30 Day Shred

Well, I did get to do Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred workout yesterday, and I came to a couple of conclusions: my shoulders are VERY weak, and my legs/abs/chest are doing okay. Also I didn't do too bad with the cardio. But, I am stiff today all over, probably a 3 or 4 out of 10 on the stiffness scale, so not too too bad. I ate very clean yesterday, and am doing pretty good today so far (just had a double double for a cheat, shhhhhh!). It's a good workout, I was pretty stoked that I did it, and it's renewed my interest in working out. Hopefully I can stay motivated for the full 30 days!

Self Portrait and Measurements

It's always good to have a benchmark, right? So here I am baring (almost) all in the hopes that the end result will show a remarkable contrast! Plus, I'm always a real sucker for those success stories in the magazines. Wouldn't it be great to be one?

So, weight today is 132 lbs. Measurements: waist is 28", at the bellybutton is 34.25", hip are 38.5" and right leg (where leg meets ass!) is 22". Now, for the photos, I couldn't find the gorillapod, so I just had to prop the camera on a toy basket, and my head got cut off, but really, that's not the important part, is it?

When Brenna goes for her 2nd nap, I've vowed to try Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD I picked up at the library the other day. I wanna see what the hype's about!

Let's Travel Back in Time...

...Shall we? This is me just over 3 years ago. I'd never seen these photos until a couple of months ago. The pro photographer at the show snapped them, but I was completely broke and didn't see the need to purchase a photo package at the time. He just posted them on the Fame website, so I was pretty stoked to see them. They turned out a lot better than the ones I had on my camera, or those from my aunt and mother-in-law. So, note to self: buy a photo package next time I hit the stage!

Brenna was not even a concept when I trained for this (FAME West '08, in case you're wondering). But now, three years later, I find myself in much the same boat as I was 5 years ago. Then, as now, I was starting off in a new town, with some baby weight (from Ailis) still to shed. I was attempting to make new friends, get healthy and fit, and take care of my family. The difference is, then I didn't have the memory of a sleek, svelte Roxy. I had no idea of what I could be, but I had the desire to try. Now, I fondly remember that old me, and I would love to have her back! It is going to be hard, many obstacles to overcome, but I know I can do it, because I've done it before. Of course, next time I hit the stage, I'd like to come in top 3 (actually, how about just not last!) but it's about more than the placing. It's about setting a goal, seeing it through, and feeling good about my efforts. Femsport was a goal, I put some effort into training, but I just wasn't at my peak, so I wasn't really proud of myself. I'm also not sure that Femsport is my "thing", if that makes sense. So, with renewed focus, I've been eating semi-clean for about 2 weeks now, and I have my eye set on the Sandra Wickham Fall Classic in Vancouver later this year. I will keep this blog updated with my diet and workout info for anyone interested, but more for myself, to keep me accountable and give me a visible track record. Here I go!

Well, I did it! I competed at Femsport in Kamloops last weekend! There were a few times when I didn't think I'd make it, but it all worked out in the end. I'm really proud of myself for doing it, but I do wish I was in better shape. There are some wickedly strong chicks out there!!! I'm just happy I made it through with no injuries. There were a couple of hospital trips, and some crazy wipeouts for some of the competitors, so I'm thinking I was quite fortunate. Not sure I will try Femsport again, haven't decided yet, but I'm glad I did it just the same.

Crash and Burn, Baby!

Hah, tricked ya! You thought I was talking about falling off my program, didn't ya? Of course I didn't! In fact, I just received confirmation that my Femsport registration arrived and I am thus registered for the event. Woohoo! I guess that means I'm committed to it now, whoah.

Crash and burn refers to the ski wipeout I had on Sunday. Fortunately, nobody saw it, although I kind of wish I saw it! It was probably pretty funny. Anyway, nothing was broken, not even my glasses, but I do have a big, navy blue bruise on the outside of my right knee. It matches my eyes!

Last night I did Femsport workout #4. It was tough, like they all are. The hardest exercise was the kneeling bicep curls. I decided to go with 15 lb. dumbbells, and I could barely move them! I just found out that the bicep curl event at Femsport has been changed to a rowing type of exercise, though, so this could be a good thing. I have no idea how I can replicate this one at home. This will be the first event, so hopefully I don't "crash and burn".

