Emily's week 44

Saturday - nothing
Sunday - nothing
Monday - nothing
Tuesday - nothing
Wednesday - nothing
Thursday - nothing
Friday - nothing

A combination of a camping trip and an ongoing wrist/shoulder injury flare-up kept me away from my practice this week. The wrist is feeling better now though, so I think that I'll be able to start again soon.

Week 7 for Jess

Sunday: nothing
Monday: nothing
Tuesday: Extreme Shed and Shred, Level 1
Wednesday: Extreme Shed and Shred, Level 2
Thursday: Bob Harper Totally Ripped Core, 50 min. section
Friday: Killer Buns and Thighs, Level 2
Saturday: nothing

-Jess

Weeks 5 & 6 for Jess

Sunday-Thursday: nothing, as I was sick
Friday: 4/7 circuits of No More Trouble Zones
Saturday: nothing

Sunday: nothing
Monday: Ripped in 30, Level 3
Tuesday: Kickbox Fast Fix, Level 3
Wednesday: nothing
Thursday: Ripped in 30, Level 4
Friday: nothing
Saturday: nothing

-Jess

Emily's week 43

Saturday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Sunday - nothing
Monday - nothing
Tuesday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Wednesday - nothing
Thursday - nothing
Friday - nothing

I'm injured. My right wrist which had been sore for awhile, has become a wrist that will not take pressure of ANY SORT. Even shifting a manual transmission, or stirring a pot, or running a vacuum cleaner. So I'm backing off for a few days, icing it multiple times a day, and trying to think of ways to lower my stress level, since the weak points in my body tend to do this to me when I've been overstressed for too long. Prayers would be appreciated!

Emily's week 42

Saturday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Sunday - nothing
Monday - nothing
Tuesday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Wednesday - nothing
Thursday - hatha yoga dvd (75 minutes)
Friday - No OM Zone yoga dvd (30 minutes)

I enjoyed some extended time with Thursday's dvd when my friend Pamela had my kids for a few hours. It requires focus and encourages relaxation between (and even during) poses. I didn't notice how hard it was until afterward when I wondered why I was so hungry and my muscles felt so wrung out. :)

Friday's dvd is pretty basic - fitness focused "yoga". I like it because the segments are 15 minutes (really!) and so it is much easier to convince myself to do one or two.

The past month or so has been pretty awful on a personal level, and I've fallen pretty far back into depression and eating for comfort. This week's workouts were an effort to start pulling myself out of that morass. I'm reminding myself that yoga is something I do for myself, and spending the boys' quiet time with a yoga dvd is a better use of my time than moping on the couch.

Week 4 for Jess

Sunday: nothing
Monday: nothing
Tuesday: nothing
Wednesday: Jillian Michaels Kickbox FastFix, Levels 1, 2, and 3 YES I DID!!!! :D
Thursday: about 1 1/2 hours swimming in the ocean, and some walking
Friday: about 40 minutes swimming in the ocean
Saturday: nothing

-Jess

Emily's week 41

Saturday - hatha yoga (15 minutes)
Sunday - nothing
Monday - nothing
Tuesday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Wednesday - nothing
Thursday - nothing
Friday - nothing

Weeks 2 & 3 for Jess

Sunday: walked around downtown Chicago for a few hours
Monday: walked through some woods for about an hour and a half, and then did 10 min. of yoga
Tuesday - Saturday: nothing

Sunday: Killer Buns and Thighs, Level 1
Monday: Personal Training with Jackie, minus leg sections ('cause of yesterday's workout)
Tuesday: Dance with Julianne, Cardio Ballroom: cha-cha and jive sections
Wednesday: Personal Training with Jackie: Xtreme Timesaver Training
Thursday: Dance Off the Inches: Fat-Burning Belly Dance
Friday: nothing
Saturday: Bob Harper Totally Ripped Core, 50 min. section

Okay, so last week sucked, but this week ROCKED. Fitness-wise, anyway. :)

-Jess

Emily's week 40

Saturday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Sunday - nothing
Monday - nothing
Tuesday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Wednesday - nothing
Thursday - nothing
Friday - nothing

Allison has me working HARD in yoga, and I'm loving it. I'm sore after every class (the good kind of sore) and I'm definitely getting stronger. Now if only the fat on top of the muscle would go away. ;)

Emily's week 39

Saturday - hatha yoga (60 minutes) - with Jonathan!
Sunday - nothing
Monday - nothing
Tuesday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Wednesday - nothing
Thursday - nothing
Friday - nothing

Getting Ready

Well, Nathan was absolutely swamped with work this week (sorta happens when you have a regular job and a contract job), so we didn't get started yet. Also, I looked over the eating plan and excercise plan more. I see more flexibility in the eating plan and also realized that I will not be able to do all the P90X workouts. My hips will not allow for plyometric training, so I'll just have to modify.

My week went like this:

R- Bob's Pure Strength Beginner Workout, gardening
F- Nothing
S- 2 mile walk
S- 2 mile walk
M- 2 mile walk, short walk with kids
T- Bob's Pure Strength 1st half, gardening
W- Bob's Pure Strength 2nd half
R- Bob's Pure Strength Beginner Workout

So, it has been walking and Bob's workout. Walking has been so lovely- I go after the kids go to bed since it is light until about 9pm here.

