Groupies Gather....

Well I got so wrapped up in things I forgot to blog for a couple of days so I am making up for it now.  So Friday marked Day 12.  It was a good day.  I worked all day and then headed out to the Gym to take the family swimmimg.  Nope, my pool is still not at complete swimmimg level.  With all of the chemicals we have been putting in our pool lately, I am afraid that it would eat a limb off of someone if we tried.  So we headed to the gym for "Family Swim".  We all swan for a bit, then showered off and headed back home.

Friday is groupie night at our house this week.  So our fellow groupies came over (was glad to see Judy was feeling better and up for the challenge), resistance bands in hand, and a Tony Horton 10 Minute Trainer workout video to boot.  So we decided to mix up our workout routine a bit.  Popped in the 10 minute trainer ready to get our workout on.  I thought OK this is going to be good, only 10 minutes to each workout, I can do this.  Warm up came on and it was like a warp-speed warm up.  I was lagging getting to my mat because I thought a drink of water before a workout was needed and almost missed the entire 2 minute (might have been shorter) warm up.  So we did the resistance training first for 10 minutes and then popped in the cardio video for 10 minutes of cardio.  Wow...The cardio one was really intense.  I felt like I was training for a football team.  A lot of the moves in that workout were moves you see the football players doing in their training camps.  I got really tickled in one part as we were all lined up across the mats in a straight line and had to do a huddle run and we were all in synch.  Made me laugh because we looked like a defensive line about to rush Tony.  Had to stop for a quick breather on that one because I got soooo tickled at us and could not stop laughing.  But we all made it through and had a good time together. 

I am so proud of everyone in the group.  We are doing this all together and everyone has been committed to this!  I must give a shout out to Judy who was really sick last week but still had the motivation to come join the party.  You go Judy, you were rocking it hard during the workout!  Keep up the great work everyone!  Stay tuned...

Signing off...Lara

Stats for Wednesday, May 26th!

BodyMedia FIT data for May 26, 2010
Calories Burned - 2690
Calories Consumed - 1555
Total Activity - 0:43
Moderate Activity - 0:43
Vigorous Activity - 0:00
Steps Taken - 5358
Sleep Duration - 4:31
Lying Down - 6:38
Sleep Efficiency - 68%

Kicking It Up A Notch...

So here I am at the end of Day 11.  We made a great addition to our fitness quest today.  We went to Lifetime Fitness today to check out their facilities.  That is one NICE facility.  So the price was reasonable and we ended up joining.  Yeah, we have compulsive buyer written all over our faces but hey we are kicking it up a notch!  We are going to start adding the gym to our workout regimen so that we can get some extra cardio in.  I am shooting for 6x a week to go along with our current Tony Horton Power 90 schedule.  I am digging the fact that we can go jump on an Elliptical machine, Treadmill, or Bike and then jump in the whirlpool, pool, or sauna.  They even have racquetball, volleyball, and basketball courts should I feel like letting out my inner athlete.  My son is stoked about the kid's area and activities they have to offer while Mommy and Mimi are working out.  This is a good thing!

So we did our Sweat / Cardio / Ab Ripper workout with Tony and crew.  I can tell that my stamina is getting much stronger each time we do this video.  I did have some problems with most of the jumping exercises.  My knees feel like a sledge hammer is hitting them on the outside of my leg/knee everytime I land on my jumps.  I did my workout barefoot today and am thinking that that may have been the reason for the pain.  I am going to test this theory next time and wear my tennis shoes like I have been doing on the past videos.  So, needless to say, I modified the jumping exercises to be more jogging and scissor leg exercises and threw in some extra arm movement to keep my heart rate up.  I can proudly report that I did only modified 1 of the Ab exercises and banged out all of the reps for them.  That is 10 reps + 10 different ab exercises = 100 Ab crunches!  I can also report that there have been no more near knockout instances with my punches.  I am really starting to look forward to the workout days and not feel like it is such a chore!  So here is to a great day and an even better future with my fitness quest. Stay tuned...

