Our Last Class

This was the final class in our eight week journey together. :'( It was definitely bittersweet. It has been so fun to see these ladies twice a week, even though we moaned and sweated more that we would've liked. This was such a great bonding experience that encouraged us to grow and challenge ourselves and each other.

Our Body Back group. Pre-workout.

I had my final weigh-in tonight and I met my goal of 10 pounds! Exactly. That's just over a seven percent loss! Pretty wild in eight weeks. (Especially considering it took me a few weeks to kick some of my poor eating choices.) We also did my measurements before class, and I lost four inches in my chest (11.11%). : / It's kind of hard to be excited about that. Of course I'm excited to be losing, and I understand that that particular area is basically comprised of fat. But still. It'd be nice if you could pick and choose how you lost the weight... I also lost four inches in my waist (12.12%), an inch and a half in my hips (3.9%), and an inch and a half off my thigh (6.82%). I do have my before and after pictures. I've been procrastinating posting them. A lot. But before we go there...

Our final workout consisted of "1000 Reps." You can see in our 'after' picture what we completed. Exercise after exercise in the evening heat. We did have a nice shady spot, but it was still hot. What a great way to end it all and really feel like we accomplished something big!

You know it's hot when the camera is nice and steamy. It's also a little hard to tell if we were working out or just trying not to die...

1000 Reps

On to the dreaded pictures... I've had a lot of anxiety about posting these. Yes, I'm proud of my progress. But to put it all out there is so scary.

Without further complaints, here are the before and after pictures.
 

Ugh! Deep breaths... If I can get through this without having a major panic attack all will be well. I purposely wore as little clothing as possible so I wouldn't be hiding under my clothes. I wanted to see the changes! I've gotten pretty good at camouflaging my middle, which is undoubtedly, my trouble spot. My regret is my shorts in the 'after' pictures. I guess I wasn't aware how snug they were. I thought they were a good option, but I definitely think they are creating an extra roll or two. I'm also not sure why I felt I needed to stand with my legs and arms so far apart in the 'before' pictures. Wow, that really makes for an attractive photo. 

So if I can just block out my midsection (which I definitely see a change in the side picture), I'm pretty happy. I think that will always be my insecurity. No bikinis in my future. But I'm okay with that! 

Since I never see my backside (obviously), it's really neat to see the changes in my back, shoulders, and arms. In the 'before' picture, I can't see any definition. It's just blah. But in the 'after,' I was surprised to see things. What is that?! Muscles?! REALLY?? Or maybe it's just all this stress I've accumulated over posting this.

Another thing I noticed right away was my face. I was surprised at the changes in my face, more specifically my neck and jawline. And collar bones? I didn't even realize those were missing before!

I feel like I need to take after-after pictures now. I've lost another five pounds or so since Body Back ended, and I think the physical part is finally catching up with the numbers on the scale. I am so happy with this healthier lifestyle that I'm leading.

Here's to a whole new life of eating better, exercising, and being happy!!

Celebration Dinner

Finally, a picture of us not dripping in sweat! We got together for dinner and drinks this week  to celebrate our accomplishments.

Final Assessment

Well, that was that! We had our final assessment two weeks ago and repeated all of our exercises from day one. And I have all of my numbers to share with you! Here's a quick rundown of my progress during this eight week session. The goal was to do as many, or hold for as long as you could for one minute (except for the run, of course). Maybe I should have taken it easy the first time so there would be this HUGE improvement? ; )

Exercise   ---   Week 1   ---   Week 8

Situps                 20                28

Squats                40                62

Pushups              21                32

Bicep Curls         34                40

Run, seconds     111              105 

(apprx. 1/4 mile)

Plank, seconds   180(3min)     241(4min, 1sec)

Side Plank, sec    30                60

I'm pretty happy with my improvement in just eight weeks. I'm most proud of that plank time! When I first tried a plank I could barely hold it for 30 seconds, so to have a time of 4 minutes is just crazy to me. And the run time...I really wasn't expecting an improvement, as I said before. But I guess luck was on our side tonight. The field where we ran the last two times hadn't been mowed - in, like weeks. The grass and weeds were up past my knees, and for once I wasn't the only one complaining. : ) The moans and groans were enough for Bethany to allow us to run on the street, right next to the field.

