New Blog Post!

Ha. Yeah that is the grand extent of my genius for today. I know I'm due for a new post, but there isn't really much to post about. Insanity rocks on, is super exhausting, but super awesome.

Pretty much the only thing of remote interest that I could think of was my awesome Beach Body coach, AMY, has been talking to me a lot about becoming a coach myself. While the notion truly terrifies me (because I am so inadequate), I'm really giving it some thought. I'm certainly not the buffest, healthiest, or most fit and trim person you will ever meet. But there's one thing that I do have that I'm trying to help instill in others..... a deep, passionate desire for health and an unwillingness to settle for anything less.

It's been a hard journey. A REALLY hard journey. I'm not done yet. There is still a long way to go. But I'm getting there. Slowly, for sure, but still surely.

That being said, I will be seriously considering signing up as a BB coach and then seeing where things are supposed to go from there! I maaaay still hold out until after graduation in December, but we'll see. Eventhough I may not do it all perfectly (or even well), there's nothing I'd like more than to be able to help other people get motivated to take their lives back; to help them see that no matter their fitness level (or lack thereof) their life doesn't have to just stay the same way. They don't have to be a couch potato forever just because they don't know what to do. That's why we're made to learn.

I'm excited at the potential to talk with people, to encourage them, and to even walk the journey right along with them. It's a scary thought... but perhaps the final push I need to really make this thing work!

In the meanwhile, I leave you with the most recent "after" pics that I took yesterday (again, in the office waiting for my comp to start up). Whohoo. Not a lot of difference - loose size 10 pants with a size M tank... and look I have a (sorta) bicep/tricep! *happy dance*

^^p.s. just sayin... my hand is holding my scarf, *not* pushing my stomach in. haha^^

Month 2

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooow....

Okay yeah, this is just as hard the second time.

We just finished our third Fit Test (25 minutes) as well as the first round of MAX Interval Circuit (60 minutes). Though we knew that an hour long workout was following the Fit Test, it didn't stop us from giving it our all. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the results of the Fit Test.

Because we'd had such a hard time in June with keeping up with working out, I expected my stats to be lower than my last. As we were running through the brief warm up, I was struggling to even do anything. I just went through the motions, with my feet feeling like dead weights and prayed, "God, please just help me finish."

Well, He did a lot more than that. Not only did I finish, but all of my stats (except the Suicide Jumps) were higher than last time; some, even significantly higher. Granted, at the end of the workout I was sprawled out on the floor in exhaustion, but I'd finished and even finished well.

Then came part two. Wheehee.

It felt like the majority of the workout I was just standing there in a daze, but the reality is, I did a lot more of the workout than I had done last time or even expected to be able to do this time. There will still several reps that I sat out, panting. But I managed to make it through most of it (yay, God!).

I'm currently drenched in sweat and my limbs are very wobbly, but also content and even happy with today's  workout. After we finished my sister looked at me and said smiling, "Just think, this is all to get you ready for the Tough Mudder!!"

So can't wait!

NOT A FAILURE!

So I was talking to my sister in law earlier today and she reminded me that based on my last post (that has been up for several weeks now), as far as the rest of the world knows at this point.....

I am now a failure.

Ha! Well, happy to report to the rest of the world that this is not the case. We just completed Recovery Week, which is by no means a walk in the park, and will be doing our next Fit Test as well as an hour long (yes, you read that correctly, a whole.sweaty.tearful.hour) MAX Interval Circuit.

Yay us.

I am certainly skeptical about how well it's going to go tomorrow seeing as I've been hard pressed to finish a Pure Cardio circuit without taking far more breaks than I'm supposed to or even just staring at the TV in horror at any particular exercise. But I do know this... with a bit of determination, hard work, and a whole lot of grace and mercy from God, we will get through it again.

Heck, we've already done it once and lived to tell the tale and we're stronger and healthier than we were then. We're doing this.

Next thing on the agenda (and I actually really need to do this) is 1) order Shakeology; and 2) start a plan for after month two ends so that I can get back into running to train for Tough Mudder in April (which, though still several months out... is coming up at a scarily rapid pace).

