~*~We're In This Together~*~ (June-Sept)

GEARIN' UP FOR THE WEEKEND!!!!
Last night's workout went really well! I did the stretch and foam rolled after CLB but BEFORE BS Shoulders and it gave me a little more recovery time. Then I did a quick upper body stretch after BS Shoulders. It made for a longer workout than I expected, but I felt my form was better than when I segue right from cardio to weights with the stretch at the end of the whole thing. I also went a pound lighter with the overhead presses and on the burn set I followed Natty's advice and "left one in the tank" ;)! I feel ready for tonight's Tabatacise + Core#2 + BS Tris.

I am super psyched for a loooooong weekend :eek:! I have from tomorrow to Wednesday off!!! WAHOO!!! I'm planning on lots of walks, workouts, and of course HouseworkMAX :p!

I will do my best to check in everyday! Hope you all have a great weekend!
 
Off to the beach today! Have to get em' in while they last :cool:.

Yesterday I did a little bit of BTS clothes shopping for Bella. Her meet & greet with the teacher is next Wed and her official day of school is Fri. I hope I'm not one of those mom's who sobs uncontrollably the first day :eek:.

My w/o yesterday was Athletic Step.

Nancy
I've been foam rolling prior/after my w/o's! It HAS made a huge difference :eek:.
I will admit to constantly training "to failure" in the past :(. With the Beginner Program I'm doing, I swear I want to go to failure, but in the back of my mind I hear Nia telling me it's a "no-no" and to follow the damn program lol :D.
I hope you have a great, relaxing, fun-filled w/e :p. Are you planning on going hiking? I have not done one hike this year :mad::(. Before I had Bella, I was all up in my hikes and bike rides. It's so hard to get her to walk for long stretches -- her little legs can't take it yet.

Hope all you ladies have a kick butt w/e :cool:
 
Loooong walk this morning; GS Back, Bis, and Shoulders + BS Triceps + Core#1 this evening....and now on to some housework!

Hope the beach trip was a blast Natty:cool:! Good idea to enjoy the weekend and gear up for the THE BIG DAY: Bella's 1st Day of School :D! I'm sure you'll do great and not cry to much :eek:!
 
GS Back, Bis & Shoulders wiped me out! I had VERY low strength during that workout yesterday so I skipped the BS Tri and Core add on. Also skipped the inverted rows. I guess the hiking on Friday took more out of me than I had bargained for! Today will be another long walk and GS Legs! I hope I get my mojo back :p:D!
 
Hello everyone :)

This week was my de-load (aka-recovery) week. My w/o yeseterday was as follows:

4x10R goblet squats (love those!)
4x10R push-ups
15-20R KB swings
4x10R inverted rows
20-30 sec plank

working at about 65% 1RM -- takin' it easy :)

Today was a 2 mile indoor Leslie walk + a nice 30min outdoor walk with the family.

Nancy
The bison burger and root beer sounds delish :p. I'm not much of a pop drinker, but I do enjoy root beer and cream soda on special occasions :p.
WTG on those hikes! How is your foot doing?
Get your mojo back? :confused: Ummm, I don't think it ever left!

Quiet here lately :(. Hope the check-in is not slowly dying :(.
 
So far September is kickin' my butt :eek:! Yesterday I only did the floor portion of GS Legs. My legs were still feeling Friday's hike :rolleyes:! Today I did All Out HIIT (w/u & floor portion), BS Chest, and Core#1. That was on top of an hour and a half walk this morning. It is hot and sweaty here again so the walks really sap the strength out of me. I have been happy with how my foot has been handling things lately and am hoping that by the time my hiking trip to Shenandoah comes up I'll be more acclimated to the wear and tear! I've been wearing a Dr. Scholl super cushy insert ON TOP OF my Superfeet inserts, so it feels like walking on pillows :p!!! Very little, if any, heel pain while walking. I need to keep up with the massage and stretching of my soleus and have soaked a bit in Epsom salts (nice!).
Tonight we're having a nice garden salad (the tomatoes and peppers are from my garden!) with diced chicken breast and pumpkin seeds in it. And for a treat, raspberry gelatin and vanilla yogurt parfaits!!! YUM!!!!:D
I have tomorrow off work and we're going hiking again!!! So I'll probably do an upper body weight workout tomorrow evening since my legs will be worked out enough!
Hope you've all been enjoying the weekend!
Natty, I always look forward to your posts! I find them extremely motivating! You sound very focused and HAPPY ;)!
 
