We're In This Together *~July~*

Hey ladies :)

Hope you all had a great weekend :cool:. Today I'm going to check on my aunt's cat (the one that's on a friggin' cruise ship right now :mad:) to see if she has food/water and change the litter. After that we are stopping by my cousins house so Bella can spend the afternoon with her little 3yr old cousin.

Yesterday I went for a 4 mile walk alone while Mark watched Bella. I needed to clear my mind or risk being committed to a mental ward ;). I swear, walking is so therapeutic.

My workout was High Reps UB/TBT UB premix I posted about. It was great, but I was feeling a bit tired.

Today I did High Reps LB premix + step portion of SJP. I wish Cathe would come out with more kickboxing step :(. It's super fun :)

Jen
I hope you had a nice little vaca weekend. You deserve a little fun ;)

Sarah
I'm a lover of berries too. Raspberries are so delicious, nice and tart. My fav pie is blueberry though. Every fall we go to the farm and pick one of those babies up. I have to give half or more to Mark so he can take it to work and distribute them amongst his co-workers or else me+pie=disaster :eek:

Colleen
How was your HC workout this weekend ? ;)
 
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Well, I decided to do Burn and Build today! I love that I'm getting better at doing that workout. I'm learning that no matter how tough a workout seems the first time I do it, if I do it enough times it's not so bad. Gives me hope for Horizontal Conditioning Bootcamp! If I can do that one without pausing I'll be so psyched! I still keep the warm up in B&B low impact (follow the modifier...I think it's just crazy the way he does the warm up!) and I kept the risers to 3 for the first two blocks of exercise but then I got brave and put another riser in their for the remainder of the workout. Feeling strong today! lol

I even did part of an HC workout but by then I'd been working out for quite awhile and Mark kept coming in the room every five minutes "you done yet?", "you done yet?"...:rolleyes:

Natty- so sorry to hear you've been having a rough couple of days. :( That stinks you have family on vacation and can't join them. I'd be bummed, too. Thank goodness Bella is feeling better. I lol'd when I read "a great poo!".:D I really hope Cathe does more kickboxing workouts. Incorporating step would be fun, too...but I'd need her to keep it more low impact. I'm really curious to see what her new Xtrain boxing workout will be like. I do like MMA Boxing a lot. I also like kicking moves, too though. I wonder if it will be just boxing?

Sarah- I love TTM, too! I did that one on Friday. The core section reminds me a lot of the kind of stuff that Sandra does in Horizontal Conditioning. Love it! It's so funny the stories about how many kids to have. Mark didn't think he wanted kids either...then whoopsie...Dylan. :p Then he loved being a dad but kept saying he didn't want more then "oops, Lydia" lol He loved having two kids but then insisted two was enough. I'm like fine. So he went ahead and the old "snip, snip" ;) Lo and behold when Lydia was about 3 years old he tells me he could actually see us having another child.:rolleyes: He literally was saying he could get it reversed in a few years and thought maybe we could try again. I'm like, dude...I'll be in my 40's and there is NO WAY I will do this again at that age and pay for a vasectomy reversal. They aren't even guaranteed to work for crying out loud. The man does not know what he wants, seriously! lol

Jen- I'm not going to lie...the HC workouts are tough! :eek: You can do it though. It just takes patience to build up the core strength and wrist endurance. Just do part of the workout (if you get any) and take breaks. I think doing them twice a week is just perfect. I'm doing them often enough to really, seriously feel a difference in my core without burning out on them. I think if I only did them occassionally I wouldn't get quite the same benefit...although even once a week would probably be good. It's not as bad on the wrists as I thought since she is really good at going from "horizontal" work to vertical for leg and cardio. She isn't in plank the whole time...in fact she also does leg stuff with the gliders sort of like Cathe does and also sprinkles in a little bit of plyo.

Okay, gotta go. TTYL!
 
Good Morning Friends.

