Hey! Its May!

Weee!  An exciting month of flossing!  Watch out world!  Here is a view of my chompers.

Definition

According to Wikipedia:  
Plyometrics is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system, generally for the purpose of improving performance in sports. Plyometric movements, in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence, use the strength, elasticity and innervation of muscle and surrounding tissues to jump higher, run faster, throw farther, or hit harder, depending on the desired training goal. Plyometrics is used to increase the speed or force of muscular contractions, providing explosiveness for a variety of sport-specific activities.




OR Plyometrics was something designed to make me suicidal.  My roommate slash soon-to-be-brother-in-law joined me halfway through, and stopped after about 15 minutes because the video was "insane".  And he is the only one in the apartment that works out on a fairly regular basis.  My legs are killing me.  I hope I make it through all 90 days.


I can't wait to start flossing.

P90X--I got it.

Day one of P90X.  Do I have to do the diet too?  Carl and I made some chicken from their recipe book which was pretty good.  but I had two snickerdoodles for dessert.  I am not doing this to look like the crazy muscle-y people in the video--just to look a little firmer.  So I allow myself the snickerdoodle..or two.
I am a little sore.  I'm sure tomorrow will feel much worse when I wake up early for day two.
Pylometrics or something scary sounding like that.
I am also re-arranging the order of some of the month challenges.  No TV month falls in the middle of the Glee season and we cannot have that.

To P90X, or not to P90X, that is the question

I am now considering P90X.  Carl thinks its a scam, but I have seen at least 2 people who have completed it, or were in the middle of it and they looked ripped.  I am recruiting my upstairs neighbors to join me.   This is obviously a battle of my will.  I must overcome myself.  I never realized how stubborn I was until now.  Also I bought two tennis racquets, and balls for Carl and I to start playing once a week.  I already have the shoes and the outfit because I have always loved tennis clothing.  It must be the preppy New England yachtsmen in me.  My 10 lb weights still silently mock me from the corner of my bedroom...

one day in a row

I walked over 13,000 steps today, but didn't lift.  Boooooooooooooo.  The weights are right there.  I'm looking at them right now.  I was too proud about how many steps I took.  I spent too much time on the computer.  I have too many excuses.  help me.

stepping out

At work I am averaging about 8,000 steps per shift, and these were measured on days that weren't too busy.  When I have a normal day at home I averaged about 4,000 steps, so I would say I am hitting at least the 10,000 step mark on my working days, which is a good start.
I work the rest of this week, including the weekend, but I am on lunch shifts, which gives me a chance to add a little more to my "cardio"  (haha)  when I get home from work.
The book I normally turn to when working out is "The Body Sculpting Bible for Women"  and I usually would couple that with the cardio suggestions from Self magazine when they are promoting the "self Challenge"  (it gets me doing intervals to make treadmill running less boring)
So, tomorrow I will take a page from the body sculpting book and lift for my arms.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Then Friday is going to be abs.  There, I hope I follow through this time, I can still win this thing!!!

Stairs

So day one on my new job (back to waitressing for the summer--total bummer) and the dining room is upstairs, while the kitchen is down.  So I think I got a workout today.  Tomorrow I will wear a pedometer and check it out.  I think 12:30 pm is a little to late to work-out, so a proper work out will have to wait until I am not working a double... As soon as I get my work schedule I will be able to prepare an exercise plan.  So currently life is not going according to my plan, but I have some things in the works for my own Design business, and a possible interview coming up.  Hopefully this waitressing thing is temporary because MAN, my arms are sore!

Total failure

Okay, this is the one month I completely gave up on.  It is somehow the most daunting idea, this "exercise" thing.  I used to love to work out.  Running was my meditation, my therapy, but now it just seems painful.  I come up with a million reasons not to run the moment I decide to go out.  
And just now I am realizing that just because I am supposed to be exercising, this doesn't necessarily mean running.  I have to get that out of my head, because that is the thing I dread the most.
As I said before, I will continue this challenge into the next month.   And I think the only way to get out of my non-committal rut is to design some sort of a schedule with different kinds of work-outs, and maybe throw a day or two of running in for fun, as it will be easier to adhere to something more concrete.  So, tomorrow is DAY 1!  I will post my schedule for week 1 and fit in my first workout.... that seems too hard already....

epic fail

OK I admit it!  I'm hiding from my own blog!  But will start fresh this coming weekend.  The weather has been beautiful and I am ready to get back on track.  I am going to extend this challenge into next month and see how I do.  I need encouragement.  This all reminds me of a saying I learned in elementary school "if at first you don't succeed, try try again."  Will do.

