Day Twenty Three

I did level 2 again today! I like progressing, it's fun and makes me feel like I am doing good at my goals.
I have been really tempted to weigh myself since I am so close to the end of my goal. Part of me really wants to and part of me is "Don't do it, you only have 7 more days!" I will listen to my stronger side, the side telling me not to, but I might have Rob look again. :-)

Day Twenty Two

I did level two!!!!!! I did the whole thing!!!! Every other time I had tried level two, I had to stop early because of pain or lack of energy or some such reason. But not today!!!! It only took twenty two days, but I did it!!! If you can't tell from the amount of exclamation marks, I am really proud of myself!!!
Today was a good day, I would even go so far as to grade myself with an A-. I took more rests (2 second rest type things) than I do at level one, but I did level two, which is harder. Plus, when I first tried to do the TDS, a couple of years ago, I took around the same amount of rests. So I consider my exercise a success today.

Day Twenty One

Wow, I made it to the last 10 days. That's incredible to me.
Yesterday, after my workout, I got my drink mix!!!!! YAY!!!! So today I wanted to exercise so that I could drink my after workout drink. It was awesome. Thanx again to Laura for giving me my first taste of these drinks.
9 more days to go!!! Wahoo! I know I have lost weight, which was a goal. I know I am going to finish strong, which was another goal. But I need to be realistic. I don't think I am going to make the 10 pounds that I wanted off. At least not in this month. Rob asked me before I started the two-a-days what my plan was for after the 30 days were up. I told him that I didn't want to think about it, I just wanted to get through the 30 days and then I would see. Well, with 9 days left I need to start thinking about it. I definitely want a break from the two work out days, but I also definitely will keep working out. What I think I am going to do is I am going to finish strong. And then take 3 weeks rest period (basically the rest of Feb) and at the start of March see how I am feeling. If I feel like I need more, I am going to do the TDS in March too. We will just have to wait and see.
Rob got me this work out book for Christmas last year. In it they speak of the 8 week miracle. The program is a 12 week exercise and diet program. What has been "discovered" is that for most of the women who do this program, they lose weight really slowly, until week 8. In week 8 the weight seems to start to disappear. That is the program that Rob and I are doing. I am doing the TDS in addition to it. I am hoping that I will have an 8 week miracle. (Just so you know, 8 weeks in for me is the week of Feb 18th). I really want to look and feel good, and I am hoping that all this exercise and eating right will pay off.
Thanx again for all the support you give me!!!!

Day Twenty

On a grading scale, today was a C-, but at least I showed up.

Day Nineteen

Saturdays are always interesting in the work out category. It's nice to sleep in a little (though I have been doing that for the last few days). Rob got to sleep in too today. And that was nice. Once we both woke up, we did weight training, concentrating on our arms today. Then we had breakfast. After that, life got interesting, in a boring sort of way. Story time:
I mentioned a few days ago that my sister-in-law, Laura, sent me some P90X after work out shake packets. I also mentioned that I loved them (at least I think that I mentioned that) Anyway, A week ago I ordered a tub of the drink mix (I had run out of the packets and the tub was cheaper than more packets) Well I ordered it from Amazon. They sent it and the estimated delivery date was the 23rd. The 23rd came and went with no drink mix. I got online and saw that according to Amazon the package was delivered. It was supposed to be through Fed Ex, so I called them up with the tracking number. They told me that they had passed it off to the US postal service and that I needed to go to my local post office to see where it is. So I got to go to the post office on a Saturday morning to find a package. Well, usps.com told me that the post office that delivers my mail was on Coal Mine Ave. So up to Coal mine I drove. The post office was probably 3 miles, at most, away from my house. I get there right at the beginning of a rush. So I wait in line, playing sudoku on my phone. At the counter I tell the post office guy about my missing package and hand him the tracking number (I did think to write it down before I left). He gives me this look, and then tells me to wait while he gets his supervisor. Smart man. I wait a few more minutes, playing sudoku, and then the supervisor comes out. He has a printed sheet that states that the package was delivered. And then he tells me that this post office is not the post office that delivers to my house. He then hands me a sheet that has directions preprinted off to the right post office. (I guess I am not the only one who goes to the wrong post office). Well, the right post office is maybe a mile from my house. So, I go to that post office. Once I get there I can see that I am in the middle of a rush. So I pull out my phone and play some more sudoku. After 15 to 20 minutes I get to the counter and tell that postal worker my story. He takes the tracking number and goes into the back, after asking me to wait. More sudoku. After a few minutes he comes back and tells me that the office gave it to the carrier and that it is now on him. So he takes my address and phone number and tells me that they will hunt down the carrier and see what's up. So that is where I am. All I want is my after work out drink. Oh well. I was entertained, and not in a hurry, so I didn't get aggravated  In fact, I find it slightly amusing. I figure everyone goes through something getting lost in the mail. There are worse things than a drink mix that could get lost.
When I got home I did my TDS. That was normal. I am looking forward to not having to do it every day, but that is in 11 more days (not counting Sundays)...

