Empowered through fitness and food

Okay I've been silent for a little while -- here's what's been going on....

College tour - one of my daughters starts college in the fall and we recently toured the campus where she is going.  That was freaky - the thought of her moving out in 5 months is outside my scope of being able to comprehend at this moment.  We've been prom dress shopping - can I just say prom dresses didn't look like that when I was in high school?  They also didn't cost that much!  CRAZY!

Shout out to my youngest daughter who found out she is currently ranked 19 out of her class of 377.  Now she's motivated to get to number 15 so she'll be in the top 5%.  Not surprisingly, our mailbox is filing up with colleges sending her brochures.  She plans on going to the same school her sister will be at so there isn't really a competition.  Thankfully the university is only 30 minutes from our house.

I attended an Empower Fitness event this past weekend.  Personal Trainer conferences This company hosts them in several large cities across the US.  My initial impression was negative due to computer website registration issues, but that was cleared up and the conference itself was wonderful.  I plan on attending again next year, and would highly recommend it.  The teachers were excellent and the classes very informative.  I was burning over 3,000 calories a day and got in 21 miles on my pedometer during the event. 

My biggest accomplishment during the event was to finish Sgt. Ken's Fit to Fight Bootcamp Instructor course.  I must have been contemplating suicide because besides working out three times during that all day training, I also had him for 3 other classes during the weekend.  He might have thought I was a certified nutcase by the end of the 6th workout I was in tears but for a good reason.  I realized at that moment that obesity does not define me anymore.  The chances of me losing 95 lbs was slim.  The chances of me maintaining that weight loss was even slimmer.  The chances of me maintaining it post a major shoulder surgery miniscule.  The chances of me recovering, maintaining and then being strong enough to make it thru six of Sgt Ken's workouts in a 2 1/2 day period - mind boggling.  So they were tears of joy and it was one of those moments that I won't forget for a long time. 

 This was Sgt. Ken and me after the last class.  Look past the gym hair people.  If you go through his workouts and your hair still looks good, then you've done something wrong!

Never Quit!  I'm looking forward to next year and to taking the Level 2 trainer course with a fully healed shoulder. 

What's on the menu....tonight I made an Israeli Couscous recipe.  I cooked it in beef broth and then added sauteed onions, mushrooms, and red pepper that had been cooked with a little olive oil.  We served it with turkey breast and asparagus.

I plan on using the leftovers tomorrow by adding leftover chopped turkey and adding balsamic vinaigrette and serving it as a cold salad.  It will be easy to grab and go when my daughter has guitar practice.

On a sad note - we had to put our kitty Jack down.  He had renal failure and there wasn't anything that could be done for him.  That really weighed me down and kept me silent for a week or so. 













As the week progresses, it's my intent to blog about more of the classes I took at the convention.  I really enjoyed learning, working out, and being around others who are inspired to pursue health and fitness with such passion.

If you're in the Nashville, or San Fransisco area, check out Sgt. Ken's ongoing bootcamp classes.  You'll be glad you did.

Wishing you all health and well being,

Michelene

P90X2 - Plyocide Review

I found this picture on one of my friends Pin Interest pages.  I like this and have seen the quote before.  Sometimes I have to remind myself to go the extra mile!

I feel like I did that tonight with the P90X2 Plyocide DVD.  Yes they joke that it's not suicide by plyometrics...not sure why they call it plyocide.

My husband wanted P90X part 2 for Christmas, and I basically wanted nothing to do with it.  Last year I injured an already injured shoulder doing the original P90X and ended up having shoulder surgery.

So why did I try it tonight?  A couple of reasons...I'm older and wiser (at least in theory), I've become a certified personal trainer in the interim and think I understand body mechanics, and moderation better, and finally - one of my spark teams is doing a challenge and I get extra points if I try something new.  I'm all about earning that extra point apparently.