Signing off...Lara

Sculpt this...

So here I am on Day 10.  Another day down.  Chalk one up for me!  I worked on the pool some again today.  I felt really guilty about hogging the calorie burning activity yesterday so I let M E do the vacuuming work and I cleaned the filter out.  Our pool hose is officially hosed.  It keeps collapsing on us and kinking.  Not sure who got the bigger workout with it today.  M E pushing the vacuum back and forth in the pool or me going back and forth unkinking the hose.  I think it was a close tie.

After the pool work, we did the Sculpt 1 - 2 with Tony and the crew.  Those resistance bands really work you out.  But have no fear, my muscles are getting stronger and it is getting a little easier each time we do it.  So to you Tony, I say sculpt this!  I am no wuss puss, I can hang with the best of them!  Or at least push it to make it look like it!  So Day 10 is down and I am looking forward to Day 11.  Bring it on BABY!  Stay tuned...

Signing off...Lara  

Stats for Tuesday, May 25th!

Here is "yesterday's news"...

BodyMedia FIT data for May 25, 2010

Calories Burned - 2849
Calories Consumed - 1092
Total Activity - 0:53
Moderate Activity - 0:42
Vigorous Activity - 0:11
Steps Taken - 7996
Sleep Duration - 6:22
Lying Down - 7:32
Sleep Efficiency - 85%
Calorie Deficit - 1757

Stats for Monday, May 24th!

Here are my stats for Monday!

BodyMedia FIT data for May 23, 2010

Calories Burned - 2305
Calories Consumed - 1330
Total Activity - 0:13
Moderate Activity - 0:13
Steps Taken - 2965
Sleep Duration - 5:59
Lying Down - 7:12
Sleep Efficiency - 83%
Calorie Deficit - 925

We're Having Some Fun...

So here I am winding down from Day 9.  I feel really good tonight.  Did my Sweat / Cardio / Ab Ripper workout early today.  It sure makes a difference when we do the workout earlier in the evening than at night after dinner.  I found that I have A LOT more energy and less complaints.  I can say that I am getting much better at the workouts.  I was able to do so much more of the workout with less modifications.  OK, so the lunge jumps and cross jumps still get me and I made a jogging modification out of those, but the rest of the time, I think I actually saw Tony himself trying to keep up with me. 

After the workout, M E and I worked on the pool.  She cleaned the filter while I brushed the pool.  We had a small struggle over who was going to do what, but in the end I won.  Yeah, I am getting pretty eager to burn more calories and made her clean the filter while I worked it hard brushing the pool.  I did let her brush the tile around the pool because I felt a little bad that I was hogging all of the calorie burning.  Yeah, I can be nice like that sometimes.

Once we were done with the pool, M E cooked dinner.  That was one tasty dinner if I do say so myself.  She made crab stuffed talapia, brown rice, broccoli, and fresh pineapple for dessert.  Man that was some good stuff.  I am making myself hungry just thinking about it.

So today has been a GREAT day!  Great workout, great pool cleaning, and great dinner.  What more could a girl ask for?  Now time to curl up in bed with a great book.  Stay tuned...

Signing off....Lara

The Smell of Sweet Success

So today is Day 8 and my weigh-in day.  I got up this morning and proudly stepped on the scale ready to see just how well my hard work has paid off.  I am happy to say I lost 2.2 pounds.  That is almost half of a 5lb bag of sugar.  Oh yeah baby!

Today was Sculpt 1-2 and tomorrow I will be breaking it down with Sweat / Cardio / Ab Ripper.  This time I will pay a little more attention to where I am throwing those punches and upper cuts.  Stay tuned...

Signing off...Lara

Stats for Sunday, May 23rd!

BodyMedia FIT data for May 23, 2010
Calories Burned - 2703
Calories Consumed - 1291
Total Activity - 0:42
Moderate Activity - 0:37
Vigorous Activity - 0:05
Steps Taken - 6863
Sleep Duration - 8:21
Lying Down - 11:52
Sleep Efficiency - 70%
Calorie Deficit - 1412

Can I Get a Little Cheese With That Whine?