Day Eighteen

Twelve more days of torture, but who's counting. Okay, not exactly torture, but a workout. Which makes sense since these last few weeks have been work outs. The shoes are helping, so that's nice.
Rob has been sweet these last few days. Well he's always sweet, but yesterday and today I have been so sleepy tired. Yesterday I got to take a nap after weight training. Yay! Well, I think that nap messed with my sleep schedule. I woke up at 3 am and couldn't go back to sleep. I finally gave up trying and went and played on the computer. For three hours! Around 6 am I was able to go back to sleep. And then 30 minutes later the alarm went off. But that was okay 'cause I got to cuddle with Rob and fall asleep in his arms (gushy and cute, I know.) Rob was sweet and let me sleep. Hopefully sleeping in won't mess with the sleep tonight.

Day Sixteen & Seventeen

Oh the joy of pain. Yesterday I tried to do the TDS on level two. I couldn't get past the first section, it hurt. So I went down to level one, still hurt. What hurt you ask, my legs and ankles. It hurt to do the jumping jacks, much less any other cardio. My ankles have been hurting for a while now. I just thought that it was muscle soreness and it would go away. It didn't. So today, I got new shoes!!!!! They're cute. Mainly gray, but the inside and the laces are bright pink and the soles are white and lime green. They're awesome. PLUS, I can do jumping jacks without the pain YAY. I was figuring out how old my old shoes were. I think they are somewhere between 8 and 13 years old. (Not bad for a pair of payless shoes.) It was time to get new shoes. :)
Yesterday's workout was not good. I did only two out of three sets. I went to bed last night not sure if I would exercise today because I thought I had not kept my goal. But today I figured it out. If I were a teacher grading my workouts, yesterday would have been a C. Not good, but still a passing grade. That's awesome! I thought I had flunked out. But no, I have kept my goal. Today would have been a B+ or A-, not sure which. Just like in school where any grade is better than no grades at all (a thought that got me through some pretty rough homework), any workout is better than no workouts.

Day Fifteen

Day fifteen confessional. Saturday I came down with some sort of sickness. Rob and I both think that I had worked myself to exhaustion, and made my immune system weak. Saturday evening and Sunday I was a sicky. Monday was a little better, but I was still sick. When I made the goal to workout everyday, I promised myself no excuses. But, I did give myself leeway if I got sick. Well I got sick and I knew that I had to recover. Well, I gave myself the time to recover, and I felt better this morning. That being the case, Rob and I woke up at 5:30 and did weight training. It was fun. Later, as in 20 minutes ago, I did the TDS. I did level 2, yay. And man was it hard! I will honestly say that I didn't do so well.
Two of my brothers, Rob and Jeff, played football in high school. I heard all the horror stories (well maybe not all of them, but some). I heard of all the vomiting that the players did during the two a days. I didn't vomit, but I came close. That means I pushed myself, and that is what I want for myself.

