Great to be back!

All 5 alarms worked today and I got to boot camp 20 minutes early! All were there early so we started early...and probably a lot had to do with us wanting to warm up. We did our normal morning stretches and started out today with an Indian Run. But, that wasn't it to get us warmed up. We teamed up in twos and ran to a basket which had about 12 exercises in it that we had to perform as a team and try to beat the other teams. My team one!!!! Not bragging, but we did push ourselves pretty hard. The exercises ranged from different weight work...bicep curls, triceps kickbacks, shoulder presses, shoulder raises, or bent over row. Then the other things ranged from an Indian Run, duck walk, walking lunges, or running up and down a hill. Needless to say we were warmed up! We did some arm work on the weights today that really burned...and of course ended with push-ups...so my arms were a shaking today! Then you can't finish any better than doing ab work.

I hope it portrays through my typing how excited I was to get back into the grind of boot camp this morning. I really do love it...the pain and all! The only issue I'm dealing with is my shin splints, but I've already been sent some help for that. This is part of the reason that running/jogging has never been my choice of aerobic activity. I'll post some help on this in another post if anyone has similar issues!

To you Health!

I NEED A BETTER ALARM CLOCK!

I was so mad this morning when I woke up at 8:30am...2 hours late from when I usually get up to go to boot camp. I slept through all 3 of my alarms going off and 2 phone calls...with my phone sitting right next to my head! I was really upset about it! So I pushed that anger into my Jillian Michaels Metabolism Workout DVD. I feel a bit better, but I know tomorrow I will be pushing myself extra hard at boot camp.

I hope you all have a good Monday!

To your Health!

12 Days of Christmas

No holding back this morning! Even though our regular instructor was out of town today, we still worked our butts off. I was introduced to the 12 Days of Christmas.
1 jog/walk/run around the playground
2 dozen mountain climbers per leg (48 total)
3 inch worms w/ push up
4 Burpees
5 squats w/bicep curl w/ dumb bell
6 lateral raises w/ dumb bell
7 push ups
8 plie squats w/ dumb bells
9 skater squats
10 standing crunches per side (20 total)
11 squats
12 ???? I apparently can't remember this because I only did this one once.

Anyway, basically you start with number one...then you come back and do 2, then 1...then 3, 2, 1...and so on till you get through the whole 12 days of Christmas.
And I am happy to say that I cam the only one in my camp this morning to finish it all for the first time doing it! I was empowered by hearing that no one in the 5:30am class finished it! It was tough, but I sort of got more power as I went...pushing myself more and more. And from what I hear I missed a grueling day yesterday...so I hope to push myself into some hard work this Saturday on my day off. I got a new Video from Jillian Michaels I may try out tomorrow...I'll let you know how it goes.

So this was an awesome end to my second week of Boot Camp!
I just want to thank all that keep encouraging me, it really does help keep me going. Thank you!

To your Health!

Hungry Mother!

This is my first day that I couldn't be at boot camp...and I truly was sad about it! But, I did conquer the Lake Trail at Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, VA this morning. A 5.7 mile wooded hiking trail around the lake! It was beautiful and perfect weather for being outside and walking. So I don't feel so bad about missing boot camp one day since I did walk pretty hard on this trail. It took me just under 2 hours to walk it, and tried to keep my pace up to 4-5 miles per hour so as to keep my heart rate up. The hills slowed me down a bit, but I just picked my pace back up after. I did learn something this morning about my pedometer though...it says I walked 12.2 miles...HAHAHAHAHAHA...yeah definitely got to get that pedometer reset to the correct stride length! So maybe I burned 500-650 calories on that trail...not sure since my pedometer was screwy. I am looking into getting a heart monitor that tracks my heart rate and calories, then I feel like I can keep up with calories burned better.

I have been keeping track of the food intake for the past week and a half as well...which makes you aware of how many calories you are really eating...and what you are missing from your diet. Learning lots this week!

I also have been meaning to post something that I have noticed about myself lately. I am aware that I am standing and sitting straighter than normal. My posture seems to be more erect and correct. I am excited about this, since this is something I remember so well about my Grandfather Rooz. He would always tell us to sit up straight...and I think my Aunt Bori had some help in that too...always telling us to sit like there was a string being pulled from the top of our heads upwards. Anyway, I am excited about my posture, because I felt like I was not taking care of my posture lately. Also, something else I have noticed about changing...I think I see definition in my thighs...HELLO...this is exciting and empowering. I definitely give credit to my boot camp instructor Cheri for that...as she busts our butts every morning to keep moving.

So, Marion, VA has proven to be a good place to find exercise if you happen through here anytime. Be sure to check out Hungry Mother State Park. It has lots of things to do...canoeing, paddle boats, swimming, hiking, biking, and camping, of course. And it is absolutely beautiful this time of year...perfect weather these two days and breezy!

I hope you all have a great day today and hope you learn something inspiring about yourself today like I have this week!

To your Health!

2nd Metabolic Workout down!

I did it again! The Metabolic Workout was today...again. We warmed up with an Indian run! 12 exercises as fast as you can for 45 seconds each, then do it again for 30 seconds each, then the final was 20 seconds each. Can we say sweat from head to toe?!?!? Light headed is an understatement...but that's the point, to work yourself as much as you can, pushing yourself as much as you can to improve yourself all around...and HELLO we are getting in shape! We did some serious butt crunches today that were killer! Then, of course we were not done, we did some ab workouts.

I learned last week that this workout kicks my metabolism into overdrive. I was so hungry last Wednesday! I will be sure to eat more protein today to curb that hunger!

I hope you all have a good day!

To your Health!

Burning those legs up!

This morning was tough to get up! We burned up our legs today. Jogging, step ups, squats, walking lunges, mountain climbers, and then to top it off we came back under the shelter and burned up some more with some weights! Needless to say I was definitely breathing hard today...you never realize how much weigh is in those thighs until you start burning them up! I feel good about it, but I will not lie, it burns during the process!

Hope you all are moving a little bit here and there...a little can go a long way!

To your health!

2nd week of Boot Camp!

This morning was awesome. The light was getting brighter as I rolled into the park for Boot Camp! The kitty was still wandering around, and all 6 women that started last Monday were there again this Monday. Not a bad start to a Monday!

So we started with our Indian Run...where you all start running/jogging/or walking...I jogged the whole time...and then when you get the the finish you turn around and go to the last person. You do this till the last person is at the finish. We then a few sprint splits with partners, shuffles back and forth with a partner, and resistance running with the bands. All enough to make my shin splints burn. We then went back up to the shelter to do more resistance work with the bands...working those shoulders and making out shoulder caps defined! Finishing off with some duck walking, pole sitting, and jacks.

It was a good Monday morning burn! A great start to the week.

To you Health!