Fire Up For Fall: Week Seven

Hello my FUFF friends! Last night was exhausting here at Chateau D. We stayed up way too late and then were awakened by a howling puppy at 0415. He’d managed to poop all over his crate so while B took him outside to let him finish his business I got the gagging job of cleaning that mess up. I wanted to cry and vomit. The dog is so lucky that we love him. And that he’s cute.

1. What have you done this week towards your goals?

a. Do at least one random act of kindness a week. Check.

b. Lose 8 lbs – that’s just one lb a week for the remainder of the challenge. Down another 1.5 this week for a total of 6 pounds lost this challenge! I’ve hit a point where I’m not sure how much more weight I want to lose so I’ll be working on deciding that over the next couple of weeks.

c. Practice piano at least 3 times a week. Check. I think I’ve decided that I want to learn a recital’s worth of music again. Makes life fun.

d. Read 15 books I read books this week! 2 more read, so I’m now at 7 of 15.

e. Plan at least one date event with B each week. Check again. We’re getting better at setting aside time weekly that’s just for us.
  2. What have you done to make you feel fabulous?

I threw a dinner party last night. Baked up some ribs in the oven, some potatoes, and made a fabulous cookie dough dip for dessert. I love hostessing events and feeding people, so this was a perfect way to end the weekend for me.
 3. How do you pull yourself out of a slump or prevent yourself falling in to one?

This one is tough. My go to answer when I lived in the States would be calling my Mom or some friends for retail therapy, a movie, drinks, anything to get my mind off of whatever was getting me down. I don’t really have that outlet here in Germany. So now, I try to just shake up my schedule and hit the gym.
4. Are you naturally positive or do you have to work at it? How do you keep yourself positive?

I consider myself an optimistic realist. I’m a pretty positive person until you give me a reason not to be. Or the weather gets me down. As to staying positive? I try to surround myself by positive people. It really helps me.
  5. I’m on Holiday right now, if you could go away anywhere tomorrow (and work wouldn’t get weird) where would you go?

I’ve traveled so much this last year that it still seems pretty unreal. Yet my list of places I want to visit is still long. I think that currently, thanks to the weather and my hormones, I’d want to go to Palma Majorca off the coast of Spain. I was invited to join a girl I don’t really know there, but it was in the middle of my teaching week and with really short notice. Now I want to go with B.

Positive Picture

i think this is going to be our christmas card photo

I have a busy week this week, I’ve added quite a few new students to my schedule and I’m pretty stoked about meeting all of them. I’ve also decided that I’m going to try and participate in NaNoWriMo and do the 30 Day Shred in November. Which means I have a lot of new things to start this week. I hope you all have a great week!

~The Countess~

Weekend Wrap-Up

Confession Time: I didn’t work out at all this weekend. I was bad. I played instead. So, yeah, I ended up not doing my measurements for the 30DS because, well, I hadn’t exercised. I’m going to try and get back on track this week, but, it isn’t promising so far.

This was actually a really rough weekend for me. I spent pretty much all of Friday night on a friend’s couch crying. I mean, I was hormonal and all. And missing B. And they were singing/playing sad songs while rehearsing for a gig. It did a number on me. Luckily, B. is an awesome boyfriend and he spent the whole night texting me. Right before he went to bed he told me that I wasn’t alone. That reminder helped a lot. I stayed out way too late with my friends before finally crashing into oblivion.

Saturday was tubing with the family. I made myself a pair of shorts first thing in the morning. It was the second pair of the summer that I made. I took pants of mine that were just too long (cropped pants that I didn’t like the length/style of anymore, cut off the legs, rolled up the hem and sewed them up. I really like them, one, they’re really comfortable and all worn in. Two, they’re now a spectacular length for me to wear to the river.

