We're In This Together **APRIL**

[mini-natty]

No workout for me folks. I feel like total crap and my body needs a good sleep tonight. I was able to nap this afternoon with Mark home to take care of Bella. I finally got my STS in the mail and was previewing the discs. They look awesome . Cathe is so incredibly toned and lean. What a beautiful woman.

Jen
It seems to be so damn hard to find a job there. With all your experience and degrees, you'd think someone would have snatched you up real quick. I can see your frustration and disappointment (I'm feeling it for you). I have to ask this, please don't feel as though I'm being negative, but all the internship stuff, is it really worth it? The way you describe it, it's like they are kinda messin' around with you (correct me if I'm wrong). No one seems to want to hire full-time anymore. They just want a couple of part-timers to take half the rate of pay, the same amount of work, and no benefits. Our economy is not doing great either with companies getting cheaper, unemployment rates up and the majority having to settle for crappy part-time gigs to make ends meet. But through all of this, I know the job you want is there waiting for you. My positive thoughts and prayers are with you Jen. Stay strong
Colleen
I tried Step Moves w/no shoes and completely hated it. All I could fantasize about were getting my runners back on. My knee's and ankles were killing me, not to mention stubbing a toe on the step made me swear some pretty harsh words. I have decided not to attempt step again without my beautiful new K Swiss. I did Athletic Step with them the other day and felt wonderful. It's funny how we're all so different with our preferences.

Going to relax with some tea and watch The Walking Dead

[JT]

Natty-Yes, You are correct. MI has become an intern State and the program I am part of feeds into it. The amount of energy I've put into with not enough earned skill set to take away from it may not be worth it. It is difficult. The job I interviewed for on Thursday will not pay enough and my supervisor would be MUCH younger than me.
Also, glad you didn't workout tonight and congrats on FINALLY getting STS. Did you get the book? You will LOVE it!! Eric, Robert, or ??? Who to choose??
Colleen-I always work out wearing shoes unless Cathe isn't wearing them.

[mom2kttj]

Amy & Nat - Get well soon. Good timing for the delivery of STS because now you can just recover and preview. I always fall asleep previewing and I'm not sure it benefits me. I think I can only learn by doing it.

Occasionally when I don't wear shoes for a step workout my arch is what hurts me. It's funny though because I can do a Plyo workouts w/o shoes just fine.

I did Low Impact Challenge today and the DVD has a scratch on it during the end part after the step routines. I was not a happy camper.

I went to the book store today to get some things for the kids Easter Baskets and bought Jillian's book Master your Metabolism. Now I just need to find the time to read it without falling asleep. Do you sense a pattern? Yes I can fall asleep anywhere anytime.

Sarah

[cokonkel]

No workout for me today!

Natty- I definitely wouldn't recommend doing high impact step aerobics without shoes until you have been working out barefoot for quite awhile. I'm a seasoned barefoot exerciser and even my feet got tired after 30 minutes of AS. It takes a really long time to build up the endurance, not just in the muscles of the feet and ankles but also in the ligaments, tendons and fascia. In fact the strength of the muscles will come fairly soon but the other stuff takes much longer. If you are still interested in working out barefoot I would just recommend going slow and steady. I started out with just pilates and yoga for a long time. Then I added low impact cardio and then gradually higher impact plyometrics in short intervals (with my cushy puzzle mats of course, you need that shock absorption especially in the beginning). I gradually increased the length of time and intensity until I finally tried step aerobics without shoes. The LIS workouts with the low impact drills on the step were perfect to start out with. It'll still take time to build up to workouts like AS and the like. Also, I recommend having a tennis ball on hand to massage the bottom of your feet when they feel tired. It's like any other muscle in your body...muscle fatigue leads to muscle failure and DOMS!

I was actually noticing the other day how great my arches have been looking lately. I've had fallen arches and flat feet for years (at least since high school). That always led to over pronation and foot, ankle and lower back pain before. Now my arches have come back, my ankles are stronger and I don't have lower back pain anymore since working out without shoes! I even found this article when I googled about my arches, curious if the barefoot exercising is what brought them back: How to Improve Arches | eHow.com

As you guys can see...I'm pretty passionate about it. My mom was one of these moms that believed babies should be taught to walk in shoes. When my kids were learning to walk she insisted I should put shoes on them rather than letting them learn barefoot. I said that's crazy! I think that's why I had fallen arches so early in life, I never went barefoot when I was younger.

