Kicking It Into High Gear

So.

I said I was recommitting, and I totally am!

Yesterday, I got back into the Shakeology habit, and I really must say that it helps to have that kick of protein, nutrients, and the awesome sweet tooth abatement in the morning.

Last night, I went to the grocery to pick up some much-needed food and healthy snacks (like fruit), then I came home and did some dishes, shaped up some of the house, and got my butt into gear.  Last night, the workout was Fire 45. I was supposed to have done it on Saturday, but we were on 'vacation' and so I did HIIT 15, instead, and took Sunday off (when I was supposed to do HIIT 15). Yesterday was my rest day, so I used it as my makeup day and did Fire 45.

Wow.

By the end of that workout, I was more flailing than following the routine. It will definitely take me a few more times of doing it with the breakdown to get the hang of it.  My roundhouse kicks are pretty pitiful right now, but I'm putting in the effort, and not quitting halfway through. By then end of the workout, I was at 125% on my ActiveLink!

Yes, my face matches my tee-shirt. This is what my body does when I work out. I can't help it.

James and I ate dinner, which was back to routine. Eggs, scrambled and split between us, salsa, and I had two pieces of Ezekiel Raisin Bread with a bit of butter. I had had two pieces of whole grain Ezekiel bread with melted cheese and 97% fat free mesquite smoked jalapeno turkey breast slices before my workout. I also had a banana on my way home from the grocery store. And I had a beer. I love the Shiner summer seasonal Ruby Redbird. It's only 4.2% ABV and it has a bite of ginger and grapefruit, so refreshing. I know a lot of craft beer nerds turn their nose up at it, but even when compared to other craft beers made with ginger, it has the BITE that I crave from a good ginger beer without the sugar bomb.

So that was last night.

I went to bed around 10:30 pm. I've been getting really tired lately. I don't really know why, but I know that I operate best with 7.5-8 hours of sleep. That's what my body needs, or I just start shutting down in weird ways. I also knew that I wanted to start getting my workouts done in the morning. This means getting my rump out of bed before 8 am. Yes, I normally wake up at 8 am, quickly get ready and am out the door by 8:35 to get to work at 9 am. Why? Because I don't get to bed until midnight, and getting myself vertical after only 6 hours of sleep is near-impossible. I have learned this in the past 31 years. I have stopped being surprised by it.  So, even with my boyfriend mercilessly making fun of me for being old, I conked out at 10:30 pm. And guess what? When my alarm went off at 6:30 am? I was actually ready to wake up. I did laze about for another 25 minutes before getting to my workout, but I totally felt refreshed and ready rather than wanting one more hour in bed.

So I did my workout! Okay, I did part of my workout. On the slate for today was Fire 30 & Abs 10 from the TurboFire program. Since it was another new workout for me, I did the Fire 30 with breakdown promts, which makes it last a bit longer than 30 minutes, and so I really needed to get showered and out the door rather than do the Abs 10. It's 10 minutes. I can do that this evening after I run my errands.

This time, I ended up doing the low-impact workout modifications half-way through, and my roundhouses got about 2 feet off the ground. BUT I DID THE WHOLE THING!

I'm beginning to think, that with TurboFire, I need to work on fixing up the garage for workouts sooner rather than later. My old 1920's hardwood floor on pier & beam is not made for jumping around constantly. I'll have to look into getting a portable air conditioner for the garage and really putting in the time to fixing it up so I can workout out there and free up some of the living room space for James' things when he moves his things out of the apartment.

Not really down to pre-weekend weight, at all, but moving in the right direction!

~Katie

My next 20 weeks

I've mentioned that I've started a new program.

I'm using a hybrid schedule developed that uses both ChaLEAN Extreme and TurboFire.

I don't know about you, but I have a difficult time just looking at something and grasping what it means. Words come in, words go out, and I'm left just looking at each day as 'what am I doing today' rather than 'how does this fit in with the program'.

And so, I fixed it.

First I color coded it, so that I had some idea of what groups go together, and planned out my tracking days on the rest days closest to the 30 day marks.

This helped, but it's still not exactly where I just know what the clear themes are and how the time is broken up.  ChaLEAN Extreme was very clear cut with weekly repeats and the three phases.  This is a whole different beast to me, and I like to know what I'm aiming towards and what my focus is, and where the phases are, so that I can get in the right frame of mind.

So I broke each program and day down. Was it cardio? Was it stretching? Was it a ChaLEAN circuit? Was it TF strength? Was it abs? Was there a clear pattern?

YES!

Weeks 1-3:      Burn Circuit & Abs workouts alternate with one day of Cardio a week

Week 4:           Cardio with one HIIT and one Abs day

Weeks 5-8:      Push Circuit & Cardio+Abs workouts alternate

Weeks 9-12:    HIIT+Strength & Cardio+Abs workouts alternate

Week 13:         Abs+Stretch & Cardio+Stretch workouts alternate

Weeks 14-16:  Cardio & Lean Circuit+Abs workouts alternate
Week 17:         Cardio with 2 Abs days
Weeks 18-20:  HIIT+Strength & Cardio+Abs workouts alternate

The big blocks are:
Burn
Push
HIIT
Lean
HIIT

And Abs 3 times a week, almost every week.
Cardio gets added in as a regular occurence in the 4th week.

