Things have changed…

As you can see, it’s been quite some time since I have posted.  That is because everything in my life has changed.  My job, my home, my hobbies, even my hair – yep, I’m going blonde (no pics to post right now, but I’ll work on that)!

I wore that uniform well! 🙂

First things first, I am officially a civilian now – my tour with the U.S. Coast Guard has ended.  When I joined the military I was sure I would be a lifer.  Both of my parents retired from the military and I thought I would follow suit.  But, of course, life has a way of changing plans but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  While I may miss the Coast Guard sometimes, the decision to get out was one that my husband and I decided upon as a family and we know it was the best for us.  He will remain active duty, which leads me to the next BIG change.

We’ve moved to SoCal!  HOLLA!  The hubs got stationed in San Diego which could not have worked out better.  We are out of the cold and snow of Sault Sainte Marie and into the sun and fun of California.  While I always considered myself to be an East Coast girl, I definitely think I can get used to living here.  We found ourselves a beautiful home that is TWICE the size of the one we had in Michigan and we are enjoying filling it up.

Image courtesy of http://www.medifast1.com

The third big change is that I have started a new job already.  While in the Coast Guard I found my passion for fitness and started working as a personal trainer.  As a trainer a majority of my clients were weight loss clients.  I absolutely loved being a part of the weight loss process because I know what an impact weight loss can play on health, happiness and overall quality of life. So, I decided to take my passion for fitness and weight loss and my knowledge of diet and nutrition  (70-80% of weight loss is nutrition, not exercise, in case you weren’t aware) and go to work for Medifast as a weight control counselor.  I typically wouldn’t get behind a weight loss plan like this because I think everyone should learn proper nutrition, however that is what this company does.  Yes, you have meal replacements, but we also teach you how to choose and prepare healthy and nutritious meals.  Plus, once you hit your goal we don’t just show you the door.  We transition you back into eating your own foods and we have a year-long maintenance process to make sure your weight loss is life long and you don’ just yo-yo as most people tend to do.  (This is not an advertisement for Medifast, I’m just explaining the aspects of what I like about the program.  It is not for everyone and I will never try to  pitch or sell this product on my blog.  Likely, this will be the only mention of Medifast just so I can explain the changes in my life.)

Courtesy of http://rabbidblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/crossfit-murrieta/

Anyway, moving on…change number four and probably the biggest, most exciting change for me.   I’ve joined CrossFit!  We didn’t have CrossFit available in the Soo so it wasn’t an option until now.  Ever since I saw my first competition on TV I have been dying to do it.  Right now I am in week two of fundamentals.  You have to do 8 classes to learn the basic movements of CrossFit before you can do the WOD (Workout of the Day).  At the end of this week I will be able to go daily, 5:30 am and just rock out classes.  I love, love, love it.  This, you will  be hearing A LOT about!

I think that covers all the big changes.  I will be posting more often now that I have a daily routine set in stone.  Thanks for being patient and for coming back!

Workout ADD: A Self Revelation

Yes, I’m still alive and still blogging but it’s been an insane couple of weeks! I have barely been able to get my hair washed daily so hopping on a computer has just not been an option.

Here’s a little update on what’s been going on.  December 27th thru Jan 6th the hubs and I went so So Cal to spend time with his daughter. We hit outlets, Sea World, Dave and Busters, Mulligan’s, and so much more. It was a blast! 

Upon returning home, I found that I had gained 7 new clients at the gym and 7 new pounds on my body. GAH! It’s ok to splurge a little on vacation however we got crazy!

Coming back with those extra pounds and extra clients however made me realize how far off track I have gotten. How can I tell my clients to eat clean and workout consistently when I am doing the opposite and steadily packing on pounds? (16 lbs to be exact from the time I started personal training until now.) How about practice what you preach?  Ever heard that, Carey? Yup, sure have! Now it’s time to take it to heart!

We all know this can be difficult to do.  Everyone has busy schedules and things come up.  Right now, I’m working 8 hour days with the Coast Guard and then going straight to the gym for another 5 hours or so.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, just explaining. I’m trying to make it work. I’m having good healthy breakfasts.

I spent all evening prepping food Sunday night.  I separated fruit salad and greek yogurt into 1 cup portions, made three salads, four pieces of chicken, Jamie Eason’s Turkey Meatloaf Muffins, and tons of rice.  The only thing I didn’t cook in advance was breakfasts and veggies because I don’t like when cooked veggies sit for days plus they are so easy to steam while I’m having breakfast.