Day Fourteen

This morning, well today, Rob has a scout meeting. It started at 8 am and goes until 1 pm. My poor husband. But that meant I got to do TDS first. When Rob get's home we are going to do weight training. I figured that he would like to do something physically demanding after sitting for 5 hours.
Today I tried a new way to work out the same muscles that push ups work. It didn't work as well as I thought. But that's okay. I've discovered that exercise is a trial and error process works well for me. So even though my attempt at mock push ups didn't work, I still got a good workout. Side note, I bought some once daily vitamins. Hopefully that will help with my energy.
I am excited that tomorrow is Sunday. A day of rest. Rest that I need.

Day Thirteen

Today is an off day for Rob. What does that mean? Rob's company has its workers work 9 hour days Monday through Thursday and 8 hours every other Friday. That way he gets a Friday off every other week. Today is an off Friday, so he is home. YAY! So we got to sleep in. Rob then went running, and then it was my turn. I don't like to run outside, so Rob bought me a treadmill last year and we take turns. Running is fun, but tiring. I talked to Rob about how tired, or energy-less  I have been lately. He thinks that my body is still adjusting to this new workout regime. I hope I adjust quickly. 

For the TDS I have to do push ups. In my last set, I felt a sharp pain in my abs again. I hadn't felt a ton of pain this last week, and I was hoping that I would be able to go back to the full work out by Monday. With this pain today (it was pretty intense) I am thinking I might have to hold off a little longer. :(

Other than the two above problems, I am feeling really good. I have kept my goal of working out twice a day. And earlier today Rob looked at my weight. I said I wasn't going to weigh myself until after the thirty days. I am sticking to that. But I did want to know if I have made any progress. I got on the scale facing backwards so that I could not read the weight and Rob looked at what I weigh. All I know is that I have lost weight! YAY. Thanx for the ideas and the support! Love you all!

Day Twelve

What to write about today. I exercised. I did weight training with Rob this morning, had breakfast, read a new book (from the library), and then did TDS. Now I am sitting, drinking an after-workout drink (courtesy of Laura, my sis-in-law), and blogging. Hmmm. Yesterday I had a big problem with energy. Laura told me that potassium helps with lack of energy. Unfortunately I don't have anything in the house that has potassium in it. At least not that I know of. The only things that I know have potassium are bananas and sea salt. I have neither. Anyone have any ideas...
The previous times that I have done exercise programs, about a week in I start to crave greasy food. I didn't this time, at least not a week in. Yesterday was a different story. I really wanted greasy fries or a pizza or something unhealthy like potato chips, they at least would have given me sea salt... :) I am proud to say that I ignored the cravings. Yay for me. I've noticed that my will power has been stronger since I've started this workout regime. Increasing my will power was a non stated goal for me as part of this regime. I've always wanted to increase my will power to do hard things. If something was hard, I 'd more often than not just ignore it or not do it. This has been hard, and I have kept going. That is progress.
Sorry if this post is disconnected. My brain is a little disconnected. So, it makes sense.

Day Eleven

I really REALLY didn't want to do exercise today. I exercise before eating, I read somewhere that's good for you, or that it is good to eat with in 30 minutes of exercising. Anyway. I run or do weight training in the morning and then I have breakfast. Well, I didn't want to run, so it took forever for me to have breakfast. Not good, but I couldn't eat until exercising. I have a weird stubborn mentality that dictates that I HAVE to do things in the right order and I can't do part B until part A is done. No eating until exercise. Well, I did run and I did eat, in relatively good time. But then I didn't want to do TDS. I waited, and procrastinated. Not good again, but eventually I did TDS, and wow was it hard. I don't know why but I didn't have a lot of energy this morning, and I don't have any energy this afternoon. But at least I exercised. I am going to attribute that to my brother Rob. He called yesterday and I told him that I was doing this exercise regime. Well, he encouraged me and was really supportive. It is really nice to have family support (and you guys are family).