:confused: :( Has everyone left this check-in? I promise I won't cry if you guys decide to leave :).

My w/o yesterday was in an indoor 4mile Leslie walk/jog intervals.

My w/o on Monday was D1 of Phase 2. The exercises are the same but the sets/reps have changed.

1) 6x4R sumo deads (I'm up to 90lbs!!!! Feels AMAZING!!!)

2) 6x4R chin-ups superset w/
6x4R barbell overhead press

3) planks 3X

*20min beachwork* (which focused on legs/glues)
-3x25R barbell floor hip thrusts
-3x15R sliding back lunges w/disc
-body-weight walking lunges

Nancy
Thank you for the compliment :eek:. For the most part I AM very happy and focused -- or at least I try to be ;). I find you to be very motivational as well, so please keep postin'!
I'm so happy to hear you are able to enjoy your hikes with very little heel pain afterwards :).
Your dinner sounded amazing :eek:. I love that you had dessert afterwards :p.
 
Last edited:
Hi everyone!
Hope you are all well. What's new?
Same old here. Busy being a working mom! I have not been working out on daily basis. :( Work has kept me stressed out and tired. Also my teenager creates more drama than neccessary. Overall, I feel like I'm not at a good place. :( Hope it will get better soon.

What are you ladies up to? Natasha, I'm definitely not leaving the check in! :) I haven't been working out or posting often but I think about you ladies often. I know I have to get back to doing what I used to do. I'm hopeful that once this system project is done and things get back to normal at work, I will start back up again.

Nancy, the garden salad sounds delish! I had a salad for lunch yesterday but nothing from my own garden! Something about eating what you grow; it's appealing.

Hi Colleen, Sara and Marie!

Did you ladies purchase Cathe's latest work?


Justina
 
Hey hey!

How's it going ladies!

My workouts have been slacking lately! Eek! I have been doing UY and walking daily but that's about it. I'm hoping Cathe's latest workouts will get me back in the groove. I'm super stoked to hear that the greatest hits one will be all step! YAY! Just my style! Seriously though I need to start sweating buckets again. Ugh! Someone motivate me please ;)

B is getting so big. He's 10.5 months. Like everyone says it goes so fast! He has been taking steps but at most ten at a time. Crawling is way faster so he's all about that ;) No more spoon feeding the boy! He is independent and wants to feed himself. He got sick for the first time with a double ear infection. Broke my heart. His fever was 102.9 so I took him to the ER and yup, double ear infection. We went back for a recheck today and the infection is still there, as I figured. He has still been pulling at his ears. The doc prescribed him a stronger antibiotic so hopefully this one takes care of it.

So instead of my usual Cathe during B's morning nap, I've been napping with him. Hello lazy but oh my goodness- snuggling with him is my favorite and I'm not feeling guilty one bit. Ok maybe a tiny bit ;)

Work is excellent and I'm just loving floating to all the different units in the hospital. It keeps it interesting and it's nice to not get involved in the drama. I always try to stay positive when people complain about so and so and this and that. When you're a floater it's easier to not get involved.

I have the next 2 days off. After that my new schedule will be every Fri Sat and Sun. Tony is in school M-F and works Tue Thu and Sat. As you can see we won't have any days off together but he's only in school for 2 years so it's not forever. This just works out way better with B's schedule. We have a great new sitter that will take care of him every Fri and then our moms will alternate Sats.

Oh one more thing and then I'll stop rambling ;) We are in the works of booking a vacation in FL in March. Woot woot! Tony, B, me, my sis, BIL, niece, mom and stepdad. We are so excited!
 
Hi everyone!
Hope you are all well. What's new?
Same old here. Busy being a working mom! I have not been working out on daily basis. :( Work has kept me stressed out and tired. Also my teenager creates more drama than neccessary. Overall, I feel like I'm not at a good place. :( Hope it will get better soon.

What are you ladies up to? Natasha, I'm definitely not leaving the check in! :) I haven't been working out or posting often but I think about you ladies often. I know I have to get back to doing what I used to do. I'm hopeful that once this system project is done and things get back to normal at work, I will start back up again.

Nancy, the garden salad sounds delish! I had a salad for lunch yesterday but nothing from my own garden! Something about eating what you grow; it's appealing.

