardio
Day 3 - GS Back, Shoulders, Bi's
Day 4 - Cardio
Day 5 - GS Legs
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Rest

If you want to tighten/tone up and not build, you'd do something like this:

Day 1 - Muscle Max
Day 2 - Cardio
Day 3 - Drill Max
Day 4 - Cardio
Day 5 - Supersets or Push/Pull
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Rest

or...

Day 1 - Pyramid upper
Day 2 - Cardio
Day 3 - Drill Max
Day 4 - Cardio
Day 5 - Pyramid Lower
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Rest

Ad ab work in at least once if not twice a week giving yourself 48 hours rest between ab workouts.
.
 
Okay this is the rotation I am thinking about. I am putting emphases on my lower body (Butt and Stomach).

Day 1 Monday Low Max - Cardio
Day 2 Tuesday Butts & Gutts
Day 3 Wednesday Stretch Max
Day 4 Thursday Core Max - Stability Ball
Day 5 Friday Muscle Max with emphases on upper body
Day 6 Saturday Cardio - Brisk Walk with walking group or a Cardio dvd
Day 7 Sunday Rest

I will try this rotation out to see how I like it. If all goes well then I will try it for 4 week or so, until I get bored and then I will switch it up with something else.

Okay, I am getting ready to get out of here and head home to do Low Max. Will post when and if I finish....lol

Deanna
 
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Woo hoo! thanks for getting us going Susan! Nice thread starter.

I did a work out! Yea! I really should have done a run since it is super nice out, but I had the house to myself ( I think, I keep hearing creaking from upstairs?) and decided I needed to do a Cathe on this first day of PnP check in. So I dusted off Cardio Classics? Hits? and did Power Max- fun. I will do some wt work this week. Hopefully get to bed early, by 10, most nights, too.

Susan, there is a novel called Nicholas and Alexandra that I started a few times but never finished, did you read it? I was thinking about getting it again. Ahh, that reminds me of Forever Amber.

Stacy, I disliked math in hs and college and did poorly, so I couldn't relate to loving math until recently. What a difference it makes to be a grown up when you are taking classes! At least I can commiserate w/ the students who struggle and whose eyes glaze over in class. You don't like history??

Deanna, did you like what you previewed today? I am just so grateful for all the variety and quality we get from Cathe.

Go team!

PS, I will count tomorrow's wt-I am afraid it will be round, also. I will try to put a better avatar up, like Ms Dee Dee.
 
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Today was a pretty good day! Good start to the week, I'm hoping my work stress and potato chip cravings dont send things into a whirlwind days or weeks down the road! I'll need some PnP support then for sure!

I'm loosely following the endomorph version of Fitnessfreak's December '08 rotation. I have rotation ADHD so I'm really going to try to stick to it for the next 4 weeks! So today I did the chest and back from 4 Day Split, along with LIS cardio from 4 Day Split, followed by calves and abs from 4 DS as well. My knees were feeling achy for some reason today which was odd since I havent worked out in at least 3-4 days and I was doing low impact cardio. I'm guessing my number on the scale may have something to do with it. I definitely notice an improvement in my joints as I lose even a few pounds. I'm back to loosely following my Weight Watchers Points, it at least encourages me to eat more fruits and veggies since those have 0 points.

Today's eats:

B--coffee
L--low carb yogurt and half an apple
S--bagel thin with reduced fat crm cheese
D--grilled salmon with a salad with lower cal dressing

I'm getting in about 32 oz of water today, which is way more than I usually drink. 64 ounces seems like an insurmountable feat!

FnV...I love Power Max, it was my first Cathe step workout so it's near and dear to my heart, may have to pull that one out soon!

Deanna...how did you like Low Max? I felt that one had a bit of a choreography learning curve.

Susan...with regard to not letting yourself feel hungry. That's such a tough call. Have you ever read Intuitive Eating? It's an interesting book, and I definitely got some good info from it, if nothing else it made me reflect on my eating habits from a different angle.

Tomorrow is a longer cardio day according to the rotation, if my knees are a bit achey I'll either walk or ride the recumbent bike.

Have a good evening ladies!
 
Good evening !!

It sounds like everyone is on track. Yea team !!!!

Deanna - I like the looks of that rotation. I had to go look at the video clips for Low Max and Butts/Guts because I wasn't familiar with them. Low Max look good for the step, but those intensity blasts would be tough on this old body... lol. But I know you can do it.

FnV - Congratulations on getting a workout in today !!! How's the knee? It must be better if you were thinking of going for a run.

I have read Nicholas and Alexander by Robert K. Massie. I read it when it first came out. I had to go to Amazon to see when that was... It was 1985. I really liked it. If you are at all interested in Russian history, it's a good one.