Whohoo!! :)

Disaster June

Okay,

June was pretty much an epic fail as far as working out goes. Between being gone three out of the four weekends and everybody getting sick at least once, we really fell of the bandwagon.

BUT ... I still did workout on my birthday (whohooo!). Believe me, that was a huge hurdle right there. With the day off work and the gloomy morning, everything reminded me of my "right" to stay in bed that morning. But, with the help of my sister, I did roll out of bed and make my way downstairs.

Among our travels was an overnight stay at a mountain resort where swimming in the lake was not optional. It was pretty cool that for the first time I didn't feel like I needed to be completely wrapped up in a towel whenever I wasn't in the water because I was ashamed of my body. I was actually content to just sit there; knowing I wasn't the "hottest" babe on the beach, but I also wasn't a sad scary person to look at either. It seems small, but this actually was a huge victory for me.

This summer has been the first summer where I've really been willing to go out in a swimsuit at all (*ahem* at the private pool in a friend's backyard) much less sit on a public dock by a lake with at least a hundred other people. AND I let my little brother take pictures of me in it! Holy cow! No, I won't be sporting a bikini any time soon (actually, probably ever), but small victories are still victories.

Joseph, me, and Abbey - not THE most flattering picture of any of us, but it's what I've got. 

We got back into Insanity this morning and it felt like we'd had six months off rather than just a week. We decided to bump back a week to get ourselves back into it before starting "Recovery Week" and then jumping into Month 2. Hopefully it'll work!

Gettin' fit so I don't get out! :)

Back on it

As I said at the beginning of starting Insanity again, there are several weekends in June that we're out of town. The past two weekends were two out of the three. The first weekend, I was down past Roanoke for a wedding of a very dear friend. The second weekend was an annual convention that my family works in Richmond. I was the official photographer for the convention so despite having a few days off Insanity, I was extreeeeeeeeeeeeemely active. After doing some rough calculations of all the running back and forth that I did over the three days, I panned out that it was almost 20 miles of walking and/or running. Yikes! Next year, if I decide to do it again, I'll have to bring a step tracker so I can see exactly how long it was.

With days starting at 7 am and then not ending until after midnight every night that weekend (yeah, pretty much running and working the entire time), I was completely exhausted and physically drained by the time we got back. Because of that, we decided as a group that we were going to take the week off, catch up on sleep, and pick things back up again tomorrow (Monday).

We'll be midway through "week 3" and are gonna hit the ground running. I have to confess... this week off has not been good for me. I've been restless and fidgety every afternoon; my body craving the activity again... and I actually wouldn't be surprised if I put a pound or two back on (yay for summer cooking).

All the same, I'm looking forward to getting back on the wagon and pushing forward again. This evening I was talking with my sister about her upcoming Spartan Race and it got me all excited again for later in the year and then the Tough Mudder in April. I can't wait to be into training and pushing suuuper hard for that!

Tomorrow is another day and we start again. Push, push, push!!

Fit Test 2

Wheehee!

We did the Fit Test again this morning (holy goodness, has it been two weeks already??). It went really, really well! Was just as dead tired and drenched in sweat at the end, but everything was an improvement. Once again, my body kicked into gear and was able to push through the entire workout without getting dizzy or queasy (yay!).

It truly is amazing to me how we're made to adjust SO quickly. After only two weeks, my body has realigned itself so that it can push through these extreme workouts - and push harder than the last time. Psyched!

And now begins the crazy month of June which involves traveling almost every weekend, which will invade on my workout schedule a little bit. Sigh. Thankfully, there will be a lot of physical activity along the way so we won't be completely void of the much needed movement. Hopefully I'll also be able to take advantage of the hotel's weight rooms where I can play around and do stuff. I may even be persuaded to take the 20 minute Insanity routine with me as I travel - just as a backup plan. ;-)

Also, for those of you who do read this and have left me notes, thank you so much for your encouragement. It really does mean a lot and does inspire me to keep pushing harder. Health is important - no matter what stage of it you're at.

