Day 19: Core

I swear, I started out saying this was for me, but the more I do it, the more I see results, the more it the reason is for Zach. I'm looking better, feeling better, and it's kinda fun to get chased around the house.

CORE! I love this one. I swear, I could do this series all the time. When I first started PiYo, I always forgot to pull in the ab muscles, so I didn't feel it as much. Once I started pulling those in, I started feeling the work more, and I can still feel it when I'm done. It always kills me once I get done, too, how I lounged in bed, internally whining about how I didn't want to get up and work out. There's something we all need to remember about that inner voice that whines and tells us we can't, etc. - it's a liar. That little voice is like every politician in existence - if its lips are moving, its talking a bunch of crap. I'll give ya a chart - print it off and put it in your bathroom, bedroom, or anywhere in the house you may need it:

This bad boy is on the back of my bathroom mirror, as well as this one: 

This week is week 4 for me. I've seen changes in my clothes, but I couldn't tell a difference while standing in the shower. I still can't entirely, but it's getting better. My husband says he noticed a difference, but he's been gone the last 2 weeks and then some, so I'm thinking his memory is off. Then there's mom, who says I look fine and need to stop. The thing is, though, she's only seeing me in my clothes, and as I sit here in my workout gear, bare belly exposed to the world, I know I'm not done yet - and no, I don't have any eating disorders or see myself as a fat blob, because I'm not one. I'm trying - nearly 4 years after our wedding day - to take off those ten pounds I gained right after we got married. I made poor choices, and now I have to account for those and fix what I screwed up. 

If I can do it, you can!

Day 18: Sweat

Day 17 was strength, and although I did them, I didn't see them as anything to write home about.

The lovely ladies in my accountability group helped me realize that this is a 16 week program, not an 8 week, so I revamped my sheet today. You're welcome to it, if you like

I filled in and crossed out what I already had, so at least I don't have to start over. With so much homework to contend with, it's tough finding time to do these, but do them I must! 

I have a love/hate relationship with Sweat. I honestly think it lasts a bit longer than it needs to, and of all the workouts, it's got some of my least favorites on there. Oh well - they won't do themselves, and I'm loving the progress I'm making - as is my husband. 

Day 16: Sweat

This is my workout area. Not pictured is the box that the cat has been playing with for a few days. Ya know how I always say 'If I can do it, you can'? This is what I'm working with. It's a pretty small area to play in, so I mean it when I say that. 

As you know, I've had a sinus infection for the better part of a week. Today, I finally don't hurt when bending over, so I decided to hit up PiYo again. I only had to stop a couple times for a tissue, so I'm calling it a win, but Lord have mercy am I tired now, and there are still 6 minutes left of the exercise. 

When going back to exercising after an illness, do what you can until you can go back to normal. Since I made it 24 minutes out of 30, I'm definitely calling it a win. The last 5-6 minutes are just stretches, anyway. 

Zach comes home today, so this is a short post - I gotta toss dinner in the crock pot, shower, and eat something before headed to the airport. If I can do this, you can! Happy Saturday!

Illness interruption

I spent a few days where I didn't take my allergy pill like an idiot, and I worked in the dusty basement of the library. Between that and all the pollen and other allergens fall drops on us, plus stress from a pending interview, pending practical exams coming up at the end of this week - I let my immune guard down and wound up with a wicked horrible sinus infection. I've had a headache for the better part of a week, with pain searing past my eyes, and all I want to do is sleep. I got 12 hours Sunday night, 9 last night, and I'm still tired. Thankfully, I went to the doctor Sunday afternoon and got antibiotics, so at least there is an end in sight, and my headaches stopped sometime in the wee hours of Monday morning.

That being said, I had today off from work, so I thought I would spend today working on homework and recuperating. I haven't done any PiYo since Thursday, as bending forward just made my skull feel like it would split in two. I managed to drop the soap in the shower this morning, and bending over to retrieve it didn't make my head hurt, so if I can get up some energy later today, I may try to get back in the swing of things.

