Leaning on a classic

    I’ll be honest, it’s been a long time since I have really practiced any yoga. Unless of course you count my halfhearted attempts while teaching my classes. Yeah I didn’t think they counted either. This book by David Swenson is Ashtanga style- and there was a time where I would practice Primary series 5 times a week. Do the same exact thing for long enough and you get burned out and bored, which means this book has been collecting some dust.
   I didn’t have it in me to do a long practice, but just more of a stretch out of the body. It definitely took me more like 30 minutes because I was moving slow, but it felt good.

I’ve been absent + What I’ve been up to, photo edition

   Reason:

   The last week has been really tough. I had been feeling like I was headed down this path of overtraining for a little while now. With long intense workouts 6 mornings a week, teaching 2 classes a week, and just being an overly active person by nature- it was bound to happen. The day that I would take off from training would be a work day anyway, which means I’m still running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Honestly I just chalked being tired and drained to metal stresses more than the physical ones I put on my body. Studying for CPT and trying to find a new job, making workouts for others, doing stuff around the house (DIY projects with general maintenance) all stress me out! And I’ve been consuming more coffee, less water, and in combination with my ADHD meds I have had a whole lot of trouble sleeping, which we all know isn’t helping matters. 

    So I decided to take Friday, Saturday and Sunday off from the gym last week. Friday was my first rest day in 8 days.  In those 8 days I worked out a total of 12 times- because I skipped my rest day to take advantage of the sun… Silly me. Of course I didn’t get any solid sleep all weekend and have still not slept through the night since.. (from coffee I’m guessing?) 

   I went back to the gym yesterday and today- and taught last night as well. It’s too soon… I feel weak, I’m exhausted and guilty.  Guilty because I know Paula is more than likely not going to go to the gym if I don’t go, and because I’m supposed to be smarter than this. So now it’s time for a game plan. I’ll get back to you on that! 

   For now, so photos since I’ve been gone.

Thursday’s Class

Friday Morning “Active Rest” walk- Met up with my neighbor after I had already completed a half hour loop for another 45 minutes.. 

Little Miss Khloe getting big!

   Sunday afternoon and Monday morning was spent giving my flower beds some much, much needed love. I’m pretty excited that these guys have decided to spread all over the place!

   I also purchased this Dalmatian Foxglove at Lowes reduced section for $3.25! Even though its not in the best shape this year, next year when it returns it should be nice and strong. They can grow up to 4ft high and 2ft wide!

     I have been on a roll with the house stuff. I went thrift shopping and have started some projects with some one of the items I found.. Bit  of a big deal since we have lived in this house for 2 1/2 years and I have one mirror hung up and one picture in the entire house.. and it was time to get cracking…
 First- this guy needed only to find a home and be screwed in..

   Only $5 from the thrift store and this thing weighs a ton! When I saw initially I didn’t have any set plans for it, but I just loved it… Once I got it home it popped into my head to use it here in the kitchen for coffee mugs. We only have 4 of them, but 3 of those 4 are huge and take up a ton of space in our small cabinet- this is so much better. Plus it matches really well :)

    This guy has some potential

   This was $2.50- and I have big plans for it.

   Lastly, I’m trying to give our side door, which leads to our totally remodeled kitchen, a face lift.. it is in rough shape:

  I’m pretty sure its original to the house.. and it is certainly going to be a ton of work.. See those holes up there? Yeah about 70 years of curtains.. and multiply that times 4, just to get an idea of how many holes I have to fill! 

Have you ever had symptoms of overtraining? What did you do about it?

Do you like DIY projects, decorating, or gardening?

ZOMBIE + Tips + Bike

     Zombie mode all day..  I woke up this morning without the husband- he got to sleep in since he was working at a different job site. I zoned my way through breakfast and some coffee but was coherent enough to leave him a cup with a note as a surprise :) We don’t have a coffee pot, but an on the stove espresso maker. It makes enough for two normal cups or one Friends Central Perk sized cup of coffee- so leaving him a cup required getting out a travel mug and hoping it stayed hot enough, which it did! 