Regardless of these numbers, I KNOW I have gotten stronger and am in better shape. I cannot wait to see the final numbers for my weight and measurements. I'm not quite as excited about the before and after pictures, but I've never been one to like pictures of myself. I'll post the rest very soon!

RUN OR DYE!

We ran a 5K on Saturday. We were missing two of our Body Back ladies, but we had a blast!
Here is our group's picture before the run.

And here is after.

Oh, didn't I tell you? It was a color run, very similar to the other one that I ran a while back. I got a little messier this time. It may have had something to do with who I ran with. : ) These chicks were out for blood! But we did have a great time. 

In case you're counting, this makes my third 5K in three months. Okay, it's my third 5K ever. Like, in my whole life. I doubt I'll keep up this pace, but I do plan to run more races in the future. Who'd have thought - me, running for fun? Pretty wild. 

Tabata 2

I'm not entirely sure how this happened, but apparently we asked for this. Another night of Tabata Training. It was awesome, but I can't remember a thing! The hour always goes by so quickly when we do this. 

Sponge Balls!

Another Monday weigh-in, and I lost over a pound this last week! Woohoo! There's just one week left in our class and I'm exactly 1 pound away from making my 10 pound goal. I'm feeling pretty confident that I can keep up the weight loss and get to where I really want to be. I'm still not sure where that is, but I know I'm getting closer and it feels so good. I've got an awesome exercise routine, and I think I've finally figured out how to eat. I know...it's about time.

In tonight's class we used those deceptive little sponge balls again to do core and lower body. We had a small group, and it got smaller as class went on. At the end, it was almost a personal training session - just me and one other. Man, was I glad she was there! The thought of being one-on-one with Bethany frightens me! I am such a slacker. With no one else for her to focus on, I wouldn't be able to take my mini-breaks. Yes, I realize I'm only cheating myself. But it's hard work! And sometimes I just need a second to rest and breathe. 

So after a great class (and giving it my all), we'll see if I can use my legs tomorrow. 

Crossfit Style

Wednesday's class was Crossfit-esque, so I'm told. I'm not familiar with Crossfit workouts so it was all new to me! We were outside in the heat, I think it was in the upper 90's last night. I was sweating just standing there. Bethany had stations set up throughout the field we were on, maybe 9 or 10 of them. We rotated through, doing each exercise for one minute. Let's see how many I can remember...

V sit with resistance band.

Jump rope. You don't need a picture of this, but know that it was in a field. So I may have just jumped in place after tripping over the rope a half-dozen times. 

Walking lunges with kettle bells. This added more resistance than I realized with an extra five pounds in each hand. 

Box jumps.

Haha! Just kidding. Ours was more like the box you would see at a step class.

Crunches on stability ball.

Squats with kettle bell.

Our kettle bells were not that tiny! I've never seen such a small kettle bell.

Rear fly on stability ball.

Stability ball ab pass.

I really don't have a clue what this one was called. But we passed the ball between our hands and feet, coming up to meet, then touching down on the ground.

Forward raises with kettle bell.

Again, with the teensy kettle bells..

Wall ball. This was fun. Chunk a 10 pound ball 10 feet in the air at the wall, and when it bounces off and flies back down at you, try to catch it.

I think that's all of them, though I would not be surprised if I missed one or two. I think the heat really got to me. And please forgive me if I butchered the name of some or all of them. (By the way, those were not our pictures. I always forget to take some!)  We did two rounds of each exercise, and on the third set we did a short sprint between each station. 

By the end, we were all soaked in sweat. Then, we had to look at ourselves in the mirror (because that's what everyone wants to do after a workout). It was actually not as scary as I thought it would be. : ) We talked about what words came to mind...our inner voice. And GREMLINS!

 
That nasty little gremlin who tells us such negative things, and cute one who who is supportive and positive. I choose the cuddly one to be my inner voice. What about you?

Stripping

After last week's four pound loss, I was pretty nervous to weigh-in tonight. I thought for sure some of that weight would be back. I was even hoping for no loss/no gain, just to be the same. But surprisingly, I lost over a pound this last week! Woohoo!! I'm feeling pretty good about making my 10 pound goal in these last weeks of Body Back. I'm not going to lie, after no loss a few weeks ago, I wasn't feeling terribly confident. But I've got a new spurt of excitement and motivation. Maybe it's the mini-shopping spree I went on a couple weeks ago? Which by the way, my shorts are already too baggy! Ugh! Why couldn't I have left the tags on a few of them? I went back to the same store and tried on the next smaller size, and they fit! Ahh! It's just amazing. All of this hard work is finally catching up.

