Don't Be Fuzzy!

I have a complaint regarding ageism in America.  And sexism too, for that matter.  The other night I was watching the only t. v. show I regularly watch: The Closer.  I really enjoy the writing and the characters on that show.  Kyra Sedgwick is absolutely lovely and you can tell by her arms that she is dedicated to working out.  She looks just great.  But I noticed the other night that they have started to fuzz her out!  There was a close-up with her and one of the other characters; his face was as clear as could be, but she was just slightly out of focus.  What's up with that?  They don't fuzz out the men.  Why can't a beautiful woman in her 40's look like she's in her 40's?  She obviously takes good care of herself, so why does she have to be wrinkle-free?  Maybe I am overly sensitive since I am in my 40's (and next year I won't be in my 40's anymore).  But I wish Kyra and all the other 40+ actresses out there would stand up and say, I won't be fuzzy anymore!  Then maybe the rest of us wouldn't keep trying to compare ourselves to the impossible standard of perfection that has been set for us. 

OK, thanks for listening.  I feel a little better.

Resolutions

Last year I didn't make a New Year's Resolution.  I really didn't make any resolutions until April, when I watched my husband complete a half-marathon and noticed, on the faces of each and every single person who crossed that finish line, a look of achievement that I decided I wanted for myself.  The really fast runners, the newbies, the ones who looked like they were about to drop...they all had the same look on their face: "I did it."  That encouraged me to start training for a half-marathon in October, which I successfully completed.

So now I have come up with a new goal, and I'm putting it out there right now so that I can't back down.  2011 is going to be the year I learn to swim.  I talked to the swimming director at the gym today and signed up for private adult swimming lessons, beginning some time after the 10th of January.  I have several reasons for wanting to attain this goal.

First of all, during the last mile of the half-marathon my knee began to bother me.  I did not stop running, of course, because I only had one mile to go.  But since then it has continued to bother me and I have not been able to run on it very long or very often.  So I need to find something else to burn big calories. 

Second, although I am still and will always be younger than Becky, I know age is going to creep up on me.  Finding something that is easier on the joints is going to be a bonus in the future.

And third, it just stinks not being able to swim.  Last year my husband and I went to St. John in the U. S. Virgin Islands for our 25th anniversary.  St. John is one of the ultimate snorkeling sites in the world.  But on our first day out, I got out in the water about up to my neck, started to panic and hyperventilate, and had to turn around and go back to the beach.  Luckily my husband is not the type to say, "Well, see ya later, I'm going to go have fun anyway."  Instead he is the type to say, "We're not having this."  He went up the beach until he found a place that would rent me fins and a life jacket (translation: water wings for weenie adults) so that I was able to snorkel with him.  And the day we came across a big group of sea turtles will always be one of my favorite memories.  But I almost missed it, due to my fear of the water.  So it is time to learn how to do this.

I will keep you posted, and in the meantime, what is your goal for 2011?  What do you need to do to achieve it?

More Holiday Fun

My sister-in-law Keri, in town for the holidays, agreed to accompany me to the gym on Christmas Eve.  Her gym at home keeps eucalyptus-scented towels in a little refrigerator and the fitness staff walks around offering them to the members.  Luckily she gave me this information before we arrived at my gym, so she was forewarned that there would be no eucalyptus-scented towels awaiting her there. 

What was awaiting us, though?  Becky had been hard at work creating yet another of her masterful holiday-themed workouts.  This one was called "Undecorate the Tree." 

Under each of the ornaments were instructions for a different exercise.  Some were serious - like five minutes of cardio with 45 seconds hard and 15 seconds recovery to each minute.  Others were just for fun - like creating some elf mischief in the gym.  Angela surprised the heck out of a young man when she changed the weights on his machine between sets.

We had so much fun with this workout that by the end of our workout, there were six people participating.  People who weren't participating with us were surely feeling jealous as we sang "Deck the Halls" and "Jingle Bell Rock" while doing walking lunges up and down the hall.  After telling Keri recently that our workouts never exceeded an hour, this one of course took an hour and a half. 

Here's the group, with our fearless leader decked out in antlers at the bottom (she wanted to be sure you could see her holiday socks).

The Two Buff Chicks hope you had a Merry Christmas and will have much joy and exercise in the coming year.

An Early Christmas Present from the Two Buff Chicks

Becky and I have a whole bunch of holiday related workouts.  Yesterday we did one of our all-time favorites.  We do it every year around Christmas.  We thought you might like to try it today or tomorrow.  Then you can feel strong and good about yourself even if you are a complete slug on Christmas Day.

A couple of things to keep in mind:

• You should try to be as festive as possible during this workout.  Wear antlers, wear red and green clothing, wear bells, sing Christmas carols.  Be as obnoxiously festive as you can.
• There isn't a lot of leg work in this workout.  If you want to work your legs, change some of the exercises or add to them.  We were plenty tired without working our legs.
• We have been doing this workout for several years.  Each year it takes a little longer to wear us out.  But if this is your first year and you want to take it easy, do just some of the exercises.  Or if you're a maniac, do the whole thing twice.  Whatever works for you is what we want you to do.
• Singing the song as you work out can be quite annoying to the people around you.  Don't ask us how we know that.

 The Twelve Days of Christmas Workout

Directions:  For the first round, perform the first day exercise (5 push-ups).  For the second round, perform the second day exercise AND the first day exercise (5 stability ball crunches and 5 push-ups).  Continue in this manner until in the last round, you will perform all twelve exercises.  If you're good at math you will have quickly calculated that you will have done 60 push-ups by the end of this workout.

On the first day of Christmas we did 5 push-ups
On the second day of Christmas we did 5 stability ball crunches
On the third day of Christmas we did 5 bicep curls
On the fourth day of Christmas we did 5 triceps extensions
On the fifth day of Christmas we did 5 overhead press
On the sixth day of Christmas we did 10 jumping jacks
On the seventh day of Christmas we did 5 stability ball crunches
On the eighth day of Christmas we did 10 upright row
On the ninth day of Christmas we did 10 incline press
On the tenth day of Christmas we did 12 bent over lat raises
On the eleventh day of Christmas we did 12 triceps kickbacks
On the twelfth day of Christmas we did 15 assisted pull-ups

Just our little gift to you!  Have fun!

Penance

Here is my post-vacation confession:  I did not do one single solitary lick of exercise during my entire week in South Carolina.  I thought about it.  I thought about it a lot.  While my husband was out for his 4 or 5 mile runs, I thought about it.  On the days it warmed up and the wind stopped blowing, I thought about it.  I even thought about my usual morning crunches and push-ups.  But thinking never once led to doing.  I did not even go for a walk. 

Food-wise I did okay.  I tried to be sure to get my water, eat my fruits and veggies, and stop when I was full.  There was one particularly ugly incident involving a box of Cheez-Its that I found in my mother-in-law's kitchen, but other than that things seem to have stayed in balance.

So now it's back to the land of the ice and snow.  I have been exercising hard and faithfully since my return and continuing to try to make good choices when I eat.  As a result, I'm a little sore and a little hungry.  But that's okay.  Sometimes you need a little break and then you go back to your regular habits and life moves on.

And in the meantime, on days when I leave the gym and my fingers get so cold that I have to run the heat on full blast all the way home in order to warm up, I can always come home and look at this picture:

Or this one:

Yes, that's a dolphin.  He was totally awesome!  Even better than a box of Cheez-Its!