    I picked up Paula because her car is still dead and we made our way to the gym- blazing through a leg workout in time for me to drop her back off, shower, eat and attempt to get to work on time. I was only 5 minutes late! That for me is the equivalent to 15-20 minutes early so I was happy with that.

     Work was moving at snail speed, but the husband got out of work super early and stopped in for something to eat. I also convinced him to bring me 

  YUM. Unfortunately it didn’t kill the zombie in me, and the day continued to drag on.  It was finally 2pm- time to clock out, woot woot! When we clock out, we collect our credit card tips as well. Since they have changed to a new computer system, there is a report that prints up showing what each transactions tip was.

         
     As soon as I got home and changed we headed out to pick up the husband’s new mountain bike. No photos yet, but I did snap one while we were waiting for the bike to be ready

   I really want a road bike- why do they have to start at $600?  I’ll just be happy with what I have- husband is fixing and adjusting his old mountain bike for me- set to be ready within the week! Apparently its an amazing bike. He and all his friends helping him with it are convinced that I’m going to love it and I’m almost sure they are more excited about it than I am..  I mean I’ll get super excited when it’s ready and I can actually ride it.. but I can’t get excited about the new Shock-less Fork you put on there.. sorry hun..
       The rest of the night when by quickly. Dinner, Played Hairdresser dying my friend’s hair, Bed. The End :)
 
How was your day?
Ever leave a really bad tip or no tip at all when you’ve gone out to eat?
Do you have a road or mountain bike?

WO + Foods + Certification

Today- Morning WO

10 minutes @ 3.5 warm up

Bent Over BB Row 3x15 @ 40lbs

Cable Row 3x15 @ 55lbs

Pull ups 3x15 w/ 25 lbs assistance 

BB Preacher Curls 3x15 @ 20lbs (2 sets) @ 30lbs (1 set)

DB Pullovers 3x15 @ 20lbs

Close Grip Pulldowns 3x15 @ 55lbs

DB Curls 3x15 @ 15lbs 

10 minutes @ 3.5 cool down 

    For the last few days I’ve been out of Flaxseed oil- meaning my post-wo smoothies have been bumming me out. The first day out, I tried to add coconut oil- which turned into chunky wax clumps.. but today I got smarter

   I had half an avocado kicking around and tossed it in along with blueberries, and chocolate whey- seriously super smooth and creamy, and I enjoyed every single drop..  If you’ve never added that green goodness to a smoothie, you need to.. seriously.

       This afternoon and dinner was interrupted by a must have CPR/AED/First Aid certification.. I was in the area for a whole 2 hours before the class started, so I took that time to roam around Wholefoods for some food and to replenish my flax oil deficiency. Dinner (or I should say a snack since I housed some kale salad and yogurt as soon as I got home- starved)

    My favorite part was the coconut water for sure.. I’ve been addicted.

    The training was from 5-10PM. I was not looking forward to sitting around for 5 hours, but thankfully the teacher, Kevin, was awesome… There were only 3 of us and we had a blast the whole time..  got out 1/2 hour early- and I’m now officially certified (or re-certified since it’s not actually the first time I’ve taken it but it was over 5 years ago) 

Are you certified in CPR/AED/First Aid? 

If so, have you ever had to use it?

Daily WO Challenges + WO + Fuel

      There was an overwhelming response from (friends via Facebook) over the Sunday Morning WO Challenge! A number of them even asked me to post a challenge daily.. A “DWO” if you will.. Don’t have to ask me twice :) And in case you want to join in the fun:

DWO Challenge 
-1 minute WALL SIT (back against the wall, thighs- hips distance apart+parallel, knees stacked over ankles, arms straight out in front of shoulders)
-1 minute FOREARM PLANK HOLD (Think push up position on forearms)
- Do 5 rounds, ideally without rest in between! (10 minutes total) 
-Ready, Set, GO!
 
