Taking it to the Max-- June 2013 thru...

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all well and enjoying your Sundays. You cloudy folks have sent your overcast weather my way! After days and days of sunshine, it's a little cloudy out today, but nothing too bad. I think it will clear up later and be another lovely day. The weather here has been warm with a breeze and sunny most of the week. It's fantastic! We've been dining al fresco in the back yard a lot which I love.

Today I have chores galore, but I am going to get in a barre workout at some point, maybe I'll get started now. We had a lovely time visiting with our friends last night. They have a four month old who is so adorable!! I love babies.

Renee, sounds like you have a good solution to your situation with your friend. That sounds reasonable to me and it's a win-win for everyone. I hope she is able to get on her feet pretty quickly. I commend her for picking herself up, dusting herself off, and getting on with her life...When you get your Les Mills set back and you try Combat, let me know how you like it.

Melissa, congrats on getting in your interval runs. Do you like running as much as doing other types of cardio on DVDs? Sounds like you have a treadmill at home, is that right? I wish I had space for equipment at home. Our house is so tiny and we have no basement. Now I'm lusting after a rebounder, but Jeremy would have a heart attack if I bought one of those home. He is over the workout equipment!!

Katie, I can relate to the whiny cat ruining your morning. We have one of those too and sometimes I just want to strangle him. He now wakes up at 4:45 every morning. It's so horrible. I hope you had a nice quiet evening watching Monk with the kids. I have seen that show a few times...I like that actor, it was cute, but it's hard for me to keep up with shows for too long. I'm now plugging my way through Arrested Development, which is sort of funny. I can't remember if I already mentioned that or not.

I wish I could have a nice mellow day today, but I've got a million things to do...so I better get started. At least Jeremy volunteered to make dinner tonight, so that's one less thing on my list.

Take care!

Eva
 
hi girls-- well, yet another day of showers and clouds today:(. they say tomorrow is supposed to be 80 and sunny. not sure I believe it, but boy, would that be nice. it feels cold here, actually-- think it must be in the upper 50s out there. so, today I did CF the lower impact premix and then did shiva rea upper body yoga/prostration push ups. there is a small clip here:

Prostration Push-Ups with Shiva Rea - YouTube

burned 667 calories, so not bad:). my ankle felt a little funky in some moves of CF, but the less impact version at least seems to be doable. now we will be headed to my dad's to celebrate father's day, since next week on the actual day the kids' program at the u of m starts up. anyway, I am also supposed to meet my sisters later for a walk in the quaking bog, as it is one of my sister's bday today, but with the weather being like it is, will have to wait and see if we need to reschedule.

eva-- glad you had fun last night with your friends! little babies are always fun (accept for at night! I never got any sleep with any of mine!). sounds like you have a naughty cat, too! not sure what the deal is-- I guess they just figure we should be available whenever they want someone to play with or cuddle with. cats are so funny:p. hope you get a good workout in-- I am sure you will! and that the clouds clear:)

Melissa-- that is a bummer that you guys still haven't been able to go to the pool! I think there was only one day here so far this season that I would have wanted to swim. other than that, it has been cool and cloudy. I bet once bravo starts at the u of m it will get super hot and steamy-- once we don't have time to go swimming and are running around all day:p. hope you have a good sunday!

renee-- your husband sounds like he is being super supportive; that is great! I think two days of rest is probably what your body needed-- you have been through a lot lately! yoga will definitely get easier if you keep your practice up-- just be patient and try not to force anything that isn't there yet. it will happen in its own time:)


hello ladylep!


better get busy so we leave here on time.

happy sunday everyone,

katie
 
Eva I love babies!!! Of course I can hand them back makes it even sweeter! Lol. I will let u know how I like them! If he doesn't start using them I will take them back! I am trying to give him a chance to try but he hasn't tried yet!!

