DVD/At Home Exercisers - Week of Jan. 15

[engineer]

Welcome to another week. Well, I got on the scale for the first time in two weeks and the news was anything but kind so I’m back at it:mad: . I did my first workout in a while on Sunday and it went OK. I did upper body which involves a bit of laying on my back which doesn’t hurt once I’m down but it’s the going down and getting up that make it hurt so I was a bit slow. Then I did my trunk work and that does have a couple of moves that really make it smart so I tried to tone them down a bit. Then I got on the treadmill and did more than an hour. Rita wants me to do hill intervals but she also wants a section at elevation for a long time so I made up my own interval program and with everything it took me 1.25 hours to get through just the treadmill. But I felt like I had done something so yippee. :D Then I did as directed and alternated ice and heat for several hours and I feel pretty darn good today.

Tonight is lower body, trunk and treadmill. I’m sticking with treadmill and holding back on tapes until I figure my back will cooperate with me. But it’s really frustrating. And I’m backing off of the bosu jog also. But I have added foam roller work to help with the stiffness/flexibility issues I have. Oh and it was -24F on the way into work this morning, Either snow or warm-up I don’t care which but anything is better than this sub zero freeze thing we have going:rolleyes: .

Stay warm and let’s make this a good week.

Positive affirmation for the week : Moving forward no matter how slowly is still moving forward.

[cniles]

I LOVE the positive affirmation for the week!!! Thanks Engineer!!

We just got back the church service for our neighbor - I was doing ok until the "On Eagles Wings" hymn :( ugh.

I did NOTHING all weekend. I watched my DH lift both days and I did nothing.

So.... I'm gonna try and get into the basement this afternoon. And do SOMETHING - anything.... even part of a tape....

I think part of my low motivation problem is that my weight is good. I'm just getting flabby - and it's not short season yet.:cool:

My goal is 3 times this week and at least once on the weekend - something!!!

Engineer - it's 54 degrees here and rainy and foggy. It's supposed to turn cold Wednesday. Glad you're able to start moving around and holding off on the tapes sounds like a good idea until you can loosen it up a bit. Here's to staying warm!!!:)

[JuliN]

Engineer, I love your affirmation. How true it is. We all forget at times that any movement forward is still forward. And you're doing really well in moving forward and honoring how your body feels at the same time. Keep up the good work!

Charisse -- I didn't do anything this weekend, either. I did so well during the week, and usually do one of my FIRM tapes on the weekend, but I just didn't feel like it. The weather is too warm and it has rained for 3 days, all day. Dark and cloudy and damp. YuckO!!! If I had my way, I'd take snow. First of all it's WINTER and also in the winters a lot of days are sunny even if it's cold. Cincinnati isn't all that cold anyway.

The rain was getting to me, so DH and I went bowling with our neighbors yesterday at the Mason Bowl. We're terrible but we had a great time. Tonight I did Yoga for Flexibility -- Forward Bends. Feel a lot less "stuck".

I'll tell myself I'm moving forward, too.

Juli

[fancyn]

Alright ladies, I'm back. I'm telling myself this b/c I need some accountability. The last few months have been crazy busy and work is a whole story in itself. We've been prepping for a new computer system amongst other things to go "live" next week, all to find out that it's being postponed to an undisclosed time. :( Grr... Vent over.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and the new year is treating you well - I haven't kept up with my threads so I must admit I feel way out of the loop. :o DH is good, and Nicholas is an absolute joy - I on the other hand have been dealing with some internal issues and think regular exercise is what I need to feel like "me" again. Frankly, you could probably compare me to a train wreck. But little steps...

The weather here has been so cruddy lately. It sleeted the entire weekend to finish off with snow yesterday. With the wind chill, it's -5 so Michelle, I can some what feel your pain, though this cr@p is for the birds. I don't know how you do it! So Sunday I walked 2.5 miles in the ice, being the crazy person I am. ;) Yesterday I did nothing, as my workout "room" has been out of commission for almost a month. :( I'm hoping they get the office cleaned out and I can carry on with my lunch time routine. Until then, I need to force myself up early. This a.m. I did Cathe's Rhythmic Step (I think that's what it was called) off the DVR. I only had 40 mins. to contribute b/c I wasn't up early enough - but like the affirmation says, some is better than none. :)

Engineer - stay warm!! I know we're having a hard time here, so I can't imagine it there! What happened to your back? Were you caring for the girls? I'm proud you're still working your way through your fitness goals, no matter at what pace. :)

Charisse - I apologize not knowing what happened with your neighbor, but my deepest condolences. :o My thoughts are with you and your family... Did you make it to the basement? I here ya on the flab situation. By my birthday in Feb. I have goals to tone up. I think 3 is a great goal!