That being said, I've had a few questions as to what PiYo is. PiYo - a contraction of Pilates and Yoga - is a low intensity workout that only uses your own personal body weight to achieve results. I'm on the tail end of week 3 of 8 weeks, and I'm already able to fit into dress slacks that I haven't been able to wear in 7 years! Who knew? Here's a video that does more justice than any explanation I could come up with:

Now, the important thing to remember is it doesn't matter how much you work out - if you're not fixing your diet to be more healthy, you're not going to see results quickly. Milky Ways and Milk Duds do not help get those 6 pack abs or that hourglass figure. It may be hard at first, but I can tell you from personal experience that skipping the junk food aisles while grocery shopping gets easier with practice. I can sail on down them now and not even think twice. I'm also not saying you have to permanently banish donuts from your diet, either - just make sure everything is in moderation. Honestly, once you eat less and less of the junk, you'll truly stop craving it altogether.

If you decide you want to try this, please feel free to order it here. If you have any more questions, just ask! There is a comment box below, or you can email me at chelsieschuette@gmail.com.

Remember, if I can do it, you can!

Day 15: Strength Intervals

What is it with the lazy days lately? I managed to get nothing done in the 6 hours between getting up and going to work (other than watching the Sex and the City marathon), so I'm doing my workout now. Strength intervals! The title alone scares me. Also, I don't plan on changing twice before hitting my jammies for the night, so I'll be doing this in my work clothes - this should be a feat in itself.

Tomorrow is supposed to be an off day, but Saturday brings working from 9-5, followed by a girls night that will contain pizza, brownies, alcohol, and possibly candy. I'll be doing my workout tomorrow sometime instead so I can really enjoy myself Saturday.

Ok, here we go!

......

That can only be described as delightfully awful. Within the warm up, with all the squats and lunges, she introduces a slight peek into TurboFire, as one of those moves has been used in that program. Once I get better at this program, it'll be no problem, but after a day of not feeling productive and not caring, this is not what I had in mind for an end to the day. Know what, though? I'll be glad I did it tomorrow.

If I can do it, you can!

Day 14: Core

I woke up today wanting to just go back to bed. Men are so lucky they don't have to deal with all the garbage that goes on during period week. I forced myself out of bed, and while the coffee maker did its thing, I popped in the core workout. If this isn't what's best for cramps,  I don't know what is.

I suck at side planks - my wrists aren't very strong, and eventually I get a sharp pain in my wrists, so I don't do as many of those as the rest of them do, but I was able to get a few in. One day I will get them! I promise you, though, if you keep up with these exercises - do as many as you can along with Chalene - you will not only feel it the next day, you will see results.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm a visual learner. That being said, here's this lovely poster:

When you're doing some of these exercises, you may think "how is this supposed to help me tighten this muscle?" First off, thinking that Chalene is going to steer you wrong is only going to lead to that nasty little voice in your head telling you that you've just wasted money on these DVD's. Nobody likes that voice - it's a complete liar, and you should tell them to shut up and get out now. Second, All your muscles are connected through ligaments, so all muscles are attached to each other in one way or another. My point? If she tells you to bring your knee up to meet your elbow, do it. You'll be working out your obliques, which are those lovely muscles on the sides of your stomach, and when these are toned, they essentially act like a corset and give you that hourglass shape every woman wants. Love your muscles, and they'll love you back!

That being said, I need to get to work. Remember, if I can do it, you certainly can!

Day 13: Buns

*Disclaimer: Guys, this is more of a girlie post, so if the mention of feminine products, Midol, and cramps make you queasy, go do your workout and come back tomorrow.*

I got up this morning with a headache. Actually, I went to bed with a bad headache, and woke up with the toned down version. We all get these at least once a month - the cramps that think they need to reside inside your skull while the ones in your uterus wage World War 3. Welcome to Aunt Flo. As I laid in bed, contemplating calling in sick, not wanting to get up and deal with the world, I had an internal dialog going:

Me: My head hurts.
Brain: I know, I can feel it.
M: I don't feel like working out today. I don't feel like doing much anything today.
B: Get up and do your workout. It'll help ease the abdominal cramps, and it'll probably help the headache as well.
M: I don't wanna.
B: Chelsie Louise!