Zzzzzzzz

You know how they always have those lists of things you need to do to be healthy?  Well, I can make myself exercise.  I can make myself eat properly.  I can make myself take a multivitamin.  I can make myself floss.  But how the heck do you make yourself get a good night's sleep?  Either you get one or you don't.  And they keep pointing out how that is one of the most important things you can do, which only adds to my stress level when I'm trying to sleep. 

I can fall asleep.  But if I wake up, I'm up.  Last night I woke up at 1:30 a.m. and I don't really think I ever fell fully back to sleep all night.  I tried really hard to make myself do it, but myself was having none of it.  I'm nice and sleepy now, though, thanks very much!  I'm a bad napper, though, so I will just try to tough it out until bedtime.

My son says if you wake up in the night you should get up and do something productive, because that quiets your mind and makes it possible for you to go back to sleep.  Usually it's too warm in the bed and too cold out of the bed for me to consider that, but I may get desperate and try it.  I could count sheep or better yet, count the days until Becky turns 50...oh, that wouldn't take very long so scratch that.

Anyway, here's wishing you a good night's sleep and wishing myself one as well.

Winter in the South

As I mentioned yesterday, it's cold in South Carolina.  Those of you in Minnesota might not have much sympathy, but the locals here keep telling us it never gets this cold in December, so we're feeling a little chilled.  Yesterday the wind was blowing so hard you could have surfed on the whitecaps in the sound.  Not the ocean, the sound.  And you ain't seen nothin' until you've seen hunks of Spanish Moss rolling across parking lots like tumbleweeds.

But the trade off?  Here is how they decorate the harbor for Christmas.  It is so pretty and really gets you in the spirit.  (It also helps that the forecast for later this week is 60's and sunny).

People have the masts of their boats lit up with Christmas lights and the reflection off the water is just beautiful.

By the way, today's fitness effort was to look up the local YMCA on Google and try to find it.  We ended up in the middle of a fancy-schmancy subdivision where the nice lady in the guard shack told us we weren't the first ones to have been misdirected.  She thought she knew where it was but when we went where she sent us, there was nothing that resembled the YMCA except a basketball goal in an empty parking lot.  With Spanish Moss rolling by like tumbleweeds.

Vacation Fitness

My husband and I took off for the coast of South Carolina this week, leaving our son at home to have fun with final exams and midwestern blizzards.  But even in South Carolina, it's not very tempting to go outside and exercise.  The wind is blowing fairly hard and the temperature is in the 30's.  Even though the sun is shining and it looks pretty outside, I really have been having trouble making myself get out into it for anything other than shopping or going out to dinner.

This morning my husband got up, ate breakfast and said he was going to go for a run.  Instead he sat down on the couch and watched a little t. v.  Then he had lunch and a nap.  I took his picture while he was napping but he refused to let me put it on the blog.  I don't know why; his mouth was closed and he wasn't drooling or anything.  But I'm trying to be a nice wife so I won't put it on.

To be fair, and to keep from making him sound like as much of a slug as I am today, he is out at this moment running.  While I, on the other hand, am sitting at the computer desk, feeling regretful about all - no, make that some - of the calories I've taken in, but not bad enough to get up and do anything about it.  Some days you've got it, some days you don't.  Today I don't and I'm not even feeling particularly guilty about it.   Maybe I can do like Carrie Bradshaw in Sex & the City and use shopping for my cardio today.

Mmm, Good!

There's a great website out there that I wanted to pass on to you in case you haven't heard of it.  It's  called hungrygirl.com and there are all kinds of good recipes that are healthy and really fill you up.  She takes regular recipes and makes them better for you, then shows you the comparison between her way and the usual way.  Hungry Girl also checks out restaurant food to let you know some good choices when you go out to eat (and terrifies you with stats on some of them as well).  Tonight we are having her butternut squash fries; we've made them many times and they are delish!  You can also sign up to get daily emails with new tips and recipes. 

Danger, Will Robinson!

If you get that reference, you must be in my age group.  I used to love that show!  Even though it was a little sad if you thought about the long-term prospects for Will and Penny.  I mean, who were they going to marry?

But anyway, back to the point.  One thing I have learned about myself over the years is that I have a period of time every afternoon in which I need the robot from Lost in Space to come along and remind me I'm in danger.  The time between when I get home and when we eat dinner is the time when I sometimes think I'm going to starve.  If I don't quickly find something healthy to snack on, it can get pretty ugly.  Lately I've been slipping a bit, so it seems like a good time to think about healthy snacks that can get you through that long period between lunch and dinner.

Here are some of the things I like to keep on hand for my danger times:

• a hard boiled egg
• a tablespoon of hummus or low-fat ranch dressing or peanut butter with veggie sticks or whole grain crackers
• a wedge of Laughing Cow light swiss cheese with fat-free pretzels or whole grain crackers
• a cup of vegetable soup
• a small bowl of cereal with skim milk
• a piece of fruit with a tablespoon of peanut butter
• a big green salad
• a glass of skim milk and a couple of graham crackers

Measure everything out before you eat it so you don't continue to graze after you have had enough to satisfy you.  And remember to drink a big glass of water!  This should help keep danger at bay and keep you on track until dinner.

Taking Stock

My job as an office manager and bookkeeper means that at the end of the year you will find me throwing things out, filing things away, making new files for the upcoming year and preparing for the onslaught of duties that will come with January.  I go through my accounting program searching for any errors I might have made that I haven't already caught, I do a test run of my 1099's, I get on the IRS website to see what's new with them, and I print off a checklist of year-end duties and dates. 

I find that over the years the rhythm of this cycle has begun to spill over into my "real" life as well.  It's a good time to look back on the year to see what you have accomplished, as well as what you wish you had accomplished, so that you can prepare for the year to come. 

Where do you find yourself as 2010 comes to a close?  Where do you want to be in a year?  I feel pretty good about 2010.  I set some attainable goals for myself and they have come to pass.  I wanted to complete a half-marathon.  I wanted to get more involved at church.  I wanted to build some new friendships and rebuild some old ones.  Opportunities for all of these goals came into my life this year and I was able to accomplish them. 

It's not quite time for New Year's resolutions yet, but it's a good time to start thinking about where you would like to see yourself this time next year.  What was good about this year?  What are some good changes that you could try to make happen in your life in the coming year?  How can you make yourself a happier, healthier person in the next twelve months? 

More Tunes

I finally took a few minutes (okay, it was longer than that) to look at my iPod and find some more suggestions for good cardio workout music.  See what you think.

1. Sweet Child of Mine - Guns and Roses
2. Mirror in the Bathroom - The English Beat
3. Black Tongue or Tick or Zero or pretty much anything by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4. Butterfly - Crazy Town
5. Feel Good or 19-2000 - the Gorillaz
6. We Care a Lot - Faith No More
7. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
8. One Way or Another - Blondie
9. Tribute - Tenacious D
10. On Mercury - Red Hot Chili Peppers
11. Hit the Road, Jack - Ray Charles
12. Somebody More Like You or Helena - Nickel Creek
13. Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meatloaf (sorry but I dare you not to sing along)
14. Rocket Science - The Pimps
15. Crazy - Gnarles Barkley
16. The Other Side or pretty much anything by Aerosmith
17. The House is Rockin' - Stevie Ray Vaughn
18. Runnin' Down a Dream - Tom Petty
19. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
20. Walkin' on the Sun - Smashmouth
21. Anything upbeat by the Beatles - my favorite is When I'm 64 - it doesn't especially rock but I love it
22. Steppin' Out With My Baby - Tony Bennett
23. Let's Spend the Night Together - Rolling Stones
24. Men in Black - Will Smith
25. Big Black Horse - K. T. Tunstall

So that's my work in progress.  Any suggestions?