Stacy - how's your wrist?? Geeze... we sure are an injured bunch. We need to get healthy. But it sounds like you had a great workout today!!! I hear you about the water consumption... lol. I can do 30 ounces easily... and if I do a somewhat strenuous workout, I can do 40 ounces a day. But getting to 64 ounces is tough. Deanna, I don't know how you drink 100 oz a day... I'd be floating away and spending half the day in the bathroom.

Stacy - I'll go look up Intuitive Eating at Amazon. Thanks !!! I have to get my eating under control. As one of the personal trainers at the gym said to me a while back, "You can't out-exercise a bad diet." So very very true.

We are on a roll team !!! I did treadmill and stretching. I was going to do weights... as I said this morning... then I thought better of it. My back is soooo much better, so I'm going to give it a few more days just to be safe. I'll just keep doing treadmill and stretches til the end of the week.


Here's my planned rotation... once my back is healed:

Monday - Upper Body and stretching
Tuesday - Dancing Aerobics class at the gym
Wednesday - Lower Body and Abs
Thursday - Cardio (treadmill and/or elliptical at the gym)
Friday - rest
Saturday - Total Body and Abs
Sunday - step class at the gym

For the Upper Body, Lower Body and Total Body workouts - I'll rotate among Muscle Max, High Reps, Pyramid, Supersets, Push Pull. And then some weeks I'll do the 3 day Gym Styles or Pure Strength workouts.

Cathe sure does give us a lot of choices !!!

We CAN do this... we ARE doing this !!

Go Team !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll be here for coffee in the morning. Have a great evening !!
 
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Evening Ladies :)

I just completed Low Max Warm Up, Step Combo 1 - 5 and Stretch. I could not make it to Combo 6 & 7. I am beat, my hair is dripping water and I am exhausted. Yes Stacy, Low Max has a choreography learning curve. I was stubbling all over the place, but I would just rewind until I could get good form. I burned about 500 calories. I can not say if I am going to stick with Low Max, but I am going to give it my best shot. If not, I may switch it out with Jump, Pump and Crunch or Kick Max.

Tuesday I have Butts and Guts on my rotation, this is going to be a 1st for me doing this dvd as well. I may switch this one up from time to time as well with any of my dvd that puts emphases on the lower body. FnV, you are right Cathe gives us a varity to choose from.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to ingest 64oz of water today because I put some fresh Aloe Vera and Lemon in it. I have not put this in my water in weeks and it started giving me the effect of a cleanse which is not what I wanted.

I just made myself a Whey Protein Strawberry and Banana drink, this is going to be my dinner. I am to tired to make myself anything else.

Okay, I am going to pour myself into the shower and call it a night. I will check in tomorrow.

Deanna

PS: I will have to bring my Weights and High Step in from the garage to do my lower body exercise tomorrow.

A suggestion, maybe we should try to put New Avatar pic up for Jan. 1, 2012 :)
 
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Great job on your workout Deanna !!! That one is a toughie. I'll bet you'll get used to it after a few more run throughs.....

Is it still too hot in Vegas to work out in your garage? I know you'll be glad when you can do your workouts out there. Lucky girl !!!

Okay... I'm calling it a night too.

See y'all in the morning ........
 
Good morning ladies !!!

I'm just finishing up my coffee with one of my cats in my lap... as she always is when I'm on the computer... soooo cute :D

I've got a bunch of stuff on my ToDo list to do around the house today... still cleaning out closets, drawers and boxes. I want to make a good dent in getting that done. I've been in this house for 20 years and it's incredible how much "stuff" one can accumulate in that amount of time. I am determined to get rid of the stuff I don't need and don't use any more and donate it to Goodwill or Habitat for Humanity... both of whom have stores not too far away. Someone can use some of this stuff...

Once I've made some progress, I'll head to the gym for some treadmill.

On my rotation, today is Dancing Aerobics class at the gym, but I know that wouldn't be good for my back.... so treadmill it will be... lol

I'll check back later....

Stacy - when I went to Amazon last night to look for Intuitive Eating, there were a couple of books with that title by different authors. Which one were you referring to? If you remember..... thanks..

Make it a great day !!!

We CAN do this... We ARE doing this....

Progress, not perfection !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Morning Ladies, I am up having my coffee as well. :)

Butts & Guts is on my rotation this evening. Got my Barbell, weights, High Step and Firewalker Loops out of the garage this morning. I have had my barbell and high step for 3 or 4 years and I have never used either one of them. I am going to start with light weights maybe 10 no more than 20lbs. Wish me luck with this workout ladies.

I will check in after my morning walk or this evening. I hope you all have a blessed day.

Deanna

DON'T FORGET YOUR 64OZ OF WATER TODAY
 
Mid-morning checkin, just finished walk with co-worker 1 mile. My legs are starting to feel heavy from Low Max yesterday.

I will check back this evening after Butts & Guts.

Deanna

LET TRY TO GET THAT WATER DOWN LADIES.
 

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