Hi Colleen, Sara and Marie!

Did you ladies purchase Cathe's latest work?


Justina

Hey Justina!

It's hard being a working mom. Don't stress about not working out! You're doing a great job! I'm glad I'm not the only one who isn't working one like they should be. We will get back at it though. No worries!
 
:confused: :( Has everyone left this check-in? I promise I won't cry if you guys decide to leave :).

My w/o yesterday was in an indoor 4mile Leslie walk/jog intervals.

My w/o on Monday was D1 of Phase 2. The exercises are the same but the sets/reps have changed.

1) 6x4R sumo deads (I'm up to 90lbs!!!! Feels AMAZING!!!)

2) 6x4R chin-ups superset w/
6x4R barbell overhead press

3) planks 3X

*20min beachwork* (which focused on legs/glues)
-3x25R barbell floor hip thrusts
-3x15R sliding back lunges w/disc
-body-weight walking lunges

Nancy
Thank you for the compliment :eek:. For the most part I AM very happy and focused -- or at least I try to be ;). I find you to be very motivational as well, so please keep postin'!
I'm so happy to hear you are able to enjoy your hikes with very little heel pain afterwards :).
Your dinner sounded amazing :eek:. I love that you had dessert afterwards :p.

Nope this girl isn't leaving the check-in. I promise! I've been a total slacker with checking in but hope to get back in the groove very soon!

You have been killing your workouts like usual! Nice job chica!

How was Bella's first day of school? She is just too darn cute that girl!
 
Hello ladies!

My workouts...well I'm still working my way through STS Meso 2. I was inspired by Cathe's idea (which I read in OD) about doing 3 weeks of lighter lifting workouts, 1 random week, 3 weeks of heavier, 1 week random and so on. I think once I'm done with STS, I'm going to take on that concept for the rest of the year. :D So here's my thoughts on that:

~3 weeks of body weight/endurance/lighter lifting
For me that will be 2 days of HoCo, 1-2 days of Kettlebell Kickboxing (maybe stacked with Zuzana and/or Cathe's new X10) and Paul K's KB workouts, 1-2 days of Cathe's lighter lower body dvds and Born to Move.

~1 week of my circuit dvds

~3 weeks of heavier splits
I think I'm going to do one week of Cathe Gym Style, one week of Meso 2 and one week of XTrain lifting. So, 3 days lifting and 2 days of Hiit cardio.

~1 week of circuits...and then so on and so forth until the end of the year. Well, that's my thought process anyway. We'll see if I follow through! LOL :eek:

Nancy and Natty- I LOVE doing a short Hiit or tabata before lower body weights! :eek: As you guys know, I'll often do one of the Crossfire premixes including the firewalker tabata before lower body and it's phenomenal! I don't ever feel like it affects my lower body lifting. However, the opposite is true when I lift for upper body. I can't manage cardio before OR after upper body without suffering on either form or having to go lighter. I think it's because my lower body is naturally stronger than my upper...I'm like 2 different people on the top and bottom! LOL

Now, with that said, I've come to realize the Hiit must be NO MORE than 20 minutes, including the warm up (so actually no more than 15 minutes). The other day I went overboard and did the whole To the Max premix with no compound legs before attempting to do Meso 2 legs. Uh, yeah...I had to go lighter that time! :eek: :eek:

Natty- What did you think of Marie slapping Skyler? :p lol I was so shocked and yet giddy at the same time! :eek: Can't wait for Sunday!

Marie- I can't believe it's been a year already since you had B! That's so crazy...I remember when you found out you were pregnant when we were both still posting on the STS check in! :eek: Pretty soon he'll be starting kindergarten! ;)

Justina- Yep the work/life balance is tricky. Plus the "me" time/family time is tricky, too! I always tell Mark "happy mama, happy family". In other words, let me workout, get massages once in awhile and don't hassle me and things will go much more smoothly around here, mister! lol ;)

Gotta run! Waving HI to Jen and Sarah!

Nice job on the workouts!

I'm assuming the kids are back at school now?! Wow that summer just flew by.

Yeah so crazy to think back when I first found out I was pregnant. Doesn't seem so long ago.
 
Okay I just got done reading all the old posts.