     Tell me how you do, and if you liked it or not :)

 For the Monday morning workout we tackled a little treadmill action, which left my butt and lungs burning:

3.5 warmup- 5 minutes
-Set the incline to 10% for the remainder of WO
-4.0- 5 minutes
-4.5- 2 minutes
-5.0- 1 minute
-4.0- 5 minutes
-4.5- 2 minutes
-5.0- 1 minute
-Set incline back to 0
3.5 cooldown- 9 minutes

    Then we moved on to back extensions, oblique crunches, single leg raise switches and lastly a 2 minute plank hold.
    I showered quickly and headed to Starbucks for some study-time, which lasted a few hours- though I was very distracted by every person that sat near me. I worked until lunch- heading home to eat, and proceeded to clean my entire house, do all the laundry and a bunch of research.  All that cleaning made me hungry AGAIN
 

   Whole wheat toast, homemade almond butter and the most delicious pear with some cinnamon

      While I munched away, I prepared my class- which was super fun.. Well for me :)

I always start the class with some stretching, but I always switch up the warm up and workout so it doesn’t get stale. Here’s what I took them through last night.

Repeat this circuit x5

- Forearm Plank Jacks x10

- Plank In-outs x10

- Plank Barrier Jumps x10

Circuit #1 Tabata style- 8 rounds 20sec work/ 10sec rest 

-Push ups w/ yoga block under one hand- alternating the hand on the block with each rep

-Triceps dips- from bridge w/ 1 leg extended- Each round, switch the extended leg

“Rest”

-1 minute Wall Sit

-1 minute Forearm plank hold

Circuit #2 Tabata style

-Lunge Back/ kick forward- alternating sides

-Side Step Sumo Squats/ side leg lift- alternating sides

“Rest”

-1 minute Wall Sit

-1 minute Forearm plank hold

   Followed by a cool down.

  ------------

   Tell me about your day!

   What do you eat for your afternoon snack?

Biker Boy + Cinco de Mayo + WOs

    This weekend has been jam packed. Two shifts at the toaster, two circuit workouts, 1 hour and 40 minutes of rollerblading, celebrating of Cinco De Mayo= lots of drinks, connecting with my first training client! Making of almond butter, puppy snuggles, and a breakfast made by the husband :)

    While I headed to the gym Saturday morning, James rented a bike- the same bike that he hopes to buy sometime soon-

     He went on a “Bike Run” with some guys that he works with and I didn’t hear about anything else practically the whole weekend! Good thing he looks super handsome on that bike..
   
    I picked up Paula before our workout- her car died the day before- and we met up with Ryan for a quick little power hour.. 30 minutes on the treadmill, and This workout. Actually we didn’t really do the 30 seconds of active rest… It was good and sweaty :)
     Post work, I picked up James and we went to a local super dive bar to meet up with a friend that we hadn’t seen in years.. LOTS of vodka and tortilla chips= great time!

    Needless to say I was feeling pretty rosy cheeked :)
       Which made waking up this morning a bit more difficult- but James made coffee and breakfast so it was worth it. Since James left the house to return the bike before I left for work, I had 20 minutes to fill. What better way to fill that 20 minutes??

Sunday Morning Workout Challenge 
1 minute High Knees
1 minute Squat with alternating side kicks
10 minute AMRP Burpees!!

   Yes I choose to do burpees for 10 minutes.. I love burpees.. they are no joke and I completed 94 of them in that 10 minutes. I really tried to push it so I could get to 100, but it was a no go. I could barely breathe and was completely drenched (I had taken a proof picture, but somehow it got erased.. damn it) I think my heart rate was elevated for over 2 hours afterwards.. which made me feel pretty accomplished to say the least. I extended the challenge to my Facebook friends- and a few of them actually did it and beat me too! I’m thinking this is going to be a weekly thing.. maybe not the exact workout, but you know..
    Work was pretty gross and slow moving. I was out in plenty of time to take advantage of the sunlight- this is where the 1 hour and 40 minutes of rollerblading happened- it was the first with James of the season- and we covered over 10 miles.
    We got cleaned up, headed out to the grocery store and made an amazing dinner featuring kale salad, roasted sweet potatoes, and grilled tofu/veg kabobs for me and veg/sausage kabobs for James.. and finally some rest time :)

What did you do this weekend?
I challenge you to the Sunday M. WO- how many can you complete?

