product reviews: new year, new tools

So I've done several reviews in the past of products that are important to what I've been doing at the time.  You can find the links below:  

Triathalon Gear

Pampered Chef Gadgets

Nashbar & Exustar

But in the past several weeks, I've added a few really fun things to my kitchen tools, workout essentials, and just daily stuff.  I wanted to share some of these things with you, just in case y'all had been looking for something like it or maybe contemplating buying them in the first place.  

1.  The new 2013 Weight Watchers 360 Kit 

(Available for purchase at Weight Watchers locations, I couldn't find it on the website yet.)

Sure, Weight Watchers launches a new kit annually.  Sure, it has a lot of the same stuff year after year.  Sure, most of the information is online.  Until now.  This new kit isn't like every other Weight Watchers kit that I've purchased, in fact it only shares two things in common with the old kits: it comes with a three month tracker and it includes coupons.  After that you can throw what you used to know out the window!  

The photo above is from a lovely website I folow, and I've included the link to the blog below:

The Daily Mel's Kit Review

See also: Jennifer's Kit Review

So here's the recap (left to right): You get a Success Handbook (sort of like a workbook in my opinion), a cookbook called What to Eat Now, a workout DVD sampler, a silicon measuring cup set, several pages of stickers with Points Plus values on them so that you can label your foods at home, body measuring tape (not pictured?), a three month tracker, and a neat neoprene zippered case to cart all of the stuff around in.  Shown here are the Points Plus calculator and skin, which do not come in the kit itself but you can redeem the coupons that are included at the Weight Watchers locations.  

Here's what they left out this year: The books with the Points Plus values and Dining Out companions.  Why?  Probably because the 360 program doesn't make any changes to the Points Plus values and they realized that we all had that already.  Smart people!  I wasn't about to buy another set of those when I don't use the ones I already have due to the fact that everything I need is online!  

2.  Glam Headbands, Inc. Products

Glam Headbands Website

For Christmas this year, my best friend and triathalon training buddy gave me my first Glam Headband.  

Back story:  I had been contemplating buying all kinds of headbands recently, but I was sticking with my cheap ones from Target for the time being.  They stink.  As soon as I sweat, they aren't stretchy anymore and I end up adjusting them a bunch of times.  

This new headband rocks!  I was so excited when she gave it to me that I couldn't wait to wear it to my next spin class.  Luckily, my next spin class was less than 24 hours away and I didn't have to wait long.  

Here's my mini product review:  The adjustable strap on the bottom of these things gets a HUGE thumbs up from me.  I happen to have a lot of hair, but a relatively small head.  Yah, I'm sort of a pinhead.  Yuck it up.  I was able to slide that thing to the smallest it would go and it fit perfectly!  The sparkly material did not shed a single strand of annoying glitter, because we all know that glitter is awesome until it ends up stuck to everything you own.  The width (1") was great for me personally, but they come in a smaller and larger version just in case you don't like that.  The soft side that went against my hair didn't budge at all during 70 minutes of spin, which meant zero adjustments.  That's unheard of for me!  The only thing that I struggled with were the two little clips to snap it into place.  I ended up just leaving them alone and putting the headband on like a normal headband and it worked great.  I think when I order more, I'll just skip buying the clips.  Sometimes simpler is better.  

3.  My Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 & EVO 4G LTE
Galaxy Tab at Costco
EVO 4G LTE at Sprint
I wasn't always big into technology, but the last 6 months of my life have really got me looking for ways to do things faster and easier.  Enter: my tablet and smartphone.  I don't really need them, but these two things have become two of my favorite tools for making my life better.  I've got a number of applications that help me with this, the first of which is the Weight Watchers Mobile App.  I can still do all the stuff I used to do (track meals, check off good health guidelines, log weigh ins, etc.) but now I can get more tips on how to make the program work for me!  New for this latest update is a way to snap a photo of my meal and track it later, review my spaces, and a place to take a look and get tips to help me change my routine.  I also use the Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner App at the grocery store!

Just about everything else that helps me simplify my life on these two gadgets is free!  I use the calendar app and sync it with my Google calendar.  This alerts me to my meeting times and spin class schedules really easily!  Also, I'm addicted to the Kindle app lately.  My Twitter pals know that I'm always down for a good read!  I've got my Blogger app, Twitter app, and loads of great recipes and blogs bookmarked through my Google Chrome app.