Natty-That's nice of you to take care of the cat. Odd time of year for a cruise. best time to go is in Feb. Walking is great therapy just like blogging although bummed you needed to do it.

Sarah-Yes, I've heard the story of men not wanting kids but those are the ones that end up with them. TTM is one of workouts I will focus on in 3 days.

Colleen-Those workouts do look tough, not feeling it YET to purchase them. Life is kinda busy right now.

My weekend.
Venetian Festival in Charlevoix was fun. My parents new home is beautiful. Its a newer cottage in the woods in a country club. For my diet, I had pulled pork tacos about 865 each with pulled pork, cole slaw and butter chips in a soft taco wrap and huge. Ate banana bread. My sister made this great steak dinner, my Mom made fruit salad and leaf salad too. Desserts were blueberry tarte and fruit trays plus gluten free chocolate brownies. Great to be with family. My niece showed me her virtual pets on her iPad.
Parades and everything was fun.
Came home to a huge mess in my home from my teenage cat sitter whom came highly recommeneded by her Mom's boyfriend. Screen off one of my windows, my desktop left on, things were moved and gone thru, leaves all over my floors, two bath towels soaking wet, cats were overfed and didnt come out of the basement. Food gone, soda gone and green tea gone plus mac salad gone and my treats gone. Came home and cleaned then had a long talk with her. They couldnt get on my pc cause I have a lock on it forcing you to sign in just to get it started.
Had to reschedule phone interview due to the chaios from last week and last night.
Hope to begin week 4, m3 today.
 
Just a busy weekend of really hard working out in the yard with my husband. I havent done that much because it's very overwhelming alone so I told him I wasn't going to touch the flower beds (Mainly 5 ft. tall weeds) unless I get some help this year. He was so unmotivated the first day he didnt even come outside until 3 in the afternoon. So it was hot and miserable by then. Sunday he got up and going by 10, I think he learned a lessons ;)

Colleen- I was thinking that same thing about the core work in TTM being similar to HC. So when I read your post, I was like thats what I was thinking. Hows the music in HC?

Thats funny about Mark and the kids thing. Even though I look at babies longingly, I have no desire to go back to that again. Since I had c-sections and knew I was very fertal I said while your in there, please take care of the problem. ;)

Nat- I have never made a blueberry pie. I did make blueberry crumble (topping was oats, flour, brown sugar, and butter) with ice cream last night. My eating was in the crapper all weekend :(

No vacation at all for you? Not even a weekend alone with hubby? Say it isn't so?

Jen- I am so sorry about the house sitter thing. That really sucks. But the food sounds like it was worth it, although prob. not the greatest for a diet.

Sarah
 
Good morning ladies :)

Sorry I was MIA yesterday. I forgot to tell you guys I had a big ant problem in the apartment (yes, on top of everything else shitty I had to deal with) so after trying to fix the problem ourselves for 1 very long month, Mark and I decided it was time to contact the superintendent and get the house fumigated. Our fumigation was set for Monday 10am-11am, so Sunday evening we had to pull all the furniture away from the walls. I'm the type of person who HATES to be rushed and unprepared. It's a pet peeve of mine. So you can imagine how pissed I was when I get a call at 8:30am from the super, apologizing because the pest guy came early. I still had so many things that needed to get ready, and was increasingly frustrated. Obviously he does not know how difficult it is to get a toddler out of the house super speed :mad:. I also had to locate my cats (who knew something was going on, and of course hide) so I could put them out on the balcony. The guy turned out to be a real a**hole. He kept asking me if I really had an ant problem, or just saw 1 or 2 :confused:. I was like "trust me buddy, I would not be disrupting my life like this if I saw 1 ant". And get this, after I put the cats out on the balcony, doesn't that douchebag turn to me and say "ok, well I can't stand around here all day". I then responded "well to be fair, you were scheduled to be here for 10am". I had to keep my cool, and refrain from telling him to F-off. I just didn't want him to leave, as I needed the ant problem to get fixed asap. SO, I venture out to my mother's house (my sister was alone, my mother was at work :D) to wait there for 5 hours. We watched the Olympics, and had an OK day overall. The worst part was coming home to get the house back to it's original state. Mark was kinda weary about the bedding and the poison, so he did about 6 loads of laundry (yes, he does laundry ;)). We did not stop until about 8pm, so that was my workout for the day.