So here I am at the end of Day 7!  The day started a little late because I decided to sleep in and catch up on some of the sleep that I did without this week.  Did a little grocery shopping, had a great lunch with the family, went to the park with Cristian and M E and practiced baseball.  After the park we came home and M E and I did the Sweat / Cardio / Ab Ripper workout.  OK, so here comes the Whine...Where is my cheese?

The stretching was good.  Warmed up my muscles and got me ready for my beating a la Tony!  I think I did something to my left knee and my left shoulder feels like someone hit it with a sledge hammer.  So off we go with the workout.  Knee lifts...yeah well that about killed me.  Running...ummm lets not go there, more like a light jog and at times a brisk walk.  Running lunges...yeah that was not happening, modification time to keep moving...I was soooooooooo ready to go through the TV screen and side kick Tony by the time we made it to kicks.  I really was not in the mood for my workout today.  Who said that protein is good for healing sore muscles?  I am sooo not believing them right now because I have had 2 protein shakes, a SUPER protein bar, and tried to eat some high in protein food within the last couple of days and I still feel like I just got beat down.  But...I hang in there whining and complaining every so often just so someone knows I am still there. 

On to the arms and punches.  Much better...I was feeling a little better about this segment of the workout.  Jabs and cross punches....I was really throwing my hip for those cross punches.  Hooks and upper cuts....Now you know you are getting really into your workout when you upper cut yourself.  Yes, I was fighting with myself there for a half-second and upper cut myself right in the nose...But I made it through my workout and really pushed myself on the Ab Ripper.  I guess I figured the whining was getting me nowhere and I was NOT going to give up and throw in the towel!  So bring on Day 8, weigh in day.  I am ready to step on the scale and see how well my hard work has paid off.  Stay tuned....

Signing off...Lara

Stats for Saturday, May 22nd!

I kicked it hard yesterday even without Tony! Yeah!

BodyMedia FIT data for May 22, 2010
Calories Burned - 2570
Calories Consumed - 1267
Total Activity - 0:39
Moderate Activity - 0:39
Steps Taken - 6270
Sleep Duration - 6:23
Lying Down - 8:16
Sleep Efficiency - 77%
Calorie Deficit - 1303
 
Signing off...Lara

And the Fatigue Has Set In....

So here I am on Day 6.  Woohoo.  Had to get up really early (6:45am) to get my son ready and off to his 8am Baseball game.  Game went well.  Really proud of him and the progress that he is starting to make in Baseball.  However, ever since then I have been completely exhausted.  It does not help that I did not get to bed until after 2am so I am a little sleep deprived.  Such is life.  Anyway, the fatigue seems to have set in with me and I am soooooo completely exhausted.  Skipping Tony workout today and will call this my day of rest.  Will pick it back up tomorrow.  Stay tuned....

Signing off....Lara

Stats for Friday, May 21st!

I hit 81% sleep efficiency last night, awesome!

BodyMedia FIT data for May 21, 2010

Calories Burned - 2644
Calories Consumed - 1156
Total Activity - 0:34
Moderate Activity - 0:34
Vigorous Activity - 0:00
Steps Taken - 4979
Sleep Duration - 4:54
Lying Down - 6:01
Sleep Efficiency - 81%
 
Signing off...Lara

Party In The House...Fitness Party That Is!

So here I am on Day 5!  WooHoo!  I have successfully made it to Day 5.  I am pretty sore today.  My body feels like it is going through Chinese torture.  You know the torture technique where they tie each limb to a separate horse and then they whip them to run in each direction?  Yeah, that's the one!  I think I pushed myself a little too much with my workout yesterday.  But no worries, I am here for the long haul.  And on the positive side of things, I met all of my goals yesterday and noticed today when I uploaded my GoWear Fit, my sleep quality is getting MUCH better. 