Fine. I got out of bed. I hate it when my brain turns into my mom and uses my middle name against me. But ya know what? My internal waistline doesn't hurt near as bad as it did when I was lounging in bed.

Ok, boys, you can come back now. BUNS! That is what we're doing today - or did, rather. It's on disc two, along with the Core workout, and since I'm starting week 3, I hadn't gotten to this one yet. I couldn't do the whole thing, 'cause I gotta shower and eat before work (see, this is why you get up earlier). I suggest wearing tennis shoes for this one. I didn't, and I had some trouble. I may redo this one when I get home tonight, just so I can actually get the workout in, as I feel like I jipped myself by hanging out in bed and wallowing in self pity.

One of the exercises she does is called bowlers - it's the finishing stance you wind up in after throwing the ball down the lane, and after bowling with my high school for 4 years, I can honestly tell you you'll feel those tomorrow.

If I can do it, you can do it!

Day 12: Define: Upper Body

Today is definitely a fall day. It's thunderstorming, it's chilly, and I have my pumpkin candles lit. Loving today! It is, however, a bit cold in the house. I refuse to turn on the heat, so I decided to use PiYo to warm up today. The upper body exercises are only about 20 minutes, so it doesn't take long to do.

My core was already sore (no rhyme intended), but I still managed to get a killer workout in - my obliques are screaming at me right now, and it's AWESOME! My favorite part about PiYo so far is how much I enjoy it. My pants are proof that I've been sticking with it, as I was able to wear a pair of slacks to church yesterday that I haven't been able to fit into in a couple years. My jeans now need a belt in order to keep them on my waist. It. Is. Phenomenal!

This is the start of week 3, which means I have 5 weeks to go! I can't wait to see what I look like in 5 weeks! If I can do it, you can!

Day 10 & 11: Sweat & Core

Day 10: I worked all day yesterday, and Zach had to go back to Florida, so by the time I got home, I had no desire to workout. I spent the evening watching Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with my husband and getting as much of him as possible before I had to drive him to the airport drop off location today. I decided to do both workouts today instead. SWEAT! It definitely makes you sweat like crazy. It's 40 minutes long, I made it about 30 minutes before I started getting nauseous. Since I still have core to do, I decided to take the last 10 minutes to recoup some energy. My legs are shaking, I'm sweating from every pore, and the cat wants nothing to do with me. This is awesome!

Day 11: Holy Core. This was the reason I bought the DVD in the first place, as my abs are in serious need of work. I may very well fall asleep in church today, and there's no way I'm wearing heels like I had originally planned. My legs are shaky from the Sweat, and my stomach is delightfully pained from the Core. I am definitely going to need a nap later, and I still have homework to do!

I don't think I'll be doing these two together anymore, as that is just much too much work for one day. I'll be getting up early next Saturday to do it before going to work at 9:30. Remember, if I can do it, you can do it!

Day 9: Define: Upper Body

Real quick here, then I have to hop in the shower and get to work. Thankfully, Define: Upper Body is only 20 minutes long, as I didn't sleep well last night and let myself sleep in til 7:40 this morning. I was tired, I was cranky, and I wasn't very happy about my husband asking if I was ever going to get out of bed today. He was joking, he asks me this a lot, but I was in no mood for it. I've done my PiYo, I have my chocolate mocha heating up on the stove (thank goodness for those Starbucks VIA packets), and my mood is improved considerably. I'll have to slam some yogurt for breakfast when I get to work, but that's ok - it's only a 3.5 hour shift, and then I get lunch. I can handle that.