So there you have it, three tools I'm really digging right now.  I'm always looking for new things to try, so keep me posted!  

tri update: how i did part 1

I'm back from La Quinta and I'm alive!  Yah, that was a goal of mine.  To survive my first triathalon. 

Mission accomplished. 

This blog has been a long time coming in my mind so I've decided to split it into two segments: physical and emotional.  So now I get to tell you how I did, more specifically how I did physically. 

Let me start by saying that I attended a pre-triathalon meeting with Sally Edwards on Saturday before the big event and I heard women saying things like "It took me three hours to finish my first triathalon last year" and "I walked the entire 5K." 

I knew then that I had to re-adjust my goals, not that I'd really set any goals at that point.  So I started thinking about how I'd been performing and what I should possibly expect from myself: 

I know that lately I had finished 500 meters in a swimming pool in less than 20 minutes.  I decided to be nice to myself, and I gave myself a goal of finishing the swim portion of the event in less than 30 minutes. 

I also know that my cycling at a steady pace with no big inclines has been about 14 miles per hour, but when hills and such are factored in I can drop down to as low as about 10 miles per hour depending on the size of the hill.  I had to complete a total of 14 miles in the race, and there were a few hills that lead out of and back into the race venue, so I gave myself a goal of finishing the cycling portion of the even in less than 90 minutes. 

Finally, I know that lately I've been in the 13 or 14 minutes per mile range when I've been out running.  But I have been running early in the morning when there is no heat and I've only been running about 2.5 miles each time.  Also, I don't always run right after a bike ride.  Sometimes I just run, ya know?  With all that into account, I gave myself a goal of finishing the running portion of the event in less than 45 minutes. 

That puts my grand total for the event at 2 hours and 45 minutes.  That was my goal and I was sticking to it! I had my Polar heart rate monitor as my timer and I was ready to go.   

So here's how things really went down:

I was in the very last group of the day, (orange cap) the mixed ages group.  I had a helluva time putting my swim caps on, since I put my TYR silver swim cap on first, then my goggles, then my race issued orange cap on second.  I fidgeted, I got in the (really warm) water for a bit, and then I stood around looking at all of my friends and family that had come to support me.  NERVES!!!

I went down into the water, I was given a mantra for my race by Sally Edwards which was "WICKED GOOD" for all of my Massachussetts friends!  And then before you know it, we were OFF!!!  I did a beautiful stroke all the way out to the first turn which was about 100 meters and I made the left hand turn. 

From there, something in my mind turned off and my stroke turned choppy and irratic, then I saw my best friend's eyes get big and she flipped over onto her back and did the back stroke.  My head turned to mush and I started alternating between the breast stroke, freestyle, and a back stroke.  About the time I reached the 400 meter marker, I had decided that I had been in the water for what seemed like an eternity and I should have not set a goal of 30 minutes for myself.  It was only the first event and I had seemingly failed myself in my head.   

Then I looked down at my watch and I realized that I had only been in the water for 12 minutes and I needed to shut the eff up!  My mind was playing really mean tricks on me.  I got out of the water (but not before tripping on a huge rock) and trailed my best friend up to the first transition. 

Funny story to insert here. I had swallowed and snorted quite a bit of lake water, so as I tried to make it up to my bike I was coughing and blowing my nose a lot and saying sarcastic things like "Gee, that lake water was delicious!"   Little did I realize that my father, friend's husband, and a professional photographer were all snapping away during this portion of the race.  I can't wait to see the photo of the buckets of snot I was expelling! 

I got up to my towel, pulled my socks on (note to self: wash rocks and dirt off feet first next time) and geared up and we were out of the transition and headed into the cycling portion in less than 20 minutes! 

Booyah transition 1!

Cycling out of the park was really odd because my calves and toes started to cramp during the swim, but as soon as I hit the bike I was able to use the pedals to stretch out my legs and scoot right out of the parking lot.  I climbed a few hills, hit the flat road and settled in to the get my heart rate down a bit.  That's when I noticed that my trip computer on my bike had disconnected and I had no way to monitor my speed or distance. 

Super...

The rest of the ride passed smoothly, a bit too smoothly actually.  I found myself looking around at the amazing desert scenery and often forgetting that I was doing a race!  I really wish I had a camera with me and was coordinated enought to take a photo while riding.  I had to clue myself in every once in a while so that I'd speed up a bit more, but even though I was passed by a few riders, I passed more than my fair share.  Each time I passed I started out by saying "ON THE LEFT" and as I rode by I'd follow up with something like "Great job" because honestly, everyone who was doing this race was great in my book. 