Nudges

Sometimes after Becky and I lift, I would just like to slide on out the door and go home. But before I can do that, Becky will say something like, “You’re going to do some cardio, aren’t you?” It's more of a statement than a question. But then I think, why not? I'll go over and get on the elliptical and work up quite a little sweat! I always feel great afterwards. So why don't I do that on my own?

That is why it is so great to have someone in your corner who will push you a little bit. Or, as in Becky’s case, someone who will push you a lot.


Here are some other reasons why you really need to find a compatible workout partner:

• You’re less likely to blow off a workout if you know someone’s waiting for you to show up.

• Even if you are tired, you will finish the workout rather than stopping halfway through like you might do on your own.

• You encourage each other to try harder – by golly, if your partner can lift 5 more pounds than so can you!

• It’s more entertaining than your iPod.

• You can brag to your partner about your accomplishments and no one thinks you’re being cocky, because your partner can brag to you too.

• You can complain to your partner and no one thinks you’re being a whiner, because your partner can complain too.

• Your partner will appreciate all the small steps and progress you make.

• It expands your circle of acquaintances in the gym.

• It makes it more fun!

Find someone who will nudge you - and be sure to return the favor!

GO LAURA!

Here's a shout-out to our friend Laura, who is running a marathon in Memphis this weekend.  We're sending you good thoughts and wishing you good luck!  We're so proud of you.  Not many grandmas can run a marathon, nor can they look so good doing it!

Having a Breakdown

Wednesday Becky and I were doing a series of breakdowns. Breakdowns are when you do one set with either your usual weight or a little more weight than usual, then immediately take a little weight off and do a second set, then immediately take a little weight off and do a third set – no breaks between sets. That third set is really hard, even though it is less weight than you usually lift!


When we came to the lat pull down machine, Becky started on her first set and I realized she had set the weight at 87.5 pounds. 87.5 pounds! The most we ever start with is 75. So what flies out of my mouth? “OH MY GOSH, BECKY, ARE YOU SERIOUS???” She looked at me in complete innocence, then looked at the weight and said, “Oh, I thought it felt heavy!”

Becky’s determination always amazes me. I would have stopped right then and lowered the weight. But did she stop? No. She completed 8 reps. Who knows what might have happened if I had kept my mouth shut? So much of this is about what you think you can do. Becky thinks she can, so she does.

This was a really good lesson for me (but I still did not think I could do 87.5 pounds, so although I was quite impressed with Becky’s achievement, I did not try to compete. You can call me a wuss if you want. I won’t mind).

Advice from the Cat

There is a new cat at our house, kind of by default.  We didn't go looking for her, but she insisted she was ours.  One night, a while back, we heard loud meowing on the patio outside our bedroom.  We looked out and saw an orange cat, just standing there and meowing in the general direction of the house.  Well, we live way out in the country.  Cats come along and then they head home.  So other than the fact that she meowed outside on the patio all night, we didn't think much more about it.

The next night while I was fixing dinner I heard meowing again.  I opened the kitchen door and there she stood on the back step.  She meowed at me like, "Let me in.  I live here."  I told her to go on home.

The following day my son confessed that he had slipped her a piece of bread because "she looked hungry," and she had devoured the bread in a matter of seconds.  So the next time I saw her, I gave her a little cat food.  Soon we were keeping a bowl in the garage for her.  And a heated pet bed.

You know where this story is going, don't you?  After calling all the neighbors and finding no one who claimed her, and after taking her to the vet for a clean and very expensive bill of health, Annie has now moved in to the house.

She's a really sweet cat.  She just has a bit of an issue with food.  I guess those days of going hungry made her think the best modus operandi was to eat every bite of food she ever passed (kind of how I used to be).  When she was still outside and I put food in her bowl, she would eat all of it, no matter how much I gave her.

But when she moved in we had a new problem.  We have always used a self-feeder for our other cat.  We just fill it up every week and she nibbles on it as needed.  She has always remained very svelte and eats just what she needs.  When Annie first came in the house, she could not walk by that bowl without stopping for a little nosh.  What really cracked us up was that she would lie down while she ate.  Like it was just too much work to stand up and chew at the same time. 

She finally seems to be getting the hang of the self-feeder.  But in the meantime, here's what has happened:

I think we need a kitty cat treadmill.

So while you're trying to navigate yourself through all the parties and family get-togethers in the next few weeks, keep Annie in mind and remember:

• It's not your last meal.
• Grazing is probably not a good idea.
• Whatever you do, don't lie down while you eat.

We're Back!

OK, so we took a week off from the blog to enjoy the beginning of the holiday season.  But that does not mean you are off the hook for December.  Below you will find a calendar of some extra little things you can add each day to your regular workout routine to keep you on track and healthy during this most challenging of seasons.  I hang mine on the fridge to remind me to do them every day.  You will be so glad you stuck with your exercise and healthy eating choices when the new year rolls around and you don't have to make a resolution that includes getting in shape or losing that holiday weight.

I tried really, really hard to make this into a calendar format, but finally admitted my computer abilities left something to be desired.  Please feel free to write this on your own calendar or just print it off as is.

December 1:    Perform a random act of kindness
December 2:    Walk 30 minutes after dinner
December 3:    Do 25 push-ups and 50 crunches
December 4:    Do 2 sets of 15 jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches and lunges
December 5:    Walk an extra 15 minutes or try a new class at the gym
December 6:    Walk the stairs for 5 minutes
December 7:    Do an extra 20 push-ups and 30 second plank
December 8:    Walk an extra 15 minutes
December 9:    Do an extra 20 push-ups and 20 crunches
December 10:  Do this circuit twice for 1 minute each: jumping jacks, jump rope, wall sit, lunges
December 11:  Do an extra 50 crunches and 25 push-ups
December 12:  Walk an extra 20 minutes
December 13:  Take an extra 5 minutes to talk to a friend
December 14:  Walk an extra 15 minutes and do 15 push-ups
December 15:  Do an extra 15 minutes of cardio - your choice
December 16:  Walk an extra 15 minutes
December 17:  Do 25 push-ups and 25 crunches
December 18:  Spend 15 minutes sitting quietly
December 19:  Walk an extra 30 minutes
December 20:  Do something unexpected
December 21:  Do this circuit three times for 1 minute each: jumping jacks, grapevine, skip in place
December 22:  Walk an extra 15 minutes
December 23:  Spend 15 minutes sitting quietly
December 24:  Walk an extra 10 minutes.  Do 50 crunches and 25 push-ups
December 25:  Rejoice - Reflect - Relax
December 26:  Walk an extra 30 minutes
December 27:  Spend 15 minutes in quiet time
December 28:  Do an extra 25 crunches, push-ups and lunges
December 29:  Walk an extra 15 minutes
December 30:  Walk an extra 15 minutes, do 15 dips and 15 push-ups
December 31:  Do 25 push-ups, dips, crunches and lunges
January 1:        Resolve to make this your healthiest, happiest year ever!

Blessings

When my son was a little boy, his preschool teacher sent home a project he had made where he had to say what he was thankful for. His answer? “Mom and Dad and pears (soft ones).” Apparently at some point in time I must have tried to foist off an unripe pear on my poor unsuspecting child, and he had not forgotten. All these years later that still makes me chuckle.


What are you thankful for?

There’s a church marquee in our town that says, this week, “You have been given 86400 seconds today. How many of them have you used to say thank you?”