Katie I am bummed about the weather to so I can imagine how u feel!! It was snowing along time where u are,now rainy?! eew!!!
It is raining here again to yuck !!! Good job on cf and yoga! I am trying to put yoga in more often for sure! It really makes me feel like I had a good massage !! Well the ones I can actually do! I love the breathing in slow and out through the nose as I feel some discomfort then feeling the body let go and get further into the pose feels wonderful! I can't wait to do more! How many times a week do u recommend for noticeable flexibility and improvement? Should I do the same DVD over and over until that one becomes easy or do I do a different one each practice till I rotate all I have and start over? What would give u the better benefit in your opinion ? I hope u understand what I am asking! I have a tendency to write way to much lol ramble and still do not make myself clear ha ha! Sorry.
 
Melissa that is really good time on an interval run! I do steady state and I only get a11 minute mile! Before my foot got hurt I got up to 10 minute mile during military four years ago ! But I am so frustrated its like I love to jog but my body don't! It likes a very slow pace and thee miles is it at a time. If I do more. I get injured but I love how it makes me feel so I HAVE to do it once a week to get my feel lol!! I wanted to do it three days a week and Cathe cardio once and two weight days but every time it seems my knee or foot can't take three jogs a week maybe I can try two for a while.

Lady Lep how are you doing today?

I went jogging with my little girl mabel. First time she got to go so we only did one mile cause she is a little dog I wanted to mod more but it started pouring rain! Plus I didn't feel right putting her in the car while I jog two more miles. So I think later this evening I am going to do bis and tris. I hope anyhow. Chores for me as we'll, and getting ready for work. Geez I don't work Fridays so I have long weekends but dang it sure went by faster!!
 
Renee, When I used to run regular, the most I did was 3 miles, too boring for me. I rhink I was about a 12 min mile. SLOW.

Katie, 600 plus calories is really great.

Eva, I too think babies are cute, but am on that is glad when it is time to go home.

Today is my rest day. We did end up at the pool for about 1.5 hours. I rarely go in the water.

am glad for rest today. I have a pain above my left rear that starts when I stand up from sitting, I think it is from the running.

Hope you all are having a nice day.

Melissa
 
hi girls-- hope everyone is having a good day. I was struck with the insomnia bug again last night:(. up since 3am. not feeling so bad, though, surprisingly. I think it's because it isn't quite as dreary out today-- temps around 80 and some sun. I did try to get a good workout in anyway. did triple tabata from TTM (figured my ankle would do better with a short burst then the whole wo) and then did slow and heavy chest and back plus a 10 minute core yoga practice w/shiva rea. ended up burning 666 calories. trying to push it this week as next week I have no idea what amount of time I will have and will be running with the kids.

yesterday was nice at my dad's-- we were there longer than planned and so didn't get our walk in at night, but it was a nice day anyway.

renee-- I say whatever teacher or style you like is what you should stick with for a while. there are so many different types of yoga and sometimes you have to keep looking around until you find the right fit. I tried many styles before I found that I liked ashtanga best and some vinyasa. I do think, though that if you commit to a daily practice-- even for just a few minutes-- you will see changes and results in a relatively short amount of time. and you'll get so many other benefits by trying to grow your practice besides just the physical ones-- so I say, if you found someone you like, stick with them for a while and try to get in at least a little every day:). I hope that makes sense!

Melissa-- sorry to hear that you are having a weird pain:(. hoping that feels better today!

eva and ladylep-- hello to you both!

will try and check in again later,

hugs,

katie
 
Hi Girls,

I got in hard strikes and core 1. I decided against the conditioning since I am doing slow and heavy. I still have the pain in my left hip. I may skip cardio wed. if it doesn't get better.

We have dreary rain today. Well, I got lots of laundry done.

Katie, sorry you didn't sleep, hope you aren't wiped out now, I may do tabs next week. I was going to do three hiit runs per week, but since my hip is bad, decided to do just 2. Also, it is nice to have variety. It was fun doing hard strikes. I don't mind all the jacks because it is one move that I don't look idiotic doing and doesn't require a lot of skill.

Hi Renee, Eva and Ladylep.
Melissa
 
Greetings, Everyone,

Katie, I am sorry to hear about your restless night. Hopefully tonight will be much better. I'm glad you had a good time at your dad's house, and hopefully your sister was not too bummed that she did not get her walk in near the bog. It gives you an excuse to get together again soon and to try again! :)

Melissa, sorry that your hip is bothering you. Do you know why? If you posted this already and I missed it, I apologize. Either way, I hope it feels better soon. I thought about doing HS today, but did an ART workout instead.