I’m also working out again, which I just loooove! And here is where my title comes in. I had a conversation with a friend recently where I explained my new workout plan. She says to me, “You change your plan a lot, huh?” I thought and it and responded, “Yeah, I have workout ADD. I get bored easily.” I just can’t seem to stick to one plan too long. Does anyone else have this problem? I like different workouts and different plans and different meals. Don’t tell me to lift 5 days a week, run long distances and eat chicken, brown rice and broccoli because I’m gonna tell you where to shove it! I want circuit training with different moves and routines. I want all kinds of new recipes incorporating foods I’ve never tried before (more about that in future posts!). And I want new ideas I can take and apply to my clients.

So, on that note, here’s what I’m trying to do now. BodyRock, now The Daily HIIT, has a 30 day challenge going. These workouts are posted daily and each one is different from the day before. Best part, they’re only 12 minutes. 12 MINUTES! If you don’t have 12 minutes a day to dedicate to your health and well-being then you have bigger fish to fry my friend. But anyway, I’m trying to do these in the mornings. If I wake up only 30 min earlier than normal, I can get in a great workout before work everyday. I’m one day behind because I couldn’t get anything to work yesterday morning, that’s no big deal.  This morning I did Monday’s workout, tomorrow I’ll do Tuesdays workout and so on.  As long as I stay on track for the 30 days, I think I’ll be ok.  I’d like to try to link the videos in here each day, but that is time permitting. In the evenings I’ve gone back to my tried and true Jillian Michael’s ‘Making the Cut’ book. The first time I ran through this program following it perfectly, I dropped 14 lbs in 30 days and felt better than I can ever remember.  This time around, I will follow the workout plan exactly, but I’m going to change up the meals.  I am sticking to the percentages for Fast Oxidizers (50% protein, 30% fat, 20% carbs) but trying to create the meal plan myself.  This will help me develop my own healthy eating habits without having to depend on someone elses meal plan.  Hopefully I’ll be able to post some progress photos soon. Something I realized in California is that it is ok to be a chubby trainer here in the Soo, but that shiz ain’t gonna fly down there. Gotta get it together! Anyone else wanna join in this 30 day challenge?

Consistency is key…

Consistency is key, however something I have not been keeping up with. Ever since I started training I haven’t been working out consistently. I’m going to try to fix that. Today I did my first post Christmas workout and posted it below.

(This pic really has nothing to do with working out but I just wanted to show off my Giants hoodie, lol!)

Warmup:
12 minutes on the treadmill. Intervals of 1 min at 4, 30 seconds at 9 from 0-9 minutes, then 3 minute cool down.

Workout:
8 rounds, 20 sec on 10 sec rest.
Round 1: Squats w/ sandbag
Round 2: Static lunges, right
Round 3: Squats w/ leg raise
Round 4: Static lunges, left
Repeat rounds 1-4

Treadmill 0.25 miles:
.05 at 4
.05 at 6
.05 at 8
.05 at 6
.05 at 4

8 rounds, 20 sec on 10 sec rest.
Round 1: Push-ups
Round 2: Pull up using dip station
Round 3: One-arm press using sandbag, right
Round 4: One-arm press using sandbag, left
Repeat rounds 1-4

Repeat 0.25 treadmill interval

8 rounds, 20 sec on 10 sec rest.
Round 1: Ab roller
Round 2: Leg raise using dip station
Round 3: Shovel right using sandbag
Round 4: Shovel left using sandbag
Repeat rounds 1-4

Repeat 0.25 treadmill interval

8 rounds, 20 sec on 10 sec rest.
Round 1: Squats with sandbag
Round 2: Basic crunch
Round 3: Push-ups
Round 4: Reverse crunch
Round 5: Squats w/ leg raise
Round 6: Plank twists
Round 7: Shoulder press w/ sandbag
Round 8: Bicycle crunches

Repeat 0.25 treadmill interval

If you have a treadmill at home, this is a great workout to do while feeling like you are skipping the gym. I think the more I can work at home the better. If you do it, let me know how you feel afterwards. Hope everyone loves it and there will be more to come! ENJOY!

Spinning….yikes!

Phew am I beat! Just completed a 35 min spin class. This is the first time since boot camp I have gotten on a spin bike. They really push that shiz in boot and for good reason. It’s an amazing workout. Today’s class featured a normal spin routine but at the end booted out a tabata style session. Kicked my butt! Don’t believe me, take a look!

That’s right after I finished. I look like deer in headlights. I tried to take a better pic and smile. This is all I was able to manage:

And just for good measure in case you couldn’t see all of that sweat dripping, here’s one more:

That is a butt-ton of eye makeup running down my face. Now I gotta clean myself up and get my legs to function again because I’ve got clients in 45 minutes.
Oh and just because its funny, here’s the spot I was sitting while typing up this post.

Yes, that is exactly what it looks like, my sweaty ass imprint and the drippings in front are what fell from my face as I’m leaning over my phone. I think I like spin!!!

Heart Rate Monitors

Ok, lets talk Heart Rate Monitors.