Then I noticed around mile 9 or so that quite a few of the riders that had passed me were the very same riders that I was now passing and I congratulated myself for maintaining such a consistent speed.  That was something I had struggled with in the past, and I was glad I had control over it now.  I had conserved my energy well and was about to head into the park again. 

I had to climb one ugly monster of a hill to enter back into transition number 2, and as I started climbing it I saw my best friend's husband standing at the top of the hill with his camera and cheering me on.  Boy, did I need that.  My legs burned as I huffed and puffed my way up that hill, and as I passed him I said something like "I guess it's a good thing I didn't get off and walk my bike up the hill, right?"  He later told me that about 20% of the riders had walked that hill.  I was glad I didn't. 

As I came around the the bike rack I passed my family and smiled because I was going down hill and it was easy to smile.  Thank heavens they didn't see me at the hill I just climbed.  Those photos are probably hideously ugly. 

Transition 2 was easy.  Bike up.  Dump water in mouth.  Helmet off.  Dumpe water in mouth.  Visor on.  Dump water on head.  Eat 2 energy blocks.  Dump water in mouth.  Leave the transition. 

Take that tranistion 2! 

That's when I passed my best friend's family, and her brother ran along and took photos of me with his iPhone leaving the gate so I knew I had to run for the photo op!  I rounded the corner and my energy left me like air out of a balloon and I had to walk for a bit.  I did a steady walk-run for the first mile and counted the minutes on my watch when I saw the marker: 1:33 to 1:47.  14 minute mile.  Bleh.  Then I sped up for the second mile marker and I saw the greatest thing: 2:00!  A 13 minute mile.  Great! 

The last mile felt like it took forever, but it was really about a 16 minute mile and I rounded the corner to the finish line.  As I approached my best friend, who had already finished, she met me at the sand and ran the last few hundred yards as I entered the last stretch with me and I started to get tears in my eyes. 

I.  Was.  Done. 

I.  Was.  A.  Triathalete. 

I.  Was.  Wicked.  Good. 

So that's my story about how I finished a sprint triathalon in 2 hours and 17 minutes.  That's nearly 30 minutes ahead of my goal and it leaves plenty of room for improvement! 

tri update: regrets part 1

I have to get some regrets off my chest, apologize, and move on right now.  I've got to do this so I can let go, get up again, and scurry on my merry way. 

First of all, I regret that my last blog post was 2 months ago.  I've not felt like talking much about training, I just felt like doing it and feeling it.  I've not felt like talking much about Weight Watchers, I've been falling off and fall back onto plan for a while and subsequently I weight exactly the same as I did 8 weeks ago.  I'm still down a total of 25 pounds, but that's not saying much.  I've not felt like talking much about my personal life, but I think it's time to open up a bit about it.  Apology made, now let's talk. 

Triathalong training has flown by.  Literally.  It just went WHOOSHHHHHH!  Then, it was gone. 

I can start by saying my brick experiences have been such a hard thing for me to accomplish, and they are far more rewarding than I could have ever imagined.  If you don't know, a brick workout is any workout where you combine two or more disciplines, such as a bike ride and a run or a swim and a bike ride. I did about 8 bricks over the course of 8 weeks, even doing two in one weekend!  Of those 8 brick workouts, 3 of them were done with my amazing friend, Amanda. 

Let me pause here and say I have amazing friends and family, Amanda being one of them.  Each of my friends and family has supported me through all of this, asking me how I was doing or simply taking a moment to say (or send me a text message) how proud of me they are.  Words and tears simply cannot explain how amazing this makes me feel, and I have to pause and say thank you to all of you. 

So back to bricks, we rode several times between 10 and 12 miles and then followed up with runs that were usually between 2 and 3 miles.  I.  Was.  Exhausted.  Thank the good Lord above that Amanda is a pretty awesome runner and an even better teacher and running coach.  She taught me to relax my shoulders, find good music, set attainable goals, and stop balling up my fists.  Those teeny tiny lessons have expanded running from something that I loathed into something that I tolerated, and more recently even something that I enjoyed completing. 