Today is usually my rest day, but I was feeling pretty energetic, and I had dessert twice over the weekend, so I figured I better workout out. I did not do anything too insane. I did a few Tonique segments and then added on a 30 minute "dance walk" from ART that is about 3 miles worth of steps. It was fun, actually. Burned 450 calories and felt more like I was having fun than working out, so that was an added bonus. I might pair these two combos together. The Tonique is grueling, so it's nice to do a short bit and then move on. I don't think I'll ever develop a cheerfulness about those workouts, but my bum is getting smaller, so I think they're actually working.

Hi Lady Lep and Renee! I hope you are both doing well.

Off to start dinner...

Eva
 
Hi gang!

Sorry I've been MIA. Evaluations for our homeschooling year are on Thursday and I've been working on the portfolios. They are almost finished! I just have to work on printing pictures and some other final touches.

I didn't get a workout in yesterday and only got in 17 min of STS Total Body Premix upper body on Sunday and nothing on Saturday. My sweets over the weekend tasted great! I ate some but not as much as I would have a few months ago. So I am up 3 pounds, but I forgot to get on the scale this morning. :(

Hi Eva, Renee, Melissa and Katie!
 
hi girls-- well, I wish I could say I slept better last night, but I have been up since around 2:30:(. not sure what the deal is-- my one week off before bravo starts up and for whatever reason I am just not able to settle in after sleeping the initial 3-4 hours. instead of more Hiit and weights today, I opted for an extra long yoga session. did that super early and now have a busy day ahead. I have my niece's 3 little munchkins coming over as their babysitter cancelled last minute-- so I will have my hands full! they are 8, 4 and almost 2.

ladylep-- congrats on getting all your homeschooling things in order-- that must feel good! good job on staying away from too many sweets, too!

eva-- sounds like you came up with a good workout combo:). way to go on working out even on your day off! you always work so hard! anyway, glad you also got to enjoy some desserts over the weekend;)

Melissa-- sorry you are still having hip pain:(. that is no fun. great job on getting your sweat in anyway. it is pretty dreary right now here, too-- it is warmer, but humid, with lots of cloud cover. when the sun comes out later today it is going to heat up fast. yay to getting laundry done! (one of my least favorite chores:p)

renee-- hope you are doing well! love the pics of your dog on fb:)

better get going. need to jump in the shower before all the little ones arrive.

blessings,
katie
 
Hi Girls,

Katie, I can relate to the sleep. I go for 4 hours and wake up. Lately, difficult to get back to sleep. have dun with the little ones, I wonder how many calories that will burn :)

I say good choice with the yoga. I should have listened to my body today and didn't. I woke up with an upset stomach and a little low back pain. So, I was going to take the day off. I just decided to do scheduled workout of chest and back. 2/3 thru chest, I had to stop, the pain above my right rear is awful when I take a step. I think I better not do anything for at least a day. I am wondering if it is the running.

Eva, Good dedication working on your day off and tonique to boot!

Hi Ladylep and Renee.

It is another dreary day.

Melissa
 
Hello All,

Ladylep, good to hear from you. Good luck on getting all of your homeschooling stuff done on time. Congrats on your restraint this weekend. Are you still doing WW and tracking your food?

Katie, I hope you are doing well. When I read your post about no sleep and yoga, it reminded me that I have seen a lot of folks post on the UY checkin on the VF site that they were sleeping much better since adding yoga into their regular exercise practice. Do you find that has helped you sleep better in the past? I thought that was interesting...anyways, here's hoping you get a well-deserved decent night of sleep.

Same to you, Melissa!

Renee, I hope you are doing well. Your jog with Mabel the other day sounded like fun! Do animals get tired of running? I know that sounds like a silly question, but I have never had a dog and I've always wondered that. It seems they could easily run longer/faster than we can, but I am not really sure what their endurance is like. I've only had cats, and they are lazy, but dogs seem pretty energetic and sprightly, at least when they are young.