First Run!

Thanks to Bobby for putting the bug in my ear and suggesting I run a marathon (ha!)  Instead I put on my new running shoes (seen above) and went for a thirty minute run.  This was my first run outside in years I am embarrassed to say.  Its a nice mild day out and snow is melting everywhere--so it was a little wet, but not too bad.
I have a few strange things that I must have when I run: I chew gum and absolutely cannot run without putting on my chapstick first.  When running outside I usually don't bring an ipod--I prefer to focus on my breathing, but I needed something to a) encourage me, and b) keep time.    I listened to the Glee soundtrack.  First song:  Don't Stop Believin'--oh yeah, that was great!  By the third song I was feeling a little burny feeling in my lungs, a sign that it had been awhile.  I made it through the thirty minutes pretty well.  And now am suffering from the jello legs.  
I always find this first day of a workout is not too rough, easy even.  Its everyday after that is difficult, in fact some days feel like you have lead feet and legs.
One reason I have not been running in a while is a slight knee injury that I have never had anyone but my kinesiologist look at (he didn't seem that concerned about it--like he didn't say "OMG this is really bad") Frankly it usually hurts after about a month of training, but lately its been hurting just from walking or on snowboarding days.  I do not want surgery, so I need to find some way to be able to run and not have any issues.  I read an AMAZING book recently that suggested this was all possible for me, and now I am putting it to the test.   http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267644181&sr=8-1
I am trying to change my stride.  Note the super thin and really not that supportive running shoes.  We will see how this all goes.  If you are a runner, or even if you are not, this book is fantastic.
So anyway, one last thing: thanks Bob.  The run felt great.

Shoveling counts!

Today I had to shovel out my soon-to-be father-in-laws car from the snowstorm last week. (he is in VT and I was borrowing his car)  It took me 40 minutes, and after my arms felt like lead weights hanging off of my shoulders.  I was all shaky and weak.  Despite my mothers suggestion that snowboarding does not count as exercise, I believe it does, and so does shoveling.  I realize that for some people shoveling is a common almost everyday occurrence, but for someone who thinks coloring  (excuse me, rendering) is a job, shoveling is most definitely a workout.
This does however, raise the question of "what constitutes exercise?" I think aerobic activity that gets your heart-rate up for a significant amount of time, and/or muscle building/flexibility work-outs.  So when I decide that my "wii-yoga" is adequate exercise, you just smile and nod mom....xo

Happy March 1st!!!

So I finished no soda month with a bang!  I never even had a sip of it on accident!  As I said before I will try to continue this practice for the rest of the year.  I will keep you updated!
And Forward MARCH!!!
I started exercise month (one day early) with a bang!  Basically I rolled around in four feet of fresh powder at a high altitude for 4 hours or so.  Just kidding...I was snowboarding.  It was terrible.  I am not used to riding in powder, and I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day.  I would say that counts towards a day of exercise.
Here are the parameters of this months challenge:  work out at minimum for 30 minutes, 3 times per week.  I want to do more, and I will try, but I cannot commit to more than that right now.  I need to be realistic about this month if I want to be successful.  Usually when embarking on a work-out regimen I would do 30 minutes of cardio 3 days a week with an ab workout, then free weights 3 days a week, resting on Sunday.  That is for when I am feeling hard-core.  I am not feeling hard-core.  I recently finished three years of Grad school  where my muscles had a chance to completely atrophy.  I had maybe three days of cardio within those three years.  I'm feeling really weak... so I'm just leaning into this, and possibly, after this month, and as I get closer to my wedding date, I will become more hard core.
Anyway, this month I will be trying out all different kinds of exercise, to keep it interesting.  Feel free to send suggestions!  (I may even post videos this month!) There is an indoor pool right down the street I can go to, and I want to try Bikram Yoga, which I have never done, and maybe even Zumba classes among other things.  I am not interested in losing weight, just feeling healthier and stronger.
Please join me!