There, I said it.  I enjoy finishing a run.  I don't consider myself a runner in any sense of the word, but finishing up 2.5 miles during a sunrise with P!NK blasting in my ear buds has become a bit cathartic for me, and it's helped ease my anxiety a whole helluva lot lately. 

That being said, I regret not doing more brick workouts. 

I also have one more moment I regret.  About 8 weeks ago, I went down to ride with Amanda near Tom's Farm in Corona.  It was my first time riding there, and she warned me about a couple of hills.  I think I let myself get caught up in the warning and on the second to the last hill, I gave up, hopped off my bike and walked it.  Two words come to my mind as I type this: chicken and sh*t.  I regret hopping off my bike.  To this day I'm mad about it, but luckily I was mad enough that two weeks later I sent her a text message that said "I want a re-match with that hill." 

Needless to say, I did not walk my bike up the hill.  I huffed and I puffed and I blew that hill down, well, not really but you get the picture.  I wasn't speedy, I wasn't graceful, and I certainly wasn't lady like about it.  I said bad words, and even Amanda said I could call her names if I wanted to, as long as I was up at the top of the hill when I did it.  That is a moment I do not regret.  I'm grateful for that ride, and the 2.5 mile run that we did afterwards.  In that moment, I felt like I might actually be ready to do a triathalon. 

Before I sign off after this rambling story, I need to tell you that if you're reading this, you need to go read my friend Mae's blog.  She's getting an awesome opportunity to head to NYC and do a photo shoot at Weight Watchers because she is the epitome of a "Success Story" and they finally realized how amazing she is. 

Seriously, go read it.  Fall in love with Mae.  Wish you could snuggle with her awesome Boxer, Bowie.  Then thank me later. 

Control freak...

Here is a fact, I am a control freak. Totally. I need to plan everything. I have to be in control. If I want something, I plan out the necessary steps I need to take, I complete the steps, and I get what I want. It is easy to me, perhaps because I have practiced it my whole life.

When I was a child, I did not have rules. It sounds odd, but I did not really need rules because I was pretty strict on myself. Oh sure, there was the occassional "Do not run in the street" but it was followed by "unless you want to get run over by a car." That was all I needed to know. I studied fairly well, I loved all things or places educational, and I was fairly well behaved in public.

But there is always one thing I never controlled, food. Early on, it did not matter. I was not skinny, but I was active enough to be a sufficiently chubby but cute kid/teenager. After I stopped exercising, well the eating became my clearly obvious weakness.

I never had control when it came to food. I ate to celebrate. I ate to mourn. I ate when I was bored. I ate when I was nervous. I ate. I ate. I ate.

So when I joined Weight Watchers in 2011, I exercised control...for a while. I would be really good for days or even weeks, then I would lose control. Instead of eating a small portion of something I wanted, I waited until my desire grew so much that I would pratically overdose on it. I was a mess. I was not in control.

So what changed?

I surrendered control. I gave up trying to force my body into submission. I stopped kicking my own ass.

Now I spend more time doing what I want to do, and less time doing what I think I should do. I forgive myself for the bad things (buffalo wings) and I congratulate myself for the good things (spin classes).

I surround myself with the right things and people, but I am not one to shy away from guzzling down a beer or eating dinner out with my girlfriends. I will never be the girl who eats nothing but chicken and salads. Never.

But I eat chicken and salads. And pizza. And bread. And wine.

So here is the deal, since I gave up being so hard on myself I have made my weight loss journey easier.

That being said, I know I would lose weight faster if I gave up cocktails and fatty foods, but no one wants to see the bitch I would be if I did that.

activity review: bob harper's bob's workout #2

So about two weeks ago, I reviewed Bob Harper's "Pure Burn Pure Strength" workout.  Then about a week ago, I reviewed workout #1 from his dvd, "Bob's Workout."  Today, I'm going to tell you about the second workout in this dvd.  

I keep waking up early every morning, and instead of trying to go back to sleep like I would have in the past, I've been getting out of bed and starting my day.  One day a few weeks back, I set out to conquer Bob's Workout:

Brief re-cap from the first review I did:  This dvd is really his full 60 minute workout spread in to two-30 minute workouts.  It isn't like the first one is beginner and the second one is advanced, they are both advanced.  You can do workout one, workout two, or play both workouts back to back for a really intense 60 minute workout.  