No workout for me today, so it's a good thing I worked out yesterday. I went on a little walk at lunch time, but I had doctor's appointment and errands to run after work today, and when I got home it was time to make dinner. I just got some yoga blocks for my ART workouts, though, so maybe I'll play around with that this evening.

Another lovely day here today. Melissa and Katie, I'm sending sunshine your way!

Take care,
Eva
 
Eva what is ART?? I am not sure about if dogs can go more or not, like a bigger dog I am sure but she is little so I was afraid to over do it , I googled it but got conflicting articles so no solid answer! I'd love to try a three mile jog nice and easy with her but she looked rough after the first mile!

Melissa oh no I hope your back feels better. That's where mine hurts alot but then it moved around one side and front and back that was my kidneys I keep wondering if where my back had been hurting was it my kidney all this time and I finally dislodged it, it is strange! I hope ur back is just a pulled muscle. I hope u get better soon.

Katie I bought Shiva what's her name on collage video today! I can't wait to try it I got wo if them one was yoga for women! So I am hoping it will help me in my women lay journeys lol.

Lady Lep great job squeezing in STS t b !

I did not do anything today!! I feel like crap!! I did Hard strikes last night at least. Mondays was my usual day off but I took sat off and wanted to bake up for it but then I went to bed with a headache so no sleep last night!! I could feel it all night!! And I woke up like that and gad to work like that! I came home ate some peanut butter n veggies and lits of water DH got me excedrine and i took extra hot shower. im starting to feel alittle better fibaly. I thought I was finished with them but I noticed I get them still during that time of month so many these are hormonal? Or I am allergic to peanut butter! Hard to tell cause I eat peanut butter that time if month as well!! Ummm.
Okay I hope to sleep tonight!!
 
hi girls-- hope everyone is having a good day. it has been raining here like crazy all day until about an hour ago when the sun peaked out. this weather is incredible. so, I still barely slept last night:(. pretty fed up with this insomnia. then after reading renee's post, I started to wonder if it isn't related to TTOM, as it is for me right now, too. anyway, I still got my workout in. my ankle felt pretty sore this morning, so I just did the low impact Hiit plus bootcamp from intensity for cardio, then did slow and heavy shoulders, then 27 minutes of shiva rea yoga. this time I did a lunar flow, which was pretty mellow and I am hoping it helps with my sleep issues. eva-- you are right on yoga helping with that, but for whatever reason, I have an especially tough case of sleeplessness right now.

last night was fun-- rik and the kids and I went to a restaurant called "Jerusalem's". lots of vegan choices and everything is made from scratch. I think they make the best hummus I have ever tasted:). the rain stayed away long enough for us to sit outside. there won't be much going out once bravo starts, so soaking it up while we can;)

renee-- hoping you slept last night and that your head is still feeling better. you'll have to let me know how you like that dvd! I don't have that one, but looked at it and have it on my wish list:)

eva-- I am happy to hear that at least someone is having nice weather!:) sounds like you are busy as ever. hope today was a little more low key.

Melissa-- sorry you are stuck with dreary weather, too, and that you are still hurting (and feeling sick on top of that!). I have done the same thing where I workout feeling a little oozy and then wonder afterwards what the heck I was thinking. maybe the crappy sleep is part of being in our 40s:confused::(. sure hope you are feeling better today!

hello ladylep:D

will try and check back later to see what you all are up to... going to see if the rain holds off long enough for me to take the dogs for a short walk.

peace,
katie
 
Katie,
I am sorry to hear that you had another sleepless night. I'm not even sure what to say other than I hope this turns around for you soon. I remember you said you had used some sleep aids in the past, but I can't remember if you were open to using them on an ongoing basis. :confused: I really am in awe of you pushing through with all you have on your plate in spite of the lack of rest. We have a restaurant around here named Jerusalem and it's middle eastern food. It's supposed to be really yummy too, but I have not tried it yet. It's probably about an hour from me in Maryland on the other side of DC, so I don't make it out that way very often. I love food from that part of the world though. Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food is so delicious and healthful.

