Thursday, September 30, 2010
good week
Monday, September 27, 2010
Bhangra Jam and Self - Slim and Sleek Fast
What? I'm the only one who buys exercise DVDs at the thrift store?
I did Bhangra Jam yesterday. The instructor was very irritating - she kept yipping and didn't cue terribly well - but the dancing was fun. It made my shoulders hurt and I now have even more respect for everyone who makes Bollywood films. (I had respect for them before, but now I respect not just their strength, endurance, grace and enthusiasm, but also their SHOULDERS. Heavens! There's not a moment they're not going up and down. Ouch!) Also, finished off with about ten minutes of jumping jacks and jumping rope (sans rope, ha).
I did Self - Slim and Sleek Fast today. It was okay. Good for an off day, though there was some stuff there that hurt my already-sore shoulders. The ballet-inspired stuff was fun. Finished off with some more jumping jacks.
-Jess
p.s. Yes, I really did buy these at the thrift store. And I have one more I'm going to try tomorrow. Apparently it'll get me my Best Butt EVAR. I can't wait. ;D
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Week 16 Summary for Jessica
Sunday: Power Yoga with Rodney Yee
Monday: 30 Day Shred, Level 1
Tuesday: 30 Day Shred, Level 2
Wednesday: nothing
Thursday: 30 Day Shred, Level 3, & a long walk
Friday: nothing
Saturday: Personal Training with Jackie
Nice week finally. Yay! How'd it go for the rest of you?
-Jess
Friday, September 24, 2010
recap
Thursday, September 23, 2010
30 Day Shred + a long walk
Spent almost 3 hours walking around the county fair today. Also did 30 Day Shred, Level 3.
I realized partway through (as I was experiencing the desire to just TURN IT OFF AND SHUT UP JILLIAN SHUT UP) that for me, it wasn't a question between doing it and not doing it; it was a question between doing it and living in a body that COULDN'T do it. And again, I was struck by the privilege of living in a body that was capable of doing it, of having that choice. I don't think I had thoughts like these that often before my hospitalization. Sometimes, but not often. Now I think a lot about privileges like living in a healthy body and living with my loved ones. I didn't for awhile, and now I do, and probably someday (God forbid, but He might not) I won't again.
And then, I think further, and I think, "but it's not like those, once lost here, are lost forever." Because, isn't that the promise of heaven? Living in a body that finally works right, and living forever in the presence of both our loved ones and our Loved One? All that is lost will be found. But for now I'm glad that not all is lost.
-Jess
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Spinning hook break
I chose to try a spinning hook break, but instead of having someone hold the board braced, it was held by one corner, between a thumb and forefinger. You have to be really fast to break this way, because if you have force but not speed the board just flies across the room. :) It was a challenge to myself to see if I had "come back" enough to pull it off. And I did! Broke it on the first attempt, right in the middle, perfect form.
It's nice to feel this kind of confidence in my body again.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
30 Day Shred, Level 2
I'd forgotten why I disliked this level the most, but now I remember me. Ugh, my poor shoulders.
-Jess
Monday, September 20, 2010
2 Days of 2 workouts
Hope you all are well!
Jessica- I loved your yoga blog. I can just picture you in some crazy pose in the midst of all the children running around. :)
Kelly- Glad to hear things are getting back on track for you. :)
30 Day Shred, Level 1
Wow, I haven't done this one for a long time. Which is kind of why I did it. I wanted something different, so I'm planning on doing the Shred three days in a row, levels 1-3.
And here's my funny fitness discovery for the week: when I put my black workout tanktop on (I like those tanktops that have a bra built-in), I saw these big white circles across the bra part. What were they? Salt! :D From sweat. Heh.
-Jess
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Rodney Yee's Power Yoga
Did this today. Watch me achieve inner peace while the screaming hordes run 'round me.
-Jess
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Week 15 Summary for Jess
Sun-Tues: nada
Weds: No More Trouble Zones, 3/7
Thurs: Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism
Fri: Personal Training with Jackie, 6/9
Sat: Dance with Julianne: Cardio Ballroom
A better week. Yay. Hopefully next week my better week will start earlier in the week.
O/T: I'm watching Romeo + Juliet right now. (The Baz Luhrman (sp?) version.) So frenetic. But you can so see how it was made by the same guy who did Strictly Ballroom. He surely knows how to use color.
-Jess
PT w/J & D w/J: CB
Friday: Personal Training with Jackie, 6/9 circuits + tall sit-ups
Saturday: Dance with Julianne: Cardio Ballroom
This is the first time I managed to get my hips to move right for the cha-cha on that last DVD! It's neat to see improvement. On the Paso Doble, however I still have a looooong way to go. I also must say, my hat's off to anyone who regularly did the jive or the jitterbug. Those are breath-stealing!
-Jess
good week
Friday, September 17, 2010
an education
Did you know that there's protein in swiss chard? Seriously! There're ten grams of protein in 3 cups (uncooked) of swiss chard. I never would have guessed that.