Jen
Your Venetian Festival sounded great. The food sounded to die for. I'm glad you had a good time.
I'm sorry about your cat situation and the teen sitter. I hate to admit this, but I hate teenagers. It's rare to find a stable, level headed, responsible one.

Colleen
Another pet peeve of mine is getting bothered while I'm working out. Unless I've broken a bone or bleeding profusely from a wound, LEAVE ME ALONE!
I'm glad Cathe has so many high impact workouts to chose from. I think they will become obsolete, as the majority of her fans now need/want low impact. You guys are taking over! ;)
I love boxing too. One day I might invest in a punching bag and gloves. I have a few faces I will be imagining on the punching bag ;)

Sarah
Nope, no vacations this year. Next year we want to go to Cuba though :D. We'll see if that falls through.
My eating was crap too this weekend. My cousin makes crumble often in the Fall and OMG, let's just leave it at that ;).
I'm happy you were able to get the yard work done w/hubby.


Ok, my fingers hurt from all the writing lol. Have a great day ladies :cool:
 
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Good Morning Friends,

Natty-Yes, if you see one ant, there are more. With the warm weather, I had to spray well into July when it normally ends in May. Toddlers move at their speed. Cats? Yep, mine hide all the time. Showing up early is just as big inconvenience as being late. I understand your frustration. Hope you have a better day today. You deserve it and truly need it.

Sarah-Glad your DH did a about face when it came to yard work. With my parents, my Mom can kill a plant by looking it at so my Dad takes care of the outside while my Mom does inside.

Colleen-Don't have a DH to bug me during my workouts, my cats "babysit" me and get too close while I lift. That would tee me off.

Update.
My lovely cat sitter was banging on my door last night asking me if I had seen her cousin's iPad in my home. She shouldn't been in my house anyways even though I know her Mom. My window screen still not fixed.
Had to reschedule a phone interview with an cell phone service cause I deleted the email last week.
Yesterday was hectic all-around then a great storm came through last night.
Didn't attend a network-support meeting today just because I need to get centered again.
My diet was not the most healthiest over Venetian but the tacos were the bomb!! A restaurant chain makes something similiar.
Hope to begin m3, wk 4 today. Fortunate, no prob with unemployment this week.
 
Quick drive by check in! Sorry I've been a little MIA guys!

I did HC volume 4 today again. It's my third try with that workout but still so hard. I just. can't. do. suicide push ups with my feet on the ball!!!:eek: Tomorrow will be CrossFire and I'm thinking Thursday will be LBB. Looking forward to it!

I'm so sorry about the fiasco with the ant exterminator Natty! :( We've gone through quite a bit of ant poison this summer...hopefully the suckers are gone for good (fingers crossed).

Gotta run...be back for more personals later!
 
More updates from the teenager, my dual deck that I have for backup to workout was left on plus my gloves were used. My box full of Cathe stuff was messed with.
Learned from this experience.
 
Good morning everyone :)

Yesterday's w/o was sort of a mix & match cardio. I like to change things up a bit :D. Ok bare with me, so I did the Solid Step and Step Tabata from TTM followed by the step only portion of BM2. Total time of 45min. I found the two flowed very well together, as BM2 is very athletic step in nature as opposed to more complex. I lowered my step for BM2 though, going from 8inch to 6inch. The reason I think I mix & match so much is the ease at which I can go from download to download, even from DVD to download. All my files are quickly accessible, and I just can't help myself :eek:.