In addition to the things I’m thankful for every day, like my kind and loving husband, my smart and funny son, family and friends who are there through thick and thin, a warm house, clothing, and food, I am also thankful for (in no particular order):

1. Working someplace that makes me feel like I’m just going to go hang out with my friends all day.
2. Cheese.
3. Having a faithful workout partner who challenges me each and every time we lift together.
4. Books.
5. Memories of those who are no longer with me but will always be in my heart.
6. A world full of places I haven’t been yet.
7. The fact that wine and chocolate are actually good for me, in moderation.

Give thanks for your blessings and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Let's Talk Turkey

Here's Brian, a/k/a Mr. Lunge, demonstrating proper form for walking lunges (shoulders back, chest out, drop one knee down, keep the other knee from extending out past the toe, come back up, step, and do the other side).  Do them without weights - much easier! - or add some hand held weights to add resistance.  You don't have to add as much weight as Brian!

Sorry the photo's blurry, he was moving too fast for my camera!  For your next workout, try adding a set or two of walking lunges.  Your legs and your glutes will be so happy you did.

Today's Turkey

This is Sharon. 

Sharon got so fired up by our September Challenge that she and her out-of-town daughter made a deal: they would both participate and whoever had the most points by Thanksgiving would get a new pair of shoes on Black Friday, courtesy of the one who had the least points.  They made an Excel spreadsheet so that they could track their progress and communicated via email to see how the other was doing. 

We checked in with Sharon today to see how she thought the contest would end and found out that it already had ended.  She said after two months, her daughter was so far ahead of her that she just went ahead and bought her a pair of shoes.  But how awesome is it that they stuck with it for two whole months?!?!?!  Becky and Nancy would never have had an attention span of that duration. 

So for today's Turkey Challenge, find someone to help keep you on track until New Year's Day.  That is just a little over a month away!  If Sharon and her daughter could do it for two months, we know you can do it for 39 days! 

Yet Another Turkey

Really?!  Cheers to the turkey who thinks she knows what exercise is next...Sissy!

Today's Turkey Challenge: Surprise yourself by doing a new exercise today.

Health & Happiness

Today's blog isn't really about any turkeys in the gym.  Well, I guess it could be, depending on how you look at it.  But it's more about working out smarter and how my husband figured out a way to do just that.

Every Friday, if he can get his lazy butt out of bed (his words, not mine), he goes to Becky's 5 a.m. cycling class.  Now, Becky's cycling class is very hard.  I've done it a couple of times on Sunday afternoons so I speak from experience.  I don't know how they do it first thing in the morning.  But in addition to the difficulty of uphill climbs, wind sprints, and whatever other fun things she decides to throw at the class for an hour, there's also some chatter.  She kind of likes to give people in the class an occasional good-natured ribbing (don't worry, they all like to give it right back to her). 

Here's where my husband's wiles come into play.  Recently Becky moved into a new place.  She needed help with things like hanging mirrors and coat hooks, wrangling mattresses and box springs through spaces that were just a mite too small, and so on.  Happily my husband did all these projects for her.  As he completed each task, he asked if she was satisfied with the job he had done.  If she said yes, he handed her a slip of paper  which said, "I will be nice to you in class," and made her sign it.  It specifically says "No Expiration Date."  There was also a line for me to witness her signature.  I should have brought my notary public seal, to make it even more official, but unfortunately I did not plan that far ahead. 

So now when he goes to cycling class on Friday morning, he can whip out one of his slips of paper any time he needs one.  He just hasn't decided yet whether it would be better to use them for himself, or sell them to other members of the class.  It might just pay for Christmas!

Another Turkey

Oh no!  GASP!  Looks like Laura has lost her cleaning bucket!

Hope it doesn't ruin her Thanksgiving!  Maybe today's Turkey Challenge will help...do 5 push-ups every day from now until Thanksgiving.  That will make Laura happy again!

Turkeys in the Gym

It's not Tom the Turkey, it's Tim the Turkey!  For the next week we would like to share with you some of our favorite turkeys in the gym, starting with our BFF Tim!  Along with each turkey we will give you a little "turkey challenge" to get you through to Thanksgiving.  Here's Tim:

And here's his favorite song, which he requested from us today.  He just LOVED it!  Sing along if you choose (to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel):

The turkey is a funny fellow
His head goes wobble wobble
He knows just one funny word
Gobble Gobble Gobble!

Today's turkey challenge: See if you can get some cardio in every day between now and Thanksgiving!

Stalls

My sister-in-law Keri tells me that the workouts on the blog look like they take an hour and a half to two hours. Don't worry - my attention span gets maxed out at the one hour mark. And I don’t want you to think you have to spend your life at the gym to have a proper lifting session. We have a couple of workouts that can run over the allotted time but we will let you know when they do.

The only time we run over an hour is when we have a lot of catching up to do. Or when we use a lot of stalls. We have been accused of not really ever working out, just cruising around the gym talking and acting busy. And every once in a while one of us says, “I just don’t want to work out today,” and we go have a beer.

So the workouts should only take an hour.  But if you would like some assistance in making a workout last longer, listed below are just a few of the stalls we like to use. These have been strenuously tested and are guaranteed to work.

• You need a drink of water.

• You need a Kleenex.

• You need a fresh towel.

• You see someone you know and you have to say hi. Preferably someone who talks a lot.

• You need to fix a piece of malfunctioning equipment.

• You can’t find the right weight.

• You have to hide Laura’s cleaning bucket.

• You have suddenly forgotten how to set up the machine and have to find someone to help you.

• You have a sudden and temporary, never before experienced, flare-up of carpal tunnel.

• Your cell phone goes off at an opportune moment (like right when your partner challenges you to an extra set of push-ups).

We hope that you will find these helpful. If you know of any other good stalls, please let us know!

Don't Super Size Me!

I was introduced to the wonderful world of dieting when I was about 16 years old. Being able to drive and date and go out to eat with my friends whenever we had the money was a newfound freedom which caused me to gain some weight. I went on a diet and lost 15 pounds. If only I had known then to be smart enough to never let myself gain weight again, life would have been much easier, but unfortunately you don’t get much wisdom except through experience. So I did not learn my lesson at 16.


When I was about 20, I had to lose 15 pounds again. At 25 I had to lose about 20 pounds. At 30 I had to lose another 20. So if you are doing your math correctly, you will see that, by the time I lost 60 pounds in my forties, I had lost enough weight to make a person who weighed what I weigh today.

Luckily I seem to finally have learned my lesson and have been able to keep the weight off. I believe that it is because I finally figured out that I should never be on a diet. Instead I should be making healthy choices when I eat, and making sure to spend enough time at the gym.

If you are anything like I used to be, you have a closet full of clothes in a variety of sizes. In the past, when I would go on a diet, I would still keep all my old clothes, “just in case.” I was always worried that if my husband ever took it into his head to take me on a surprise vacation somewhere and packed my suitcase for me, we would get there and nothing in the suitcase would fit.

This time, as the weight came off, I bagged up the clothes as they became too big and took them to Goodwill. I bought a few inexpensive things on the clearance rack at Target to keep me properly clothed while I continued to lose. Now there is nothing in my closet that is too big “just in case” I regain any weight. Mentally that somehow helps me. I have made a promise to myself never to buy clothes in a bigger size than the one I wear right now.

So now my husband can take me on all the surprise vacations he wants. Are you reading, dear?

Super Powers

This is not an original idea. I read it in a magazine, but I don’t remember when or which one or who wrote it, so hopefully that disclaimer will keep me from getting slapped with a plagiarism suit. But the idea is a good one and I want to share it with you. It was about super powers that each of us has, and how we have to build up our positive attributes and quit focusing on the negative by identifying and strengthening those super powers.