I ran out of Shakeology a few weeks ago, and since funding was a bit tight from paying off the credit card for our Florida trip, I ran to the local vitamin shop and picked up a can of Raw protein mix. It's not near as good as Shakeology, so I think I'll be putting in an order for that soon.

After yesterdays constant rain, it is a gorgeous fall day out today - high 50's, just a little chilly, and most of our windows are open to the burglar stops with the A/C kicked off. Perfect day for reading, but I have to go to work. So, have a lovely Thursday! Don't forget to keep the 9/11 families in your prayers today, as I'm sure 13 years without their loved ones is no easier than the first year, especially today. God bless you all, and keep moving forward!

Day 8: Core

I went ahead and did yesterday's workout (Define: Lower Body) along with Monday's last night. Considering we went bowling, and I used muscles I haven't used regularly since high school (GO BRONCHOS!), I was already a bit sore in certain places. Then I did my PiYo. I love PiYo, but never in a million years did I think yoga and Pilates could make a person sore like weight (as in dumbbell) based exercises. Boy, was I wrong. I did the core today, and since it worked a few areas in the legs as well, I had to modify it a bit so I would actually be able to stand up and walk today at work without the help of Aleve. Then I got to work...

I spent 5 hours in the library basement tonight, and as soon as my feet hit the floor, my boss asked if I could put the donations up on the shelves for her to sort through (into the book fair to be sorted by genre, Goodwill, recycling, or to be placed on the library's Amazon page), but before that, could I bring down the new donations from upstairs? I internally whined, cried, and whimpered, but I dutifully said yes and took the cart up to collect everything. I was always, always, ALWAYS told by daddy to "lift with your knees, not with your back," so I always do. Needless to say, I got yet another workout from lifting all those heavy, book laden boxes onto the cart, dragging the cart to the elevator, off the elevator, and lifting the heavy boxes again onto the floor. It was a long 5 hours. I'm having a glass of wine to celebrate my survival.

Thankfully, tomorrow is Define: Upper Body. I work another 11 hour shift, so it's quite possible I either won't get an update on it on here, or it'll be late in doing so, as it is now. Thankfully, tomorrow's 5 hours in the basement are just sorting books onto the book fair shelves, so unless I box a few full shelves up, there shouldn't be heavy lifting involved.

Oh, and did I mention I'm fighting a sore throat on top of this? Yeah. Not fun. Enough about me! What have you been doing today to

?

Day 6: Sweat

Pumpkin flavored stuff is out, a new semester has begun, football season has descended, and soon we will hear and see commercials for all things Halloween. I've already purchased a few Halloween-esque movies for the coming weeks, Hocus Pocus being one of them.

I took a week off between weeks one and two, as school was starting up again, and I prefer to really dig into that week and see what I'm up against. Now that I know this is manageable, I started week two of PiYo. I was supposed to start yesterday, but Zach bought an Xbox One and had it all hooked up, which means he unhooked our Blu-Ray player. Guess where my PiYo disc was? Yep, in the Blu-Ray, and I couldn't find where he'd stuck it. This morning I found it, and today was a sweat day. They call it that for a reason. 20 minutes in, I had to pause the DVD in search of cooler clothing, and now I'm thinking a nap may be in order shortly. Holy good workout, and I was able to stretch out the sore muscles from bowling this weekend. I'll either have to do today's workout later, or claim yesterday as my rest day and push everything else back so I'm doing it Friday.

I can feel my legs getting stronger, my headaches are less frequent, and my overall feeling is just generally better. I've been reading my Bible more, as well as spending more time with the Father in private, so I've also got a more positive outlook on every day life, and both mom & Zach have mentioned a noticeable difference in the amount of swearing I've been doing. Zach also mentioned I don't seem to get as annoyed or let things bother me as much as I used to.

So, what does my improvements mean for you? Come closer, I'll give you a hint: If I can do it, you certainly can. Isn't that fun? Now, what was that saying I used a few months back? Oh yeah!