Tubing with my family is always an adventure. It took us almost two hours to get to the river from when we had all gathered together. We then had a fun trip floating down the river. It had been forever since I had seen some of my cousins. The only downside was that I got lectured all evening about my plans of moving to ND. Primarily the living with B. part. I know that’s not a popular option with the conservative faction – but, under our circumstances, we don’t have a choice. Not if we want to live in the same state and see each other more than once a month. They kept telling me to be careful with my heart. I’m very careful with it. B. owns it. Anyway, I caught my aunt and uncle taking my mom aside to ask what they could pray for me for and all. She told me later not to worry about any of it. She knows where I’m coming from. I just hate feeling like a leper in my family. I might as well have told them I was going to become a drug-dealing, stripper/prostitute in Vegas. I just wish they would have listened more and judged less. It would have left me feeling less like I was escaping when I finally went home in the evening.

Sunday, my dad proved once again that he really is super man. He replaced the dining room floor (the underfloor anyway), fixed my door handle, and replaced my oil. All after church and before dinner. He’s amazing. As you all know from my post with my irritations about Chevy, I was unable to by a replacement door handle. My dad, being the amazing whiz that he is, harvested the handle from the passenger door directly behind my door. This way, I can get out of my car without having to roll down my windows and if someone is riding in my backseat, well, I’ll always be there to let them out.

And now, I’m at the start of the last week of classes. And less than a week from being with B. for a whole week. I’m so excited. Everything is winding down, wrapping up, and getting ready to start.

~The Countess~

Weekly Weigh-In Postponed

Because I’m only about three days out from Day 5 of Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred, I’ve decided to postpone weighing in until then. That way I have my half-way weigh-in. Which I’m very excited about. Except for certain hormonal factors that will be taking place right around then. Still, it should be fun.

I did cheat and check in this morning with my scale and tapes. I’m happy with where everything is so far this week. Especially considering I was really bad yesterday. I didn’t feel well in the morning so I skipped working out. Then I ate Whataburger for lunch and Panda Express for dinner. Plus last night was an insomnia night for me, so I was sleepless in SA. In spite of all of that, my weight didn’t go up. And I got right back on the exercise bandwagon this morning.

Day 2 of Level 2 was no easier than Day 1. I’m trying to remind myself that it won’t get better that quickly. I can do the squat thrusts in plank position and the plank-jacks. Albeit slowly. But, I used the bicycle crunches from Level 1 for my last abs circuit. By that point my shoulders are screaming so much in plank position that I can’t concentrate on doing the twists and making sure that I actually feel the muscles contracting and working.

I’m hoping to do another round of Level 1 tonight, and, maybe if I do, I’ll switch in the abs from Level 2′s 3rd circuit to make up for skipping them this morning. Check in with me tomorrow to see if I made it or not. It may be an or not seeing as we have donor visits today at work and my boss and I may be in need of a destressing dinner afterward. I promise to go for soup or salad if I eat out instead of working out!

~The Countess~

Level 2

Wow. Just wow. I’ve been delinquent on moving up to level two. I should have done it a few days ago…or something, but, I kept sticking with level one, because, well, I feel good when I do it. It doesn’t really hurt, even though I can tell I’m getting a good exercise. It’s the friendly little devil I know. But, Myobi was raving about level two to me – how she thought she was going to die and that she didn’t know level one had missed any muscles, so, I decided I had to see what it’s all about.

You know that saying, ‘curiosity killed the cat,’ yeah, it’s a propo. I watched it last night, just to get a feel and to try some of the moves and check out the modifications. I was actually very encouraged. I was able to do everything and it didn’t look too scary.

Looks are so deceiving.

Let’s just say that I have not sweat that much, ever. Now I know that girl’s (especially countesses) are just supposed to glow, well, I was pouring buckets of sweat. And I thought that I might die a couple of times – in a good way. I was surprised by how few breaks that I needed – though I did take advantage of the rest seconds at the end of each circuit to grab water. I needed it.

