My Workouts

So I have been telling you what I am going to do for my workouts, but I haven't shared with you what I am doing. So here is what I did over the past couple of days...

Monday: Easy "break" day. It was just beautiful ouside, so before work I took my dog on a nice walk for about 30 min. Just enough to get the blood flowing and to wake me up.

Tuesday: Strength day! Today I started my new and improved strenth program.
Snatches: 3 sets of 20 on each arm with 3 min of rest inbetween
Sumo Deadlift: 115 pounds (yes that is typed correctly) 3 sets of 5
KB presses with the 12kg KB 3 sets of 5 on each arm
Chin ups: 3 sets of 1 (my big weakness!)
Then I did 3 sets of 10 reverse crunches and a WHOLE LOT of stretching for my hips, glutes and hamstrings. This was a great workout! Thanks BJ

Wednesday: Horrible day at work, needed to burn off some steam! Today BJ has me doing conditioning. I love conditioning because it is always challenging, and if it isn't, than you can make it challenging. So here is what I did...
20 min of 1 min jump rope then 10 1-handed swings on each arm with the 16kg. I did not rest inbetween the jump rope and the swings or vice versa. Again a great workout. I needed to get a lot of tension out! I also did some great stretching for my hips and hamstrings.

So there you have it. I will keep you updated on what else I am doing for workouts and other fun ideas!

Temptation!

Ahh...Temptation. Even the word makes you feel like you have done something to be guilty about. Temptation is a big issue to deal with when you are trying to eat right, exercise, and lose weight. Temptation seems to be ALL around you when you are trying to "be good" with your diet. I know for me temptation is big at my work. There is always candy or snacks or some kind of "end of the week" party going on. So how do I deal with this temptation. Well I am not going to lie to you and say that I never give in...because I do. But I also always look at what is tempting me and ask myself and important question that I learned from Tracy Riefkind..."Is it going to kill me NOT to eat it?" If the answer is NO, than I walk away and not eat it, but like I said before, I sometimes give in.

People deal with temptation in all different ways. Some, like me analyze and then walk away. Some are so head strong they don't even think twice and walk away. And some don't get tempted. If you are like me and do get tempted, think about how you deal with your temptations and find out if it is working for you. Are you able to walk away from the candy or chips or extra helping of bread? Or do you give in all the time and you know it is just ruining your diet? Once you start pushing away those temptations it will get easier and easier every time you have to do it.

One last word...Give in sometimes. You are human, you are not perfect, nor ever will be. But make the "giving in" only once in awhile, not every day or every week and you will see temptation is not as evil as you once thought!

Heavy Weights

I know it has been a long time since I have blogged, and I am sorry. I am really going to try to do at least 3 blogs a week. Just an update with my success I have been having training for my RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certification). I am slowly, but surely losing the weight I need to before the certification. I have lost 2-2.5 pounds in about a week. I am happy with that. My goal is to lose another 5 by April 26th, I think I can...no scratch that...I know I can make it!

My KB training is going well too. BJ actually put me on a new program for the next 5 weeks. 3 times a week I will do my KB snatch workout and then 3 times a week I will do a conditioning workout. I know my body is almost there for the certification, but I also know the certification is brutal...and I love it! Because it has gotten warmer outside(thank God!), I also have been doing some light running and conditioning work outside. But just today both BJ and I decided that I should change up my workout just a bit again. I am going to start putting in some heavy work. I will probably do some heavy squating and deadlifting. The reason why I am putting this in my blog is because I want all the women out there to understand and realize that heavy lifting is not only for men and that heavy lifting is not going to make you look like Arnold! After my RKC, I am going to work on really sculpting my back, shoulders, and arms and in order to do that, lifting 10 pound weights for 20-25 reps won't do it. I need to use the barbell and pour on the weights.

So I hope you follow me along with my journey and learn how heavy weights not only peel off the fat, but are your friends!

Rest...we need it!

I have mentioned...I have goals. Unfortunetly my goals and working towards them can become overpowering to the point where I burn myself out. That is what I did these past 2 weeks. Like I have said, my main goal is to complete and do well at the RKC in April and I am doing a great job with my training for it. But I also work 30-50 hours a week at a hospital, working 10-16 hours a day, basically on my feet for the entire shift. Now, alot of that extra work I am doing at the hospital is my own fault. I like being a Respiratory Therapist and when they ask me to stay for a double shift or work an extra day, it is hard for me to say no. Well starting right now I am going to have to. This weekend I had a horrible workout. The Kettlebell has never seemed heavier and my mind and heart were no where close to being where they should be for the workout. It frustrated me very much. But then my wonderful husband reminded me about how much I have been working and working out that I am wearing myself down and overtraining. And I was overtraining trying to get all of my workouts in because I have been working so much. Sometimes I was doing 2 workouts a day, when I shouldn't have been.

It is hard for me to take a day off when I know I should be doing something! So I had to bite the bullet and put the Kettlebell down and take Saturday and Sunday off. I hurt, but in the long run I know it is going to benefit me and my workouts. When you overtrain you were your body down to the point of injury and/or illness. Neither one is good and no one wants to get one when they are seriously training. So I am here to tell you it is OK to take a day or 2 off a week and it is OK to take more if your body is telling you that. Just make sure it is your body telling you and not your mind. Don't make excuses to not train.

So the moral of the story....rest! Your body will thank you and your workouts will thank you!

My Goals

I have wanted to start this blog for a long time now, but with being busy with our business and working at the hospital I haven't had a chance....and I didn't quite know what to write about. Well it came to me this morning so I figured I would go with it.

Everyone has goals. For some it is to lose weight, some it is to start a family, and for some it is to move up in the executive world. Mine, you ask? Well I am going to tell you! From September of 2006, my goal has been to get myself ready for the RKC in April of 2007. A side note, the RKC is a Kettlebell certification that is extremely challenging, but fun all at the same time. BJ (husband) did it last April and came back raving about how much fun it is...so I couldn't let him have all the fun, I had to sign up. So what do I have to get ready for? Well there are certain "tests" I must pass to obtain my certification and I want to go in April ready and willing for anything, so I am working on a lot of different exercises with the Kettelbell.

Another goal of mine is to lose some weight for the RKC. One of the tests is a Snatch test with the Kettlebell. There are different weight classes and the number of snatches required depends on what weight class you fall into . Right now I am at 136 and I want to get down to 132 or lower for the RKC, also for overall health. So for that I am keying into my nutrition and adding some additional exercises to shed some of the weight. Nutrition seems to be my downfall, but I think I am finally grasping it.

So now that you have seen some of my goals (I have a ton more, but these are the 2 biggies), sit down and write down some of your own. And don't only write them down, but put a target date. It is so easy to say that you want to lose 10 pounds or make supervisor at your job, but when do you want to do it by? Follow me through my journey and hopefully you will be motivated to start your own with whatever your goals may be.