Tonight's class was a bit of a mystery going in. We got a somewhat coded message that it would be "stripping class." So here I am, racking my brain - I surely won't be Googling this one. Now I know that there are exercise classes based around, ahem, exotic dancing. I'm thinking I'll be climbing poles and attempting embarrassing hip movements, that frankly, my hips just aren't capable of. Thankfully for everyone involved, I was WAY off. 

It was NOT this.

This "stripping" had to do with our exercise bands. Usually, we get the choice of using a red band (more resistance) or green band (less resistance). But tonight, we used both. At the same time. I was really shocked at how difficult it was to use both bands together. On any other day, I always use a red band because the green ones just don't feel like a workout to me anymore. (Yay for being stronger!) So silly me for thinking that adding a green band in wouldn't make a difference. There was more than one exercise where I was fighting to complete the reps with both bands. We would do a set with both bands, then "strip" down to just the red band. Then to the green, and work back up to both bands again.

We did manage to find a few poles to use outside. But nothing vulgar, I promise. We anchored our bands on them to do chest presses and rows. It was a fun and very challenging workout. I'm really enjoying that we're getting such a different workout every week. I think that really helps me stay interested and motivated. It's definitely not monotonous! 

Halfway Assessment

Today’s workout was our halfway, reassessment. I was anxious to see the improvements that I've already made on this journey. We did all of the same exercises for one minute, trying to beat our original numbers. 

The changes that this group of women have made are amazing! I'm pretty sure that every single person improved on every activity. Well, except for me. My run time went up by one second...but in my defense, we are running outside on a fairly uneven field - rocks, holes, etc. I am running as fast as I can, without injuring myself, dodging whatever is in my path. I have been known to twist my ankle just walking on level ground. Really. And the last thing I need is to mess up one of my ankles and not be able to exercise for the rest of the class. All that said, I don't see my run time improving in the end. But I'm okay with that, because I know that I have gotten faster and stronger regardless of that number. 

I improved my plank time by eight seconds. That doesn't seem like much, but after holding it for three minutes, I think anything over that is a bonus! I wish I had all my numbers to share, but I just don't remember them all. I turned in my sheet where I logged it all, but I can tell you they all went up! (Well, except for that darn run time...) 

I still struggle with pushups. I just don't have the strength to do a real one, still! Now, I'm not doing them on my knees, but I can't get my chest down like I'd like to. I mean, I could, but then my whole body would be on the ground too. I get as low as I can, but I'd really like it to look something like...

this.

I powered through the squats, and my legs are still sore. The only thing that worries me, is now I have to improve all of these numbers by the end! I've got a couple more weeks left, so if I thought I was giving it my all, now I've really got to. Here's to making a change!!

Haha! Yes, that's how strong I want to be!!

By the way, I guess my hard work is paying off. I have had multiple compliments from others, telling me that they can really see a change. My clothes fit differently, actually, most of them don't fit at all! I finally went shopping to spend a few gift cards I've had since Christmas. Yes, I know. But I haven't wanted to buy clothes for this body that I didn't plan on keeping long. Anyway, my new shorts were three sizes smaller than what I was wearing last summer!! WOO HOO!! I've only ever owned a few pants in this size, so I'm really excited. Hopefully this mini-shopping spree will hold me over until I get to where I want to be. Or at least until the season changes and I can't get away with wearing shorts anymore. ; )

Power, Strength, and Determination

Week five of Body Back! I can’t believe how fast these weeks have gone by. After last weeks’ disappointing weight loss, or lack thereof, I was a little nervous to see what the scale said tonight. Low and behold, a four pound loss! Woohoo!! That puts me more than half way to my weight loss goal. Which is good, considering we’re in week five of eight. Now I just have to believe that the loss is real and keep the momentum going. I hope next week that four pounds stays off!

This will be another week of back-to-back workouts, and we’re not doing upper body one day, lower body the next. I don’t have a clue what Bethany has planned for us, but I’m hoping I don’t die doing it! Tonight we did something new to all of us, I think. Tabata Training. Ever heard of it? Me neither, so I Googled it. ; ) Basically what I found out (before class), was that it is a four minute session, broken up in to eight 20 second sets of high intensity exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. That doesn’t sound too bad, right? But of course, we didn’t do just one.