I'm learning so much now that I'm tracking my food. I honestly didn't know that vegetables could have that much protein. Mushrooms have a lot too.
Okay. I'm done. I just wanted to share my amazement. 10 grams of protein! In CHARD. Chard, people.
-Jess
p.s. quick recipe: heat 1 tsp. sesame oil in skillet. Add 3 cups chopped Swiss chard. Sauté till wilted. Add one egg and scramble together w/ chard. Turn off heat and stir in a small can of mushrooms. Add soy sauce to taste. Enjoy! V. yummy, filling and (apparently) filled with protein*. Go figure!
*And not just because of the egg. There's actually more protein in the chard than in the egg. Seriously: so weird.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Still here...
I still miss white flour and white sugar. But I also find that my sweet tooth is decreasing, and things that used to taste good now taste WAY too sweet.
Weight is holding steady without constant mental/emotional/physical vigilance. Love it! :)
Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism - and to Emily, a note:
Emily, you should note on that link that Bob's putting out a yoga DVD too. :D
And I did BF,BM today.
-Jess
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
better week so far
Mid week update
Tuesday- liturgy with Luke ( 1 hour of mostly holding a 35lb kiddo) -my arms say this was a workout
Wednesday- 2 mile walk w/ Luke and Shred 2
Not much more to report really. I plan on biking tomorrow though, and I am definitely looking forward to it. If we had a lot of extra cash lying around, I would buy myself a bike and a kid caddy for Luke and bike to some of my closer errands. :)
Oh, and if anyone is looking for a good pair of new shoes, here is an excellent deal-
http://www.fatwallet.com/best-deals/womens-new-balance-505-shoes/
$23.99 shipped? Oh yes.
Week 14 Summary
Tuesday: No More Trouble Zones + pull-ups
Thursday: Personal Training with Jackie + pull-ups (forgot to post this one at the time, but I did do it - at least, I know I did one of my two strength DVDs, and I think it was this one)
And that's it! Ouch. I think the start of our homeschooling year has kind of thrown me off track. I know it did at the beginning of this week too. Still, I'm grateful for this record, because I can see the pattern and work on correcting it.
-Jess
No More Trouble Zones
Just circuits 3/7. Not much time this morning! But, as I'm learning, it's better in many cases to do what you can, even if it isn't ideal, than to not do it at all because you can't do it perfectly. If nothing else, it saves me catching up later.
-Jessica
Saturday, September 11, 2010
sick
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Amie running update :-)
Flying side kick
Turns out I can actually do it pretty well! And it is too much fun. How could you not enjoy running across the room and trying to reincarnate Jet Li?
still figuring things out
Update
The weather here is finally cooling off. Last year, we moved to Texas on Aug 1, so we saw the worst of the summer heat but didn't actually go through a whole LONG summer. This year, after having been through three + long months of little time outside, fall is even more welcome. Really, it feels like the end of Lent and the beginning of the Paschal season. Maybe that is because we gave up outdoor activities?
That being said, my fall workouts are going to change. In about a month, a bunch of leaves are going to begin falling from our gigantic oak trees and one of my primary forms of exercising will be raking them all up. This is great because it makes me feel better to be doing something useful while exercising and because Luke can play while I work.
For Jessica- Right now I am on the bike at 9 minutes, 80 calories burned, 2.6 miles completed. :) I love numbers too. I also like your jumping bean workout. I do something like that when I watch my 20 min HGTV show every once in a while (though I pick easier moves). You are amazing!
Kelly- It has been fun to see all of your homeschooling ideas. I am glad that you are enjoying it so much (and the kids too)! Since this is an exercise blog, I'll ask about PE. Do you do it with the kids?
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
responses
Amie, how are you doing? Hope you're recovering and staying out of the hospital! Sounds like a nasty infection . . . so sorry you were ill! Especially with the three little ones running around! So hard to be sick when there are people who need you.
Katie J - how's the biking? I was digging the mileage posts (again, love the numbers, it's just me . . .) - are you back in the saddle? So to speak? ;)
Christa - how's the veggie-centered meal planning going? And the Shred? And the (hate to ask, because I know sleepless nights suck) baby's sleeping? Hope you and yours are well.
Kelly, I'm interested to hear how your experiment goes. I've gotten used to longer workouts, so I can understand not wanting to go down to short ones, but it sounds like getting 40 minutes, just broken up, might still work really well. Let us know how it goes?
Also, I saw my dad reading The Spark this weekend (he's very into anything that combines brain research and education research) and I arranged to borrow it when he's finished. I knew I'd seen it mentioned somewhere, and now I realize that it was you!
As to brain benefits that go along with exercise . . . I don't know how exactly it's connected, but I feel that when I'm disciplined in exercise, I'm more disciplined in other areas of my life, particularly in getting my writing time in. That's a bit odd, because you'd think exercise would take away the time I need in order to write, but now I'm wondering if it's not just that discipline begets discipline (which is what I thought before, and what I still think is partly true), but that exercise does help me think more clearly and creatively (which helps the story-making!).