Day Ten

A third through the month of workouts. An uncontrollable nose bleed, sprained abs, and a sleepy husband, what will the next ten days bring? Today was hard to wake up to do weight training with Rob. Neither of us really wanted to get out of bed at 5:30, when we are both used to sleeping until 7-ish. So after lying around for 30 minutes, we got out of bed, went downstairs, and exercised. We usually do pull ups as part of our upper body regime, but pull ups take a lot of core strength and use of core muscles, abs. Figuring out something to work the same muscles was interesting, but we did it in the end. Rob and I use resistance bands instead of free weights. No waste of time changing weights on bars. We ended up using a door anchor in between the door and the door way. It worked. (I've never liked pull ups.) What we used to use, and will go back to using, is a door hanging bar thing. I don't like it. I have never been good at pull ups. I just don't have the upper body strength. Maybe one day I will be able to actually pull myself up once, all the way. :D
I did 5 sets of push ups total today. 3 sets in the morning with Rob, and 2 in the TDS. By the time I got to the last set, my abs were hurting a ton. I try not to use them, but abs are a muscle that I've discovered I use a lot. I hope that by the end of the week, they will be recuperated enough to go back to my regular schedule.
Thanx for all the comments, it really helps me to keep going when the workouts get too hard. You're awesome!!!!

Day Nine

So, Saturday's melt down is behind me. Yay! My abs are still sore, but not nearly as much as Saturday or yesterday. I didn't do ab stuff today. If you go back and read previous posts, you know that the TDS is 3 sets of 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute abs. Well, when I was first told to lay off the abs, I thought, yay I get one minute of rest. And today I realized that the TDS is a dvd, I can fast forward. Even more than that, I should fast forward. I didn't like that thought, but I fast forwarded when I got to the ab section. I did get a rest, just not a long one. I think it was better to not rest until after the exercise. Also, the exercise with out the ab workout was a lot easier. It is no surprise my abs sprained. They have had absolutely no exercise before this regime started.
I did have fun again. That is always a nice feeling.
Laura, my sister-in-law, sent me a pack of p90x after workout drinks. They are so YUMMY!!!! It really makes me look forward to after the workout, though just not working out makes me look forward to after the work out.
I can't believe that today in day nine. I know that's not a long time, but it is the longest I have ever kept with a workout. I usually only make it 5 or 6 days before my body rejects the stress and gets sick. I am happy that hasn't happened this time. And even if it does, I am going to push through it. I have promised myself, no excuses, and I will have no excuses. Thanx for your support!

Day Eight update

So, here's the story: A couple of days ago my abs started to hurt, but I thought it was just stiff and sore like every other part of my body. Well, my arms got better, and my legs got better, but my abs persisted in hurting. I thought it would go away, but it didn't. Well, yesterday, the pain culminated to a pitch point. I was doing an ab exercise and the pain was so much that I had to stop cause I was crying so hard. Since it was a Saturday and Rob was home. I called up to him, and he came running down. We taked and decided that I should talk to my brother Steve, the family doctor. With what little information I could give him, he and I decided that I had pulled an ab muscle. He did say the I can continue exercising, just not the abs for a week or so. I will continue to do my exercises, and hopefully my abs will heal quickly. Sorry if I gave anyone a scare yesterday. I was in a lot of pain, but knew I had to blog, if only for my own sanity.

Day Eight

I did exercise, but I am having some medical issues. Don't worry. I will post when I know what is wrong. (i.e. if I pulled a muscle vs tore a muscle)

Sorry about my horrible grammar...

Maybe I should stop blogging after a work out. My brain doesn't work quite right. I just read through my last post and wow, I changed from past tense to present and back with no regard to rules. Oh well. Anyway, sorry if it is hard to read and understand. (I am a book and grammar snob, so it bothers me)