So here goes, I pushed play on workout #2 and was immediately greeted by Bob explaining that this was mainly an upper body workout.  This was perfect because although I've been spinning 2 times each week, I have been struggling with getting a good upper body workout.  By an odd stroke of luck, I was just complaining about it to one of my spin friends, Angela, the night before.  Also, I had just purchased a set of 5 pound dumbbells and a small kettlebell at Walmart, both of which I figured I'd need down the line.

The dvd starts with a warm up, and it contained no burpees like last time.  Hooray!  It was mainly jumping rope, jumping jacks, sumo squats, and jumping horizontally over a jump rope (or imaginary line in the ground).  I completed this set with relative ease and I was shocked.  The January or February version of me would have been completed winded and doubled over.

(Insert my mini celebration for a non-scale victory here.)

Next up was plyometric push ups, or a push up on an incline (I did mine on the edge of a dining room chair) with a "pop" at the top of the push up.  Hard, but I did the best I could.

From there, Bob has the model grab hand weights and go into dumbbell presses. You could do these on a ball, on a bench, on a set of steps, or on the ground which I did.

Following that, you move straight into dumbbell rows or bent dummbell rows.

There is a bit of an upper body break for some squats, but before you know it you're off and moving again!  You quickly move through standing shoulder presses and bicep curls before you find yourself back at the starting point.  You do this about three more times (and here's the important part) without stopping or taking a break.

It isn't the first round that hurts, and the second round is really just a period of time in which I was sweating buckets.  But before I knew it, I was in the third set and as the sweat poured into my eyes and my triceps and biceps burned, I realized this was going to be a good work out.

There is a small set at the end of the workout that includes dead lifts, step ups, and some more squat exercise.  But you only do this once, and the model really struggles through this last set.  During the model's struggle, I caught my breath, wiped off my sweaty face, got a drink of water, and completed the workout.  Bob really kicked that poor model's butt!

Before I knew it, I was done and into the cool down and stretches.  The total time of the dvd was less than 30 minutes, but I stretched a bit more after Bob was finished.  I love stretching, and my muscles were nice and warmed up!

Pro's: The dvd is fast and effective.  In less than thirty minutes and with only one set of hand weights and a single kettlebell I was able to complete what I feel like was a great upper body workout.  Optional equipment would be a second (identical weight) kettlebell for the dead lifts (I just used my dumbbells), a jump rope, and a bench or a set of steps.  The model was attractive (he looked like Alex O'Loughlin).

Con's: The model sort of pooped out at the end, and they sort of stop and wait for him to catch up.  Now, I was hurting and sweating, but I didn't need all that extra time.  I ended up fitting in an extra set of dead lifts and some more cardio into his breaks.  Also, the cool down and stretches at the end simply aren't enough.  There are about two leg stretches and two arm stretches.  I need more.  It's no big deal, I just tacked a few extra stretches onto the end and I was all set.  Also missing are any dedicated ab exercises, although you do use those muscles to stabilized you throughout the dvd.

Overall, I really enjoyed the dvd.  I'll definitely be doing it more often, as I really feel like I want to tone and work out my upper body and torso.  

activity review: lady gaga - take 2

In March I posted a review of the Lady Gaga workout from Glamour magazine.  It was a great workout, and like I mentioned, I was done in 22 minutes.  

Well I liked it so much that I did it again, this time my body was being cranky so I added an extra song and an extra circuit.  Sometimes, when my body is bloated or feels icky, adding an extra workout perks me up.  If you think I'm nuts, your probably right.  

(Please don't read that incorrectly, I don't make myself workout when I'm in pain or sore.  I listen to my body.)

Songs #1-#4 stayed the same from my previous workout.  

Song #5

Won't Back Down (featuring Pink) by Eminem (4:26)

I dare you not to feel tough when you listen to this song.  Come on, Pink is freaking awesome.  

I started with 30 tricep kick backs.

Then I went into 30 glute extensions per side.

And finally I did two 30 second planks with a 15 second break in the middle.  I'm lame, I know.  

I still ended with The Last Song by The All American Rejects and kept it to about three minutes of cardio and two minutes of cool down and stretching.  

The whole thing took about 29 minutes for me to complete, and my Polar told me that I burned over 300 calories.  I plugged this into the activity calculator for a total of 6 activity points, but I know that if you're doing the math conversion (80 calories burned = 1 activity point) then I would have only gotten about 4 activity points.  

It's totally up to you, but as for me, I'm putting it in as 6.  Last week I ate every single activity point that I earned.  It was a bad week, I doubt I'll do that again.  