So, look out! I'll be ripped by the time I get to my 31st birthday! All those Abs and cardio combined with strength training? I'm excited!

And now, the plan makes so much more sense to me, I can look forward to it!

~Katie

Deleted

I have been having trouble waking up. Mostly it's because I need 8 hours of sleep. I forget this at night & go to bed at midnight. So the cycle goes. I'm making changes. Creeping up my bedtime so I can naturally wake up earlier & still get the sleep my body needs.

So yesterday evening, I did Burn Circuit 1. It was the first video I did during ChaLEAN Extreme, so it was a nice to go back to my notes and see what weights I was using then & adapt to my strength now. Some exercises, I am leaps and bounds ahead on (chest and legs), others (deltoids) I am pretty much the same as when I started. I thought that it would not be challenging. I thought that I'd been there, done that. I was SO WRONG! The challenge comes from a better form now, and heavier weights. I can actually complete most of the exercises now, even though it's a struggle. I'm not afraid to 'dial it up' and go as heavy as I possibly can.

This morning, after going to bed at 11, and falling asleep at around 11:45 pm, I knew I had about a 30 minute workout in the morning. I also knew that the bug man was coming at 7:30 am and that I needed to leave the house clean-ish for the the cleaners to come by today. With my ideal leaving the house time at 8:35, I needed to get with the program. And I totally didn't.

6:15 my alarm went off
6:30 I started making some grunting about needing to actually get out of bed
6:45 I said I'd do my workout in the evening
7:00 I realized that I could still get my workout in before the bug man arrived
7:15 I was getting in my workout gear, choosing the socks that James got me. Oh yes, those are Cybermen!

7:30 I started my workout, TurboFire Core 20
7:40 the bug man shows up, so I take a break
7:50 I finish my workout while the bug man sprays the house, but don't do the Stretch 10, may double that up tonight
8:00 start drinking my Shakeology and doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen
8:15 shower
8:30 dressed and actually ready to start feeding the animals, and gathering my stuff for work

What What!

Yep! I rocked that short workout! Even though I totally procrastinated and said I'd do it later, I still did it this morning!

DELETE, DELETE, DELETE
YOU WILL BE UPGRADED (to a person who wakes up early enough to work out in the morning)

~Katie

A Small Effort

Today, I am going to an event after work.

I knew I needed to wake up early so I could work out.

I forgot that my workout was 45 minutes today.

I did 20 minutes of it.

Then I realized that I didn't just have to shower and get ready, I needed to wash the dishes, unload the dryer, and leave the check for the cleaners, and gather the errands to run at lunch. And still get showered and ready.

So I left off Lean Circuit 3 at the pushup to side plank. I may try to complete the workout later tonight when I get home, but that may be a bit ambitious.  Perhaps I'll finish the Fire it up video for extra cardio.

Regardless of cutting my workout short, I was DRIPPING sweat for at least another 10-15 minutes while I was getting the kitchen ready to actually be cleaned.

I reviewed my ActiveLink last night, after doing both of the workouts.

This is my output during Burn Intervals, notice the periods of low intensity when I'm lifting weights, and moderate intensity when I'm doing things like lunges and squats. I was doing this from 0 to 45 minutes before I took a break and cooled down and watched the Fire It Up intro.

 Now, this, from 8:00 pm to 8:20 pm, this is when I was doing the Fire Starter Class. Followed by sitting down and blogging. There is barely any moderate intensity activity after the warm up.

WOW! What a difference, huh?

I know that I'll probably be throwing one of the TurboFire Workouts in every so often in this last few weeks of my challenge before I start the ChaLEAN/TurboFire Hybrid program. And that my workouts will be taking a lot longer to do. I need to start actually waking up when my alarm goes off. And that may mean going to bed earlier than midnight, as much as I hate it.

~Katie

Cardio day!

Today, I did yesterday's Burn Intervals.

Yesterday, I needed rest & relaxation. Took a bath & went to bed early. Woke up feeling much less like I could not move from lack of motivation.

So I pushed my workouts by a day. My rest was Monday instead of Thursday this week.

After Burn Intervals, I felt like I needed to move a bit more & tried out the Fire Starter class for TurboFire. Well, 20 minutes in, and I'm glad I started with strength training. It will be a challenge to get my uncoordinated self moving along just right, but I think it will be a great follow up to ChaLEAN Extreme!

~Katie

Off day

So today was my day off. But after brunch and yesterday's anniversary celebration, I felt the need to sweat it out.

I got Best of Turbofire HIITs with my challenge pack, so I did that & AB Igniter for 30 sweaty minutes.

~Katie