Juli - Hi there! Nice to "meet" you! It sounds like you have quite the collection and regular routine - good for you! Hopefully we can support each other as I get to know you! Bowling sounds like so much fun - I'm am awful at it though. Flexibility is one area I need ot focus on more. What do you think the best way to start off would be?

[engineer]

Good Tuesday morning everybody.:) I hope the week is starting out well for everyone. I did workout last night and feel great (tired and sore but great). I did lower body stuff and added back some of the weight I had taken out to see how I would handle it and it went good. Then I did trunk work and that probably is the most touchy for my back but I got through it;) . Then I did my hill interval thing on the treadmill. It takes me about 73 minutes and my speed goes from 2.5 in the warm up and cool down to 3.5/3.6 for the bulk of the workout. I vary the incline from 3% on the ‘rest’ segments and then the intervals go from 5 to 10% with a block of 20 minutes at the 10% moving from 3. 5 to 3.7 mph. It is tough but I really thing I should try and up the speed just a tad. Maybe tonight I will try that. Then I finished up with Cathe’s Total Body Stretching – Ball Stretch 2. I really want to get her Stretch Max but I just spent a ton of money on some other stuff so I guess I should wait a month (boo hoo:( ). I had hoped to do some foam roller work but we didn’t stop moving after the workout (didn’t get dinner until almost 9 and then pick up the place after that).

Tonight is upper body, trunk and treadmill again. The stretch will be the old Firm 5-day stretch. I am hoping to get my foam roller work in and also some time with the ice and heat as that makes my back so good. We’ll see what all we can fit in:cool: . I either need to become independently wealthy so I have enough time to do all the things I want or I need more hours in the day. Yikes!:eek:

Well hope everyone’s Tuesday is looking good and I will see ya all tomorrow.

JuliN- Rain and gray sky really get to me. That's the only good thing about subzero temps is that you get the most beautiful crystal clear blue sky. And then there is the frost sparkling on the trees. It really is quite magical. But I'm glad you got out and went bowling. And then you got is some flexibility work. Greak job. Hang in there winter will be over some day.:rolleyes:

Charisse - OK you have a goal, that's the first step. Did you get down there and at least do part of a tape? It will come, things have just kind of ganged up on you right now but you will get back to it. It might take a little time but I know you can get that 'flab' back 'firm':D

[JoanneOR]

Engineer, sounds like you're being smart about your back. Did you doctor give you restrictions on what you can/can't do? I admire you for perserving through your workouts even with an injury. I can't say I'd do the same! Wow, that is really cold!! Here I was feeling cold this morning when it was about 20F here and that's a good 40 degrees warmer than you. That's just insanely cold.

Charisse, did you get down to the basement today? Sometimes it really is harder to get motivated during the winter when you can hide stuff easier!! I dread those first warm days when you pull out the shorts! Yikes!

Juli, if you did well all week, it's OK to take the weekend off. Lately that's what I've been doing. We seldom go bowling, but whenever we do I'm surprised at what a good time we have!

Nancy, I had been thinking about you and hoping everything was OK. Good to hear from you! Sounds like you're getting back into the exercise routine. Rythmic Step is fun. Hopefully you'll get your workout room back soon.

I was really sick Friday. Felt better Saturday, but decided to rest and not do any workouts until Monday. I finally did a Bosu workout, Reactive Strength and Power. It was really fun. There's one section for legs, one for arms, and one that's cardio. The legs and cardio were really good, but the arms one was just OK. I have a couple more, but they use body bars, which I don't have. I may be able to use my old Firm sculpting stick, though. This morning I did Christi Taylor's Step Heaven. Just needed something fun and to burn some calories, because my eating was horrible this weekend. Whoever posted that brownie recipe with the York mints in the middle is evil, pure evil, I tell you! ;) So good! No one else in my family seems to be eating them. They all said they were good. Why am I the only one with no self control!

I may try a rotation that someone posted on Cathe's forum. It works legs twice a week, upper body twice and cardio twice. I need some structure. I wake up every morning and stare at my videos figuring out what I want to do!

Hope everyone else had a good weekend! Happy workouts!

[cniles]

Nothing yesterday BUT today I went downstairs and did BSS3 Express Cardio with Stephanie. Quick but effective cardio workout. (I'm so out of shape) But baby steps right?!