Reading Material + Factoids

       Friday-Funday… Especially when 3 hours is spent studying:

     There was no shortage of stuff to take note about.. or to highlight. I studied so hard that I think I need corrective eye surgery and a total body massage from sitting in one twisted position for so long.
       After I peeled myself from the crevice of the Starbucks couch, I ate some lunch and met up with Paula to hit up the book store. I’ve decided that it would be really helpful to find a book that highlights the muscles used in stretches and exercises- and what better way to make a decision that steal some glances at the bookstore before actually purchasing one through Amazon?

   

Factoid Friday

1.  I have the sense of humor of at 12 year old boy

      2. I’ve discovered that Nesquik syrup drizzled on plain greek yogurt, makes it feel like I’m eating an ice cream sundae… Especially delicious with peanut butter blob :)

    3. Men who swim have amazing bodies

WO + Dinner + Dogs

     Monday night’s class was a small one- only three students- but we had a great time:

     I was inspired by the 480 workout to create a pyramid style workout for them- and it was a big hit, even I was sweaty afterwards :) I think my favorite part was the modified Burpees- 3 narrow arm push ups and 2 jump ups with each one were killer- especially after squat jumps.  After class I headed home to dinner and this cutie

 Khloe has already almost doubled in size- I just can’t take the cuteness!
     
Tuesday morning was all about legs

• Barbell squats 4x8@170
• Barbell Deadlifts 4x8@60
• Split Squats 4x8 each leg@50
• Calf Raises 4x8 holding 2x25 DB
• Squat Jumps 4x25 (HOLY MOTHER.. ouch)
• 100x Decline crunch with 25lb plate
• 3x1 minute plank holds

     But directly after this workout (and during) I was completely exhausted.. I’m talking unable to force myself out of bed.. Now the fact that is was really crappy weather didn’t help- but I could barely keep my eyes open. I spent the entire day in bed watching Gilmore Girls, eating, and napping here and there. The day just flew by but I definitely needed the rest.. I felt off for pretty much the whole day, but not bad enough to miss a chance at dinner with James!

Eggplant Fries- seriously AMAZING

Handsome date :) 

Sangria- made with red wine= heart healthy

The “Weird Wedgie” named so by the waitress the last time we went there- the original has blue cheese and bacon- so ordering substitutions made it the weird wedge. hah

Caprese pizza- with house made mozzarella cheese.. OMG

    I decided that I needed to take a day off from the gym, as much as I didn’t want to. I went to bed at 9pm and slept all the way until 7am. I felt so much better once the sleep hangover cleared and was glad that I took the time my body needed. I went to work, went to Target with my friend and co-worker and saw two cuties sitting in the front seat of someone’s car.

  The other little guy was hiding and this was the best shot I could get- adorable! After I got home James and I ran right out to Trader Joes for groceries- since I hadn’t shopped in almost two weeks.. oops. There was a quick dinner before heading out to Wine and Cigar night for good conversation and a campfire and of course a glass of wine :)
    I was really happy to get back to the gym this morning- believe me!

From Shareitfitness.com

• DB bench press 4x8 @25 each hand
• DB incline bench press 4x8 @ 25 each hand
• Clean and Press 4x8 @50
• Cable Flys 4x8@ 20
• BB upright row 4x8@ 50
• Triceps rope pushdown 4x8 @35
• DB front raise 4x8@ 10 (did these light since my shoulder was snap, crackle, poppin the whole time- yikes!)
• 50 Feet elevated pushups (originally supposed to be 100.. not so much)
• Finished off with 20 minutes on the Arc trainer

    The rest of the day has been a little rough- as you can read here. I’ll warn ya- it’s not an upbeat read, but I needed to get it out. There are quite a few “embellishments” so don’t be alarmed.. I did not edit or change it at all from the original words that flowed through my mind to my fingers. Sometimes I really struggle to show that side of myself here, because let’s face it.. people don’t want to read a bunch of negative crap. Honestly I think there is a good and bad side to it- and if I can make someone else feel like they aren’t going through something similar, alone, then it is worth putting out there. So here’s to tomorrow!