After a nice jog to warm up, we were on to our Tabatas. Our first set was jumping rope. No big deal - jump for 20 seconds, and then you get a nice little break. But then, by the second or third set, mommy bladder hits. I really don’t want to take a bathroom break, seeing as we just started, and this will be over in like two minutes. But then I think, the next one might be even worse – I may not make it to the bathroom if I wait! Mommy bladder wins. I chunk the rope, and sprint to the ladies’ room.

Feeling much better, I’m back in time to start our second Tabata. Upper cuts using our resistance bands. These were tough! Around the 6th set, it was really hard to push to finish those 20 seconds. My arms were weak and burning. Oh, I almost forgot our mantra for the night. Bethany would call out, "Power!" We responded with, "Strength! Determination!" We did this throughout our workout, regardless of the soccer games going on around us. :) Once, we even got a "Hoorah!" from someone in the building. 

With just a short break between exercises, we moved on to frog leg planks, then jump lunges. Jump lunges are fun, but I can't do them long. 20 seconds doesn't seem like a long time to do something, but after several sets, I was exhausted! Not to mention dripping in sweat by the time we were done. We finished our Tabatas with mountain climbers, scissor crunches, and finally plank jacks. The scissor crunches were unusually difficult for me. Back to my lack of coordination, I just couldn't figure it out with out feeling terribly wrong and awkward. I ended up modifying it just a bit - I figured it's better to do something hardcore, than do another thing halfway. 

So that was Monday: intense cardio. And it was great! I really enjoyed the workout. (Shocking! I know.) It was nice to know how long I had to push myself before I got a break. I hope we'll get a chance to try Tabata Training again.

Change takes work

It's a good thing today's focus was upper body, because my legs are almost nonfunctional. My quads are so sore from the killer Barre workout we did.

We were indoors tonight, which worked out nicely since it was pouring outside. Lightning, thunder, the whole bit. We had a cute little "worksheet" with lists of upper body exercises on one side and core exercises on the other. We rotated between two rooms, checking off each exercise as we went. Then, out of nowhere, Bethany would pop in and say, "twenty push-ups!" We used our resistance bands to do everything from bicep curls to tricep extensions and wood chops. In the core room, we did most things on our mats, but used the exercise ball for crunches, too.

My arms were done at the end! I could hardly finish my last set. It's not that they were sore, they just wouldn't work! I was trying so hard to finish my last 10 chest presses, and I was struggling. We talked about mental barriers and pushing through the burn to make a difference. Man, I was trying! My mind is SO WEAK. All I was thinking was, you can't do this, it hurts, give up. 

I remembered my food log today, and Bethany was kind enough to stay after class a bit to talk about it with me. My goal for this week is to change up my lunch choices. I'm going to look into some recipes for chicken salad (with apples, walnuts, no mayo!), so I can improve the quality of my lunch, but sill have an easy meal. I'm planning to have things like chicken on a whole wheat tortilla instead of a ham and cheese sandwich. I'm also going to try to save my protein bars for when I'm out and it makes a good snack option. When I'm home, I plan to have things like nuts or an apple, and a cheese stick. 

I guess that's it for now. I'm anxious to see if these small food changes will make a difference on the scale next week. 

 

Halfway In!

This week we had class Tuesday & Wednesday, because Memorial Day was Monday, and we all need a day to relax with friends and family. I thought class was tough when we had a day between to rest, but back-to-back Body Back? I was nervous. The plan was to have targeted workouts, upper body one day, lower body one day. 

I weighed-in before class, and...no loss. What?? I don't understand. I'm still going to Stroller Strides five or six days a week AND I've added these two nights of Body Back. That's seven or eight workouts a week, and if you do the math, that's seven or eight more workouts a week than I used to do. Why in the world would I not see a loss?! The dreaded word I never thought I'd have to deal with...plateau. I'm not sure why I thought I was immune to this common setback (and I'm still kind of in denial). I'm hoping it doesn't last too long since we are in week four of this eight week program. That's right, HALF WAY! Half way in and I'm not even close to half way to my goal. Depressing, to say the least. I didn't have much to talk to Bethany about during my one-on-one time because I forgot my food log. I know, I'm a genius. How in the world are we supposed to discuss my eating habits when I forget my log at home. 