I feel fabulous for all of it though. If you’re just starting out – keep going. Don’t stop. This program will make you stronger than you ever thought possible. Since I quit doing martial arts in college due to injury risks and being a pianist, I have been searching for a program that would let me exercise quickly and efficiently. I’ve finally found it. Even if it wants to kill me.

~The Countess~

Weekly Weigh-In #2

I know it’s a few days late. I actually did take these measurements on Wednesday. I just haven’t had internet with which to post this until today.

Current:                            Difference:

Weight: 159                              0

Waist: 27                                   0

Abs: 36                                     -1

Hips: 39                                    -1

Thighs: 22                               -.5

The weight has stayed the same again – but the loss of inches is much more important to me anyway. I’m at a healthy BMI, so, I’m really not looking to lose weight as much as I’m looking to tone up. And that’s evidently what I’m doing. Because the numbers are going down. And that’s exactly what I want them to do.

This last week has been a bit wishy washy on the exercise front. I worked out Monday and Tuesday then helped a friend move furniture on Wednesday. Thursday I took off as I did three concerts in just under 24 hours. Starting tomorrow I think I’m going to double up work outs. And I’m hoping to move up to level 2 in one work out starting on Monday.

~The Countess~

Keep on keepin’ on

Or the one in which I say, don’t give up.  This week has been the hardest for motivation of doing the 30 DS. I’m so tired in the middle of it. Of course, I didn’t think until this afternoon that this might be because I’m working out mid-morning without having eaten before hand. And, I’m not sure that this would ever be a good idea, but, it’s definitely not considering that I’m hypoglycemic. No wonder I’ve been struggling more with keeping my energy up in the middle of the work outs. Of course, I’ve also bumped the intensity level on everything up too. I really want to get the most impact I can out of this. I was even able to do a few regular pushups. Man are those intense. I feel better doing the modified on those, but I’m sticking with not doing any modifications. Even if it’s leaving me gasping by the end.

The high point of doing all this was definitely swimsuit shopping yesterday.  I have a tubing trip coming up in two weeks with some family and friends. I love my swimsuit from last year, but, the board shorts that I was wearing are, get this, too big. That was both an awesome feeling and a terrifying one as I realized that this meant I had to do the dreaded swimsuit shopping. I grabbed one of my closest friends and after getting our hair cut we ducked into Target to do the deed. I had already spotted a tankini there a couple of weeks ago that I thought was really cute. I went ahead and took it in a couple of sizes and headed for the dressing room. Can I just say that it really is an amazing ego boost to have to go to the smaller of the sizes that I had taken with me in the dressing room. And, also, that as a swimsuit hides nothing it did a great job reaffirming to me that this program is actually working. I felt really cute and slender in the dressing room.

That was a major encouragement to keep at it, even as it feels like it’s getting harder. Because, the results are there. Tomorrow is weigh-in and measurements which should be fun. I’m excited about it for sure!

~The Countess~

Whoa baby…

I took the weekend off to head out to the Lone Star State Dulcimer Festival in Glen Rose, Tx (more about that in my L post!) and therefore didn’t work out at all this weekend. And man, working out today was brutal. It wasn’t as bad as day one. Mostly. I was more tired in the middle of the work out – this was the first time I thought I might throw up in the middle of it. Of course, I also decided to quit doing the modifications where I could. I still did the modified push ups, but everything else was the full version. I really thought it might kill me. I absolutely loved it.

The funny thing about this whole working out thing is that now that I’ve been doing it off and on for a couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that I’m more sore when I don’t exercise. How weird is that? I think it has to do with the fact that my muscles tighten up when I don’t exercise leaving me stiff and sore. The other thing I’ve noticed is that I feel so much more energetic when I work out several days in a row. Today was definitely not an energetic day. I was dragging when I finished working out, but, I know that tomorrow will be better. Still, we’re told that if we just work out two-three times a week that we’re doing good. Only problem is that with that, you don’t get the benefit of the endorphins every day. It’s also harder to fall into a routine when you skip days. Really, every day is best. And it’s what I’m going to try and do. We’ll just see how well it works out for me.