Day Seven

Today's story is a doosy.
So I get up like normal, I get Rob his breakfast and lunch, and then go running. All is right in the world. And then, after my breakfast, my nose starts to bleed. Last week it was the left nostril, today the right. (It's because it is so dry here. I'm thinking I am going to get a humidifier.) Anyway, on my mission I learned a trick that nearly always works. When you have a bloody nose, sniff white vinegar. I've never tried anything but white, but another type of vinegar might work. Back to the story. Last week when my nose started to bleed I sniffed the vinegar, my nose stopped, and all was well. Well, today, I sniffed the vinegar, and it somewhat stopped. I was stupid, and cleaned out my nose, and it started bleeding again, with a vengeance. So I try the traditional cold and pressure on the top of the nose, and it still doesn't stop. I think I stood over the sink for 10 to 20 minutes trying to get my nose to stop bleeding. But it wouldn't. I've had a nose bleed that was so bad I had to go to the emergency room and have my nose cauterized. So that scenario was playing through my head, but I don't have a car. I started to think of who I could call to take me to the emergency room, and then I realized that my phone is in the other room, and I don't want to get blood on my carpet. So, I take the cold pack off my nose and release the pressure to see if my nose has stopped, it hasn't. At this point, I think, "For wounds or cuts made on any other part of my skin I just apply direct pressure, so I pinched my nose shut with a tissue and hold it there for 30 or 40 minutes. While I am sitting there, watching a show, pinching my nose, I start thinking, "what if I can't do my workout? If I don't do it, I don't get my book." I know that a bloody nose could be a good enough excuse to not workout and start up again tomorrow, but it would be an excuse. I promised myself that I would give myself no excuses. I AM going to exercise. SO, 40 minutes later, I checked to see if my nose had stopped. Luckily it had and I was able to do the TDS. YAY!!!!!!! I was unsure if I was going to be able to exercise, but I did what I said I was going to do. I gave myself no excuses and I exercised. It was hard, but no harder than yesterday or any other day (well maybe it was easier than the first day). Thanx for all the help you guys are giving me. It really does help. I look forward to reading the comments, and I know that if I don't workout and blog, you will know and call me on it. Thanx for that. Love you guys!

Day Six

Where did the energy of yesterday go??? I was sooo tired this morning. For one crazy moment I thought that Rob's lack of sleep was catching. I made a deal with myself, if I did weight training this morning, I would get to take a nap. So I did weight training, and I took a nap! It helped, but I am still really tired. When I woke up, I did the TDS too, so I didn't break any of my goals today, but it was hard. Weirdly, I am still really tired. I think my body is finally starting to feel the strain. That's good, I think. Strain might not be the right word. But my brain is too dead right now to be able to tap into my enormous vocabulary... :P Anyway, I found that last quip way too funny, I really am tired.

Day Five

I am feeling GOOD!!! I never thought that I would be excited for exercising or working out, but I am. It's so much fun. Today was a running day, and it was tiring, but energizing. I really love working out in the morning. It gets me going for the day. After running, or weights, I eat breakfast and then go do the dishes. I have found that I LOVE routines. I kind of already knew that I did better when I have a routine, but I am LOVING it. So, after dishes and sweeping the kitchen, I paid some bills and talked to a friend. With her encouragement, I went and did my 30 day shred exercise. I have done the work out enough that today I turned down the volume of Jillian Michael's talking and turned on some work out music. It was so much fun. I felt like I was playing and dancing, not working out. It was awesome. The 30 day shred dvd has 3 different workouts, each progressively a little harder. I am seriously considering going to level 2. I have NEVER moved up in a work out before, so that is exciting! Well after the 30 day shred (forever more to be abbreviated to TDS) I came back to the computer to blog the days experience. When I made this goal, I knew that there would come a day when I would love doing the workout. I never, even in my wildesxt dreams, thought it would come on day 5. Honestly, I thought it would take doing the TDS several times before I would love it. But boy do I love it.
These last few days have been hard on Rob. He hasn't been sleeping well, and so that makes him really tired in the morning. Yesterday, a weight training day, we woke up at 5:30, our weight training time, and he really didn't want to get up. He wasn't able to get to sleep until around 1 a.m., so that was 4 hours of rest for him. I don't know if the alarm would have even woken me up with that little sleep. Well, we laid in bed for a few minutes with him asking me what to do. I told him that it was up to him. I could tell that he was completely torn and unsure. In the past, he has been my anchor for exercising, especially weight training. So I turned to him and told him to not worry about me. I will work out no matter what he decided. He looked at me and said, "Then I am going to get some more sleep"  I love my husband.
Yesterday I did weight training on my own, and I think I did pretty good. I missed Rob, but he will work out with me tomorrow (cross your fingers he sleeps better) He slept well last night, so I think that we are on the way up.
I think that is everything for today. Thanx for all your encouragement!!!