Here's what you need:  a towel and some space in front of your DVD player at a bare minimum.  If you have it - they use (1) a stability ball, (2) a foam roller, (3) a medicine ball, and (4) a stretchy band.  If you want to you can put a large cross on the floor with tape, or you can just imagine the line and go for it.

The DVD starts out with a disclaimer and says very clearly that this is not for beginners.  They start the workout with cautions and I think this is all good.  In case you don't get it when they say it, here it is in black and white - this is not for beginners and I wouldn't advise it for anyone who needs to lose a lot of weight. 

Pro - they do start out with a good warmup and some foam roller stretching.  I love my foam roller and use it everyday so I was good with the intro.  The whole DVD takes about 55 minutes.  I skipped two exercises that were too difficult for me and did high knee walking instead to keep my heart rate up.  I modified many of the exercises to be low impact - sometimes he gave instructions on how to do this, and sometimes he did not.

Con - I think he's old school in hanging onto Ballistic stretching.  Newer research shows that this can be dangerous and you can hurt yourself.  I did slower stretching of the same body part whenever he did ballistic (fast moving) stretching. 

Pro - The absolute best thing to me was the stretching they did at the end with the band.  I ran a race this weekend and running on concrete or pavement can really do a number on my hip.  The hip opener stretching he did was great and I feel loser now than when I started the workout.

Be sure you have a very large glass of water nearby.  I was open mouth breathing during some high impact stuff and was glad to have water with me.

I used a kickball rather than a heavy medicine ball for several of the exercises.  This allowed me to still get the moves, and learn the movement without trying to swing an 8 lb ball around.  The 8lb ball is what was recommended when we ordered the program.  I would start out with a light weight ball or a 2lb medicine ball - especially if you are new to working out with those.

He frequently reminded you that you could pause the DVD when necessary, took water breaks, and advised caution on more than one occasion.  I think that was all good.

In the end I got a good workout.  I found it challenging and have a lot of room for improvement.  I still would advise that novices order something else or exercise caution and do low impact versions. 

Project Inspiration and other Notes

My blog is up on The Daily Spark and you can find it here: Project Inspiration

My quote today from my jar is -- If the wind will not serve, take to the oars - Latin Proverb.  Figure out what isn't working and change it. #new habit begins today

The thought behind that quote is just the realization that if you keep repeating bad habits you get what you sow and end up with bad results.  Sometimes you need to change in order to get what you want.

 I liked this picture that I found and you can check this guy out at businessofloosingweight.com.  He's a fitness blogger that cracks me up with his humor and the challenges he faces of losing weight.  One of the things he did though that inspires is he just put himself out there and let people know what he was trying to do.  It helped hold him accountable.

This poster conveys what I thought about with the #projectinspiration quote today.  Sometimes you have to change things in order to get where you want to go.

So yesterday was the start of a new month and I was reevaluating my goals and reviewing what I did for January.  I realized that even though I bought this awesome marker board calendar last month, and dutifully wrote my agenda out - it was easy to get off track and just do whatever.  This month I put myself out there and sent it to six people who are in my accountability circle.  My Twilight Challenge team members will understand what I wrote on the Feb 11th square!  I will be putting a check mark on the days I kept my workout goal, and a star for the days I stayed in calorie range.  Now it will not be so easy to get off track because I'll have to fess up to my six peeps who are helping to inspire me to reach my goals.

I think I'll count one of my classes at my personal trainer conference as a reward.  I signed up for one of the sessions called cardio drumming.  I have no idea what it is but I'm a wanna be drummer and it sounded fun.  A friend of mine googled it and found this:  Cardio Drumming.  If this is really what's in my class then I am going to have a blast.  Srgt. Ken's bootcamp class - maybe not so much fun!

I really think that 99% of our challenge to get and stay healthy is mental, so I'm trying to use every trick for assistance, support, motivation, and consistency to support my brain to remember that yes I can do this.  Shout out to my inner circle that helps keep me grounded and strong.  It would be tougher doing this without you.

So what's your inspiration today?