 

Immediately after identifying one super power that I think I have, I came up with a whole bunch that I do not have, and wish I had, and started thinking about how I could get them. But the point is to stay away from the negative and focus on the positive! So I will share with you that I think I have really strong will power. People who know me might phrase it as “stubbornness” but I do try really hard not to cross that line.

 

Now, if I could have super hero powers, I would choose invisibility and the ability to fly. I think those would be the coolest. My friend Jennifer said she would like to be able to time travel. I’m a little more hesitant about that one (as if it matters), because if I went too far back in time they would not have Diet Coke. What would I do then? Run around asking people if they had carbonated water and caramel color I could borrow for a quick fix?

 

Here is a super hero workout for you to try this weekend. I’m going to do it this afternoon, since I have to work out by myself. Becky thinks that just because she works today from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., the two hour break she has in the afternoon should be time for her to go home and relax. Whatever.

 

While you’re working out, think about what super powers you have. We’d love to hear them!

 

SUPERHERO WORKOUT

If you wonder what it’s like to be a superhero, try this workout.
You will feel strong enough to beat the bad guy and save the day.

 

Set 1: The Superman Set

 

• 5 minute warm-up on the treadmill to make you faster than a speeding bullet.
• 3 sets of 12 bench press to make you more powerful than a locomotive.
• 3 sets of 12 leg press to make you able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

 

Set 2: The Kryptonite Set

 

• Kryptonite can’t stop you! Do 20 push-ups followed immediately by 20 dips.

 

Set 3: The Batman & Robin Set

 

• Riddle me this, Batman: What does a bat do in the air? (It FLIES! 3 sets of 12 flyes on the bench).
• Holy weightlifting, Batman! Do 3 sets of 12 bicep curl/overhead press.
• Kapow! Zap! Bang! Fight flabby arms with 3 sets of 12 triceps kickbacks.

 Set 4: The Spiderman Set - In honor of Spidey’s 8-legged symbol, do one set each of the following at the heaviest weight you can.

 

• 8 cable row
• 8 stability ball squats
• 8 front raises
• 8 upright row
• 8 bent over lat raise
• 8 bicep curl
• 8 triceps extension
• 8 lat pull down

 Set 5: The Wonder Woman Set

 

• You are as strong as Wonder Woman as you do 50 crunches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having a Ball

One of the most versatile pieces of equipment you can have in your arsenal is a stability ball. You can pick one up just about anywhere that sells fitness equipment. Just be sure not to get the cheapest one; that is what I did and it deflates in approximately 20 seconds, which is not very useful, except for those times when I only want to work out for 20 seconds.


On days when you cannot make it to the gym - say you’re snowed in or your kids are sick or they’re running a marathon of your favorite old sitcom on TVLand – if you have your handy stability ball at the ready, you can still have a nice workout.

The stability ball makes strength training exercises a little trickier, because in addition to whatever exercise you are doing, you also have to balance, which engages your core in everything you do. One of the managers at the Y even uses her stability ball for her office chair. That way she is strengthening her core all day long as she sits at her desk.

The stability ball also makes strength training exercises a little trickier if you are a complete klutz, like me. I have fallen off the stability ball more times than I like to admit. So be careful not to fall. Especially when doing push-ups or chest press and flyes. And even more especially when your friend is there to laugh at you.

Here are some of the things Becky and I do with a stability ball:

1. Squats. Place the ball against a wall and lean against it, so that the ball is in the small of your back. Slowly roll the ball down the wall until you are in a squat position and then slowly roll it back up. To make it even better, hold free weights or a weight plate while you squat. Be sure not to let your knees extend out any farther than your toes.

2. Push-Ups. Yes, we know, we use everything for push-ups, but they really are the best. Place your legs on the stability ball and keep your arms on the ground in standard push-up position. The farther out you roll the stability ball, the more challenging the push-ups will be. So if you are just starting out, have the stability ball at your knees or even slightly above. But to make it more difficult, put your ankles or feet on the ball.

3. Chest Press and Flyes. You will need free weights for this. Lie back on the ball and roll it out until your head and shoulders are resting on the ball. Keep your hips elevated so that your body is perpendicular to the floor. Then simply do chest press and flyes as normal.

4. Overhead Press. Sit on the stability ball and use free weights to do your overhead press. Balancing on the stability ball makes these much more challenging than doing them on a bench.

5. Bicep Curl. Same as the overhead press – it just adds a new challenge to a standard exercise.

6. Dips. Place the ball against a wall. Put your hands behind you on the ball and do your dips, making sure not to let your elbows stick out to the sides. The ball will wobble all over the place, making these really tricky and good.

7. Crunches. Lie back on the ball, put your hands behind your head, and crunch away. Just be sure not to do these when you are wearing slicky shorts. They will slide up and up, eventually leaving your booty hanging out for all to see. Not that I personally would know that, of course. I’ve just heard it can happen.

Lots of other exercises can be adapted to the stability ball, but these can definitely get you started.

My Very First Workout

Over seven years ago, sick of the way I looked and felt, I called the YMCA and asked to be set up with a personal trainer. I don’t remember all the questions they asked me, but I do remember giving my age and saying that I would prefer to work with a woman. A short time later I received a call from Becky, my new personal trainer, who was approximately my age (actually a little older, as I like to point out).


Our first meeting nearly killed me. Becky has since told me that she never expected to see me again. And the thought of never returning did cross my mind. But I did not want to let myself down, and more importantly, I did not want to let my son down. He really wanted to go to the Y, and as long as he was there, I figured I might as well stick with it and see what happened.

Seven years later, sixty pounds lighter, and in better shape than I have ever been in my life, I can truly recommend taking that first step! Someday I will work up the nerve to post “before” and “after” pictures of myself on the blog.

I saved the very first workout Becky had me do. For our five year anniversary of working out, we did the exact same workout. It was amazing to compare the number of reps I could complete and how much weight I could lift, then and now. Below is the workout. Give it a try, keep track of the number of reps (try for three sets of 12 reps each), and how much weight you use. Then check back in with it periodically and see how much you improve. It is really a morale booster!

Leg Press - machine

Step-Ups – with free weights

Bench Press - machine

Flyes - machine

Lat Pull-Downs - machine

Assisted Pull-Ups* - torture machine

Upright Rows - barbell

Shoulder Press – free weights

Triceps Pressdown - machine

Triceps Cybex - machine

Bicep Curls – free weights

Crunches

*Just a note about the Assisted Pull-Up: this is the machine we call the Torture Machine. See the blog from August 12 if you want to know more about it. The first time I did the torture machine I had to use the maximum amount of assist, plus Becky was pressing down on the weights to give extra assist. I was able to complete one set of 8 and one set of 6.

No Competition

You know, on those days when I think, “Whew! I had a pretty good workout today!” and start feeling a little proud of myself, all I have to do to bring myself back down to earth is talk to my friend Becky.


We lifted together yesterday afternoon. It was a hard workout and completely filled the hour we had allotted. There was not a lot of time for chit-chat and my arms and legs were complete noodles when we finished.

Ho-hum. Becky had already been for a five mile run early in the morning. But wait! There’s more! Following our workout, she led a two-hour triathlon training session, in which she and the participants ran, swam, cycled, and did some core work and a “little” weight-lifting. She ran an additional 3½ miles, cycled 30 minutes (all uphill), swam over a half mile, and oh, by the way, did 250 crunches.

