Tag Archives: workouts

I came, I posed, I sweated.

26 Feb

I successfully completed my first Bikram class.  All 90 hot and sweaty minutes.  The instructor told me my only goal as a Bikram first-timer was to stay in the room for the entire session.  That made me a bit apprehensive, but I went on in.

It was hot.  I was nervous, but stubbornly determined.  The instructor walked in and announced there was a first timer and announced my name and asked some students to volunteer to move in front of me so I could watch them.  Not quite the subtle ‘oh don’t notice me’ vibe I was going for.  Nice.

The opening breathing exercises were very odd and didn’t seem natural to me at all.  I did them, but got even more worried about what the next 80ish minutes would entail.  Thankfully the rest of the poses were somewhat familiar.  I could do most of the poses in their basic form, which was encouraging.  There were some folks in the class who were clearly advanced and doing very impressive expressions of the poses.  Not me.  I was just praying not to fall too much.

Overall, it was a good workout, but I didn’t find it life changing.  Some of the Bikram fans seem almost cult-like in their devotion, so I was curiously wondering if I would leave the class on some sort of high.  I really just left hot.  It felt like a nice work out and I am mildly sore in my obliques and hamstrings today, but I’ve felt more excited and pumped up after an Insanity workout.

I have 9 more classes on my 10 card class (shout out to Groupon for making this possible), and I intend on going several more times.  There is still more time to convert me…..and to give me this physique….

Getting My Ducks In a Row

9 Nov

Ducks.  In a Row.

The last couple of weeks have been dotted with children’s illnesses (and subsequent lack of sleep for parents and kids), visitors, dentist/dr visits and a few other things that lend to a disrupted schedule.  I haven’t felt like I’ve had my act together in a couple of weeks.  Who am I kidding?  I haven’t had my act together since a little blond haired, blue eyed girl came raring into our lives 5 years ago.  And she is totally worth it, as is her brother.  But, my expectations of what can be accomplished have been duly adjusted.

Expectation Adjuster With Apple

I’ve just about hit the one year mark of being a stay at home mom.  Thanks to going high-raw back in May, I have much more energy to chase kids, push swings, prepare (what feels like) 10 meals a day, sing songs, wipe noses and bottoms, dress Barbies, assemble puzzles, locate missing shoes, make car engine noises and all the other things that fill the day with young children. Exercising regularly (beyond swing pushing, diaper bag hauling, stroller maneuvering and pushing that blepity bleep car-cart that the grocery store)  helps a lot too and I am grateful to have the time to do that now.  Life is pretty good and I am so very thankful for all that we have.

Back to having my act together….

I was determined to get things back on track this week and, lo and behold, it’s almost the kid’s bedtime and it has been a fantastic day.

Started the day with a new green smoothie concoctions – kale, a whole lime, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 apple, 1 carrot, ice and water.  Simple, but yummy and definitely a repeater.

I had another simple but  yummy concoction for lunch in a quiet house while my little guy took an unexpected nap.

Coleslaw Mix with Sesame Ginger Dressing

I got my week of meals/tasks/shopping list written down and organized.  While eating my second bowl of sesame-ginger slaw.

My Act.  Coming Together.

I nourished my soul with some Bible study.

The Good Book.

I made some almond milk and dehydrated some almonds and pecans for snacking this week.

Necessary Ingredient for Peanut Butter – Banana Smoothies.

I bought my first ever spaghetti squash and am looking forward to trying a new (cooked)  recipe this week.

Does this make my nose look big?

I let the TV babysit my kids and I hung out with Jillian for 20 minutes.

I will hopefully reunite with Shaun T tomorrow, if my kids can get the hang of this time change thing.  Little feet running into my room at 6am is sweet, but doesn’t allow for too much A.M. workout time.

I let that blond-haired blue eyed little girl make her own pb&j (if you remember this post, you’ll share in my joy that she now likes peanut butter!) and faced the mess that comes with a 5 year old doing it themselves.

Jelly On Yellow

I made some bread and soup for the third simple but yummy meal of the day.  My girl and I also made a batch of pumpkin-oatmeal breakfast cookies and my little guy swiped 3 of them after dinner tonight.  He is a stealthy one.  We only noticed after we saw crumbs on his face and a empty row on the cooling rack.

Carbs

Good food, the Good Lord, planning, baking, exercising, time alone and with the family and cookies?  My kind of Monday!

Kinda Cute & Kinda Wrong

18 Aug

Insane Kids

I’m betting these are some of Shaun T’s youngest students.  They may be his cutest too.

We are about done with week 3 and are still really enjoying the sweaty workouts.  Yesterday was the day-off and the husband and I both admitted to missing our nightly Shaun T and team.

Thankfully the finger injury hasn’t impacted the workout too much.  I try not to swing that arm as much, but I can do push ups just fine.  Turns out that push ups are one of the few things that don’t use the balls of your fingers.

Working It

11 Aug

I’ve survived (and loved) the first two weeks of Insanity.  It’s tough.  There is lots of sweat involved.  I may even yell out “yeah, right” at beautiful Shaun T. when he asks for a third set of Level Two drills.

How many pushups do you want me to do?  Yeah right.

But, it’s awesome so far.  I’ve been impressed at what  my not-in-my-twenties-and-I’ve-had-two-kids body can do.  The husband and I workout as soon as he gets home from work and the kids get to watch 45 minutes of a movie on the computer.  They are thrilled and ask me to ‘go exercise’ several times a day.  It seems a bit wrong at times to put them in front of the TV so I can get some physical activity, but there isn’t really any other way the husband and I can both workout without doing so.  Plus, if you’ve spent 2.5 seconds around my kids, you’ll know they aren’t exactly sedentary.

I love, love, love how I feel after a Insanity workout. Sweaty (seriously sweaty), but accomplished and proud.  Wanna see just how sweaty?

Never ever thought I’d be posting a picture of me in a sports bra, but here goes…..

It’s a pretty tame photo.  Look closely and you’ll see that my hair is wet, my entire upper body is dripping and my lower body is as well.

My abs have looked like this TWICE….

so, I’m not going to be sporting a six pack any time soon.  Maybe I’ll someday post a picture of my post-two-kids belly.  Or maybe not.  There will have to be wine involved. Oh, there goes Michelle, drunk blogging again…..

Anyone else doing Insanity?

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