Cross Your Fingers and Knock on Wood

So last week passed as a total blur for me. On Tuesday I went and had my hair trimmed, followed by lunch with my favorite stylist ever. No workout on Tuesday - bad me! I made up for it on Wednesday though. Wednesday morning I went to a spin class, and got in 23.5 miles in 68 minutes (warm up and cool down included). This is an improvement over last week, so I'll take it!

Thursday I had a dentist appointment, and then had shopping to do (Costco the week before Christmas - ugh!). Hubby called me at 2:30 wanting a new battery and charger for his phone. I spent about an hour searching for that (thank you Heidi at the San Ysidro Sprint store!). Another no workout day (boo)! And to top it off, we went out to dinner with friends, but I didn't eat too poorly (just some chips and salsa) and no alcohol. The no alcohol was difficult (but not really) because the restaurant that we went to makes excellent margaritas! Made it home way after (9:00 pm) our normal bedtime (8:00 pm).

Friday was a mess! The dogs had to go to the groomer. I had to pick up the new battery and charger for Hubby's phone at the border. I raced back to the groomer to get the dogs and have them home before 2:00 pm. Then I went back out at 6:45 to meet Miss V about my very temp job on Monday. Made it home and in bed by 9:40 pm. Two late nights in a row - ugh!

I slept in really late today (7:45 am!) and it threw off my whole day! So did the fact that Hubby is on call this weekend. He went out once last night, and has gone out twice today (the second time as I type this!). But today I got my butt back into exercise gear, and did a 12 minute BodyRock workout. I did both of the Dragon Abs workouts + a round of burpees + the bonus abs workout for that series. My scores were:

2 Squat Jumps/2 Push Ups (done w/10# of dumbbells): 4
Side Pick Up/Squat/2 Push Ups (done w/5# of dumbbells): 4
10 High Knees/10 Mountain Climbs: 4
Push Ups: 11

Tuck Jump/2 Push Ups: 5
Drunk Turkey Jump: 20
Surfer Jump/Push Up: 5
Alt 1 Leg Push Ups: 10

Burpees: 5

Bike Abs: 35
Bench Tucks: 31
Sit Up & Press: 8

+ 1 Burpee for Erin (done with love and to the best of my abilities!)

Total time was 12 minutes. All of my push ups were from my knees, but I am seeing improvement here. The burpees are still my nemesis, but my form was really good which is why the numbers are so low. If I haven't said it before, I hate burpees! Tomorrow's workout is already planned, as I am playing catch up on the 12 workouts of Christmas. But I will catch up and workout through this holiday season!

It Never Rains In Southern California

Whoever wrote that song lied! It's been raining all day here at the beach. Every time I think it's going to clear up a bit so I can go outside - more rain! Oh well! I know we need it, but I just hate the way it makes me feel. I woke up feeling icky, and I don't know if it's just the weather or if I'm trying to get sick. I hope it's just the weather, but I'm not convinced right now. I can't seem to get warm, which is never a good sign. It took me forever this morning to find the motivation to get in a quick workout. I did 18 rounds of a 30-10 interval, for a total of 12 minutes. It was hard, but I feel better for it. Now if the sun would only come out for a little bit! My reps were:

Side Lunge Jack: 25, 25, 25, 24, 25, 24 (I did this with no Ugi ball, just body weight!)
Passing Ball: 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 14 (Again, no Ugi ball, just body weight.)
Push Ups: 10, 9, 9, 9, 8, 8 (I did knee push ups. No Ugi ball - and not strong enough yet!)

Also, I weighed in this morning and found that I had gained 0.4 pounds. Not a lot, but not good either. I need to watch my eating on the weekends a bit closer. I didn't eat well this weekend, so I'm sure that's what did me in!

Finally Friday!

So it's finally Friday! I took Tuesday off from exercise because I wasn't feeling good. I made it up for it on Wednesday though - spin class and a BodyRock workout! I put in 20 miles in the spin class, and then did the Sumo Squat challenge in 25:54:50. It was the first time I have done the Sumo Squat challenge, and it was HARD! I am still feeling it in my legs as of this morning. Yesterday, I did the One That Got Away workout. Again, first time doing the workout and it was HARD too! But I did it anyway, but I didn't track my numbers. For today's workout, I did the Pound Melting Workout for the first time. My reps were:

Modified Reptile (no push up): 14, 11
Left Lunge: 19, 17
Right Lunge: 18, 18
Left Crab: 3/8, 1/8
Right Crab: 1/9, 1/10
Squats: 17, 19

So I had to do a bit of modifying to this workout. For the reptile, I did the movement without the pushup. I did the lunges with two 5-lb weights. For the crab things, I tried! Much harder than it looks! So I did what I could, then finished with push ups on my knees. I'm actually seeing improvement there. Not much, but some - so I'll take it! For the squats, I did those with the 10-lbs of weight. Then to top that off, I grabbed my new jump rope, and did 12 minutes of HIIT. It works out to 10 minutes of jumping and two minutes of rest. I did a minimum of 43 jumps in 50 seconds (once, about half way through and I kept getting my feet caught in the rope!), and a max of 63 jumps in 50 seconds. I think my jumps were: 61, 50, 63, 50, 63, 43, 60, 50, 60, 45, 58, 50. I was bushed after that! But I'm going to keep it up everyday. That's it for today! Have a great weekend!

Happy Tuesday!!

Taking Friday off from exercise was the best idea I've ever had! I was back to moving like a normal person by Saturday afternoon, which was awesome! I even got in a nice bike ride and some gardening on Saturday, which was great. Sunday was a pretty relaxed day. My biggest accomplishment for the day was completing a load of laundry!