Relapse + Cashing in (a rant of epic proportions)

 During my session today I was told that I was having a re-lapse. Much like those who have a drug or alcohol addiction. I went in and sat on the Ikea couch, said hello like usual, and then sat there.. speechless for most of the hour. Right from the beginning I felt antsy and uncomfortable in my own skin. First I was hot, so I took my scarf and sweater off. I sat on my hands, I fiddled with tissues like I always do folding, unfolding, refolding.. I starred around the room- anywhere but at Stacy… But I could feel her eyes peering at me as if they were burning a hold through my layers of clothing and skin right to my core.
    I just wanted her to ask me something, start the conversation.. Its so much easier that way- just answering questions, being told what to think about or what to look deeper into. But she didn’t. She wanted me to give myself a minute as I just kept saying, “I don’t know what to talk about”- But really a minute wasn’t going to help, 15 minutes didn’t.. and even after she finally started to make attempts to pull something out of me… it still didn’t help.
    I’m not sure what exactly happened. This week has been a weird one for me.. Tuesday after the gym I stated in bed all day.. From 8am until 4pm, I watched Gilmore Girls and napped. In that time I mostly thought about how I was guilty for being so lazy, that I felt like a slug. But then I was a little proud of myself for taking a break- though lets me honest I would have never taken a day to rest had it been my choice, I was forced into it. I feel forced into a lot of things at times. Working at Denny’s, living in RI, continuing to own a house, buying a new car (because James had crashed ours and we had no other choice) the list could go on..
    So often I feel like I’m pushing and pushing to be something, to be someone.. I don’t want to just be.. I want to be special. But instead I’m just pushed- and at times I am strong enough to push back and try to stand up and continue on..  most of the time I end up right on my ass. I know that I want to be able to see myself for who I really am. I want to realize my potential. I want to be the kind of person that people think highly of. I want to be happy. The past few days I haven’t felt that.
    I’m struggling to study, which makes me feel bad about myself.. Why? Because I take meds to help me focus, but as it turns out- not being able or being good at studying isn’t going to change because I’m taking meds.. Oh no- I’m one of the lucky ones who will always fundamentally struggle with studying, like it’s not part of my DNA.. I’m fucked either way.. but I’m studying to get a job doing something that I really love.. and because it is hard and I’m struggling I’m just “cashing in” as Stacy says.. I’m giving up. I know that she’s right, but it fucking pisses me off.
    I hate that she has it all figured out.. That for her, telling me that I don’t have to be a waitress and that I didn’t have the right kind of support growing up is causing me to deal with myself the same way they would deal with me.. I’m just this little screaming child thats trying to get some attention, any attention, even my own. I know that all I’ve ever wanted was to be important, to be special.. I have always known that.. but now I get the added benefit of the guilt that comes along with blaming my parents for never getting that and for not being able to give it to myself.. Thats fucking great.. one more thing I need on my shoulders.
     So yeah.. maybe I am cashing in..

  I spend way too much time and energy thinking about what could have been, or what I could be- but I give up when I’m trying to actually BE.. I get stuck in the comparison trap.. the nobody likes me or loves me trap.. I’ve built a fucking bunker of excuses and why me’s, tucked away for a rainy day. Apparently I’ve been stocking up for a “relapse” after all. I think being addicted to drugs and alcohol might actually be easier.. and at least then you have an escape, even if it’s only for a little while.
    So now what? Go on Pintrest and look up quotes that say things like “It’s never too late to become who you’re supposed to be”  and slap on a fake smile while I head to the coffee shop to study this stupid bullshit that I don’t fucking remember?
    Yup, that’s the plan..