You now understand why, when we go out to eat, I order the salad and the grilled chicken breast and she orders the jumbo buttermilk waffles with a breakfast burrito on the side. And dessert, which she will not share.

Three Good Things

I majored in Early Childhood Education in college. I taught for three years after graduation, then decided it wasn’t for me. But I did learn some valuable lessons which have served me well for all these years. Never mind how many. Let’s just say it’s been a while. Some of the techniques I learned for dealing with small children have come in very handy when working with adults, like only asking open-ended questions instead of things to which they can say, “NO!”


The semester I did my student teaching, the lead teacher required me to keep a daily journal about my time in the classroom. His only specific instruction to keeping the journal was that at the end of each day’s entry I had to write down three good things about my day. Some days that was easy, but some days I had to think really, really, really hard to come up with three good things. His point was that even on your very worst day, you can find something good about it if you try. It helps you keep your attitude positive.

That lesson has stayed with me. I used to have my son do that when he was a little boy. He would have his bedtime story, say his prayers, and then tell me three good things about his day. He looked forward to that all day long, and never forgot to tell me what his three things were before he went to sleep at night.

Some days it is really tough to find anything good about your day. Your boss hassled you, your kids mouthed off, you ate a bunch of junk food, whatever. But if you stop and really think about it, you will find that with a little effort, there will be some little bright spots in your day. Someone did something nice for you without being asked. The sun was shining. You were able to add a little weight to the bench press. Try to look for the positives in your day – they really are there!

Three Good Things About My Day:

1. I’m meeting Becky at the gym later so I know I’ll have a good tough workout;

2. I didn’t have to leave my house in the dark this morning because of the time change; and

3. You’re reading the blog!

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Just a quick question for you today...if vegetables are so good for you, then why doesn't your body crave them the way it craves chocolate?

Your Most Important Muscles

You know that saying about how many muscles it takes to smile? Well, our smile muscles got quite a workout last night, thanks to our dedicated Swim Team.  An evening of bowling was just what the doctor ordered to make us forget our troubles and laugh the night away. 

Requirements to Participate: 

• One (1) Bowling Shirt 
• One (1) Bowling Name
• One (1) rather, hmm, how shall we say this?  One (1) rather, slightly, just a little, rundown bowling alley
• Nine (9) Swim Team members

Some things you need to know about the Swim Team:

• We take bowling as seriously as we take swim practice
• It took us an entire evening to play one game (cost: $1.50)
• The high scoring game was, if memory serves, 130, and that blew everyone else out of the water

One of us (Lucky Laura) was sadly disappointed to find that you do not get to keep the shoes.

How to get the most out of bowling:

Start with a race.  This has nothing to do with bowling.  We know that and we do not care.  Here "Sigourney" cheers on her racer (who, sadly, did not win, but also did not turn around and go the other way, like Tula Ten Pin's).

Next, we began bowling.  The rules were simple.  You got a rubber eyeball for every gutter ball you threw.  "Bunny" was the winner for most gutter balls and ended up with a pocketful of eyeballs (except for the one that somehow accidentally went down the bowling lane, and, you guessed it, into the gutter, where it disappeared and was never reset). 

 If you got a spare, you got a spider.

If you got a strike, you got a Pez dispenser.  The game was made a bit more challenging during the 3rd, 6th and 9th frames, when we had to draw a slip of paper from a hat and do whatever it told us to do.  Unfortunately, there were no rules in place for accidentally throwing your bowling ball behind you instead of in front of you; there will be a rule for that from now on. 

Try bowling like a princess...

Or a construction worker...

A chef...

or while holding a Barney-like puppet (it helps if the puppet is color-coordinated with your outfit AND your bowling ball)...

And there you have the makings for a great evening of friendship, laughter, and a little bowling.  THANK YOU, SWIM TEAM!  We do not know what we would do without you.

The Swim Team: (back row) Rose, Sigourney, Betty Bowler, Lucky Laura, Alles Chalmers, Swamp Mama, Tula Ten Pin, (front row) Bunny and Alley Annie.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

I did not grow up with sweat. My mom, who you read about in yesterday’s blog, was and still is quite averse to sweating and I learned well at a young age to emulate her antagonism toward it. As I grew older and went off to school, I spent most of my time in P. E. class trying to avoid getting sweaty so I wouldn’t have to take a shower in the locker room.

So it came as quite a shock when, one of the first times I worked out with Becky, I worked up quite a sweat. (Please note that this was not the time she made me throw up; this was another time). I was not overly familiar with sweating at that time. I was not overly fond of it, either. But Becky was quite pleased that her efforts at trying to kill me were not in vain. I was drenched and she was happy.

Since then I have become much better acquainted with sweat. Now that sweat and I are on friendlier terms, I am often disappointed in myself if I finish a workout without it. It just seems to be a good thing for your body to do. It feels like all the ick in your body is seeping out, leaving you fresher and healthier. Well, once you take a shower, anyway.

I don’t care if you’re sweating to the oldies, sweating like a pig, or sweating like a turkey the week before Thanksgiving. Get out there today and get sweating! And then take a shower.

Role Models

It doesn't really matter when you start exercising, as long as you start.  I was 41 years old before I really did any kind of regular exercise, and now I hardly go a day without doing at least something.  My husband has always exercised, Becky has always exercised, so they had a big head start on me.  I will never be able to catch up.  But that doesn't mean I can't try!  You always regret not doing something sooner, once you start, but you just have to keep in mind that you did start.

Here is a great example of someone who waited a long time to get started.  My mom, who will be 79 in a few weeks, just started regularly exercising this year.  You read that right.  She has never weighed over 110 pounds in her life, even when pregnant, but that was to do with how much she ate, not how much she worked out.  Then at the beginning of this year her doctor told her she needed to start doing some cardio to improve her lung function.  I never really thought that would happen, but lo and behold, three days a week she goes to her exercise class.  She walks on the treadmill, rides the bike, and lifts a few hand weights.  She confided one day that she thought the 3-pound weights were getting a little too easy and she thought she might try moving up to 4!  My mom, the weight-lifter.

So it's never too late!  Even if you think you are too old or too out of shape to ever be able to do anything, that is just not true.  Start small and work your way up.

Exercise of Another Sort

I got up at 4:00 this morning so I could be at the polls when they opened at 6:00.  There is something about being there when they say, "Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! The polls are now open!" that is really stirring and kind of chokes me up.  All this patriotic stuff just gets to me sometimes!  Less than 100 years ago I would have only been able to make my husband a hearty breakfast and send him off to the polls to vote however he saw fit, because I would not have had the right to go myself.  And still today in so many places around the world people don't get to choose their leaders.  So don't take it for granted.  Even if you don't do any other exercise today, exercise your right to vote!

Getting Through the Holidays

I have made myself a punch list to keep me on track during all the days of temptation ahead. 

1.  Add one 8-oz glass of water to each day.  More water really does make you feel better!

2.  Sign up for the Thanksgiving morning Turkey Run, an annual 5K event.  What better way to start your festivities than by burning off some of those calories you're going to take in later in the day?  If they don't offer something like that where you live, go for a brisk walk or run when you get up Thanksgiving morning.

3.  Sign up for the Holiday Challenge at the YMCA.  You can do this with a friend or a group if your local gym doesn't have anything like this.  Weigh in during the week prior to Thanksgiving and then again the week after New Year's.  It helps keep you focused on whether or not you really want that second cookie!  You can either sign up to maintain your current weight or to lose 5 pounds.  If you reach your goal, your name goes in a drawing for a prize.  One year I won.  My name was posted in the fitness center and I got four YMCA drinking glasses, a YMCA personal size towel, a water bottle, and a $5 Subway gift card.  A major award! 