I also left my other homework, "10 Really, Truly, Fabulously, Honestly Wonderful Things About Me." It was this cute little worksheet where we had to share great things about ourselves. "I AM ____, because __________." It was much harder than I thought to think of 10 super things about me and explain why. We each shared a couple of our ten things in class. I could hardly remember one of mine! Ugh, I hate not having my work. And on top of that, I obviously NEED to talk about my eating habits since I didn't see a change on the scale this week. I want to be sure I'm not sabotaging myself somewhere. I know I'm not eating as perfectly as some do, but I've still made huge improvements from where I was. I'm much more aware of how much and the kinds of things I'm eating. 

On a side note, I recently discovered that my go-to meal at my favorite taco shop was COMPLETE SABOTAGE. It really didn't seem that bad. Shredded chicken, cheese, garlic sauce. Yum! (Okay, it was nachos...but still.) I stumbled across the "nutritional" information...O. M. G.! Almost 1600 calories. That's right - six-teen hun-dred cal-o-ries. I was going to this place once a week and eating more than my days' worth of calories in one meal! Not to mention the soda or adult beverage I usually ordered. Man, oh man. It's a wonder I was able to lose any weight at all. I have since found a more reasonable alternative when we eat at my beloved taco shop. Chicken tacos - under 300 calories each. No, they're not as good as the tortilla chips dripping in queso, but 1600 calories?! No way is that worth it. Or is it?? No, no. Definitely not.

Now that I'm salivating over my once loved, now forbidden nachos...back to exercise! Tuesday night was all lower body. We had a special guest trainer, Susan - the Stroller Barre instructor. Stroller Barre is a ballet/pilates/yoga mix. I haven't taken a real class with her, so I wasn't sure what to expect. There was a lot of ballet terminology. In French. Yeah, I took ballet growing up, I think I was three. I didn't have a clue what some of these things were. I remember first position and second position. But just the words. I don't know what the feet are actually supposed to do. So that was a fun learning curve. 

Once I figured out what I was doing, we were good to go. This was some serious stuff. We were doing plies "en pointe" for what seemed like forever. Basically, squats with your heels up, really flexing those calves. My legs were killing me! Burning, shaking, almost giving out on me. We did several sets of targeted leg exercises with running spurts in between. Before we were even done I knew tomorrow was going to be bad. How was I going to walk? 

I had a moment at the end of our wall sit. I was at that point where my body was saying STOP!!! (Maybe with a few more exclamation marks.) I guess Bethany could tell...next thing I know, she's right there in front of me - correcting my hunching shoulders and concave chest. And doing what she does best, motivating and encouraging me. Honestly, if she hadn't come over, I would have stopped. I would have stood up to take a break. But I didn't get to. She pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I made it. Barely, but I did.

Toward the end of class we got to use this cute little squishy ball. Very deceptive. The melon-sized, pinkish-red ball was not fun. We were on the ground, squeezing this ball behind our knee, and lifting that same leg up. I think it was called a mermaid? I know for a fact, I did not look like a mermaid. I'm thinking something a little closer to a beached whale. Maybe with it's tale tangled up? It was one of the most awkward and uncomfortable exercises I've done. But, oh my, did that burn! My legs and booty were dying! And they still hurt. It hurts to go up the stairs, and it even hurts to sit down! 

We did some serious leg and booty work! We'll see if I can do anything productive today. And tonight at class...

Yes, I recall being told this recently. If it was easy, everyone would have killer bodies.

Over the hump!!

As of yesterday, I am finally over my slump! Woo hoo!! I'm still not sure what was going on with my lack of energy and overall crummy mood. But it's gone!

I had great workouts at Stroller Strides yesterday and this morning, and had an exciting accomplishment at Body Back tonight. We had another "traveling" class. I really enjoy those. The class seems to go by so much faster and the change in scenery really breaks up the workout. Tonight's class really focused on our legs - hamstrings and quadriceps. I think at every location we moved to, we did squats. Squats, squats, squats. 

Then we were on to "the hill." Oh, how we loathe the hill. After running up and down a few times in partners, we hear, "competition." Now, I am about the furthest thing from 'competitive.' It really doesn't matter to me who wins at most things. Sure, I try, but if it's too hard or boring, or whatever, I give up. (I know, you don't want me on your team.) I'm not sure why. I just don't feel like a little snapshot from a competition defines who I am in the rest of my life. Maybe it does? Maybe it says to others that I don't care or that I am weak? But then I guess that's my other problem, I don't usually worry myself with others' opinions of me.