Weeks 52 & 1 (again) for Jess

Week 52: nothing

Week 1:

Sunday: nothing
Monday: 30 Day Shred, Level 2
Tuesday: nothing
Wednesday: nothing
Thursday: Bob Harper's Yoga for the Warrior, 60 min. section
Friday: 30 Day Shred, Level 3
Saturday: nothing

-Jess

Emily's week 38

Saturday - hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Sunday - nothing
Monday - nothing
Tuesday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Wednesday - evening walk with the family (45 minutes)
Thursday - nothing
Friday - nothing

Jonathan has been asking to come to yoga with me for quite some time now. Last Saturday I brought him to class with me...and he LOVED it. I was expecting him to get bored and we had brought a book for him to read in the lobby area if he got tired of the class. But he was completely engaged (and silent!) for the whole hour. When we were finished, he leaned over and whispered "Mommy, I really want to come back here again." Later he said that he liked working his muscles and then resting them at the end. Allison (my teacher) was incredibly impressed with Jonathan - she said she's never had a young child participate so well in an adult class. She invited him to come back anytime. :) So we'll see how long Jonathan enjoys it, but as long as he wants to, Saturday morning yoga will be a joint venture!

Oh, and I almost forgot! I can now do full yoga headstands without falling over. :) I've been working on this for some months now and am very pleased. Boy does it take a lot of core strength!

hiatus

I'm exercising fine (though I did take a week off due to shin splint issues last month).  But I'm not really keeping track right now because things are a bit crazy.  I found out my mom has breast cancer and Edmund came down with a really bad case of mono in the same week.  Edmund is all better and we are now down here helping out while she recovers from surgery and then will be traveling down a lot in the next several months while she undergoes chemo.  So, I'm just not bothering with keeping track about exercising.  But, suffice it to say, I have been managing to get 30-40 minutes in about 5 days a week.

Postpartum Recovery and P90X

So, I have been absent awhile, but I have still checked in occasionally to see what everyone is up to. Thanks Jessica and Emily for keeping the blog going. :)

For more than a month, I was feeling very weak because I was stopping the anxiety meds that I took when Rebekah was born. It took longer than I thought to come out of it, but now I am back. I don't regret the meds- I think they really helped to balance me out and be a better mother. I have a great psychiatrist who specializes in post-partum disorders. She is incredible and tried to help me while being sensitive to the fact that I really didn't want to be on any medication if it was possible.

Anyways, I kept walking almost every day through the process and occasionally did Bob's Pure Strength beginner workout and Jillian's Shred levels 1 & 2.

Fast forwarding to today- Nathan was on a work trip and watched an infomercial for P90X. He bought the whole package. I was a little surprised, but glad that he found some sort of workout plan that he wasnted to get started on. We are planning to do the program together, though it will be more modified for me bacuase of nursing. I look forward to the challenge. My sister did the program about a year ago with her husband and she dropped 30lbs while he drooped enough to qualify for the National Guard. It was the only program that actually motivated them to get into shape (so it comes highly recommended).

I am a little skeptical on the nutrition side of the program, but we will continue (as we have been) to try and eat more healthfully and naturally. Also, my goal is to gain strength and endurance rather than to lose weight on the program. I'll keep you all updated on our porgress- it should be exciting :)

Emily's week 37

Saturday - horseback riding! (60 minutes)
Sunday - nothing
Monday - nothing
Tuesday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Wednesday - nothing
Thursday - nothing (sick)
Friday - nothing

Week 51 for Jess

Sunday: nothing
Monday: Bob Harper's "Total Body Transformation", 60 min. section
Tuesday: nothing
Wednesday: nothing
Thursday: Jillian Michaels' "Shred-It with Weights", Level 1
Friday: nothing
Saturday: Bob Harper's "Cardio Conditioning", 60 min. section

Hey, it's just me and Em around here lately. How's everyone else doing? I hope well!

-Jess

Emily's week 36

Saturday - nothing (Gabe on ACR board retreat)
Sunday - nothing
Monday - nothing
Tuesday - vinyasa/hatha yoga (60 minutes)
Wednesday - nothing
Thursday - nothing (Gabe at ACR board meeting)
Friday - 4 hour rock climbing trip!

Week 50 for Jess

Sunday: nothing
Monday: nothing
Tuesday: Ripped in 30, Level 3
Wednesday: Bob Harper Beginner's Weight Loss Transformation, plus bonus 10 min. ab. workout
Thursday: Step and Core Pilates
Friday: nothing
Saturday: nothing

Emily's week 35

Saturday - nothing (client appointment)
Sunday - nothing
Monday - nothing
Tuesday - nothing (Gabe out with friends from work)
Wednesday - nothing
Thursday - AWESOME vinyasa/hatha yoga class!
Friday - nothing

I'm SO glad that I made it to yoga on Thursday, because it was amazing! There were only two of us there, and we're the ones who really like being challenged. So Allison created a totally different class than planned, on the fly, and it was incredible! We did a series of real (i.e. hard!) sun salutations, working on details like how to roll over our toes through the movement. We practiced crow, and dancer, and plow and shoulder stands and finished up with a full wheel pose. It was super hard and so much fun and I absolutely loved it. And the best part is that Allison told us afterward that she's been thinking about changing her Tuesday class to be more like what we had just done, because it is really what she prefers to be teaching and she wants to keep the younger crowd that has started to check out the studio. Yay!