So today we had a fitness party so to speak at my house.  A friend of ours who is also taking on the same fitness challenge came over and we all 3 worked out together!  It was a GREAT time.  Go MH! You have really been pushing hard and I can already see a difference!  I really had a blast workout with you!

So I did not push myself that hard today due to a lot of soreness, but I chugged my way through the workout and am feeling better.  I treated myself and my muscles to a high protein smoothie of only 160 calories.  Hopefully my muscles will thank me tomorrow.  Bring on Day 6.  I am up for the challenge!  Stay tuned....

Signing off....Lara

Lara One, BK None

So here I am winding down Day 4.  It has been a great day all around with the exception of 1 small incident.  Thursdays are our busy day.  We go from work, to baseball practice, and then 30 minutes to get from there to Cristian's gymnastics.  Normally we cook enough dinner the night before to allow us to heat up left overs to feed us before we head out to baseball but unfortunate that was not the case tonight.  I ended up grabbing some oatmeal as I ran out the door and decided that we would break down and grab Cristian a quick bite between baseball and gymnastics.  So...we ended up running through the drive thru at Burger King.  We have not been to BK in years.  I honestly cannot remember the last time we have been there.  It must have been before Cristian was born.  At any rate, I had no worries about being tempted by their YUMMY french fries, Cristian never orders french fries with his meal, he always gets apples.  So we ordered the chicken nuggets with the apples fries (they have apples cut into the shape of french fries, how cool is that?) and proceeded to the window to pay and pick up his meal.  When the guy opened the window of the drive thru, out wafted the smell of french fries.  No worries, it would only last for a few minutes or so I thought.  When the guy handed us the bag, not only was it missing the apples, there were not 1 but 2 orders of french fries in the bag.  I tried to politely give the fries back but the guy insisted that we keep them.  There must be some rule that once the food exits the window, they cannot take it back or our girlish figures were telling him that we really NEEDED these fries.  I stood my ground though, I refused to submit to the cries coming from the bag.  "Just one little french fry, what is it going to hurt?"  Oh no, aren't you one of the reasons that I am in the shape I am in today?  So I say Lara ONE, BK NONE!  I win, you lose!

So, once we got home, I proceeded to vacuum and clean the filter on the pool again.  The rain keeps messing with the chemicals not to mention the dirt that keeps getting in it from the flowerbeds.  It rained pretty good here today.  After doing that, with my heart rate already up from the pool experience, I jumped right into the Cardio / Sweat / Ab Ripper workout.  Now mind you, the last workout on this segment, I had a few struggles, but I can tell that my stamina and strength is getting better each day.  It was a great workout and I only had to make a few modifications but I never stopped moving.  On top of that, I met ALL of my milestones today!  WHOOP WHOOP!  Check it out:

BodyMedia FIT data for May 20, 2010

Calories Burned - 2909
Calories Consumed - 1183
Total Activity - 1:21
Moderate Activity - 1:13
Vigorous Activity - 0:08
Steps Taken - 7032
Sleep Duration - 5:25
Lying Down - 6:37
Sleep Efficiency - 82%
 
So there is an end to a good day.  Stay tuned....

Signing off....Lara

Stats for Wednesday, May 19th!

Here are my Body Media stats for yesterday!  I ROCKED it!

BodyMedia FIT data for May 19, 2010

Calories Burned - 2712
Calories Consumed - 1334
Total Activity - 0:35
Moderate Activity - 0:35
Vigorous Activity - 0:00
Steps Taken - 4843
Sleep Duration - 6:25
Lying Down - 9:57
Sleep Efficiency - 64%
Calorie Deficit - 1378
 
Signing Off...
Lara

Ahh, Push It...Push It REAL Good!