4.  Sign up for the Turkey Burn-off, another annual event offered by the YMCA on the day after Thanksgiving.  They offer special classes all morning in cardio, strength training, and yoga so you can work off some of that pumpkin pie.

5.  Plan ahead for eating.  If I know I'm going to my mom's for dinner, and I know she's going to offer me one of her peanut butter chocolate chip pecan cookies, then I'm going to stick really closely to my healthy choices for the rest of the day. 

6.  Plan ahead for exercise.  If I know the coming week holds a lot of extra events and activities that will get in the way of my regular exercise routine, I will need to figure out other ways and times to get that done.

7.  Starting today I'm going to do 25 crunches every morning as soon as I get up.  I did that last year from Thanksgiving to New Year and it really helped me focus for the day.  By starting today I will have done 1525 extra crunches by the time we ring in the New Year.

8.  Continue running on Saturday mornings.  Well, Christmas is on a Saturday so I may have to take that day off.  But I got started on regular Saturday runs when training for the half marathon and it really is a good way to start your weekend.

9.  Stick as much as possible to my regular diet.  I will feel better and look better, plus I won't have to make as many new year's resolutions.

10.  Take time to rest and remember it is okay to say no sometimes!

Another Small Change

Ready for another small change? Have you increased the amount of water you drink? Have you been eating more but smaller meals every day? OK, then you’re ready for the next one.


Try to make sure your meals and snacks every day cover all the food groups. If you are filled up with your servings of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, dairy and protein, there’s a lot less chance that you will feel the need to fill up with refined sugar, salt, and fat. There are all kinds of places you can look on the internet to learn about the food pyramid. http://www.mypyramid.gov/index.html is a good one.

And here’s your little trick for the day: Tonight while you’re watching t. v., do 25 crunches during each commercial break! Ha! Almost makes you want to skip t. v. watching, doesn’t it?

Music

Some days you just have to run on the treadmill. Or maybe you don’t, but I do. It’s hot or it’s raining or it’s cold or any other of the myriad excuses I can come up with. On these days it is particularly important to have your iPod charged up to keep you entertained. Outside you can run without it, maybe you even prefer it that way, but something has to pass the time on the treadmill.  Becky will usually run outside no matter how hot, wet, or cold it is, but she does like to have some good tunes for her cycling class.

When it comes to your iPod, it is extremely important to nag your children to put good music on it, especially if, like us, you are basically computer illiterate and unable to do it yourself. And by good music, that means the music you think is good, not the music they think is good. One day after turning on my iPod, I realized my son had taken all my music off and replaced it with some electronica stuff. To give him credit, he thought I would like it. And it was okay to listen to for a few minutes, but it definitely did not have the power to fire up a run like listening to old Motown hits or rocking out to Aerosmith.

We could go on all day about what songs we like to hear when we're exercising, but we'll limit it to just a couple.  We both love the theme song from Rocky (yes, we know it’s corny, but it would be so disrespectful to stop running during this song for any reason.  I mean, Rocky doesn't quit before he gets to the top of those steps, does he?)

My particular favorite right now is, embarrassingly enough, Age of Aquarius (come on and sing it with the 5th Dimension now!). So sorry, but just picture Steve Carell in the 40 Year Old Virgin and you will have to laugh and you will be able to keep running for at least another mile.

Yesterday I really got going with Elton John’s Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding. It starts out so slow and then gradually builds until you’re just unable to stop.

The Two Buff Chicks would like to know some of your suggestions for great music to listen to while exercising. And for today’s treat, perform a random act of kindness for someone! (By the way, yesterday after telling you to look for little ways to add exercise to your day, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, what did I do? I drove the four blocks to the Y and parked right out front. Why do we do that? We’re going in to exercise, but we need to save a few steps on our way? I need to start taking my own advice.)

Support

I'm a little embarrassed to tell you that one day when I was about 7 or 8 years old, my dad was heading out for a game of tennis and as he left the house I called, "Don't forget your athletic supporter, Dad!"  I had heard the phrase somewhere and thought that was the correct name for the strap that held his glasses on during play.  To say he was a bit chagrined would be putting it mildly.

Which brings me around to another, more important, kind of support.  Not the kind that he thought I was talking about, but the best thing you can do for yourself on your quest for a healthier lifestyle.  Find people and places that give you support.


I would not be where I am today on my fitness journey without the people at the YMCA. They greet you with smiles and lift you up by words of encouragement, jokes and laughter. You always leave feeling better than you did when you got there. They accept you no matter how old you are, how thin you are, how rich you are, whether you are in shape or not. They even accept you if your workout shorts do not match your workout shirt. Or if you are accidentally wearing your workout shirt inside out.

Their attitudes make me want to be a better person. They make me want to step out of my comfort zone and give encouragement, both to the people I know and to people I do not know yet. You never know what small action or word will mean everything to someone who is discouraged or having a bad day.

So on your path to fitness, ask yourself:

What can I do today to encourage someone?

What can I do today to encourage myself?

And remember your athletic supporter.

Don’t worry, I didn’t forget: TRICK OR TREAT – you’re always hearing people say, “take the elevator instead of the stairs,” “park at the back of the parking lot,” “walk instead of drive,” etc. See how many times and how many ways you can expand on this idea to get a little more activity in each day between now and Halloween. Let us know if you come up with any great new ideas to share!

What a Weekend

After all my big plans about how much I was going to work out this weekend, here's what happened instead.  I went to the gym Friday afternoon and lifted, but I didn't feel so great.  Then I went home and spent the next 24 hours with stomach flu.  I think I should get extra points for working out when nauseated. 

One good thing about having the flu was that it confirmed I didn't give my husband food poisoning; he had the flu on Wednesday and I was afraid it was from the lunch I had packed for him.  So no more guilt about that is hanging over my head.  Also, after weighing myself this morning, I couldn't help but remember that part in The Devil Wears Prada where the snippy girl tells the main character she's just one stomach flu away from her goal weight.  Not that I recommend this as a diet plan!  I hope I never get stomach flu again!

Anyway, I'm mostly back to normal today (or as normal as I ever get) so let's see where we are on our Halloween challenge.  Probably time for another trick.  We've really been pretty easy on you this month.  Don't get used to it, because the holidays are heading your way.  For today, instead of doing your regular crunches, make them bicycle crunches instead.  Yes, they're harder!  But that means they're better.  Try for 25 to each side and see how you do. 

October Challenge - Day 22

The weekend is here and with it the opportunity to give you a treat. Especially since we gave you that very tricky trick yesterday. Are you sore? I am still sore from Wednesday but I am planning to lift this afternoon, run tomorrow morning, and possibly lift again on Sunday. Talk about a glutton for punishment…but the holidays are fast approaching so I need to make some headway. We will have some good ideas for you in the coming weeks to help you make it through with us!


Take a little time for yourself this weekend and find a spooky book to read to make you feel all Halloweeny. Nancy’s recommendation is “The Woman in Black” by Susan Hill. No kidding, that book made the hair on her arms stand up. In fact it’s kind of doing it right now just thinking about it.

You asked for it...you got it.

I made a big mistake yesterday. I told my friend Becky that I really needed a good workout, because I haven’t been as faithful to lifting lately as I should have been, what with preparing for and recovering from the half marathon. Oh, did she take me at my word.

Now, as every muscle in my body aches, I would like to share the workout with you. Print it and do it --- if you dare. We will call this your trick for the day.