Emily, I think it'd be cool to hear more about what you're doing in karate, esp. as it sounds like the warm-up/stretching time has gotten a lot more intense with Charles in charge (heh).
Oh, and I haven't run yet, but I still want to. It's going to take getting to bed by 10 though, and that hasn't happened for quite some time! (Let's not talk about Sunday night, when I went to bed at 3:30 a.m.!)
Week 13 Summary for Jess
As I type that title - 13 weeks! - I feel really grateful for this blog. I've probably said this before, but it was really what I needed in order to get going again after that spring set-back. Just seeing what I'm doing in type really cements my goals in my mind. Thank you to all of you for participating. (Still hoping to hear from some of the rest of you again soon!)
Anyway, Week 12 wasn't stellar, but I think I kept from losing ground:
Sunday: nothing
Monday: No More Trouble Zones + pull-ups
Tues: nothing
Wednesday: Personal Training w/Jackie + pull-ups
Thurs: nothing
Friday: pull-ups + Jumping Bean workout <-- I was sore for three days after this! Well, four: I'm still sore. But I mean, like, sore-to-the-point-of-limping. Oh man. I overdid it. But I want to do it again. It was SUCH a good workout. I might try just one round through though, till my calves get used to it. Ouch, ouch, ouch. The stairs in our condo were a real problem all weekend long.
Sat: nothing
-Jess
pull-ups + No More Trouble Zones
I'm solidly back to being able to do two pull-ups in a row. Still there, for a couple weeks now, which makes me think I've really got it now. That's where I was at in the spring when I got sick. And now I feel like I honestly might be able to make it to three-in-a-row by Christmas.
That sounds so sad - TWO reps of an exercise being a big deal! But when I realize that it's raising just under 140 lbs. of weight from a dead hang - well, then it sounds more impressive. Still! Guys are able to do a ton of these. I'm never going to be able to do a ton, but I have this dream of someday being able to do 10. Maybe by the time I'm 35, eh? That's a good goal. By age 35, I want to be published in novel form, and be able to do 10 pull-ups. :D
Oh yeah: No More Trouble Zones too. I thought about doing Jackie, but I just finished reading/skimming her book, and the realization that she's a crazypants sort of put me off of the idea. (Knows her weights, but is a crazypants.) Maybe I'll be ready to face her again by Thurs.
-Jess
time for a change?
Friday, September 3, 2010
pull-ups and jumping bean workout
I did pull-ups today.
And then I made up a workout, because I didn't have enough time to do the workout I wanted to do. I made a playlist of fast-paced songs that was 20 minutes long, and made a list of plyometric exercises, and just went through them till the music was over.
Although, it ended up being a bit longer than 20 minutes, because I found as I went on that I wanted to try to get through the list twice. Anyway, here's the list:
-jumping jacks
-jump rope (sans rope, as I was inside)
-squat jumps (down into a full squat, then jump up)
-skaters
-high knees
-mountain climbers (not jumping, really, but . . .)
-butt kicks
-side-to-side jumps
-skiers (sort of a Norditrak motion)
-rock star jumps
I let myself do butt kicks or skaters in between the really hard ones, in order to get my breath back a bit.
Anyway. I don't think I've felt like that since high school track. Or the first time I did the 30 Day Shred. :) I'm not sure I want to do it again. I almost fell over the first time I tried to get up after I stretched, because my calves hurt so much. But . . . good workout.
-Jess
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
This is Emily, checking in :)
Other than that, I'm focusing on eating well according to my new game plan (no white flour, white sugar, or caffeine, basically no processed stuff). I still miss brownies, and I still think that it is worth it. :)
We're starting homeschooling next Tuesday, officially, although Jonathan asked to "do school" this morning and so of course we did! :) I'm spending this last week trying to get all my ducks in a row so I feel ready to start. (I don't. Feel ready. At all. Ack.)
As far as continuing to post here...maybe I'll post the kinds of things we're doing in karate? Last class we spent 30 minutes working on proper form for push-ups. Oh. My. Word. I am SO SORE!! I wasn't doing push-ups (because of wrist/shoulder pain) so I was holding various forms of plank and OUCH!!!!!!!
Another interesting part of karate for me: making some changes in the higher level forms. Because of my shoulder, there are some motions that I just can't do. And Fr. David has talked with me about making changes that accommodate the injury, while still honoring the intention of the form. It is a fun and interesting challenge, coming up with alternative ways to do them.
Ok, quiet time is about over and I need to make a phone call...this is Emily, checking out! ;)
SPARK
today's workout and a shout-out to the quiet ones!
Did Personal Training with Jackie this morning. Did NOT run yesterday, but am hoping to try tomorrow (if I get to bed on time tonight). Our homeschooling year officially starts tomorrow, and the idea of hitting the ground running tickles my sense of humor.
So . . . how are you all? Esp. those who haven't posted in awhile? This isn't the perfectionism blog, no one will yell at you if at the turning-of-the-seasons (hello, school! hello hot weather!) you haven't been working out regularly, or at all. But, I admit to missing the chatter. :) Check in, if you're willing!
-Jess