Nancy - good to see you again!! Hope your internal stuff can get straightened out and that exercising can help with it!! So glad Nicholas and DH are doing well also! We FINALLY got winter in PA today - windy and darn right cold! (we've been in and out of the 40's and 50's forever!)

Engineer - good to hear you were able to work your back with success!!! The foam roller... is that for your back? Sounds good! And I would love an extra hour or two in the day sometimes to get everything in;) How's your DF doing?

Juli - bowling sounds like fun. I haven't done this in a while. The boys have gone to birthday parties at the bowling alley and really enjoy it. Did you get your FIRM tape in?

editing to add I see Joanne's post - the Cathe rotation sounds great! I'll have to check it out. Gladyou're feeling better - fingers crossed we've all been healthy here so far!!!!

Off to make CL's Smothered pork chops for dinner!:)

[JoanneOR]

Charisse, good job on the workout! This is the link to the rotation:

http://69.0.137.118/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=7&topic_id=6459&mesg_id=6459&page=

It was posted on her board, but she didn't make it up, one of the members did.

[JuliN]

Engineer, you were my inspiration last night. My knees have been sore the last few days, so I decided to forego my usual FIRM cardio and repeat the yoga tape I did on Monday. I REALLY didn't feel like working out but I remembered you were perserving with modifications and I decided I could, too. It's my own fault that my knees are sore. Last week, I realized that I had done a routine with really bad form, but it didn't hurt at the time. I feel it now, though. Tonight is rest, and we'll see what they feel like on Thursday. I'm still moving forward .....

Nancy - Very nice to "meet" you too. Don't feel bad about taking a break. Life throws us curves sometimes. You mentioned a software upgrade. Are you in IT?

Charisse - Big hugs to you. You were doing great before your neighbor passed away, and grief takes time to get over. Good for you for making it to the basement and doing your cardio. I hope it helped you feel better. Moving forward, right?

Joanne -- Good job on your workout, too. I can understand the self control issue. I'm not a big fan of sweets, but I can eat bags of chips, Doritos, etc. ALL BY MYSELF!!!

Have a terrific day!

Juli

[engineer]

Well all I can say is the best laid plans of mice and men….can be totally messed up by the purchasing dept. Grrr.:mad: Anyway DH couldn’t get out of here until almost 6pm because of purchasing’s refusal to do their job and purchase:confused: . So I decided to not workout as I wanted to eat dinner before 10 pm and with these 2+hr workouts I have been doing lately it would have been about 10 before we could eat. So it was an unplanned rest day. Today I’m trying to practice good thinking by not beating myself up about missing a workout, that’s only going so-so:( . But tonight is the trainer and I went to the chiro today and he told me what to watch out for so I’m all set. And it was above 0 on the way into work this morning – it felt down right balmy at +16F. Can you tell I’ve been up here too long?:eek: Oh and I got my x-mas present from my V-pal who sent me a Bosu workout that she doesn’t use. I’m really chopping at the bit to give it a go.

Hopefully none of you are affected by these nasty ice storms and are well on your way to a productive week. Take care and I’ll see ya all tomorrow.

JuliN- Take care of those knees both DM and DH have bad knees and it's no fun. I think yoga was a great choice...glad I could be inspiring;)

Must dash to a meeting (nice they gave me 1 minute notice) will be back to finish personnels.

[JoanneOR]

Engineer, an unplanned rest day is OK, it'll probably be good for your back. How is it feeling? I think we were actually colder than you this morning! The temperature on my car said 12F when I was taking my son to band practice at 7:00am this morning. It is sunny, though, so that's good. What Bosu workout did you get?

Juli, good thinking on taking it easy on your knees and doing something else. I wish I was like you - if I wasn't a big fan of sweets, I'd probably have absolutely no problem keeping weight off. Salty stuff I can take or leave, usually.

Well, I had a mental battle with myself this morning about whether to get up and workout. The workout won! I decided to do that rotation posted on Cathe's forum and today was Gym Style Chest and Triceps and abs from Butts and Guts. Wow, that was humbling!! :o Cathe has to weigh all of 100 pounds and she did chest flyes with 20 pound dumbells (40 pounds total!). And a bunch of other chest stuff. Not to mention 72 pushups. Then she pulls out a 40 lb barbell for another chest exercise. I skipped that one! She had a 25lb dumbbell for one of the tricep exercises. Yikes! Needless to say I used much lower weight and it was still really tough. I guess I'm not used to lifting heavy weights. I could barely lift my arms to wash my hair in the shower. Tomorrow is cardio from BodyMax2. I might substitute a different Cathe step, like Step Blast. The day after is Gym Style Legs. I'll be hobbling into work after that one, I'm sure!