So anyway...we had a competition. Right away, I'm thinking, "Okay, I'll do it. Whatever." But then I hear, "...free shirt..." Dude, I am SO IN! Free shirt?! Heck yeah, I want a free shirt. Wait, what do I have to do for this free shirt? Oh, crap. A SQUAT competition? We just did a jillion squats! Not to mention Stroller Strides on Tuesday was all about squats. I think we did close to 150 squats throughout class. So then, I'm mentally "out" again. Bethany tells us whoever can hold a squat position the longest gets a Body Back shirt or tank of their choosing. Motivation! I can do this!!

We start the competition, and almost immediately, it sucks. I'm ready to quit. I look around, and no one else seems to be struggling! How is that? I can't be the only one hurting. And I definitely can't be the first one to quit! So there is my goal, don't be the first one out. Sounds easy, right? After longer than I anticipated, someone quits. Okay, I made it this long, maybe I can wait out another person. And this is my goal. Then it's down to four of us. Oh! My legs are burning, and I can tell the others' are too. Four way tie? I asked. Nope. Maybe I can wait out just one more person.

Somehow, it's down to me and one other momma. Wow! We're both waiting for the other to drop, though I know she is strong and determined. I'm worried. I don't think I can outlast her. And I'm thinking, "Man, it stinks to have gone this long to loose!" I keep telling myself, "free shirt...free shirt..." Like my little mantra. And the more I tell myself this, the less I feel my legs burning. Have they gone numb? Nope, still feel 'em! Quick, think about the free shirt again. ; )

We're over five minutes in. Our cruel (kidding!) instructor enlists some of the others to push down on our backs for more resistance in the squat. Apparently we lasted longer than she expected, so she was gunning to end the competition so we could finish our workout. Luckily I had one of the NICEST partners giving me resistance. At the end, over seven minutes in, it was called a tie! Woo hoo!! FREE SHIRT! And yes, a big accomplishment for me, too.

Another killer workout!

I'm really enjoying going to my Body Back classes. As sad as it may sound, I look forward to having somewhere to go on those evenings. No, I don't get to get dressed up fancy or even look particularly cute. But, I'm out of the house. And with no children! Haha! I love them, but I need some me time. And the only way I'm going to get that some days is to go workout. Wow! Who'd have ever thought I would want to leave the house to go exercise?! Me, the couch-potato homebody. Me, who has gone days without leaving the house. And that didn't even bother me! 

Not anymore. We're up and on our way to Stroller Strides five or six days a week. I'm not really sure, but I think this is affecting the rest of my life! ; ) Something about exercise and happiness?? Channeling my best Elle Woods here, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands, they just don't." Okay, not quite where I was going. My husband's wellbeing was never at stake (regardless of what he tells you). I'm getting more done around the house with this new found energy, and I'm sure the kids are getting more quality time with their momma. Now I'm not going to tell you that I have crazy amounts of energy and am now Super Mom! But I have noticed that I'm not dragging every afternoon and wishing for a little nap when the kids finally go down for theirs'. 

I started this week in a funky place. And it was killing me! I hated this slow, tired feeling I was having, but I just couldn't shake it. We skipped Stroller Strides Monday morning, because I just couldn't drag myself to go. I thought, "Hey, you're tired. Take a break. Maybe your body needs it." It didn't seem to help. Monday dragged by. Then, Body Back...well, crap. I went in to class already defeated. I felt I had gained weight since my two pound loss last week, and I didn't get to class as early as I had hoped, so the weigh-in would have to wait until after class...

So here we go. Another kick butt workout! The theme was plyometrics, jump training. Fabulous, right? Not only am I doing this killer workout, but everything will involve jumping. I wanted to just crawl away. Don't worry, I didn't. I gave it my all. We did circuits where we had one minute of four different things, back-to-back twice, followed by a nice lap around parking lot. When we got back, it was four new things. I'm not sure how many of those we did. It seemed like A LOT. I was drained and came home a sweaty mess, so I know I must've done something good. 

Jump Squats. Fun at first...

After class, I weighed-in. So how bad was it? Apparently it's worse if you're delusional. I don't know what I was thinking, but I was convinced I had gained weight. Even after I saw the number on the scale. I'm thinking, "Crap, crap, crap. What's she gonna say?" Then Bethany tells me, "You lost weight!" Wait, what?! Just over half a pound. I'll take it! Especially after I just chugged twenty-four ounces of water during our workout. We had a nice little chat, and discussed a few menu changes I need to make.