This is fairly new to me.  I’ve heard of them before, but haven’t had much experience.  When my dad purchased his elliptical it came with two chest straps for monitoring heart rate and accurate calorie counting.  This is the only time I have personally used them.

Heart rate monitors however, are becoming something that I am seeing and hearing about more and more.  After I taught a group class at my gym, one of the women came up and showed me that she had burned 340-something calories during our 30 min session.  AWESOME!  A friend of mine posted a pic of her HR Monitor on Facebook and I was super impressed with her results – 1074 calories burned in a 1 hour 40 min gym session.  SUPER AWESOME!!  Then my bestie tells me yesterday that her mom got her a monitor for her Christmas present.  So of course, now I am intrigued.  I must find out what all the hype is about. 

I have done a little research and found the one I want.  It’s a Polar (because I read that is one of the best rated brands out there) FT40.  Looks a little something like this:

Image courtesy of http://www.polarusa.com

It has a few features that I liked such as:

• The ability to show if your workout is “fitness improvement or fat burning”
• An accurate calorie count based on several different factors
• A chest strap that is specially designed to not have any “cross-talk” when working out at a gym
• The chest strap should work with most Polar cardio machines which is what my gym uses

It is available at Polar USA for $179.95 which is a little pricey, especially considering I don’t know if I’ll even like it.  Of course I had to check ol’ faithful – Amazon – to see if it is available there, which it is for $104.85.  I’m asking the hubs for it as a Christmas present.  Hope to find it under the tree!

Do any of you use HR monitors?  If so, what kind?  What is your favorite feature?  How useful do you find it for your specific goals? Does anyone have experience with Polar HR Monitors or this one in particular?  I’m extra curious so hit me up with your opinion!

Are you kidding me?!?!

Have I really not posted anything in over a month?  How have you guys let me get away with it?  How have I let myself get so off track.  I know, I know you all must be so tired of hearing about how I fall off the wagon and how this time I’m serious about starting over.  Well, I’m not going to do that this time.  I have given myself a new 7 week goal (ending on New Years Eve) but I’m not going to sit here and talk about how great I’m going to do this time.  Lemme tell you why.  It’s simple…life just gets in the way.  I realize there are people who make fitness their lives and I hope to one day be able to do that.  However, that just ain’t happening right now. 

I have two jobs now and that takes up a lot of time.  Granted, one of those is actually as a trainer working at the gym, but that’s not the point.  Since I started working there, I look at the gym like a job.  Do you go into work when you don’t have to?  Does anyone?  I doubt it.  Even though I love my job and I love working out, if I don’t have clients I tend to want to go home and relax now.  I have to get myself out of this habit.  To help myself a bit with this, I have started working out more at home and during my lunch breaks at my day job.  This is definitely doing what I hoped it would, but I’ve still gotta get my ass back in the gym. 

Food has also been a big problem.  I don’t even know where to begin with this, but lets just say it’s no good.  Since I started this 7 week goal I have been doing better, but man am I having some serious cravings.  Last night I would’ve thrown children into traffic for a Whopper, but I didn’t give into it.  I went home and made this:

That is beef fajita meat and my most favorites of side dishes creamed spinach (just add light swiss laughing cow to cooked spinach and voila!).  It was no Whopper but it made me feel a whole hell of a lot better than a burger would have.

I also made sure that I stocked up on healthy foods on my last shopping trip.  Take a look at this basket and be jealous.  Go ahead, I won’t tell anyone. 🙂  Eggs, veggies, fruits, brown rice, and some more delicious yummies.

I also went to the “bulk” store and bought a giant pork loin for less than $16.  Out of it I was able to get two 4-oz portions, eleven 5-oz portions, seven 6-oz portions, and one 8-oz portion.  That’s a whole lotta pork, booyah!!  And I know it looks like a lot of fat, but I cut that out, so don’t judge me!

And finally, I started back up with my motivational countdown post-its.  These are easily one of the best things to keep me on track.  When I can see daily how well I am or am not doing, then I am able to hold myself more accountable.  My bestie has actually joined in with me.  She’s taking even days and I’m taking odd.  Here are our post-its for the first couple days.  (Today is day 46, BTW.)

So, here is where I am right now.  I am going to try really damn hard to keep myself in check.  I am going to try really damn hard to survive the holidays without expanding my waistline.  I am going to try really hard, but I am not going to punish myself for any missteps I may take.  This is probably the worst time of the year to start to make changes, but if you keep putting things off, then you will never start.  I figure if two days over the next 45 (those days being Thanksgiving and Christmas) I have bad food then it isn’t the end of the world.  I will consider those my cheat days and just pick myself up, dust myself off and get back on track.  We’ll see how this goes.  I have to keep reminding myself that the best gift I can give myself for Christmas is a better me so here’s wishing me and all of you success!