No post yesterday because I was busy! I did my weekly weigh in, and lost 2.8 pounds. I was very excited by this. I did change my daily points because I thought they were too low. When I first started WeightWatchers, I was at 29 daily points, and 49 weekly points. Last week, WeightWatchers dropped me down to 27 daily points for some reason. I really had a hard time last week staying with that number, so I raised it back up to 29. Not sure why WeightWatchers made that change, but I really didn't like it - so back I go to my normal 29 points. I think I deserve the extra two points a day with these BodyRock workouts!

I took advantage of the housekeeper being here yesterday to distract the dogs, and did some serious organizing and purging in my office. I feel so much better now that most of it is done! I still have some things to finish, but they are much more manageable now. I spent a good six hours going through old receipts and miscellaneous stacks of paper that I had lying everywhere. I have all of it contained to the appropriate files now, and only a year's worth of bank statements to enter into Quicken. At least I can find everything now!

Since the housekeeper was here yesterday morning, I didn't get my workout in until late evening. I was waiting to see if a new workout would be posted, and couldn't wait any longer. I did 500 reps of the 1000 rep challenge on BodyRock in 45:03. That was hard! I had a really hard time completing the burpees and squat thrusts. My core just isn't strong enough yet to push and pull my lower body yet. Key word: yet! It gives me something else to work on. My arms aren't sore this morning, but I know that I used them yesterday.

Today's workout is the 200 rep Sumo Squat Step Up. I will be tackling that in about an hour. I had a late breakfast, and need to give my body a chance to digest my food. I'll post my time later today!

Taking the Day Off!

I have opted to make today a no workout down. I'm still shuffling around like Frankenstein, so I'm pretty sure that a rest day is in order. Tomorrow Hubby and I are going for a long bike ride with the dogs in tow, and I know my legs need to rest up for that adventure. So today's goals are stretching and using the foam roller. I am also feeling my triceps from yesterday. I wasn't sure if those tricep push ups were doing anything yesterday, but I'm feeling them today. I definitely have to do them more often - they work! I feel my lower back and oblique muscles this morning too, so I know that I did something right yesterday.

The puppies had their flea and heartworm medicines this morning, so they are using me as a pillow as we speak. Hopefully, they will be feeling better for the bike ride tomorrow!

Not much to report today, but it's Friday. My biggest goals are getting ready for the weekend. Hopefully I have better news to report on Monday!

Barely Walking Today

If I thought I was sore yesterday, I was seriously mistaken! I woke up this morning, and could barely walk. My calves were killing me! I slowly shuffled my way to the kitchen to make the Hubby lunch and get him out the door for work. I managed to get myself some coffee and oatmeal, and make it to the couch. I seriously considered not working out today, but decided that the only person I would be cheating is myself. I did the scheduled BodyRock workout, which was very hard for me. I completed all eleven exercises in 41:19. I did have to make modifications, but I got through it!

During the middle of my workout, Hubby called to let me know that he was sick and coming home. I had to spend about five minutes talking to him and getting him an appointment at with the doctor. So my time may have been a bit better (but not much), and I'm going to call it 41:19 for the record. For the walk over push up, I ended up doing push ups on my knees. My arms were burning by the time I hit 50 reps, so I think I did good. I did the one arm tricep push ups, but I don't think I did them right because I barely felt anything. Next time, I think I'll just do another round of push ups. For the star crunches, I did about 10 correctly, and then found my form really sucking, so I switched to regular crunches. The side plank lifts just about killed me, but I did them. The one leg wall sit was really hard too, especially since my quads and hamstrings were burning.

I had to break down and buy a foam roller this afternoon because my calves are so sore. I also bought a jump rope, because I need to work on my endurance and get more cardio into my routine. I also played the Burpee game this morning, but didn't get my afternoon round in. Hubby's been home!

I Kill Me!

In keeping myself honest, I must admit that I think I'm killing myself! The aliens/zombies/end of the world better not come anytime soon, because there is no way I could run - I'm so sore! I worked out again this morning with BodyRock and did the Ab Blitz Workout. Let me say it again: I'm killing myself! This workout was HARD! It took me 00:56:23 to complete. However, I did complete all of the workout. Of course, I had to make modifications: I don't own a jump rope, so I jumped in place. It's probably a good thing that I didn't have the jump rope because I'm just not that coordinated! But I think I did make this workout harder than necessary.

I was fine for the high knees - when I hit 500 steps, I was done. I was good for the Jump Rope Jacks - when I had completed 500 jumping jacks, I was done. When I got to the Scissors Jump Rope, all hell broke loose. For some reason, I couldn't find a good way to count! I ended up doing more of a military count (one-two-three-ONE!) for my scissors. I think in reality, I ended up doing closer to 2,000 if my math is right! So exhausting! I also had to modify the last exercise a little bit. I was really struggling with the one leg bridge, so I did a regular bridge, lifted one leg, put that leg down, and did a crunch. That limited the time I was holding the bridge with one leg, because they were shot after those stupid scissor jumps. I'm actually kind of proud of my little modification because I think I still kept to what was intended without causing myself too much pain. What do you think, Zuzana?

I also invented a new game for myself today. I think I'm going to hate it in the short term, and tolerate it in the long term. But, I'm sure that I will appreciate the long term results. So, my new game is simply called the Burpee Game. The idea is to do two burpees for yourself (the first and last), and one for each member of your immediate family. For example, you could do the hubby and kids, or in my case the hubby and each of the dogs. My goal is to play the Burpee Game three times a day: morning, mid-day, and right before my shower at night. This way, I get in 15 burpees a day, and hopefully I will get better at them. Right now, I can only walk out to the plank, do the pushup on my knees, walk back in, stand up, and then do the jump. But that's okay for now!

Here's my motivational thoughts for the day:

(Mom, that's a hint!!)