~The Countess~

Weekly Weigh-In

And the one in which I confess that I only did the 30 Day Shred once since my last post and that was today. My workout for Saturday consisted of picking dewberries for 2.5 hours – it was backbreaking work, though not quite the structured routine of 30DS. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I just didn’t feel well enough to work out. I was queasy and had super low energy. It’s an excuse, I know, but, I took it.

Today though, I had the time and the energy, so I went on and did Level 1, Day 3. It felt phenomenal. So did I afterward. The exercises seemed a little bit easier than they had back on Days 1 & 2. I was able to do all of the cardio on full, no more modifications. And my muscles felt less like jelly today and I’m not sore from it yet. I held up better all around for all of the strength and ab workouts. Those anterior raises with the side lunges are still my biggest nemesis, but, even they didn’t leave me feeling quite as defeated as they had in the past.

Anyway, it was with a bit of trepidation that I did my weekly weigh in and measurements. I was pleasantly surprised that while my weight was the same, I had lost several inches in key places.

Current:                                Difference:

159 lbs                                              0

Waist: 27                                        -1

Abdomen: 37                               -1

Hips: 40                                          -1

Thighs: 22.5                                  -1.5

The loss of inches impresses me quite a bit all things considered. I feel like that is a better indication of health gained anyways. I know that I’ll gain muscle weight even as I slim down, since muscle weighs more than fat.

At the end of the day, I felt much better for having worked out. I’m going to try and remember that and use it as my motivation for the days that I don’t feel like working out.

~The Countess~

Goals

I’ve always been kinda funny about setting goals. I’m kinda instant gratification as far as that goes. I don’t like goals set at New Year’s because I’m of the opinion that they are doomed to fail. People make big sweeping changes in their lives – multiple ones all at once – and are then surprised when they don’t succeed with any of them.

When I was working on my thesis, I had to tell my advisor at the beginning of every week what was getting turned in that week.  That worked so much better for me than trying to tell him at the beginning of the semester how all of that was going to go. It worked well for me too, as I had an immediate deadline. Goals like that work well for me. It’s the general, non-specific, no fixed schedule ones that I don’t ever make.

Some of my goals for May and for this summer:

1. Complete the 30 Day Shred – I should be able to do that in May. I started last week and then took the weekend off – but today is the 3rd and I’m on day 3. I may not quite make it from being out of town – or, I’ll take it with me when I travel and subject others to it too. I’ve never done a program like this with a specified amount of time that one should move through it. I’m pretty excited. I’m also using this as part of the May challenge from http://www.theshredheads.com to exercise every day in the month of May. Should be fun. I’ll keep you updated as I go along.

2. Be able to work out with my boyfriend and his men at the end of May. This directly relates to the above goal. It’s the reason I set the above goal. Because I oh so intelligently told my Air Force lieutenant boyfriend that I would be delighted to work out with him and his men while I’m up there on vacation. Now I have to make sure I won’t make a fool out of my self…

3. Pay off my credit card. I’m tired of being in debt. So, I’m really tightening up my belt to see how much I can pay off this summer. It’s kinda a game for me – the more I pay off the happier I am. If my summer gig goes as well as it should, then I won’t have any problem at all with it. Even if it doesn’t. The goal is to be out from under that debt before the next school year starts.

Those are my three goals. Two to be accomplished by the end of this month and one by the end of the summer. Immediate and achievable. Here goes nothing!

~The Countess~

Days 0-2

Day 0:

Weight: 159 lbs

Underbust: 31

Bust: 36

Waist: 28

Abdomen: 38

Hips: 41

Thighs: 24

I took my measurements and weight on Wednesday night of this last week. I’m okay with weighing myself at night, though I may move to Thursday mornings instead. I’m putting my scale in the cabinet so that I’m not tempted to step on it every day. I’m more interested in tracking my measurements as I know that converting fat to muscle can cause my weight to stay the same or even go up. I’m nowhere near as concerned about the number on the scale as I am with how I feel.