I hope I don't do that again.

Once again, this is a great way to do some circuit training in your own living room.  All I use is my iTunes, a towel, water bottle, and a set of hand weights.  This. Is. Simple.

I like simple.  

math lesson: greater than and less than

My mentality about food is finally changing. 

My attitude towards activity has actually been modified. 

I am becoming more aware of what I need to do in order to get what I want. 

This is how my mind works:

1.  I begin by being presented with a problem. 

Boneless buffalo wings are always a problem. 

2.  I let the problem consume me until eventually I consume it. 

Except that was the old me. 

3.  Before I consume the problem in order to destroy it so that it stops taunting me, I ask myself what is greater than my problem. 

I have come up with several interesting answers. 

If I have activity points for the week, then I make the ultimate decision that The buffalo wings are less than my activity points earned, therefore I can consume them.   

If I do not have any activity points or I know that I am not going to be doing any activity in the near future then my decision sounds more like The buffalo wings are greater than my activity points earned, therefore I am going to have to wait until I get my ass to the gym before I can cosume a buffalo wing. 

If I really am at fork in the road, and I haven't had a buffalo wing in a very long time and I don't think I can get my hands on one for a while after this occassion, then I ask myself a very important question.  Is my desire for that buffalo wing greater than my desire to healthy/skinny/lighter/etc? 

The answer is usually no. 

I want to be healthier. 

I want to weigh less. 

I want to feel better. 

Most of the time, a buffalo wing isn't going to get me to any of those feelings. 

Don't get me wrong, there are moments in my life when that buffalo wing is essential to my survival.  I don't know how or why it happens, but every now and then my "swapportunity" just isn't a viable option and I don't want a grilled chicken breast with hot sauce.  Sometimes, I make myself try every other healthy alternative over several days, until I finally decide that the fat little devil on my shoulder just will not shut up until I give her a damn buffalo wing. 

So I feed the urge, track the points and move on. 

I leave the guilt on the hot sauce soaked napkin.  

I forgive myself. 

I move on. 

activity review: lady gaga inspired workout routine

About a week ago, @cherielianne posted a workout on her blog that caught my eye.  To see the original blog (and you should, because her blog is way awesome!) then click here.  

Now because everything (and it's mother!) is on the internet these days, I did a quick search and found the Glamour online article here for a bit more advice and clarity before I gave this workout a try.  

Then, because it was my birthday weekend I put the blog, the article, and working out in the back of my mind and I ate pizza and drank beer.  Luckily, I didn't face a "+" sign at weigh in because I took an extra spin class last week and did Jillian's Yoga Meltdown dvd.  Thanks for planning ahead and not having any cupcakes or birthday cake, I was able to avoid a birthday gain.  Thank heavens!  

Monday after my birthday, the gift I purchased for myself arrived in the mail and I couldn't wait to use it!  I took some cash that friends and family had given me to buy workout gear and spin classes and I went to Bodytronics' website and bought myself a black and gold Polar FT7 heart rate monitor, because black is slimming after all!  

I was going to try the Gaga workout on Tuesday, but let's just pretend Tuesday didn't happen.  

So on Wednesday morning I dragged my butt out of bed at 6 o'clock and threw on some workout gear.  I went downstairs and adjusted my new heart rate monitor and was wetting the electrodes on the band as I put it on and then YEEEEOHHHHHHH!!!  I didn't think about how cold that water on my skin would be at 6 o'clock and before I'd had coffee.  Go ahead, laugh at me.  I certainly am laughing at myself.  

I walked into my living room, brought up my iTunes playlist that I made on Monday night, and started my workout!  

Song #1

Cold Wind Blows by Eminem (5:04)

I started with about one minute of active stretches like windmills and cherry pickers.  Then I went straight into alternating jumping jacks and air jump rope.  

Song #2

She's a B**** by Missy Elliot (4:01)

Don't judge me because I love this song, I feel as if when someone calls me a b**** that I've truly earned it and I just own up to it.  It's not always a bad thing.  

I started with 30 reps of plain old squats.  

Then I went into 30 reps of should presses.  

I followed that up with 30 plain old crunches.  

Then I jogged in places for a burst of cardio as the song was ending.  

Song #3

Born this Way by Lada Gaga (4:20)

Because you can't have a Gaga workout with out a Gaga song, right?
I started with 30 reps of bicep curls.