SO I have come to Day 3 and can say that I actually feel good about this whole fitness / health experience.  I started out the day by actually eating breakfast for once.  WooHoo!  For those that know me, my regular diet has consisted of coffee, coffee, some more coffee, dinner, and coffee!  Oh yeah, did I mention coffee?  LOL!  But NOT today.  Oh no, I had a nice healthy bowl of Honey Graham O's for breakfast, a corned beef sandwich for lunch, and a delicious grilled chicken salad for dinner.  Yeah, I did have an iced caramel macchiato as a morning snack.  I am trying to ween myself off of them and think I have found a better alternative until I can completely stop drinking coffee.  Did I just say completely stop drinking coffee?  Who am I kidding here?  OK...so let's work on better alternatives to the iced caramel macchiato addiction first and we can see what happens from there.  So I have found that getting an iced non-fat latte with splenda is good and only 60 calories.  Not as good as my macchiato taste wise, but still pretty good, and definitely better calorie wise.  I think I can get used to it.  :o)

So with my healthy eating / drinking commitments starting to appeal more and more to me, let's get to the fitness side of things.  I made the title of this blog "Ahh, push it...Push it real good".  Although not quite what the old 80's song by Salt N Pepa really had in mind, I think it fits completely with my exercise / workout today.  I started off by vacuuming and cleaning the filter of the pool in the heat of the day.  Yeah, I was sweating and unscrewing the top off of the filter is no walk in the park either.  Just ask my Mom.  That thing is on there tight!  I then proceeded to take in some Sculpt 1-2 with Tony Horton and his crew.  Although my body is still pretty sore (yesterday's Sweat / Cardio / Ab Ripper contributed GREATLY to the pain), I managed to do ALL of the push-ups and finished out the entire workout!  Can I get a what, what?  Yeah baby that's right, I did all of the push-ups!  So yeah, I pushed it...I pushed it REAL good today.  And you know what?  I feel GREAT!  Bring on tomorrow's workout of Sweat / Cardio / Ab Ripper Tony!  You got nothing on me!  I have Decided...Committed...and will Succeed!  Stay tuned...

Signing off....Lara

Among The Living

So I woke up today beginning my Day 2 in a horrible way.  Not only did I find that I had muscles in places I did not think they existed, but I was sick as a dog.  With every movement that I made I had to choke back the feeling of rushing to the bathroom to hug the porcelain goddess.  To add to the misery and pain of my stomach, the world around  was spinning.  "Suck it up girlfriend, this too shall pass" came my inner skinny voice.  You know the one, that pesky little voice in your head that keeps you motivated and continuing on at all cost.  I honestly felt like I could lay down and die and would not mind it a bit.  But no, that was not an option.  So I muddled through work, conference calls, meetings, etc and come 5pm, I made a mad dash to the couch.  Exercising was not looking like it was going to be a part of my day today.  Sorry Tony and fellow chubby buddy, I am sitting this one out.

So as I lay in misery I watched Mary Ellen workout until I fell asleep.  Go M E!  I am so proud of my chubby buddy!  She was not going to throw in the towel!  Way to show your commitment!

Well...I woke up a couple of hours later, still feeling not quite up to par.  Needless to say, my calorie intake for today was minimal to say the least.  I skipped breakfast, had a really late lunch (my lunch was while the family was having dinner), and just now finished dinner at 10pm.  My total calorie intake was like 600 something!  Pathetic and definitely not healthy.  Tomorrow will be better!  It HAS to be!

BUT...I did suck it up and ended up doing the Sweat/Cardio 1-2 which I swore I was going to complete and not take on the Ab Ripper being that my stomach was already pretty peeved at me and retaliating.  I put everything I had into completing this video and made a few modifications so as not to give up and still be able to keep up with Tony and his crew.  So then comes the cool down...whew I made it.  Enjoyed the cool down and knowing that my workout was almost complete.  Made it through the cool down / stretching and up pops a counter on the screen announcing the Ab Ripper 100 that was coming up next.  4:45 total workout for the ab ripper.  So you know that pesky little inner skinny voice...Yeah well she got me!  "It is less than 5 mins and you just did 35 mins, you can do this!"  Yeah, yeah I can do this!  Bring on the Ab Ripper, I got this!  So I did it, 10 different crunch exercises, 10 reps each = 100 crunches total!  I can already feel the soreness of my abs kicking in.  I just pray that my stomach does not retaliate like it did today.  Come on belly, I love you, but I would love you more if your were less.  I am doing this for the both of us!