Whoa...this post got long! Sorry! Off my soap box now!!

I hope everyone is feeling better today! Our weather has been pretty nice the last few days. Hopefully it will stay nice so we can have the kids to the Easter egg hunt outside instead of indoors like we normally have to do!

Later girls!

[EllieB]

Hello ladies!
I'm so sorry I've been away for so long, but we all fell ill after Riccardo and the minute I went back to work I had to change many things due to my new role and have been travelling a lot also because of that , so really no time for turning on my laptop

I MISSED YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!
(((Big hugs to everyone)))

Well, thank you to all of you for your support throughout our illness and thank you for your encouragment for my new job.
I tried to stay active in the meanwhile, but couldn't stick with my rotation as planned. I'm trying to follow this month rotation, I had to skip a workout already as I had to go far from home even yesterday (I didn't tell you that beside the role of coordinator, I've become a sort of supervisor, so need to go and check how people are working in other shops of the same chain) and when I hit the door yesterday afternoon I was literally fried.
I noticed that my ebergy level in this period id pretty low, I did AS on Wednesday and felt my quads were so weak that I couldn't jump properly, but I wasn't out of breath. Probably I still need to recover or it is due to the change of season...I don't know. Aching quads while stepping is something I've never experienced before.
Well...I went shopping and discovered I dropped one size!!!!!Now I am a proud size 6 (my goal is 4, but I'm so happy with a 6 that I can't tell you!!!!) and as I saved some money from my clothes shopping, I am planning to buy a barbell.... finally! But before, I need DH to clean properly our basement otherwise I will have no room for my new equipment

Amy: Welcome aboard! I'm 34, Italian (sorry sorry for my English, the ladies here are sooo kind with my mistakes!),I'm a part-time working Mom of a 2 years old boy named Riccardo. I'm a pharmacist and started to workout with Cathe in November 2010, 6 months after my delivery. My first dvd was Low max and was hooked ever since. I'm in the best shape of my life thanks to Cathe, and lost inches and gained stamina and endurance in the shortest time ever. I don't own her entire collection, but since I've discovered Cathe, I reach for her every time I workout and have so much fun!

Amy,Natty, Colleen, Sarah, Jen, Nikky: I hope you are all fine and wish you a very happy Easter, to all of you and your family, and hope you have time to relax and make the most of these 2 days of holidays!!!!

[mini-natty]

Happy Easter

Thanks everyone for the kind, sympathetic words.
I'm feeling much better .

Yesterday I was able to enjoy the nice spring weather by taking a lovely walk around the neighborhood. I dropped by the store to pick up a few things for the Easter Egg Hunt today at my aunts house (we usually spend the holidays there). I think the adults like the hunt more than the kids do .

I felt so lost without my workouts that I decided on something very light to get me going again. Travel Fit is great for that. I did not want to use weights or engage in strenuous cardio just in case I felt dizzy or weak.

I will write responses later tonight. Very busy day ahead.

Have a beautiful day

[cokonkel]

Natty- isn't Travel Fit perfect for those kind of days? I love having that one around just for that reason. Unfortunately I borrowed my copy to my sister and haven't gotten it back yet. Last week during ttotm my knees were feeling unstable and I totally could have used that one! I really need to learn my lesson and stop borrowing out my workouts to people...especially since they rarely even end up using them! BTW, what did you think of the Walking Dead?? Were you watching the first season? That series premiere was incredible, I thought. It reminded me of how they started Lost, where the premiere was almost like a movie in it's quality. I love some of my television series so much more than movies these days. There are so many crappy movies being made lately. I am really looking forward to seeing the Hunger Games though! I loved that book!!

Ellie- congratulations on the size 6! Isn't that so much fun when you see the results of all your hard work like that? It is so motivating! You sound like you are so incredibly busy! I'm so sorry you guys got sick again in your house! Hopefully now that spring is here the viruses will go away for awhile! Stress always makes me so much more vulnerable to sickness. I remember when I was in college this one year, I had a lot of turmoil and stress in my life and I was sick all the time that fall and winter! I had the worst bout of flu I ever had that fall...I was literally wiped out for week! Lots of travel is so hard on a person too. Sending you healthy vibes from Wisconsin!!