Overall, we'll call it a success and I'll keep plugging along. 

Will keep this reference handy...

Color Me Rad?

I ran my second 5K on Saturday, a color run. You know the kind - you run while people throw colored dyes at you. Sounds fun, right? Hey, I figured if I'm out there running, I might as well attempt to have fun. 

And attempt I did. It was so frigging hot! Somehow we signed up for the 1:40 run. O. M. G. Just kill me. Luckily we were able to run a little earlier, at one o'clock. But it was still miserable. The sun was beating down, it was humid, and no wind. Just gross. To top it off, there were so many people walking the course that we were weaving and zig-zagging just to get through.

Here is my before and after pic.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. You can't tell the difference. What can I say? I don't like to get dirty. : ) And I may have dodged the powder being hurled at me...but isn't that a natural reaction? 



Just in case you want to see what other people looked like...

Do you really blame me for avoiding that?!

Results!

I had my weekly weigh in Monday...and the results? A two pound loss! I'm a little hesitant to get too excited about it though. If you remember, my initial weight was a little higher than I expected it to be. I chalked it up to weighing in at the end of the day versus my usual morning routine. And maybe a little water weight...ahem, PMS. Blah. That being said, this week I've felt a little off. I've been wondering if going to Stroller Strides and Body Back is too much in one day. I'm hoping the aforementioned reason is all it is and that I'll be back to 100% next week! I don't want to cut back on my workouts if I'm still feeling good enough to keep them up.

Monday's workout was really good. I think I'm finally getting used to these high-intensity workouts. The hour goes by really quickly when you're going nonstop. : ) We did our exercises while "traveling." Ha, I wish I was REALLY traveling, but running from station to station does make the class go by faster. We warmed up inside, and then jogged outdoors for our first station. We had lots of new scenery for our class today. Bethany even managed to find a hill. Our favorite! (Note the sarcasm.) One of the more fun stations was a partner activity, Biggest Loser style. One person held a resistance band around the torso of the other, and tried to prevent them from running by pulling back on the band. I wish I had a picture of this, it was quite humorous. 

I did get pictures from Wednesday's workout. Yay! (They're out of order, but hey, I got some pics!) We did a couple laps outside in the parking lot before the big storm rolled in. We paired up and got to it. I was VERY surprised how hard it was to hold a plank position on the stability ball. On the floor, I can do up to three minutes. On this thing, I was dying at one minute.

Plank on Stability Ball

We also used the stability ball to do back extensions. This really targeted the lower back! This was great for me, because I think my lower back is very weak.

Back Extensions on Stability Ball

Last one on the ball. Hip bridge, targeting the hamstrings and glutes. Once I figured out how to do this, and not roll off the ball, it was intense! (In the background, doing lunges while taking the kettle bell side to side.)

 

Hip Bridge on Stability Ball

We used our resistance bands to do a dead lift with a row. This took me a bit to figure out, too. I know, you're not surprised. Besides the fact that I have ZERO knowledge about dead lifts (and exercising in general), I look at Bethany and what she's showing us, and totally feel like I'm doing the exact same thing. Apparently, I'm not. I don't know how to make my body do what you're doing... A little one-on-one, and I think I've got it!

  

Dead lift with Row

My last pic. Squats with the 10 pound kettle bell. I enjoyed this one. : ) It was fun, and we could actually catch our breath for a minute.

Kettle Bell Squats

We had lots of other exercises we rotated through, too. Triceps dips, pushups with one hand on a kettle bell, lateral raises with our bands... It was a great workout! I was drenched at the end of our workout. This coming from someone who doesn't like to sweat, and who really didn't think I was a "sweater." 

I've tried to change my eating a little more this week. I'm still doing my protein smoothie in the the mornings with spinach. I bought some kale to try when I used up all the spinach. Why not? The spinach was hidden in there, I'm sure this would be the same, right? Ugh! No!! It was so gross. Some of the ladies at Stroller Strides told me it was because I didn't use a banana this time. I was out, I really didn't think it would make that much of a difference. We'll see if I'm brave enough to try the kale again...

We got our notebooks at Body Back so I'm continuing to log my food, exercise, and water intake. I also have a few new recipes and meal suggestions to try out. Have any you want to share?