Here's a couple of photos Jason took of me doing V-snaps and bench hops the other night. I didn't include the one of me giving him the bird when I discovered him sneaking up on me with the camera. It turned out a bit too dark!

Started on a new training regimen!

...And it's totally kicking my ass! A friend of mine emailed me a copy of the Femsport training manual, so after eating clean for a couple of days and working myself up to give it a go, I did my first Femsport-style circuit workout on Monday. Holy crap, I just about died!!! I hate burpies with a passion, and V-snaps are almost as bad! What I'm finding in my old-age too is that my wrists are very weak. One of the exercises in that first workout was bench hops, which I did over my ottoman. I had to do them with my hands fisted instead of flat because my wrists were hurting. Tuesday I was a bit stiff, then yesterday a bit more stiff. But I did another workout last night, and it seems to have loosened me up a bit. I'm still stiff, but no worse than before. What I found last night was that whenever I jumped, like for the low box jumps and travelling squat jumps, I was feeling it in my back and pelvis. I must have a pretty weak core! Anyway, I'm sure that with following the program as best I can, I'll be as ready as I can be on April 2nd. It's less than 10 weeks now! I just sent in my registration forms yesterday, too.

I just came back from the grocery store. I bought only clean foods, and it feels pretty good. Not sure if the kids and hubby will be as excited as I am, but fortunately they eat healthily already, so it won't be that much of an adjustment. I'm not in a cutting phase or anything, so it's not like there won't be ANY treats around. In fact, I made banana bread last night. It's a recipe from a special edition of Oxygen magazine, so it's relatively healthy, but the kids don't know the difference!

Uh oh, baby's crying, so I better sign off now. Later!

Quick Update

Friday I went for a half-hour ski, and it was very peaceful and renewing to be out there in the fresh snow! It was also sticky and hard to ski in, but I'm no expert so it didn't really matter - I got my heart rate up and that is good. Saturday I took a day off, as I was quite stiff from Thursday's workout. Last night I decided to try a workout I found on bodybuilding.com. It's a 12-week muscle building plan, and I had to adapt it to fit the equipment I have, but here it is in a nutshell:

knee push-ups: 2x15
bench press: 15/12 with 15 lb. DB's, then 15 reps with 10 lb. DB's
Pec Fly: 3x15 with 10 lb. DB's
skull crushers: 15/14/12 with 10 lb. DB's
crunches: 3x15 with a 10 lb. DB
Planks: 3x30 seconds

Ugh, I hate planks with a passion! Why do they hurt so bad? I think maybe I was supposed to do dips in there, too. Oops, I'll have to check on that. Anyway, good workout, quite challenging for me right now. Tonight, some sort of cardio. It's -20 here right now, so I think skiing is out, and probably will be for the rest of the week. So it's either wind trainer or aerobics. Later...

Wow, It's Been A While!

I didn't exactly stop exercising after my last post, I just didn't keep up with this blog. Let's see, I started a 13-week running program in the summer, followed it for 5 weeks before I quit, and I'm not exactly sure why I quit because it was going well. Then I did the odd strength training workout here and there until November 29, 2010, when I decided that I am going to compete at Femsport on April 2, 2011. I did about 3 weeks of a good, basic full-body strength routine to build up my base, but then tragedy struck! Well, more like a bad cold, which turned into an ear infection, which involved antibiotics. When I stopped taking the antibiotics, I thought I was good to go, but I think they killed all the good bacteria in my gut. I had bad stomach issues for a few days, which set me back again. I hate getting sick!!! By this point I felt like I really needed to get active, but my body just was not cooperating! My ear is still bugging me, but not enough to get in the way of my workouts, so yesterday, I did this:

push-ups: 10/10/10
double crunches: 20/20/15

sumo squat with upright row and 12 kg KB: 12/10/12
narrow bent-over row with 15's: 10/10/9

squats with 10's: 12/12/12
bicep curls with 10's: 12/12/12

reverse crunches: 15/15/15
skull crushers with 10's: 12/10/12

Each group of 2 exercises is a superset, meaning I did them back to back with little to no rest, and I did each set to failure (except the abs, don't really want to take them to failure yet). I also danced around for 5 minutes to warm-up. When you superset like this, it makes the workout go by so quickly, which I love! Seeing this is a full-body workout, today will be a cardio day, and I've already booked a night ski. It's snowing right now, so it should be pretty nice out there - can't wait!