Day Four

Well, Rob and Ali were right. I am not stiff (well, not that stiff) any more. I shouldn't have doubted. But I was really stiff, and it truly didn't feel as if the soreness would ever go away again. But it did.
My observations about today's workout: the work out felt as if it was both longer than normal and shorter than normal. The way the 30 day shred works is you do a set of strength training for 3 minutes, a set of cardio for 2 minutes, and an ab work out for 1 minute. And then you do the whole thing two more times. So ultimately you work out for 20 minutes, with three sets of three. Each set today felt like it would never end. But once I got to the last set, I felt like I had just started. It was a mind bending sensation. I definitely feel like I am doing better and 30 days doesn't seem that long anymore (maybe it's because I only have 26 days left... but who's counting) Thanx to everyone giving me encouragement, it REALLY helps alot. (That means you, Amber :) )

Day Three

I was going to post yesterday, post pictures and talk about our vacation and such, but I didn't get to it. Next week. Today is about exercise, and boy what an exercise. I did the push ups better than I ever had before, which was nice. I didn't do so well as I would wish with my combined crunches and the side lunges. Oh well. I will keep trying. The main thing is that I did the work out. YAY! The work out was just as hard, but I noticed that my muscles handled the stress better. Another nice thing.
Rob was a sweetie yesterday by telling me how proud of me he is. He has been so encouraging to me. I am truly lucky to have him. So, this one is going to be short, my brain is pretty dead. Thanx for the support!

Day Two

Stiff. That should be the title of today's blog. I am very stiff! I woke up this morning and tried to move, and the discovered that it didn't hurt as much if I just laid in bed. Rob assures me that the stiffness will go away, but I am not as positive as him. It feels like it will never go away. I've done both exercises today, yay! I just finished my 30 day shred exercise and earlier today I did weight training with Rob. It was nice, I found that I can lift more than I used to be able (even as stiff as I was) Now, I know that you don't get immediate changes, what is going on is I have been doing exercises with Rob off and on for about 6 months (more off than on, but still) what was nice was this morning I was able to handle more. I think I am just pushing myself and so I am discovering that I am actually stronger than I first thought. Which is a nice discovery.
Right now I am doing pretty good being able to motivate myself, and what I can't, Rob does. BUT, I know soon I am going to need some nice encouraging comments to keep me going. So for all of you that are reading this, leave a comment or two and help me keep my goal! You guys are great, and even if you don't comment, thanx for reading and thinking, go Juli. Love you all. I'm going to go take a shower.

Day One

ARRGGG!!! So tired, and I took a nap.
Well I just finished my second and last exercise of the day. Wow, am I exhausted. So, for those that don't know, I made a goal to exercise everyday and eat right. YAY, right, well here's the thing. I am going to exercise in the mornings with Rob (we alternate running and weight training) and then during the day I am going to do this exercise program called the 30 day shred. (wow is it hard) I am going to post every day that I exercise and plead for encouragement from any who read that post. Also, I made the goal to lose 10 pounds. Originally it was lose 10 pounds in 30 days, and I still would like that to happen. But if it doesn't, I still want to lose the 10 pounds. So I have a reward for myself if...uh....when I accomplish these goals. After exercising for 30 days straight (barring Sundays) I get a book!!! And then when I lose 10 pounds I get another book!!!! Yay for me! (If you can't tell, I like books) I already know which books I want too. They are both from a series that I have been reading and collecting for the past 15 years or so. A new book comes out every so often (nothing regular). It's called the Elemental Master's Series by Mercedes Lackey. They are fairy tales set in 1900 ish England (other than one book which is in California). Lackey takes a well known fairy tale, say Cinderella, and makes the characters modern (again, ish) and gives them magic over an element, water, earth, air, fire. It's really quite fun. Like with her Cinderella version, Cinderella has to stay with her evil stepmother because of a curse on her making her unable to leave the house. Anyway, there is a new book out and an anthology of short stories set in the same world. Those are my goals. And today, those books were the only things keeping me exercising. AAAAHHHHHH! I am tired. Anyway, I am going to do the unthinkable and post my weight: 175. Now, I am not going to weigh myself again until after the 30 days. Here we go.....