The Turbo Challenge

^Pump it!! lol

I’ve decided since I finished ChaLEAN Extreme I would go back to my first true love, Turbo Jam! I was still doing Turbo at the same time as Extreme (weekly with Kathy & Jola), yet I couldn’t give it the full attention it deserves. I wish I could find the notebook that I used to write my exercises/food journal in because at one point I had done Turbo for over 30 days in a row one summer. :( man I want to find that sucker so I can beat it. Oh well, 30 days will be my goal, hopefully I can pass that. I think I’m going to throw into the mix of Turbos- Burn Intervals, Burn it off, Get Lean Intervals and the Fat Burn Challenge. Those are fun/intense workouts that are not strictly weight lifting. And of course I’ll have to hit up Ballys as well because they do get 44 of my hard earned dollars every month. :( Then around July I plan on starting a new round of ChaLEAN Extreme.

Anyone can join me on this challenge if they’d like! I love company.

What I’ve got to work with:

20 minute
AB Jam
Cardio Party 1
Turbo Sculpt
Total Body Blast
Kickin’ Core
Cardio Party 3
Punch, Kick & Jam
Booty Sculpt & ABS
3T
Fat Blaster

Plus I hope I can get Pam to let me borrow Cardio Party 2 and Lower Body Jam whenever I get bored with what I’ve got. ;) wink wink Pam.
I also have the Slim in 6 workouts and Power 90 (not the extreme one) but I think I’ll save those for another challenge, they just don’t get me as excited.


And I’m really excited for whenever TURBO FIRE comes out. That’s going to be amazing. :) I was in a live beachbody chat with Chalene and heard her describing it. I can’t wait!!

IT'S TIME TO PARTY, MOVE YOUR BODY!!
Leaving you with some turbo pride-


^post workout

Pam & Cat Do Turbo Episode: 2 million

Mt. Everest Turbo Climb



Yesterday Pamela & I had a fun workout together and I’d thought I’d share our journey! We haven’t Turboed together in quite awhile, well actually we did Kickin’ Core the night before around 11pm but before that it was a longgg time. I got to Pamela’s house and she wrote out our workout on the dry erase board and then our adventure started…

The Game Plan:

20 minute Turbo Workout
20 minute Run
5 minute cool down walk
10 minute lifting with the bands
Extreme Abs
Recharge




The 20 minute video was fun start, we rode that party train and then ran outside right when we finished. It was 85 degrees out and I was burning up! But Pamela kept talking to me through it so I lasted. She even said, “If Chalene told you to push harder, would you?” Of course, so I pushed harder. Lol





When we got back to her house we did endurance with the toning bands, I tried to remember the routines from PK & J and 3T. We looked like Turbo Puppets :)





Next it was time for Extreme Abs which is a killer, I love that AB routine!! Then we cool downed and stretched to Recharge, which I admit I don’t do often enough. It was a lot of fun, a good mix of both Turbo & ChaLEAN Extreme and of course it's great to workout with a friend! :)

Movie Review for "Angels and Demons"

I just came back from seeing the movie with Mat and I have mixed opinions. I understand that books need to be changed to fit into the wonderful world of cinema; however, this one was changed a lot. Within the first five minutes key actions/characters/relationships (in my opinion) were completely different, not developed whatsoever, or entirely left out, MAJOR characters. Even major themes were hardly touched on or explained for the viewing audience, like the conflict of science and religion.


I think that for someone who has read the book, which was great, very suspenseful, dramatic and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, the movie will be a letdown, I’m sorry to say that. For someone who has not read the book, the movie might be a better experience.
However, it was really cool, both when reading & when watching, to know that I have been to many of the places in the film!

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY KEV!!

Since you can't get on facebook (which is almost a crime) I figured I would post you a birthday message here.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEV!!






Miss you buddy. :)
It's sad having "Kev & Cat" days with only Cat... :( boo. It's not so exciting doing the rounds at Target or watching movies by yourself. But keep up the good work!

5 Star Day

I found this article last night on Lucy's Blog on self.com. I think that it's really interesting & motivating, I'm going to give it a shot! Here is the article:


Lose Weight Without Even Trying

The idea is so simple and yet it's helped me lose 25 pounds and get in the best shape of my life after decades of dieting: I finally took the broad strokes approach of thinking healthy. Just like SELF tells us all to do.

Here is how it works: You earn a star for every "good" behavior that day, and your goal is to earn five stars. It all starts with sleeping, since if you're tired, you much more apt to reach for the cookies and doughnuts in the afternoon for energy. Heck, if I'm tired I'm more apt to start my day with a sugary treat of pastry or starchy breakfast like a bagel, and that means sending my body onto a sugar roller coaster of highs and lows for the rest of the day.

So ...

Star 1: Sleep well. This can be defined however you like. Some people only need six hours to feel rested, others need nine. I find that it changes from day to day for me and I can be OK one night on less than seven and then whooomph! I crash and my body needs a good eight. So it's changeable, but be honest. Are you really rested? Did you struggle to get out of bed or bounce up and do a sun salutation? For me, that is my first sign that I got rest—I want to get out of bed and greet the day.