Then I went into 30 right side lunges.  

Following the lunges, I did 30 side crunches.  

Then I stood up and finished out the song by jogging in place again.  

Song #4

What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) by Kelly Clarkson (3:42)

Just try not to feel awesome when you workout to this song, I dare you.  It's a staple in most of my spin classes and I love it!
I opened up with 30 tricep extensions.  

Then I did 30 of the left side lunges.  (See above.)

Finally, I ended with Russian twists.  

There wasn't really time at the end of this song for a cardio burst, but I planned it that way so I could finish strong with my fifth and final song.  

Song #5

The Last Song by The All American Rejects (5:00)

I almost always end my workouts with this song and I have no really good reason why other than I am usually in a good mood when I hear it.  

I did about three minutes of alternating between jogging in place and jumping that imaginary jump rope again, then I started to bring it down for a minute or so and finally, I used the last minute of the song to stretch out my hamstrings, quads, gluteus extra maximus, and arms.  About the time that the song finished, so did I.  

All in all I would say it was an excellent workout, and I really enjoyed using my new heart rate monitor.  I was in the "fitness zone" for 21 minutes and couldn't talk much during that time, so I plugged 20 minutes of high intensity into the activity calculator for 4 Activity Points Plus.  I know everyone does this differently, and I've heard that you earn 1 Activity Point Plus for every 80 calories you've burned.  My Polar said I burned about 260 calories which is more than three points, but less than 4.  Honestly, I'm tracking 4.  Judge me if you'd like, but I felt as if that was a tough workout for me.  

The playlist rocked, the exercises were great because I got to choose them myself, and the fact that I was warmed up, working, and cooled down in about 22 minutes was a HUGE bonus.  So there you have it!  I'm sure I'll try it again, and if I find new exercises to share or new songs to add to the playlist, I'll let you know!  

activity review: dusting off my wii & wii fit

I was originally going to just call this post "activity review: wii fit" but then I realized I'd be lying to all of you, and myself.  The truth is that I have had some bad days, just over 1000 of them to be exact.  Let me re-cap.  

Back in 2009, my boyfriend and I decided to move in together.  He was preparing to graduate from college and join me in the working world, so we started looking for apartments.  Whoa, did the Lord have different plans for us.  The places we would have like to live were in the range of about $1500 per month, and when we started to do the math we realized that we could own our own home for that kind of money.  

That's right, we could buy a place to live cheaper than we could rent one.  

So we started looking.  

We made offers.  

And we looked.  

We made more offers.  

And we looked some more.  

This is where it gets ugly for me.  You see, this was all happening at a great time in my life.  I was in the 160 pound range and less than about fifteen pounds away from my goal and becoming a lifetime member at Weight Watchers.  I was eating right, living at home, exercising a lot, and on the road to a great life.  

Then, the stress hit.  I was so worried about finances that I stopped going to Weight Watchers so I could save the extra money every month.  We were house hunting each and every night and weekend, so I stopped meeting friends at the gym and taking classes on my own.  I wasn't happy with my current living situation (living with my parents) so I stopped going home to eat dinner with them and turned to fast food instead.  

Just before all of this, I had bought myself a Wii and my boyfriend had bought me the Wii Fit as a gift.  I apparently set it all up and tested it out a few times, and I will tell you why.  

Fast forward nine months.  We finally moved into our first home.  A two bedroom, one and half bath condo in a gated community and a perfect little yard for me to kill plants in.  It took us nine months and about 30 written offers to find this place, nearly another two months in escrow, and a month of superficial overhaul before we could move in.  Yah, if you did the math, it was nearly an entire year long process.  We started looking for houses in April 2009, we moved into our first home on March 25th, 2010.  

Crap.  

Then we had to put a LOT more work into the house.  

First, we tore apart the kitchen and we lived out of a closet.  Yup, Mike's dorm fridge and a box of pantry items.  Needless to say, we ate out a lot.  

Then we spent our evenings doing things like installing shower curtains (me, not pictured) and new shower heads (courtesy of Big Mike).  

And eventually what you see here, finally became a kitchen again, and someday I'll post pictures of it, but for now, just trust me.  It's better than the crap you see here.  

During that time, I had packed my Wii and Wii Fit away and had forgotten about it.  What a waste of money!  Nearly two years after we moved in, I got it out again, fired it up, stepped on, and it informed me that I had not only neglected it for about 1000 days, I had gained 15 pounds and was now considered obese.  