Level 1, Day 1:

I honestly was surprised by how well I hung with the program. There were a couple of times that I wasn’t sure I could keep going  (namely on the side lunges with the arm raises) but, overall, I didn’t think that Level 1 was that scary or hard. I was sweating at the end which was a definite plus. I loved the way the routine was organized – circuit training works for me because I can’t get bored. So, yeah, I definitely like it. I also like Jillian’s tough as nails encouragement. It made me laugh. They also timed the just a couple more, this burn is when it counts moments perfectly.

About 30 minutes after I worked out my muscles turned to jelly. And that’s when I knew I’d found a keeper. I was a little sore for the rest of the day – but mostly in that I was aware of some muscles I didn’t know about previously, not because I was actually in pain. I also was just fine hauling around kids and instruments for our field trip that day. Overall, I’m impressed with the program and gung-ho about seeing it through to the end.

Level 1, Day 2:

I woke up sore this morning. In the stiff because I’ve worked out and am now aware of all sorts of muscles that I’d been ignoring before kind of way. So I did what any self-respecting masochist and work out enthusiast (now anyways) would do. I turned on my 30DS and rocked it out.

Today was much tougher than yesterday. Every strength move was more of a struggle. The cardio breaks were welcome relief from working those muscles. I did much better with the cardio today. I love the ab workouts too. But, the strength circuits are going to be my thorn. I’m okay with this, I know it’s going to help me with looking and feeling better about myself. Honestly though, the further I got into the workout the better I felt – my muscles warmed up and started to feel good. And the burn is just fear leaving the body.

After the workout I was more tired than the day before. Still nice and sweaty. Right now my muscles are a little sore, but nothing too bad. Stairs are a pain, but, that’s okay too. I’m looking forward to the end of May and being able to look back at all of this and see how much stronger I am and how far I’ve come.

~The Countess~

Exercise

What an awful word. People react so strongly to it. Most commonly I hear, “I hate to exercise but I know I need to,” or, “exercising sucks,” or some variation of those. I actually don’t mind exercising. Even if I prefer to call it working out. I had good friends that I would go walking/jogging/running with in Houston. I miss them. And our trails that we would walk/jog/run on. Since I don’t have that here in San Antonio, I have had to figure out what to substitute for it. I’ve tried quite a few different things.

I tried just walking the neighborhoods that I live in/near, but that isn’t my favorite option when I have to wait until after dark. Especially since I go alone. Factor in the weather to my ability to go and I wasn’t getting any exercise done. I also tried the workout room at my apartment complex, but, I hate running on a treadmill. It just doesn’t seem right…

So I switched to workout videos. Now, I know me – I need a thirty minute routine – so I need something pretty darn effective in that amount of time that is also fun so that I don’t get bored. I started with Carmen Electra’s Aerobic Striptease routines. No worries – they’re totally family friendly. And, I could see some results – I felt more toned – but, I wasn’t working up a sweat at all. And, it just felt like I wasn’t actually working for any of it.

Then my mom and sister started raving about Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred. My curiosity got the best of me. So did my big mouth. I told my boyfriend that I would work out with him and his platoon during the week I’m spending with him at the start of June. What was I thinking? So, I decided to give the thirty day shred a try. I’ve decided that I’m going to blog about it at least periodically as I go through the thirty days. Mostly to motivate me to not quit. Also to give me something to blog about.

Now I’m not trying to lose any crazy amounts of weight. Or really, any at all. Like most women, I think that I could stand to lose ten-ish pounds, but, that’s life. My goal is to get in shape. I want to be able to workout with my boyfriend and his men without embarrassing him or me. And, I know that if I tone what I have, well then, who cares about the number on the scale?

~The Countess~