Today I did a new workout, Doonya. It was on a DVD, but the classes actually originated here in DC. They are cardio dance classes based on Bollywood steps, which is right up my alley. It was a little slow, but it picked up in intensity. I worked out for about an hour and burned 460 calories. The best part was it was relatively enjoyable. I had a sinus headache today so I just felt like taking it easy. I'll definitely save this for a light/cranky workout day...it will come in handy. Tomorrow is ART.

Renee, you can learn more about ART workouts here, ART Method by NY Personal Trainer Terri Walsh. I signed up for the monthly subscription. It's $7.00 month and she posts new workouts every few days, I think. It's a mix of cardio and resistance training. Her philosophy is that fitness is a "practice", like yoga, so it's something that you engage in, not something that you do to get it over with. As you know, I'm always exploring new options, and right now this one is intriguing to me. My goal is to do them at least 3 times a week, mixed with barre and bodyweight workouts, and I'm going to try to work that rotation for a while. We'll see how that goes, but that's my intention for now. If I could keep up some version of that for at least 90 days, that would be terrific.

Melissa, sorry you have been feeling kind of poopy. I hope you had a nice rest day today and that your body is healing and enjoying having a break. Are you going to scale back the running a bit, or are you going to try to keep it in your rotation?

Ladylep, I hope you're doing well!! You're probably done with your portfolios now (hopefully) :) I'm sure you're busy with baseball and other things. What do you do with your boys during the summer time when you're not homeschooling them?

I think I'm going to try to squeeze in a movie. I've been on a kick recently. The other night it was the Bette Davis/Joan Crawford movie, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Not sure what I'll watch tonight...will see what's in my queue that's relatively short.

Take care,
Eva
 
what is the color of your exercise room? Your bedroom and your bath? I am wanting to paint my family/exercise room so it looks more tranquil but energetic, my bathroom and bath I want a spa feel so I am thinking of a soft orange for exercise room and tan for bedroom and green for bath but I cant figure the best shades that wont look gross
 
Hi Renee,
I like bright colors, so no tranquility suggestions from me! My exercise room is lime green. My living room is yellow and my dining room is Victorian red. My bedroom is a taupe color, but that is only because I have not gotten around to decorating that room and that was the color when I bought my house. My bathrooms are neutral cream colors.

We also have an orange room that used to be the spare room but is now J's music room. I don't know that any color would look gross, per se, since it's such an individual decision.

When I think of spa colors, I think of sea greens and blues, maybe purples? Maybe just because I associate spa with water...

Eva
 
Hi all-

I've been bad with workouts and eating, no tracking and no exercising.

Finished the portfolios 15 min ago!! And celebrated with ice cream and homemade chocolate sauce. I should be going to bed but I just am not ready yet. Hubby is since he's been up since 5 at the US Open practice today and is going back tomorrow with a client (same one who took him to FL to golf, I think they have a good working relationship!). All that is left is JTrain's movie that he wants to change one thing, he says, and then we can run it on a disc. Hopefully that will be easy to do in the morning. Then the evaluation is at 2 and I can't wait! A friend of mine is going right before us, she has 4 being evaluated, and her son and JTrain are close and a looking forward to hanging out together, unfortunately they won't be able to stay long. Typically we spend the rest of the day together. But her husband is working the Open all week so she has been dropping him off by 6:30am and wants to be somewhat close to pick him up as it is supposed to be pouring tomorrow.

That said... I looked at the rotation for this month, and I could do either cardio leg blast tomorrow or one of the 4day split (but not the kick boxing one as I did that last week). It just depends on what I'm in the mood for and what I can get done in the morning between breakfast and helping with the movie.

After the eval. is finished, the next step is getting the letter from the evaluator, cert. teacher, to the school district by June 30, which is a snap in itself, but I like to hand in my stuff for next year at the same time so I don't have to make two trips. For that I have have to get my affidavit notarized, list my objectives for the year, and any medical stuff that I need to hand in. That part for next year doesn't need to be handed in until Aug, 1, but I don't like to have it hanging over my head. :) that really doesn't take too long.