TGIF A Week in Review

It’s Friday!  Woohoo!  It’s been a busy week.  I have been doing some major work towards my certification and preparing to take on new clients at the gym.

First things first, certification is a bitch!  I love it and I love all the things that I’m learning but phew, it’s a lot!  Check out some of the cheat sheets I’ve made for myself so far:

When I’m not trying to learn the central nervous system, skeletal system, muscular system, etc… I’m trying to learn how exactly to do program design.  I’ve had some really great resources and people who are more than willing to help.  It’s stressful but exciting.  This is my new career and I’m so glad to get the opportunity to get my foot in the door.  Here are two of the plans I put together this morning.  One is for a client looking to do strength training and the other is for a client looking to lose weight and gain lean muscle.  Feel free to give me any suggestions or critiques, but be gentle, I’m new to this.

Oh, and duh, no trainer would be complete without some sweet ass gym gear and a stop watch so I stopped by JC Penney’s and the local sporting goods store to pick up these bad boys.  Best part is the pink one is not only super cute but it also supports breast cancer awareness.  Gotta love that!

So that’s all the good stuff going on this week, but let me get a little personal and a little real on two separate topics.  First, I cannot have carbs at dinner. I just can’t.  Veggies don’t count, I’m referring to starchy carbs and grains.  Does anyone else run into this problem? Sometimes you just don’t feel like cooking dinner and Subway is what tends to happen when we don’t feel like cooking or just don’t have time to make anything.  Sure, sure I could get a healthy 6″ sub, but c’mon, that just ain’t happening!  I need a giant foot long sub and lets face it, mayonnaise is amazing and my sandwich will always be smothered with it.  So, I was not too thrilled with my weigh-ins this week.  Here are my morning motivation post it notes and you can see that there was no weight loss progress over the four-day period.  😦

It’s ok though, I’ll survive.  I just have to realize that this is a process and there is no quick fix.  So I got lazy one night.  Do I sit and beat myself up about it or just make sure I eat right and get back on track?  I think I’ll take the latter.

Now, onto personal topic number too…and I do mean personal.  Does anybody else find that they get a little um constipated stopped up when they are eating clean?  I know I do.  Sometimes I don’t notice when a couple days go by but earlier this week it was just  a liiiiiiiiiittle uncomfortable.  Well, I was in the natural food market picking up my ezekiel bread and realized that I had no cash.  It’s a $10 minimum for debit cards there so I started walking around trying to find something that I not only wanted but needed.  The hubs recently started drinking hot tea so I thought I’d be a doll and pick him up some new tea to try.  That is when I stumbled upon this gift from above.

OMG!   I love it.  It tastes good.  It’s easy to drink.  It works like a charm.  I had a cup of tea Monday night before bed and another Tuesday morning with breakfast.  That was all it took and I was…ahem, back to normal.  This company makes tons of different types of teas and you can order them online here if you can’t find them in a store near you.  I’m really looking forward to my next visit so I can try one of the other types.  Maybe next time I’ll actually get one for the hubby.  It’s about the least I could do considering he brought me home flowers just for being a good wife.  Man, I’m a lucky girl!  See…

Hmmm….I went over studying, prepping, my dinner boo boo, poo-tea and how wonderful my husband is, so I think I covered my week.  Here’s hoping for a good weekend and hopefully another post on Sunday.  I swear, I swear I’ll really start getting on here more!  It will happen.  I just have to remember to take more pictures because lets be honest, no one wants to hear me rant and rave and not be visually stimulated.  So, until next time, have a great weekend and get your asses in the gym. 🙂

Starting Up Week 3

Ok, my friends, it’s day 15 and I’m still going strong.  I even had a girls night over the weekend and managed to eat well and not gain a pound.  In fact, today was weigh-ins at work and I was 16lbs less than I was 6 months ago!  HAAAAIIIYOOO!!!  So I said I was going to post daily and I just haven’t been able to do that, however, I’ll try to do a little all inclusive post now.

First things first – what gets me going each morning!  These little post it notes are a life saver.  The quotes get me motivated each morning and make me realize that I have to take things day by day and that I am worth the change and willing to put in the work.  Here are the post-its from days 12 through 15.

Also, I can’t remember if I mentioned it, but see this girl below?  That is the new trainer at Anytime Fitness in Sault Sainte Marie, MI. (Don’t judge my hair, that was after one bad ass workout haha!)

So, to recap, 2 weeks down, 4 weeks left, new job as a trainer, and OH I almost forgot!!!  I started  today working towards my Personal Training Certification.  This stuff came in the mail Saturday morning:

I couldn’t be happier.  Since I discovered a passion for fitness things just seem to be coming together in that area.  I’m looking forward to my new body and my new career.  🙂