Improvising

Sadly, the snow is still a mess! The entire city was shut down for the day and the snow came on Friday. Not only that, but we're expecting 6-12 inches again tomorrow. Hmm... if they can't clear the first storm what's going to happen with this one? Oh what an awful mayor we have! The good news is that the National Guard is here to help those who are stranded without power, water, etc. It's sad that something so routine in other places totally cripples our city!

This weather has gotten in the way of my marathon training so I had to improvise. I was busy shoveling and walking everywhere I went this weekend so I burned a lot of calories. Actually, it was a total of 2900 for the week! I did not get in my 10 mile run though, and I did not think I'd make it today either. Instead, I decided to do cardio for an hour and 40 minutes because that's how long it would take me to run that distance anyway! Soooo, I did Plyo X followed by Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance. It felt AWESOME! I did better than before one both of the workouts even though I did them back to back! That was a total of 1435 calories! LOVE IT!!!

Plyo + The Biggest Loser

So today I was way tired in the morning and didn't workout. I had a few hours off in the afternoon, so I put on The Biggest Loser on DVR and did plyo with the book. It was awesome! I love that show, and I'm pretty sure again I pushed harder not having the DVD on. Works for me to get through this week! I'm so looking forward to the variety of recovery week. I'll have to add some runs in there to get ready for the race.

Class tonight! I am so happy I got in my plyo workout! Woo hoo!

I was definitely in a flop sweat...

Plyo AGAIN

As you can probably tell from my title, I'm getting a little sick of plyo. I was so dreading it this morning! I find it kind of boring even though it's an awesome workout. I actually burn almost as many calories in the strength workouts, but still. It does rock. I threw the DVD in anyway, because, really, is there any other choice? I made it through as expected, and I burned 826 calories! As the workout went on, I actually stopped dreading the fact that I was doing it. It turned into an excellent workout... not shocking, but I definitely finish much happier than when I started! I also used my new running shoes for this workout, and my feet felt AMAZING!!!

Tomorrow I'd like to try to make it a doubles day but I'm going to jog instead do Cardio X. The half marathon is quickly approaching and I have done very little to prepare! That's gotta change!
I have nothing else exciting to report except that it's not snowing today like it was yesterday! Woo hoo!

Plyo Lovin'

Day 2 of my reinvigorated phase 2 is going well. I will (I promise) put up some results photos although I don't have the day 1 photos. On the ex's computer and couldn't get them off... ugh. At least I'll have these and I can compare after 60 days! I was sore this morning when I woke up, so I guess I worked some muscles yesterday! Plyo is as plyo does... I like it but it's not my favorite. I burned a boatload of calories though, so that's good! Today it was 808 calories! Woo hoo! I think my favorite move is the military march or maybe the gap jump. The gap jump reminds me of when I was dancing all the time and also when I was a kid and pretended my bedroom floor was water with a bunch of alligators in it. I saw an episode of John and Kate Plus 8 where the kids do that too... is that something that all kids do? Weird. :)

Have a fab day X'ers! BRING IT!

PS - Bring it just makes me think of the movie Bring It On when the girl says "It's already been broughten!" Love it!

Positive Attitude = Enhanced Results?

I was reading Shape magazine today (the one with Julia Louis-Dreyfus who looks awesome on the cover), and they mentioned that positive attitudes about workout results tend to keep people on track. So basically, if you believe you'll reach your goals, you're more likely to stick with your workout. I believe it was a study that was done at Duke University... anyhow, I really believe it! In my own way, I'd say that feeling positive about my results definitely keeps me working out and it makes me try harder. Today I did plyo, and I was in such a positive mood about it because I really feel differences in my fitness and my shape. I don't have a scale with me here, but my clothes definitely fit better than they did two weeks ago. It feels like my hard work is paying off which in turn makes me want to work harder. I love it!

Those squat switch jumps KICK MY BUTT. Today I used less of the modification for these and did a lot more of the full switch jump. I found myself not going at the exact speed of Tony, but I definitely used more explosive jumping. It felt great! My heart was definitely pumping! I'm thinking my HRM might've gone a little haywire because the high heart rate it recorded was ridiculous (223 bpm)! Usually when it loses the connection from the strap to the watch it will record over 220 bpm or 0 bpm. I tend to think that's what happened because I kept looking at it after my hardest exercises and it was only in the 170s or 180s at the most. Seems high, but I recover really quickly when we take it down a notch.

Time for some lunch! I have some turkey breast and salad stuff today. Yummy!

HRM Report: 950 calories?!?!?

Plyo Day 9

I had to think for a second about which day it was today! Plyo went much better for me today. I did it first thing in the morning before breakfast. Last week, I definitely felt wasted afterwards, but I feel great right now! I took fewer breaks (just followed the ones on the DVD) and I felt better on a lot of the exercises. I must've gained some endurance this week because I only burned 856 calories this time around. Only... ha! I love it!

I'm driving home today for a week and a half. We have off of school. I'm going to really concentrate on my eating. Everyone will be working during the day, so I'm going to get up when I want to, work out, and eat healthy! I think it's going to be a great recharging time for me. Every break thus far during grad school I've been studying or searching for internships. I'm all set with an internship, and I have nothing to study, so it's me time! And family time and friend time of course!

Plyo WHAT?!?!?!

Before I get into today's workout, I'll chat a bit about how I felt today. So I woke up, and wow, I was really energized! I think it was partly physical from the workout yesterday but also mental because I felt like I had accomplished something really tough! I was NEVER an athlete, so doing things like this as an adult is awesome. In fact, I've decided I'm going to be way fitter at 30 than I ever was at 20! So anyway, I was definitely sore but good sore today. My lats are feeling it, my chest is feeling it... so I know I did some good work. I think I might have been losing form a little bit in the pushups because my neck is a little tired today, so I'm going to have to be conscious of that next time.

I wasn't good about food yesterday, but today I'm right on track. I'm not following the exact meal plan as written. I'm doing the food groups thing where I eat 7 proteins, 4 veggies, etc. It's definitely a lot of food but I'll need it! Let's just say plyo was TOUGH today! There were a few times I decided I needed another 30 seconds to rest so I hit pause and walked around while my heart rate came down a bit. Again, Thank God I have a HRM! It's my saving grace in this workout. Today it told me I burned 1,085 calories! Are you freaking kidding me? That's insane! My legs were burning a ton during some of those moves. Some of them I didn't do double time like the people on the video but I'm sure by day 90 I'll be working it like them.

Phew. That was tough! I'm glad I did it though! Now I have to pull myself together so I can do a take home final exam. Three straight hours of writing... woo. Isn't that fun? Only one more week till a little vacation though, so I'm going to work hard for the next few days!

Back tomorrow when I bring it once again for the next workout!