Sarah- I get really ticked off when a dvd freezes. There is nothing worse than when that happens during a workout and your heart rate goes down while you try to figure out how to skip ahead. I got my STS Meso 1 and 2 through trades and unfortunately the person I traded Meso 1 with neglected to tell me her's was from the original preorder when Cathe had the discs in a cheap, crappier case. Since then, the packaging of STS is so much nicer. In this one, the discs fall out and I discovered one of them had a scratch on it and froze in a few spots. Grrr. That's the risk of trading though.

Jen- how are you doing today?

I can't decide what to do today! I was originally planning on LBB with the standing and leg conditioning drill premix. Then I was thinking about AB...then I was looking at my copy of Lean Hot Body by Patrick Goudeau....
I need maximum calorie burn today! I ate waaaaay too much yesterday with my family. My mom made prime rib, which I don't normally eat. Plus when she makes her potatoes she puts LOADS of butter in there.

Have a great Easter ladies!!

[JT]

Happy Easter, Everyone!!
Natty-Canadians live longer than those in the US per my FB posting.
Ellie-Congrats on your size 6!! You must feel good.
Colleen-What workout did you choose? Mine might be walking, too cold to mow.
Nikki-Where are you??
Sarah and Amy-hope life istreating you well.

Today for me has been peaceful although a bit tired. Got alot done already like laundry, garbage, cat litter, took old phonebooks to be recycled and dropped off some old clothes. More stuff will be heading out. Don't feel like job hunting or internship today and I DON"T feel guilty about it. WeTopoia is addicting and a nice distraction.

[mini-natty]

Hi everyone !

Thank goodness I'm home early. Blah, too much fatty food and desserts . My body always feels as though it has a hard time processing so much different crap all at once. I'm happy that type food is only on occasion. I usually get my family to go for a nice walk around the block afterwards, but it was cold and windy.

I feel much better today so I'm going to try and burn off some of the cals I ate. My rotation calls for KPC, but frankly I don't think I can handle 1 hour of that @ 8:00pm. I may do 4DS kickbox or 4DS high impact step. Both are 30min and really work me well (BTW Colleen 4DS is THE BOMB!!!).

Ellie
Way to go on size 6!!!! You must feel so damn good!!! Congrats!! I hope you had a wonderful Easter with your family. Italians go overboard on Easter (with food that is lol).

Colleen
Thank you so much for the info on going barefoot during exercise/arches. Funny you mentioned about the babies and shoe thing. My family was trying to get Bella to wear shoes while learning to walk and I was like no damn way! It looked weird and unnatural putting a 10 month old in shoes around the house. Plus, I read they should train barefoot and so I put them in their place real quick. We never wear shoes or socks, except when going outside.
Loved The Walking Dead!!! It's so gross but I really love it. Shane (is that his name? The main character?) he is pretty gorgeous. I'm lovin' his crystal blue eyes.
I want to go watch The Hunger Games too. Last time I saw a movie in theater was Harry Potter last year. I think I'm due for another one soon.
How do you like Patrick Goudeau? His stuff looks good.
Sarah
My mother bought that same book last year (I convinced her to get it). She read like 10 pages and that was it (typical of her). I hope you enjoy it.
Jen
I'm glad you had a nice, peaceful day. It seems like you got a lot done.
How is your cat litter now that your cats are getting older? Mine seem to be going to the bathroom so much more now that they're seniors, so the litter has to be cleaned everyday or else it gets pretty gross. When they were younger, not so much . I was also told by my vet last year when Minnie almost died, that senior cats don't drink enough water and that's why they can get sick. After that we started giving them filtered water and keeping it clean and fresh all the time. What food do you give them? We have them on Science Diet for sensitive stomachs. I give them natural Greenies treats occasionally too. I love my kitties. I can't imagine my life without a pet.


Have a great night everyone

[JT]

Good Morning Everyone!
Time to get this week started. This morning, send out internship emails then job hunt. Was going to mow the lawn but freeze warnings are back.

Natty-My cats both turn 8 in Mayish. Due to their illnesses(kennel cough or feline bronchitis) when they were newborns and my past cat passing away from kidney failure, due to my Vet's recommendation, both have been on Science Diet since they were done feeding with their Mom. I use the cheap cat litter and the box rarely has a bad odor. Seville and Madrid don't like tuna either, they would rather have a good marinara sauce from a lasagna or pizza sauce.

Have a Great Day!!

Jen