So after my workout, I feel as though I am now back among the living!  It is off to the shower for me....Stay tuned...

Signing off...Lara

Still Standing

Well here I am, one day down and god knows how many more to go!  So day 1 is coming to a close and I feel rather proud to say that I have survived.  I sound like such a wimp, but boy am I out of shape.  How easy it was to get the many extra pounds on me and how hard it is to make them leave their comfortable little (or shall I say rather large) home.  Shoo fat, don't bother me.  I have seen you for far too long!

I started out my day with the usual trip to grab some coffee on the way back to work from dropping my son off at school.  With coffee in hand I came back and logged my breakfast (yes, that was my breakfast) and found that my love for the caramel macchiato has got to go.  Holy cow, there are some really empty calories in that drink, but they sure don't make me feel or look empty!  Note to self, must find another love to replace that drink!

For lunch I had mucho protein.  That would be 2 eggs with some cheese.  Sounds tasty doesn't it.  OK, so I really did not have much to choose from since I missed grocery shopping over the weekend.  Probably better that I waited until tonight to do the grocery shopping anyway.  Too many temptations there but I am GOAL oriented here and really checked labels this time!

Moving along to the sweaty stuff.  Yeah, I know those following are dying to hear just how many push-ups I can do.  I will have you know, I did my best and about 8 more than I thought I could.  That Tony Horton sure makes it all look sooooooooo easy.  I can only aspire to be that good and buff one day.  But then that is why I am here right?  So I did the Sculpt 1-2 from his Power 90 video, did some hula-hooping and step aerobics on the Wii Fit, and did a quick workout with my fitness coach also on the Wii.  Oh, let us not forget that I chased and battled the 6 year old as well.  Shouldn't that count for something?

So here is the lowdown on my status for Day 1 so far:
Calories Burned - 2520

Calories Consumed - 1210
Total Activity - 0:24
Moderate Activity - 0:24
Calorie Deficit - 1310

Time to hit the shower!  Wonder what Tony has in store for me tomorrow.  Stay tuned...

Signing off...Lara

My Last Supper!

OK so it is no surprise to those that know me that I LOVE food, especially good old country BBQ!  But, then again I couldn't call myself a Texan without loving that BBQ.  I don't doubt that my love for food is what helped me get to the larger than life version of me today.  :)

Get ready because all that is about to change! Tomorrow, I am kick starting a fitness challenge with Tony Horton and a few friends.  We are going to go through the Power 90 program while tossing in a little Jillian Michaels and some Wii action into the mix 6 days a week.  Phew, I am tired just thinking about it.  If Jillian has kicked some ass on tv and Tony looks like he is 30, I know I am going to be hurting tomorrow!

So, in honor of my last supper tonight, I drove myself over to Bar-B-Cutie and had my last taste of BBQ for a while.  Boy, that pulled pork was delicious!  But, now it is time to go back to what my dear old mother taught me; time to let that inner health nut back out and start working for the healthy life I want to have.  Let's face it, this body isn't getting any younger and these extra layers have got to go!

I will be blogging through this fitness quest while I muddle through my new boot camp life!  I am ready, committed, and in search for my inner skinny!  I will be tracking my food and fitness on the Daily Plate and blogging everyday on here to keep myself sane.  Ha...

Tomorrow I will be kicking it off with my 1st set of weigh-ins and measurements.  Bring on the challenge! Have your own fitness challenge? Join me and my groupies and we can tread through this boot camp together giving each other the swift kick in the butt we need to keep moving towards our goal.  The more the merrier I say!

I can't wait because...I am FIT to be THIN!!!