I keep realizing that I need to make sure that I'm not making "health" or a strong body an idol in my life, however. It's a daily process to keep it all in perspective and to say that regardless of my physical appearance, I need to use what I've been given to the glory of God. Have I made progress? Most definitely. Did I do it? Heck no. After six years of this battle, I can completely and irrefutably confirm that there is NO way Jose I could be doing this on my own.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song. - Psalm 27:8

Haha!

Okay, apparently it's time for me to write a new blog post. For the past week, I've had people gtalking me and calling me and one of the first things they ask is....are you okay? are you still sore? how is your cold?

Well y'all, I am fine. I was very intensely sore for about four days, but gentle stretching, massaging, and hot baths with essential oils really do help. The next kickboxing class, the instructor had us doing more of the same jumping up and down off the ledge, and I came home a little stiff, but was fine again by the end of the day. Personally, I find this to be an amazing testament of how our bodies are made. Dude, in a matter of a few days all a sudden my muscle are like... oh! That's what you want me to do. Cool. I can do that. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

And... I'm one of those people that a lot of the world loves to hate (or maybe it's just my family) because I'm sick for only a day or two. Then everything is back to normal and I'm ready to kick butt again. Take that, common cold!

Insanity is going great! Every night I go to sleep super excited about how we're going to rock the workout the next morning. I'm getting more and more inspired because I can see how in the not too distant future all the other things I can push towards (keep reading for more info on that).

I decided that after Insanity ends in July, I'm going to take up running again. I did it for a while in highschool, but then (due to bad shoes, bad form, high arches and lack of knowledge), I got a bad case of ITBS or "Runner's Knee." You can get Runner's Knee from a variety of sports and has a variety of ways it exemplifies itself, but it's most common in runners and dancers (hence the name). I found out recently (after doing a bit more research) that I got it from my bad form and bad foot support so basically my bones got slightly misaligned so the physical stress of the strike on the ground was not evenly distrusted between my muscles. This, combined with high arches and bad shoes, basically just caused a lot of pain. It came up again a little bit with our first round of Insanity, but now I know why... so we're adjusting ourselves to prevent it from happening again (p.s. Ibuprofen and ice help too).

After talking to a few people, though, I've decided to try again - this time with appropriate shoes and working on it slowly so that I'm getting my form right and not hurting myself again. The reason for taking up running again?

Hehehe. I've also decided to work towards two goals for end of 2012 and into 2013 (provided the world doesn't end before then). I'm going to be running a Spartan Race (at a date yet to be specified) and a Tough Mudder in April 2013 (and probably some other runs in between, like a 5k, 10k, and possibly even an Army 10 Miler). If you don't know what a Spartan Race or a Tough Mudder is... well.... I feels sorry for you. Cuz they're only the coolest challenge runs ever.

Spartan includes an 8 mile run combined with up to 15 obstacles that you have to conquer. These obstacles could include climbing over 10 ft walls, javelin throwing, dragging 40lb rocks, crawling under barbed wire, etc. And then at the end you have to fight off the "Spartans" who are crazy dudes with big cushioned'ish things to hit you with and try to keep you from crossing the finish line. Basically... it's awesome. My sister and brother in law are doing one in August, but I don't think I can get trained enough to do it by then, so I'll be looking for others later in the year or early next year.

A Tough Mudder is more of the same just.... more (to put it in very simplistic terms). 10-12 miles with 25 military grade obstacles. Originally created by the British Special Forces, the course tests every part of you: mentally, physically, stamina, and teamwork. It will also test your worst fears (in my case... electricity). What most appeals to me about the Tough Mudder (other than that it looks like the most difficult and most fun thing I could do physically), is that it thrives on teamwork, requires you to overcome your fears, and proceeds go towards the Wounded Warrior Project.

So yeah, those are long term plans! I'm super excited. More will come as Insanity keeps going, running starts, Tough Mudder approaches, and we all get healthier!

Peace!