Jen
I'm so sorry to hear about the disaster that teen sitter left your house in. I feel so bad. Are you able to confront her and ask WTF? She had no right meddling with your things.
I've left my cats on vacation for 1 week at a time, like 10 times, maybe more, and I've always had trusted family just come and check on them periodically, change the litter and give them food. No one ever stays or sleeps over. They're cats, they can handle it.

Colleen
Suicide push-ups are hard enough, but on the ball??!!! Well, I know you can do it, you always are a champ :D

Have a good one ladies!
 
Natty, yes we did chat right when I got home and questioned her. She didn't tell me the whole truth. This is the first time I had this happen. My friends have been great. My cats had alot to say this morning. Learn from experience.
 
Great combo of workouts, Natty.
Mine was disc 34. Plan to do plyo legs to be on track for next week for my w/o tonight.
 
That is so shitty Jen. My feelings are about the same as Nat, I hate teens :confused:

Nat - Ants this year for us are a huge problem too. We've never had an exterminator. We always use ant poison. First it's the little sugar ants, now we have carpenter ants. YUCK!

Colleen I dont even know what a suicide push-up is :p

Yesterday I did 1/2 hour rfunning hard on the treadmill. Then later in the day I did Turbo Barre (at least as much as I could handle). Then a walk with dog and hubby.

I'm feeling tired and not eating well lately. I just want to eat all the yummy summer foods. (hamburgers, corn, berries, ice cream, ribs, chicken wings)

Sarah
 
Sarah
I'm sorry you are feeling tired and hungry. It seems like a lot of people have been feeling like that lately (including myself). Perhaps it's the lunar position or a weird combination of planets aligning :D. Try to stay positive, walk, eat healthy foods (veggie burgers are actually quite yummy), if you feel like dessert, throw in some dark chocolate in your oatmeal or bake an apple with rolled oats, butter and cinnamon for a healthier "apple pie". Don't forget to take time for yourself too. I think as women, we never do enough of that.


Has everyone been reading the OD post on getting older and wrinkly? Every time someone posts negative feelings about their "ugly, old, aging, sagging, cellulite, body" (just quoting here BTW) I get a bit depressed reading about it. I know aging sucks. Everyone wants to stay 25 forever. But is it really all doom and gloom past 45? Please Jen, say it ain't so? I see my aunt who has lost so much weight, and she just turned 50 and looks amazing. And then there's my mom who is 55 and continues to gain weight and age not so gracefully. Both sister's, both on opposite ends of the spectrum. However my body decides to gravitate, I truly hope I can appreciate it and still enjoy my life and be thankful for all the many blessings I have been given. This goes way past a flabby tummy, wrinkles, and cellulite. Inner beauty, happiness, self-fulfillment and acceptance, is just as important. Geeze, I'm considering moving to Okinawa, Japan ;)

Have a great night ladies :)
 
Hello Friends,
Yes, I've been tired too. Plyo legs was work for me tonight. I lost a few pounds this past week even with pulled pork tacos.
About being 50, its what you do at 30 will determine how you look and feel. My workouts started in 1989. Plus, its important to be content in life and accept changes to your body. I get mistaken for 35 alot. Also, I think its important to enjoy life and the great food in moderation. Some of those posts in OD, I wonder how long they've been working out, if at all. Strength, cardio and stretch will prevent the jiggles.
 
Hello ladies!

Just recovering from a migraine last night. :( I got home from work after feeling totally "off" all day and the old visual aura started up and lasted a good 30 minutes. I wound up going to bed at 8:30 last night, right after tucking the kids into bed.:confused: The headache went on all day today but it wasn't so incredibly bad that I couldn't function or go to work. Just popped some execedrin migraine and then later ibuprofen, but it still lingered. Feeling better now, though.

Funny thing was I didn't feel too terrible when I woke up so after my morning coffee I went ahead and did CrossFire. Love that workout so much! I actually don't fine the impact in that one at all bad and only have to modify a few places. For some reason, that move where she does the split lunge jump into wide tuck...I can do that which is weird since tuck jumps are usually no-no's for me. Love it!