Anyway, hope everyone has good workouts and a great day!

[engineer]

I'm back - like I promised.

Joanne - I find Cathe totally humbling, but I love the challange and I think you do to. Good thing you were able to get the hair washed, but a great big high five and gold star for doing it. Yep we were warmer - nice change but I see by the forcast we'll be back to the single digit highs by Friday (I can hardly wait:rolleyes: ) I got Double Cardio CIA 2604.

Charisse - First I want to pat you on the back for getting down there and doing a workout. Those first ones back from a break are the toughest, but you did it! Great! The foam roller is for flexibility it's kind of a self massage thing to break up tight muscle bundles. The thing is you go for the pain - I mean you find the spot that hurts while rolling on it and then you stay there until the pain decreases by 50%. Strange but it works. DF is depressed and miserable - being weak and shut in due to the weather is wearing on both of them. But at least he is willing to let DM go to the store and stuff without him now. Helps her a little bit.

Nancy - It's wonderful to have you back. And as for my back I fell off the stability ball (stupid accident) and landed on the concrete (not the puzzle mat) on my lower back. Hurt like the dickens and I cracked the wings on the L3 and L4 vertibrae. Big gold star for doing Cathe and I hope they get things straightened out so you can start taking care of "mom", as a woman we tend to do for others before ourselves and sometimes it's best to be a little selfish;)

Well back to the grind

[cniles]

After working out yesterday I got a call from DH - the van died on the way home. So we had to work out towing/garage/picking up DH - dinner got shoved aside and we ended up eating taco's late!! Luckily it was a quick fix and we can pick it up tonight!!!

So I went downstairs and did BSS3 with Pam - good weight workout (although nothing like Joanne did!!!!:) ) It felt good to lift those weights. Gonna try again tomorrow and make it 3 for 3 this week.

Wow Joanne - I checked out that workout (and did you see her body?!!:o ) Pretty cool but intense! Especially if you're using Cathe's gym workouts. I don't have any but have seen clips on collage's website. Good luck - I bet you could modify using different Cathe and other workouts but target the areas. Dh does that lifting weights.

Engineer - oh pooh. Well a rest day is a rest day - sounds like you controlled the eating so that went well. Good luck with the trainer tonight. And thanks for your kind words and inspiration. :) You guys are getting the worst of the weather - yuck. We woke up to 18 degrees this morning so I guess we joined everyone else in winter.

Juli - way to listen to your body. My knees get me sometime too. I usually modify my step workouts to really low impact. Sounds like yoga was just the thing for you. And isn't this board great?!!! EVERYONE motivates me - I always feel I need to be accountable and check in. I think of you guys as I workout!!!;)

Have a great night everyone!

[engineer]

Only one more day and this week is done. Can I hear a big sigh of relief? :rolleyes: No, perhaps it’s just me. Last night went really good. Rita went over each exercise in my program for the week and we modified or eliminated per my back and came up with weights to use and she corrected my form. I still have crap form on those stationary lunges. Sometime I wonder if I’ll ever get it figured out. No cardio last night however, I just went upstairs and did the ice/heat thing on the back as it was slightly sore. I’m feeling good about the program and look forward to it tonight.:)

But I am having a )#(&)(* day:mad: . I weighed myself for the first time since my little oops and I gained 11 lbs! :eek: How the heck does a person gain 11 lbs in 14 days?:confused: I know I had an off day but it was one day and I did workout 4 of those days. That means it will take me 3 months to get back to where I was 2 weeks ago!!!! I just want to stomp my feet back to my room and sit and cry. It’s just way too depressing for words. It appears that my body likes to be in the neighborhood of 200lbs and that’s not the neighborhood I want to live in. I feel as though I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life writing down every morsel of food that goes in my mouth and workout 2+ hours a day. That’s not doable as you all know. It works for a while but at some point that isn’t going to be an option. And this from someone who loves to workout. Oh well enough of my little problems. Paraphrasing Rick in Casablanca…all my problems don’t amount to a hill of beans in this world:( . At least I am trying to do something, better than most folks as DH likes to point out.

Charisse - Ugh, car problems an expensive pain in the backside. Sorry about that, but glad to hear it was a quick fix. Glad that BSS3 went well for you last night. Any idea of what your third workout is going to be? Oh and we were +17F on the way into work. I swear it's a heatwave, but back to the single digit highs starting tomorrow.