Nat - I'm not leaving either. I lnow I've been a slacker. I have been painting a lot. The whole outside of our house. Two bathrooms and I am still not done. I hate painting.
Did you cry for Bella's first day? H
HOw did she like it. I remember when I dropped the kids off for their first day. I fought back the tears, but they were there. You are my inspiration for consistency. You just plug away and never really take time off. How are you feeling about Nia's program? How much time does an average WO take? I really do miss the check-in.

Marie- I loved cuddling with my babies too. With the second one you can't usually do that because by that time the first one isn't as good about naps. So really take this time. I still remember taking naps with my daughters and it being a great time. I glad your happy with the float pool. It does kind of suck that you won't have days off with the hubby specially when you love having your
"Boys" together for your day off. But I also like that B won't have to have a babysitter often between Tony and grandparents.

Nancy - your doing great with your hikes! I love hiking I could do that and that alone. Hope your feet are doing better. I do love the occasional wiggly jello. It's a little bit of a guilty pleasure for me on the aspect of it not being remotely gourmet. What's funny is my kids don't like. I have them spoiled, they love homemade chocolate volcano cakes. Sometimes I think to myself what was I thinking when I started cooking everything from scratch. Now they are spoiled.

Justina - I sorry you feel like your not in a good place right now. It's hard when multiple things aren't tolerable. I read the funniest thing the other day about a mom saying her daughter had multiple personality syndrome. Read it, it might make you giggle. The Multiple Personalities of a Tween Girl this fits my daughters to the T.

I will try to get back here more.

Sarah
 
Hi everyone!
Happy Friday!
I'm at work today. :( I usually work from home on Friday but work has been hectic it's just easier to be here.

Sarah, thanks so much for the link. My office isn't allowing me to view this link but I will when I get home. The title is funny already. I do feel like my teenager has multiple personality disorder! I'm trying not to take things personally but it is very difficult. Espeically when she mouths off to me. I'm not a super strict mother but I do have rule and I enforce them. I can't stand when parents try to be their childrens' best friend. Thought my son (he's 3) asks me on daily basis if I'm his best friend; and I always say YES but I also tell him I'm his mother too! He's at this cute stage where he wants to have a best friend. :D Anyway, the teen years are going to be brutal.

Hi Marie,
I'm so glad you are enjoying your job. It makes time away from B a bit easier. I always feel like I have more peace when I'm at work. LOL. Home is like a zoo sometimes. :D I am trying to squeeze in a work out here and there. When I can't do a DVD work out, I do pushups.

Hi Natty, Nancy and Colleen!

Have a great weekend!

Justina
 
My husband is back from Alaska to take our annual Anthony Lakes camping trip. It always at the end of summer and our final way of saying goodbye to summer. We celebrated my son's 10th birthday last night with homemade hamburgers and German Chocolate cake. I have been continueing to walk about 4 days a week and the other day it struck me to see if I could still do 20 push-ups from my toes. I could :)

Cant wait to hear Nat, about Bella and school.

Sarah
 
Hi ladies!

Friday was Bella's 1st day of school. She left us without a problem and had a "great day" according to her teacher's :). I was very emotional upon seeing her enter the class, but I didn't cry. It was weird to not have her at home, and I missed her :(. Mark and I headed out for brunch afterwards, which we rarely/if ever, do. I had 3 eggs, sausage, french toast, potatoes :p. Enjoyed every.single.bite.

On the day's I take Bella to school, the walk there/back is roughly 40min. Since I will be doing it 2X/day, that will equal to a 1hr and 20min walk! That really excites me cause as you all know, I LOVE MY STEPS! I have to make sure to up my calorie intake though, because with that walk in addition to my weight training, I will probably end up losing weight very fast, which I DON'T WANT.

My w/o yesterday was:

1) 8x4R squats

2) 3x25R hip thrusts

3) 6x4R parallel bar dips superset w/
6x4R underhand barbell rows

Sarah
Happy b-day to Tristan! Is he excited about the move? What about your girls?
WTG on keeping up with the walking in addition to all your moving prep! I know how hard that is, even though it's not considered an "official" workout. I would say it's actually harder and more functional.
I'm loving Nia's program. It's so basic yet so effective. I can see a definite change in my LB with all the heavy #'s I'm pulling with squats and deadlifts. The best part about training for strength (and not hypertrophy or endurance) is that along with getting stronger, you don't get that "puffiness" or "fullness" in the muscles, which means a lot less water retention while still increasing lean muscle mass! Also, because there are less sets/reps, my body is not on the verge of over-training. I feel as though I'm working smarter and more efficiently for the first time since I started weight training. The w/o times vary from 45min-1hr, if I add beach finishers or not.