Sarah- Suicide push ups are also known as walking planks. It's where you are in plank and go down to your elbows one at a time and then back up again. So you're going from regular plank to elbow plank and back again. I usually LOVE that move but Sandra does it in volume 4 with you feet up on a stability ball and doing the move with your hands on the step...:eek: It's insane the balance you need to maintain!
Oh and carpenter ants...:mad:I HATE carpenter ants!! They are so yucky!

Jen- Great job on Plyo legs! So sorry about the teenager cat sitter fiasco. I swear, it is tough to find a responsible teen these days:confused:. I really hope my kids are better...we are trying to instill the responsibility and work ethic in them. Mark and I are really responsible that way so hopefully our influence will rule the day (as opposed to those darn peers!).
You are so right about how we take care of ourselves now reflecting how we'll age going forward. It's definitely sad when people get so hung up on the effects of aging, though. It's so important for women not to hang all their self esteem on looks and youth. It won't last! Might as well be happy and healthy on the inside as well as out...then the vigorous glow of life and youth (mind and body) will shine through regardless of a few wrinkles or jiggles! I tell ya though...I am shocked at how much older many people look despite being younger than me or ones that aren't that much older. Hard living, poor diet, lack of exercise...my beautiful sisters are aging themselves before their time because all 3 insist on smoking :(. It makes me so sad, and I'm a total worry wart about their health from that.

Natty- great combo of workouts! On my HC check in on VF, this one lady has two dvd players and she'll often mix and match that way. She'll do the warm up of one and some segments of another, etc. I bet that would be super easy with the downloads! I'll have to learn how to do the download thing eventually, I suppose. They say dvds will eventually be obsolete...scares the crap out of me!:eek:

Night girls!
 
Just heard from my future employer tonight, we are talking money tomorrow. Supposed to have a phone interview tomorrow but will cancel. My intuition was right.
 
Good morning ladies :)

Did I tell you guys about my M1 Endurance to Hypertrophy experimentation? Well I loved the variety of M1, but I also loved M2, so I wanted to try and make M1 Hypertrophy by increasing my weight #'s, decreasing reps, and taking longer breaks (which will happen automatically). For all those endless push-ups, I plan to do half and sub the others with barbell chest presses. I have nothing to lose really, just wanted to have some fun with STS :). Working out is supposed to be fun too right?

I did D1 yesterday. I forgot how much equipment is used :confused:. My room looked like a hurricane hit yet again, despite my best efforts to keep it tidy. I gotta be honest, switching from chest, to shoulder's, to bi's, can get a bit irritating. I wish she would have grouped them all together with only a 30sec rest in between, like M2. I think the muscles would get fatigued and thoroughly worked better that way. But what the heck do I know? I'm confident there was a method to her madness. Cathe does however, group them in Muscle Endurance (from the Intensity Series).

Thanks Jen and Colleen, for being so refreshingly honest and positive in your approach to aging. I have never take my age for granted, ever. Even in my 20's, I always ate well and was very active. I have never used my age as an excuse to eat poorly and be sedentary, because I know in the long run it will catch up to me. Honestly, I care more about my health and well being than how I look. Looking good is just a bonus ;)

Colleen
I'm sorry to hear about your migraine. Hell on earth for sure :(. Excedrine is my go-to, but have you tried acupressure? Next time you feel one coming on, press on the area in between your thumb and index finger, hold and keep it there. I was taught this technique by a very wise Chinese friend, and by golly it works!
Congrats on the wide tuck jumps!! I love those!! Ya, they do not put as much strain on the knee's like reg tuck jumps. Funny hun?
Jen
Congrats on losing a few lbs! Sometimes a day of high calorie just kick starts that metabolism :).
I love your outlook on life. It makes me feel good and confident of what's to come.
Please clarify, you might be in a position for a job?


Have a good one ladies :cool:
 
Hello Friends.

Colleen-Migranes must be a pain..Glad your meds worked.

Sarah-Carpenter ants. I had them on an outside window, sprayed and gone. This year has been horrible for pests.