So what do we do overt the summer? I think Eva asked. Well, we kind of have a 2 week off, 1 week on summer thru the beginning of August. We are on 'week 2' now, next week we are at our church every week day morning for Camp Little Bear, where my 2 older boys are junior counselors and the other 2 will be in Baby Bear and Hop Along. I will be a senior counselor with my 9yo as my JC. It is for 3-5 yo. Fun but exhausting! Then we have 2 weeks off, including my Fourth of July party, my favorite holiday! :). Then the week after the 3 older boys have Castle Camp at our church, the middle 2 are campers and the oldest will be a JC for the first time. AND they will all be spending the entire week at my moms as she is 10 min away from the church compared to 30 for us. The camp is all day, camp stuff in the morning and swimming at VF Military School in the afternoon. So I will only have 1 child that week!! And our anniversary is that week, so I hope my in laws can take him for one day so we can go golfing. :) the again we have 2 weeks off, and then my oldest will go to Adventure camp, also with our church, for the week that spreads the end of July into August. That camp is over night. After that we have no plans in August yet, I hope we can go to the beach the week after Hubby's bday and then we start school the last week in August unless we go to the beach after Labor Day then we will start a week earlier.

On our off weeks, we will hopefully go to the pool in our development a lot, have play dates, and play a lot. I hope to keep them doing math twice a week and reading daily. I will need to plan school for next year, gathering the rest of my books and putting lesson plans into the computer, create a schedule and clean out the school room. I will try to only spend 15-30 min daily. I hope to do a lot of scrap booking in the evenings. And B who is six, just told me this week that he would like to scrapbook with me. :). I hope we ride bikes, go canoeing, maybe the Philly zoo and/or Adventure Aquarium, visit my sisters in DE and Baltimore. I have projects that I would like to do as well like paint the other kids' bedrooms, sell some things on Craigslist, clean out and organize some kitchen cabinets. I know I have way too much in my head to fill 2.5 months. Not mention getting back to Weight Watchers, working out daily, making many clean recipes from scratch and lose the weight I've gained. Oh, and baseball is still going on. :). JTrain won his second playoff game last night and is scheduled to play tomorrow night but will most likely get postponed due to the storm coming. CDawg's tournament tryouts have already been moved from tomorrow night to Saturday. If JTrain keeps winning, he will have a game every day until Sunday which is the championship game. But he will be definitely be finished by Sunday.

Whew! I really didn't mean to write a book,but I had much to share and have had my head down getting these portfolios finished that I needed to let it all out. Thanks for indulging me for those who made it all the way through! I should go to sleep now as Little K is likely to wake up soon. I couldn't get him to sleep until 10! He's been waking up around 1/2 and then up again around 5/6 and so I've been so tired. I seem to remember someone one the list, maybe Renee or Katie is having trouble sleeping. So sorry to hear that. I know it's rough living w/o sleep!

I'll try to check in tomorrow hopefully to say that I got a workout in and that the eval. went well!
 
Eva,

I just checked out the ART fitness stuff you posted, very intriguing. But I wonder if she would get boring? I wonder are her workouts less intense/sweat producing as Cathe's? The app is only 2.99, I'd be inclined to try that first except for the fact that I like to workout to DVDs and not to my iPad or iMac. Do you own the blocks? I think that is all I would need. I do thin her philosophy is interesting: fitness 'practice'. I wonder if doing less intense workouts is the key to keeping something up? I seem to remember someone mentioning something about doing less intense workouts... I've often thought about dating a general framework of a 'life' rotation of 2-3x week cardio and 2-3x week resistance training, hitting upper and lower at least once and then maybe an over all /total body workout with either heavy or light weights depending on my mood for the day. And then just arranging my workouts as such and trying to go through them all. That leaves nothing stretch or yoga like at all. I would like to come up with something that is doubly go life not just 30 days or 90 days. But I kinda like have a 'rotation' to work with, I don't know. I really need to sleep now. Time to get ready for bed while playing Zynga Poker. :). I'm 'HiRoller' dark haired chick playing the 104k-420k buy-in tables if anyone every goes in there. :)

I just figured out how to up load a picture. It has nothing to do with ART but here is my garden, that is slow growing. :) tomatoes, a sunflower, acorn and delicate squash and cucumbers and peppers. :). Hoping that it worked.
 

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