Sorry to be downer today but we all have our off days and I promise I'll be better tomorrow .... after all it will be friday:D

[JoanneOR]

(((Engineer))), so sorry you are feeling bad about the gain. I can imagine how frustrating that is. That does seem strange to gain that amount in a short amount of time. Have you measured yourself? Maybe you haven't gained any actual inches. Maybe you have to think of it as you are much healthier and stronger than most of the population who don't workout at all - you're doing good things for your body, even if the numbers on the scale are wacky sometimes. I've gained about 4 pounds, but I only have myself to blame - been eating too much junk. Trying to be better today. We'll see. :rolleyes:

Charisse, glad your van troubles weren't too hard to fix. Yes, Cathe's body is amazing. So tiny and compact. Not an ounce of fat. I don't think I have the time to workout enough to look like that! Not that I ever genetically could! I think she has two kids, too.

I did the cardio from Body Max2 this morning, the second day of the rotation. Tomorrow is gym style legs. I'm scared. :eek: I've done it once or twice and I remember it being really tough.

Yea, one more day till the weekend! Any fun plans? We have soccer games Saturday and ballet. That's about it.

[engineer]

I’m doing a happy dance because it’s Friday.:D We made it through another work week everyone. And I ‘pulled up my big girl panties’ last night and left my pity party;) . Water under the bridge and I can’t change the past so focus forward. What we look at is where we go and that is hard to remember sometimes. So I didn’t eat great last night but I’m not going to sweat it because I did workout – even though it was late. I did upper body work and then some trunk work. We took out all the oblique stuff as that aggravates the injury, but I do miss the oblique work. Then I got on the treadmill and did my super-duper custom hill interval program, followed by the Firm 5-day Stretch – Day 1. I did discover that the one stretch that Janet does in Vol 2 cool down where you end up with one leg out to the side and the other kind of under you with your back flat (sorry poor description) but that one really hurts my left knee; going to have to figure out how to modify that. Anyway I didn’t finish until 20 to 9 so it was a late night. Then we had dinner and I iced my back while we ate. Good thing DH has activities to keep him busy while I’m sweating:rolleyes: .

Tonight will be a lower body night with trunk and treadmill. Then tomorrow will be a rest day. I’m going back to documenting stuff and Rita had some ideas of other things to track that she is currently using. And just focus on finding the key to unlock that healthy % body fat woman inside of this rather largish shell.

Joanne - I just lost this silly post so I have to try again. Just wanted to say you are right - try better today. And yes I have gained inches because the 'falling down' pants are now just barely staying up.:mad: You continue to impress me with the Cathe workouts. She is one tough firecracker but she does get results. Let me know how Gym Style Legs goes. Oh and have fun at the soccer games and ballet. Nothing planed here. We may have to go to GF, ND to pick up some parts for DH for work on Saturday, but we won't find out until later today. Crazy, but an excuse to go to the 'big city':D LOL.

Well take care everyone and I will work on another positive affirmation. If you have any ideas - let me know.

[JoanneOR]

Engineer, glad you are feeling better about things today. Another great job with your workout!

Well, last night I was feeling icky, sore throat and just run down. So, I've been downing Airbornes (boy, does that stuff tasty nasty!) and slept in instead of getting up to workout. I don't want to be sick again!! I feel pretty good now, so I might go do a light workout on the treadmill at the gym during my lunch. Maybe a cardio coach, but with walking instead of running. I'll try to tackle Gym Style Legs tomorrow.

Everyone have a great weekend!

[cniles]

Hey guys - nothing formal for me yesterday - I did some pushups and some planks (side and front) and sit ups. DH made omlets for us last night b/c I didn't feel like making dinner!:p

Tonight is pizza (and wine!) - tomorrow is a long workout and cleaning the house!!!!

Engineer - glad yesterday went well. You're doing a great job of turning things around!!! Big kudo's!!!

Joanne - ugh. Hope you're feeling better. Enjoy the weekend!

See ya all on Monday!:)

[JuliN]

My DH subscribed to HD TV this week. I'm having a heck of a time dealing with all the remotes. I think the tech forgot to hook up my DVD player. I can get the VCR going if I finagle things. That means I have to stick with my tapes for workouts.

On Saturday, I hadn't figured out how to get the VCR to work, so I did Namaste Yoga on Fit TV. I'm still being real careful with the knees and paying much more attention to my form -- you know, don't let your knees extend beyond your toes.

Sunday, we got the VCR going, and I did Time Crunch W.O. No problems, but again I'm being real careful.

My best to all--

Juli

PS We finally got some snow in Cincinnati yesterday. YEAH!!! It was beautiful. One of the things I like about snow days is that I get more birds at my feeders when it snows. I love to watch the birds while I have my morning coffee.