Natty-Love your experiements and the workouts you put together. Remember you are as young or old as you feel. My parents instilled healthy eating in us and physical activity growing up although we love great food too.

Last night, the social media position I spoke about from weeks ago is coming around. We are supposed to be talking money today since I told him my fear of running out of unemployment so I may be starting earlier than planned.
Tonight is my FINAL disc for STS. Then, start up on CF and TTM with some Intensity this weekend and next week. Second interview today for a position Im not sure I want. My blog today talks about people settling for jobs after long-term unemployment and hating them.
 
Whoop Whoop Jen on finishing STS. I am also aticipating hearing about talking money with future employer. So get back to us hear ASAP.

Thinking I may need a rotation in my life or maybe I just need to slack off a little for the rest of the summer. Not sure yet, I took yesterday off. Wed I did Pyramid UB, Zumba, and an open swim with the kids. I was tuckered out. I binged yesterday. Today I have a hankerin for a BANANA SPLIT :eek:
Yes I said, and have been thinking about it since last night.
People were saying really good things about last months rotation with the new discs. I dont know. I also considered just walking for the next month.

Nat - Your experiment looks good. I would do it with you but I feel burnt out a littl on weights thats why I am only doing them twice a week right now. I also considering doing a different body part everyday because I have never done that before and it would be really different for me. Have you ever worked this way? If so, did it work for you? Dammit I forgot about the chocolate in the oatmeal. I loved that. Next time before I eat everything in sight I will have to make a checklist of things to try. Someone once told me about having a bucket of suggestions on the counter. So if you felt like eating instead go pick randomly from the bucket of suggestions like drink a glass of water, have a cup of tea, take a 10 min walk, Do 1 min. of jumping rope just a bunch of different things to try and get your brain off of food. I thought it was actually a pretty good idea.

Colleen - Sorry to hear about your migranes too. I dont get them but my hubby used too. Those days sucked for me too :( I just felt so bad, and had no idea how to help. Other than just leave him alone until he would vomit. My son has had a few I suspect. he complains of headaches, then he vomits also. Hope that you are feeling better and you didn't end up having another yesterday.

Sarah
 
Hello fit ladies :)

Yesterday's w/o was Lower Body Blast. It's TTOTM for me, and I am feeling very tired (I get insomnia as part of my PMS). I was going to pass, but I felt ok so I went ahead with it. I love that workout! Cathe totally reps your legs and glutes out to complete exhaustion. Those lunges off the step just fry the heck out of me! WHY? WHY? Why so many low ends, pulses and partials??? I swear the drops on my face were tears, not sweat. I feel like a wimp during the floor work too. BUT I love the stinging and burning and I swear the fat cells are just melting off :D

Today is my rest day, but I walked over to Rec Center so Bella could play in the gym for Toddler Time. It's a nice 2 mile walk there/2 mile back. Any way I can get my steps in, and I will gladly do it.

I have my two sister-in-laws coming over tonight and staying until Sunday. I like them, so it's all good :).

Sarah
Now you've made me want a banana split :p. I know it's not the same, but have you tried greek yogurt w/banana's drizzled with melted dark chocolate and sprinkled with pecans? It's very tasty and healthier than the original version.
I think you should go with your instinct. Perhaps you do need a little rest from all the weights and cardio. Walking miles (outdoors of course) is great for the mind and low impact too. Add inclines/hills, and your HR will increase and work those legs too.
I've never worked a different body part each day. 4DS is kinda set up like that right? I was thinking I could do a rotation of that soon. The one I'm doing now is not set in stone, I'm just having some fun.
The buckets of suggestions sounds like a good idea. I've been craving chips in the evening lately, and they've been too hard to turn down.
Jen
CONGRATS ON YOUR COMPLETION OF STS! :D :D
I hope the social media position turns out for you. My fingers are crossed!
I liked your recent blog too. A very good topic :).


Have a great day ladies!
 
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