Star 2: Exercise. For me the morning is the easiest time to just get it done. Put on the sweats and the sneaks before I even think about it. I even lay out my gear the night before so I don't spend precious minutes searching for that other left sock, or my tunes, or my perfect top combo for the weather (I wear like four layers when it's cold out, from thermal to wind stopper) and the reason for laying it all out is to get out quickly, to suit up without waking the dog, the hubby or the daughter. Then I'm out the door to meet my running partner or teammates for an early bike ride.

Star 3: Eat healthy. Once you've slept and worked out, this is easier. Just reach for protein. For me that's a yogurt and fruit and granola...Then I am on my way to a five-star day. Halfway there, in fact, since as long as I eat healthy snacks (nuts, fruit, dried fruit and trail mix) and a healthy salad and fish and veggies for dinner, I don't want to "blow" it and dig into the ice cream late at night. Sometimes I do and then it's OK because you can't have a five-star day every day, but once I start building it I think, don't wreck it like some sand castle kicked over by a petulant child. Just keep building this five-star day.

Star 4: Stretch. This is very important for those of us who are either overtraining or injured or just sore from sitting at a desk and working. I am all of the above. So I need to stretch and also have a bath sometimes with Epsom salts or do anything to relieve the achy soreness. It can also be a massage (but I don't treat myself to those often) or a hot tub/Jacuzzi at the gym. I define stretching as anything I do that is nice to my muscles.

Star 5: Talk yourself up. This is very important for those of us who, sadly, get a little down on ourselves despite our best efforts to be positive. OK, that would be me. If I am slow on a bike ride or a little off in any way, like I got snappy at someone at work (sorry all you amazing people at SELF, I do sometimes show impatience when I don't mean to, usually when we are moving fast through a meeting-packed day and the deadlines are looming and the pages to ship are piling up and I am trying to accomplish it all in a very tight amount of time), then I feel I should take a breath and slow down and be present and instead I sometimes feel ungracious. I forget to say thank you for a great job well done. Consider this my mea culpa. Then I ruminate on what a bad person I am and the stress of that makes me want to eat...ice cream! Yes, nutty but true: I get down on myself and then reach for soothing carb treats. I have to not be down on myself and not be self-destructive, both. So when I manage to be nice to everyone in my world: my kids, my hubby, my mom, my brother, my dad, my coworkers, my friends, my teammates, the people I see as I go through my day, etc., then I feel like a good person and then I find I am more positive about...me!


These are all common sense steps for having a great day/living a healthy life yet the idea of achieving a gold star makes it sound more appealing! :)

Simple Smiles 2- A Good Book

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”
-Joseph Addison

I think that quote says it best. We exercise our bodies in order to get stronger, energized and more in control. When you read a good book you doing the exact same things, but for your mind. Just like when you workout and get all your muscles moving, you get the brain to function in different ways also.
Why else would I be a dorky English major if I didn’t love to read? I don’t think I would be able to handle it if I didn’t find some passion in it.
I can already hear the excuses for not reading, “it’s boring” “I don’t have time” and a typical, “I hate reading.” Well then you aren’t reading what’s interesting to you! I know books are assigned in school, but outside of those readings you have to read what you enjoy in order to make the experience more worthwhile. If you find a book that you actually liked you would fly through it and make time for it. It doesn’t matter if it’s fiction, non fiction, cosmo magazine, biographies, sci fi, celebrity gossip, whatever! Just read something!
Reading helps to relieve stress, entertain you, let you escape from the commotion of everyday life into a fantasy, stimulates your brain, improves your vocabulary, improves your memory and your creativity, and teaches you life lessons.


Here are some that I’d like to recommend-

The Jessica Darling Series- Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds, Forth Comings, Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

The Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Path

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Run Like a Mother

Saturday I completed my first 5k with Pamela and Jola. It was a lot of fun and I’m extremely proud to have completed it! :) The race was called Run Like a Mother and it was at Metro Park. I’m ready for my next one, Pam let’s sign up!
Props to Pamela she took 2nd in our age group!



Last Friday before the race I could not walk. I was in severe pain; I didn’t even go to work. Today Chalene Johnson’s facebook status was-

“Reading very interesting info bout 'overtraining'. Do u take at least 1 day a week and I mean zero exercise on that day?”

My answer would have been- no, not really. Even on a “rest day” I manage throwing in some turbo video or hitting the gym. That’s a bad idea I hear!

Overtraining is an emotional, behavioral and physical condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity.

I was talking to Kathy about this today before we did Punch, Kick & Jam and Extreme ABS. My mind tells me, “keep going, why should you stop a day?!” when my body starts to say “slow down, rest a bit.” Who do you think I listen to? My rude, pushy mind. I’m going to try and enjoy an actual rest day so that these painful leg days do not keep coming back.

Simple Smiles

I was thinking that I’d like to blog each week about something that makes me smile, makes my life easier in some way or just something that I enjoy doing/eating/whatever! Since I’ve already wrote about Turbo and CX I think I’ll save that for a later, we all know I can go on and on and on about that. ;)

For my first week it will be something simple.

I love Orville Redenbacher’s Smart Pop 100 calorie bags of Kettle Corn.
They are quick to make (2 minutes or hit the popcorn button on the ol’ microwave) and enjoy! I have a massive sweet tooth or 32 of them, so I like the Kettle Corn brand, but I know they have regular butter popcorn too. It's a good snack to munch on because the bag is bigger than you'd think, very satisfying.