Justina
I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter giving you a hard time :(. Rest assured that everyone that I've ever known with daughter's, have had some type of rocky period during the teenage years! You are def not alone. I hope things settle down for you soon.
Now that I have some experience with Nia's program, I am undoubtedly convinced that this is THE PROGRAM for busy mom's! I am quite amazed at how much you can get accomplished in 3X/week! There is one program called Time Crunch Workouts that is so simple, while working the entire body thoroughly in the least amount of time. Here is a sample of it so you can see:
Day 1
1a) Deadlift – 3x6, 1x8-10
1b) Push-ups or Parallel Bar Dips – 3x6, 1x10-12
Day 2
1a) Reverse Lunge – 3x6, 1x12-15
1b) Standing Overhead Press – 3x6, 1x10-12
Day 3
1a) Squat – 3x6, 1x8-10
1b) Chin-up – 3x6, 1x10-12

Now, it might not look like much, but my stubborn mind (which was a bit skeptical at first :rolleyes:) is convinced that MORE is not necessarily better! I'm sold :eek:.

Marie
Congrats on booking a trip to Florida! You deserve the vaca! You Lucky duck you :D.
Honestly don't feel guilty about not exercising. Don't forget, you are still recovering from giving birth to a human being for pete's sake! The first year of Bella's life was a write-off for me TBH. I was doing a few JM vids here and there, but my main priority was adjusting to motherhood and getting enough SLEEP! Don't worry, when your body and mind is ready to kick it up a notch, it will let you know.

Colleen

Are you still here? Are you ok? I hope everything is good with you and the family :).
 
Slacker reporting in. :eek:

I'll be honest in that I haven't read all of the posts except for the ones on this last page. :eek: I promise I will post here and there, though, even if I can't manage every day! I've been a little burned out on the forums lately, although I haven't disappeared completely...I promise! :eek:

I finished up the last week of STS Meso 2 on Friday. Then on Saturday I did a workout from Delta Fit called "Workout From Hell". LOL :p It was a one hour workout that did all these variations of burpees. You do one minute of a burpee variation, then rest one minute. It got more challenging as it went along. At first, I was like...hmm my heart rate isn't really climbing much...but then by the end of the workout I was dripping sweat! I had to omit most of the push ups in the burpees about 2/3 of the way through though as I was getting pooped! My chest, shoulders and triceps have been fried since Saturday. I made sure to keep my elbows in for every push up so I really felt them in my triceps. :eek: Sunday and today were rest days and the rest of the week will be my recovery with some delicious Ultimate Yogi! :D

Natty- I'm so glad Bella had a great first day of school! I now officially have a 1st grader and 3rd grader. YIKES! What happened to the last few years?? Did you watch Breaking Bad last night? OH. MY. GOD! This show is going to kill me! Mark and I were both so wound up we had a hard time falling asleep! lol :eek:

Marie- SO jealous of the Florida trip! :D Have fun! Where are you guys planning on going? Have you ever used vrbo.com for vacation rentals? There are thousands of houses with pools for rent in Florida on that site! We will never stay in a hotel down there again! :eek:
So sorry about B's ear infection. :( Those are the worst.

Justina- I did order Cathe's newest and I can NOT wait! It's getting close now. Cathe is so funny about her timeline. I believe in the beginning she said early summer for these new videos, right? Love ya Cathe, but September is not early summer! LOL Her product is always worth it though!

I totally hear you on working being more relaxing than at home! ;) Home is a ZOO! Especially lately! I can only ever compose these forum posts when I'm at work, and we've been so busy at work lately that even that has been tough! lol

Sarah- That is awesome you can still do that many push ups on your toes! Wow! Happy Birthday to your son. :) The next few months will be tons of birthdays for our families. Mark is September 25, I'm Oct 4., Dylan Nov. 20...plus my BIL and a bunch of friends have fall birthdays as well. BUSY time of year for us with all the back to school, birthdays and holiday schtuff we have to deal with!

Nancy- You are doing great with your workouts! How's your heel holding up with all the hikes? Are you getting ready for Cathe's newest? :D

Okay, time to run here. I promise to try and check in with at least Ninja Posts here and there! I may not always get to personals with as crazy as things are here, but I will try!
 

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top