Circuit Number 1 – go through it once and then do it again except eliminating the bench press breakdowns on the 2nd time through.

• Walking lunges with lat raises – we just lunged up and down the hall but I guess you could call it 20 reps if you don’t have a hall. On the second set we carried weights but did not do the lat raises.


• 5 Bosu ball push-ups and a 30-second Bosu ball plank


• Bench Press Breakdowns – 3 sets of 10


• 5 Bosu ball push-ups


• 15 overhead press on the stability ball


• 5 Bosu ball push-ups


• 8 assisted lift at the heaviest weight you can do while maintaining good form


• You guessed it, 5 Bosu ball push-ups


• 25 stability ball crunches


Circuit Number 2 – do each exercise twice


• Bicep curl 21’s


• 8 super slow bicep curl


• 20 each: dips, triceps extension, and triceps kickback


Circuit Number 3 (we did this between sets of Circuit Number 2)


• 15 ab crunches on the machine


• 25 each: 90-degree crunches, bicycle crunches, oblique crunches (25 each way)


If you don’t know what all of these exercises are, you can adapt to what you do know. Or you can put a message on the blog and we will do our best to explain. All I know for sure about this workout is, although it was hard at the time and I’m sore today, it was a great feeling to have done it. So that was part of my reward.


My other reward was when Becky presented me with my half marathon t-shirt. I had somehow missed getting the shirt when I went to pick up my bib and bucket of goodies. Probably because I was distracted by talking to everyone I saw. I have a tendency to do that. When I realized that I had not gotten the shirt, my disappointment was acute! And that was multiplied by the fact that they had run out! Somehow Becky found one in my size. It helps to have friends in high places.

OH, What was I thinking?!

Monday night it was my turn to teach "Whose Class is it Anyway?"  This is a class that is taught by a different instructor each week and that instructor gets to decide what kind of class it will be.  I called my class "The Sweaty Sixty'-- not because I envisioned a class of 60 participants, nor was it because the 60 reflected my age (as was suggested by one of my former friends).  I chose that name because it was my plan to sweat for sixty minutes as we (the class and I) went through a series of intense cardio activities interspersed with some pretty intense strength moves.

About halfway through I was beginning to see some flaws in my plan.  For one thing I was sweating big time, and for another it was HARD!  I am happy to say my class hung tough--or maybe that was to my disadvantage, because had they shown just a hint of weakness I could've backed off and lightened up.  But no...they were hanging with me.

Can I just say that 10 minutes of agility ladder work followed by a minute of jump squats and a minute of walking lunges makes for a LONG 12 minutes!!  Then I had the bright idea of jumping rope in minute intervals in between doing plyometrics on the steps.  Yeah, the sweat was rolling and we were only at  the sweaty 45!!

Finally, after 10 minutes of circuits I had had enough, so I suggested we all just sit on the floor and stretch.  Oddly enough, no one protested.

The next day I was whining (yeah, I'll admit it) to another fellow trainer about how hard the class was last night and how sore I was at that moment.  And this every-so-observant friend said, "Becky didn't YOU design the class?"

Right.  Oh, what was I thinking?!  Next time I will think twice--I know that for sure!

A treat (to take your mind off of my soreness): Try a pumpkin spice donut!

The Office

Becky works at the gym, which makes it a little easier for her to be sure to get her exercise.  If you're already there, you might as well stay and put in some time on the stairstepper.  Or between personal training clients, do a little lifting.  By now, if you are a regular reader, you know that Becky would be sure to get her exercise anyway, and being already at the gym is just a bonus. 

But I work in an office.  There are many pitfalls in an office.  One is that often you sit all day.  Sometimes it seems that you can actually feel your butt getting bigger as you sit in your chair.  Another pitfall is that people bring in treats to share.  So I am truly grateful for the perspective on fitness that exists in my office.  Fitness is a priority here.  All of the bosses work out on a fairly regular basis and most of the rest of us do too.  Bring something unhealthy for lunch and you will be sure to hear about it.  And not in any subtle way, either; it's more like, "OH MY GOSH!  DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH CHOLESTEROL IS IN THAT?"  In fact, we have been known to ask prospective employees during the interview process: "How do you feel about people critiquing your lunch?"  Because it happens on a fairly regular basis. 

One of the awesome things our office does is encourage regular outdoor walks every day.  Kathy's our leader; she is most often the one who drags the less motivated people (me) along with her.  And she's five months pregnant!  We walk down to the riverfront and back, a distance of about two miles.  It clears our heads and gives us some exercise.  This time is not docked; it is just part of our day.  Our bosses realize that if we feel better and happier, we can do our work in a more productive manner.  Sometimes we come back a little sweaty (and perhaps a little stinky) and sometimes it takes us longer than it should to change back out of our tennies, but we always come back with smiles on our faces.  And sometimes, when life gets really busy, it is the only exercise I get all day.

If you are the boss in your office, or you have a boss who is open to suggestions about ways to make the staff happier and healthier, consider letting the people in your office do this - and think about joining them!

Today's treat: Go for an after dinner walk to admire the Halloween decorations in your neighborhood!

UGH!

Going out of town is always lots of fun but I also have an unfortunate tendency to let my system get out of whack when I'm not at home.  I don't drink water the way I should, because I don't want to have to take the time to search out and use the bathroom.  I don't eat enough fresh fruits and vegetables because, let's face it, part of going out of town is going out to eat.  I should be more vigilant about requesting restaurants to prepare my food healthfully (I hear they will do that, although I've never tried, because I like to try it they way they think it should be eaten).  That means that I had lots of rich foods that I don't normally eat, and even though most of those things were split with my husband so I didn't have full portions, they still weren't the best choices.  So today I am feeling a bit sluggish and overstuffed.  Why do we do that to ourselves?  It only tastes good for a minute and then it makes you feel ugh for days - but at the time it sure feels worth it!  Oh well, water under the bridge.  Today I am back to drinking plenty of water (and making plenty of trips to the bathroom), eating nice healthy food, and planning a visit to the gym this afternoon.  The ugh feeling will pass and as I will probably not learn anything from my experience and will do the same thing the next time I go out of town, I will just have to keep in mind how to get right back on track.

Today's trick or treat: Add 5 minutes to your cardio workout today.  I know I am going to!

October Challenge - Day 15

My husband and I are in Nashville this weekend, for the following reason (choose one):

1. We are headlining at the Grand Ole Opry Friday and Saturday night at 7:00;
2. He is here for some continuing ed and I tagged along;
3. We decided to run away from home and this is how far we got before the money ran out.

The correct answer is, of course, #1.  We have matching sequin outfits and tease our hair up really big.  Just kidding!  They asked but we had a previous engagement.  Anyway, he is spending a couple of days in a seminar and I am spending a couple of days spending.  Once he is finished with the seminar we are going to hang out for a couple of days seeing some of the sights.

The hotel we're staying in has a "fitness center."  I put that in quotes because, come on, really?  So I went out and ran this morning, but was only able to go about a mile because my knee started to hurt.  I don't think I'm quite over the half-marathon aches and pains yet.  So I went in the "fitness center" and tried the elliptical - something was wrong with it.  So I used the one lonely weight-lifting machine (no free weights available) and walked on the treadmill for a little bit.  Then I finally convinced myself that trying was equal to actually working out, and went up to the room.  However, I did participate in today's trick, which is to do as many push-ups in one set as you can.  I made it to 20, which is not one of my most outstanding records, but it will do for today.  See how many you can do, and then you can make me feel bad by telling me how many it was.