Ouch! and Juice

I moved up to level 2 of the 30 Day Shred workout video today. I was doing pretty good with level 1, so I thought I'd try level 2. Let me tell you, that was the most I've worked my shoulders ever, I think. There was a lot of exercises with planks. And then near the end, when it felt like we'd already done 50 plank exercises, and we were on cardio (the last set of cardio), she said, once again, "get in the plank position". And I think I might have shed a tear or two.

But then I thought I can get through this. My shoulders will never work the same, but this is the last one, because abs are next. So, we finished cardio, and then we were moving onto abs, and I was all ready to get on my back, and she said, "Now, from the plank position, we're going to do oblique twists." All I can say is, after doing this video if I don't have really defined shoulders, something in the world is not right. I'm sure I'll be thankful during tanktop and swimsuit season.

Also, the missing part from my juicer that we ordered awhile ago finally came yesterday. So I've been trying to drink a lot more juice. I read an article in a magazine that said doing a week of juicing (which I'm not fully doing, just part) will help with a lot of different symptoms. And it listed them all, most of which I've been suffering from. I would list them, but I had borrowed the magazine from the library, and have since taken it back.

Anyway, this morning I had apple and carrot juice, and now for lunch I'm having sweet potato, carrot, celery, and plum juice. I'm not so sure about the sweet potato. I had it sitting in my fridge, and I decided I'd try to use it. I didn't even think it would produce very much juice, but it actually made the most juice out of anything I'd used today. It just gives the juice a little bit of grittiness. It's not bad, though.

Oh man, I suck

I decided to take the weekend off from doing the 30 Day Shred DVD. I had done it for four days in a row, and my body was telling me it needed a rest. But then, instead of being good and active, and eating well this weekend, I've been pretty lazy, and I've also eaten way, way too much.

I wouldn't be surprised if I gained 2 pounds this weekend, but I won't know, because I'm not going to weigh myself. I guess there's nothing to do but get back on track. I'm going to work really hard this week to eat more veggies and drink more water. Those will be my two goals for this week.

I'm seeing a lot of salads in my future for the upcoming week, which is just fine because I love salad. I'm also going to try to make more vegetarian meals, and my awesome friend, Christy (who is a vegetarian), is going to help me.

Day 2

I did day 2 of the 30 day shred this morning. It was even harder than yesterday, I think. Probably because I woke up sore and tired this morning. I made it through, and I'm (barely) still alive. Hopefully tomorrow will be easier and not harder, because I don't think I can't do it if it's any harder.

Then I decided to have Kaitlyn take a picture of me. I should have done it yesterday, for a true before picture, because I'm sure I've already grown tons of muscles and stuff. Kaitlyn didn't tell me that there was a clock and a shadow behind my head, making it look all funny. And she also likes to take pictures from below me, no matter how many times I tell her to hold the camera up higher, so it looks like I have more of a double chin than I do. The final comment I have about my picture was that this was after my workout, so I'm all tired and sweaty. But hey, maybe I look better than I did when I started. Who knows?

Changed My Mind

I went to Target last night, and while I was there I bought Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I did it this morning, and it kicked my butt. So, instead of torturing myself with Hip Hop Abs, I'm going to do this for 30 days instead, and see how it works. So today was day 1.

After this, I'm going to start training for a triathlon. I'm looking at this program. The only problem is that I don't really have a place to swim. I could go to a nearby rec center, but that could get pricey paying each time I go. It might also be hard to find time to go, and figuring out what to do with the kids. But I don't want to make excuses, so I just need to figure it out.

Givin' it one more try

I decided to try to do the Hip Hop Abs program for 30 days (again). When I first got the DVD's, I did them every day for probably a couple months. I didn't really think it was doing a whole lot, but now that I weigh 15+ pounds more, and my belly jiggles like a bowl full of jelly, I think maybe they actually were doing something.

I've tried a couple of times since then, but haven't been able to stick with it, because as funny as I found the instructor the first couple months, now he annoys me so much I'd like to give him a good smack upside the head. There is an option to do the music louder, so I can't hear him, but I don't really care for the music very much either.

I think I can stick with this for 30 days, though, and maybe by then it'll be warm enough to go bike riding. But if you find me one morning, and I've shot myself in the head, you'll know why.

Back Pain

I've been having a really hard time lately with exercising because I've had a ton of lower back pain. Most of the time when I stand up after sitting for any length of time, my tailbone hurts like crazy. I've always had a bad back, so this is nothing new, but it's worse than ever before. I'm not sure if it's the position on the recumbent bike or what. I might need to start looking on the internet for ideas on exercises that will either help me strengthen my back, or that are more gentle on the back.

Bike Ride

I took my bike out for a little ride around the neighborhood. I love my bike, but it's freezing out there. Even though it's probably in the 40's, it was a cold wind blowing in my face, and I think one of my ears fell right off. I'm realizing riding a regular bike is a lot harder than my recumbent exercise bike. It'll probably give me a lot more exercise, which is a good thing.

Podcasts

Sometimes I like to listen to podcasts while I work out. But I only like to listen to good ones. So I'm looking for recommendations for good podcasts. What do you like to listen to?

New Bike!

I got my new bike today. I love it, and even though it's not the fastest or best bike out there, I really think this will work well for what I want to do. I could have picked a better background for my picture, but I didn't want to open up the garage, and plus, it's winter. There's no pretty blue sky or green grass right now.

I ended up getting the Trek 7100. It's pretty similar to the one two posts down, except the flowers are brown, and it's got a pinkish tint to it. I didn't even notice the pink tint until we got it outside in the sun. It just looked cream colored in the store. I think it's such a cute bike, though. I almost talked myself out of getting it, because I wondered if I was just getting it because it was cute, and that it wouldn't work well, but I'm just a beginning cyclist, I think this one will work great.

Here's the cute seat. It's definitely not as comfortable as my recumbent bike that I've been exercising on, but I'll get used to it.

I thought the handles were pretty darn cute, too:

Now if it could just be warm already, I could go for a nice, long ride. I went out for a few minutes when I got home, but it's cold, and with a wind blowing in my face I couldn't stand it for very long.

Not a day for healthy eating

Who doesn't eat a bunch of junk on Superbowl Sunday? I'm sure there are lots of people who don't care about the Superbowl, therefore don't feel the need to eat a lot of junk food. I'm not one of those people. I don't know what it is about the Superbowl that makes me feel like I have to eat more stuff. But you just gotta!

I didn't do too bad, though. I had a bit of candy, but that's really all the extra stuff I ate. I think if Troy was more into the Superbowl (he watched a movie downstairs instead), it might be worse.

I did 9 miles today on my exercise bike. Last week's total was 74 miles, which was my best week so far. I'm hoping to do more this week, though. Plans for buying a real bike are moving forward, and I can't wait for spring and warm weather.