Thanks Wii, you're telling me like it is.  

The sad part was that I had already lost over fifteen pounds on this round of Weight Watchers before I stepped on the dang thing!  

Then what did my Wii do?  It made my stupid freaking little brown haired avatar on the screen bloat up like a balloon.  A big fat balloon.  

That was horrible.  I felt fat.  My avatar was fat.  At that point I wanted to throw it out the window.  

But I didn't.  I got on it.  I did 10 minutes of advanced step and 10 minutes of various yoga poses.  I earned 2 Activity Points Plus.  

Then I got off of it, exited the Wii Fit program and turned on my Netflix.  I put a couple of workout DVD's in my queue and decided that I wasn't going to be mad.  

After all, it wasn't my Wii's fault that it had to make my avatar fat, right?  

It was myself for making myself fat.  

There, I said it.  I am going to make friend with my Wii and the Wii Fit.  

Anyone have any other suggestions on Wii titles I can use to burn off this pudge?  After all, I wouldn't want that poor little cartoon girl on the screen to stay fat forever.  She deserves a happy, healthy, skinny life and so do I.

activity review: 30 day shred (level 1)

I know we've all seen it in the stores, most of us know people that have tried it.  Heck, if you're like me, you probably bought it in January of 2011 when Target had all of their workout DVDs on sale, but you only tried it once or twice and gave up.  

That's a fact.  Last year, when I was almost 200 pounds, I tried this DVD.  I didn't make it through the second circuit of level one (there are three circuits in each level).  

I digress.  

Let me introduce this workout properly:  This is a DVD created by Jillian Michaels that uses her "3-2-1" form of exercise.  What this means to you is that in her three levels of workouts on the DVD, she cycles through three minutes of  strength training, two minutes of cardio exercises, and one minute of abdominal work.  You complete this six minute cycle three times for a total of 18 minutes, combined with a 3 minute warm up and a 3 minute cool down.  Twenty four minutes total.  

Like I mentioned, I had picked it up last year when Target placed all of their workout gear on sale in January.  Check for it here.  I picked it up for $10 if I remember correctly, and I tried it twice last year and gave up both times. That's right, I stopped less than half way through the workout.  I was a fat ass.  Not only was I almost 200 pounds, I wasn't in any sort of shape at all.  Well, that's not true I guess.  Round is technically a shape.  

After seven weeks of walking and spin classes twice a week, I went back to it.  And I did it!  That's right, I kicked level one in the pants!  

Well not really, but the nice thing is that there is a modified beginner version for most of the exercises.  I can do this level a few more times and improve before I move up to level 2.  That will be a separate review.  

A few of the things you can expect from this DVD are: jumping jacks, jumping rope, squats, light weight arm curls and rows, and crunch abdominal exercises.  

The pro's: 

It's less than thirty minutes!  This is great if I need to get in a bit of activity before work.  

The pace is rather quick, meaning you don't do any exercise for more than one minute.  This keeps you from (a) giving up, (b) getting bored, or (c) getting really exhausted from one single thing.

You only use hand weights and a mat (optional) in this level, and in reality you don't even need the hand weights.  It's completely feasible to use cans or water bottles for the exact same results.  

There are two instructors in the rear of the studio showing you beginners and advanced modifications for most of the exercises.  

The con's:

I'm not exactly a huge Jillian Michaels fan.  I can't explain it, I just get irritated by her every once in a while.  

There aren't really moments to grab a drink of water.  I understand it's only 30 minutes, but I appreciate a brief chatty moment in an exercise DVD so I can slurp some H2O.  

Push up's.  There, I said it.  I hate push up's.  Always have, always will.  There are two sets of push ups in the beginning of circuit 1.  I did them, I lived.  They just bug me for some odd reason.  

So there you have it, take what you will from my review.  I'm going to attack level 1 a few more times and I'll review levels 2 and 3 when I get to them.  For the time being, I rated myself between a medium and a high level of intensity for the workout, so that's somewhere between 3 and 6 Activity Points Plus for me.  It's up to you what you call it for yourself.  

Also worth mentioning is that a friend of mine recommended Collage Video to me a while ago, and while I haven't ordered anything from them as of yet, I know they have this DVD.  Click here for price and availability. They also have a place for you to view part of the DVD to see if you like it.