Spartan Training

Well in true Anna style - I dove right in to working out....no need for gradual increments right?! Ugh...I thought it'd be "easier" to just go for it.  And I thought if my cousins can do it - then heck, so can I! But I'm getting ahead of myself....let me start again.

My local athletic club has this training class you can join called "Spartan." Think crossfit meets interval training meets cardio -- ALL jam packed in to 30 minutes. And when I say jam packed - I mean it!  Each section is 5 minutes long - one person does one exercise, while their counter parts do a different exercise. Once the "pacer" is done - they switch with one of their teammates.  You rinse  & repeat for the entire 5 minute section, then a whopping 30 second "break" while you rotate to the next section for another 5 minutes.  Literally you go balls to the wall the entire time.  This is all done while wearing a heart rate monitor - and then at the end of class everyone can see where each other were thru the class.  The goal: to spend as much time in the "red zone."
Sounds manageable right?  I mean heck...it's only 30 minutes!  Yah, that's what I thought too!  Until I got to burpees....

What's that?! Never done a burpee?!  Man oh man are you MISSING out! (pardon me while I barf just thinking about burpees....) Hell...pure hell.  Bless my sweet cousin & her husband who were my teammates last night.  They didn't judge me one bit when I stopped moving entirely during a few of our sections.  They didn't even get pissed when I couldn't kick of a section as the "pacer."  So of course at the end of class our stats are posted....and shocker! I had the most time in the red zone.  But let's not get fooled -- it's not because I'm awesome.  It's merely because I'm that out of shape....hell, I was in the red zone during our warm up!  Not a proud moment for me....
And today what I have to show for it are sore legs, a sore booty, and sore upper arms.  My lovely cousin said she felt worse the 2nd day...so I'll let you know how I'm doing tomorrow.

But despite the near death experience (driving home immediately following class was not one of my brightest moments) & the soreness - I can honestly say I'm glad I went.  I'm glad I went back to the gym, even if for only 35 minutes.  I'm glad I put my fears of being the "fat, out of shape girl" (I honestly referred to myself as this to my best friend before class) out of my head.  I'm glad I could come home & honestly say I did something intense for the day.  But mostly it has me thinking of how I really do need to get on board with moving my body, getting healthy, watching portions, being active (in all areas of my life!), and participating in a balanced life!  So this week - I'll finish my demo with Spartan training & decide if I can handle that brutality 3x/week - or if I find a different route to stay on track. 
Have you found something that works for you? Does it push you to the very limit? Or have you found a happy medium?? Share your wisdom with me!

meh

Let me just put this out there -- I am not the girl that gets excited to go to the gym. I am not the girl who is able to or wants to plan/prepare a weeks worth of meals or snacks.  I am definitely not the girl who can do a ton & go to the gym and lose 1-2lbs after all that work.


Want to know how I know this?  Because today this has sort of slapped me in the face.  Granted I'm trying to just drag my butt to the gym and do something. But boy oh boy is it challenging when you have to face the fact that everything is just going to be a little bit harder.  And it's not so stellar to have to come to terms that what I see as a ton of work will not warrant the kind of results I would want or hope for.  Blah kind of sad & frustrating all at the same time.


And so I have found myself in a little bit of a funk tonight - trying not to let it overwhelm me.  So tomorrow morning, I'll get up early like I have been and take myself to the gym.  Small choices piled on top of one another will make a difference later down the road...right?? I sure hope so.
<3

Gettin' Serious

Isaac & I decided that this is the year for us to shed the pounds that have been plaguing us for the last year & a half...Yup, a year & a half! Eek!  Thankfully one of my top 5 favorite shows is The Biggest Loser.  And the current season is about having NO excuses.  So that is what I'm trying to roll with right now...no excuses.  That's the goal -- operating with no excuses when it comes to my health & fitness.


And of course I'd love for that to filter over in to other areas of my life.  But right now I need to focus on one thing... one thing...  one thing...


Would love to have a yoga class I could actually get to around here...but alas I do not have a logical option.  So I'll have to stick my DVD options.  Any one have a good suggestion for a quick, great yoga DVD workout?
How do you stay focused on your health & fitness??
<3

Wee Bit Wednesday

{one} how often do you do laundry?

currently once a week, but i think that's going to get bumped up.

isaac has huge clothes so i'd rather do multiple small loads than 2 HUGE loads.

{two} what is your favorite type of cookie?

chocolate chip...without a doubt

{three} what would you do with an extra $2000 per month?

hire a yard guy, cleaning lady & update the wardrobe

{four} what was/is your favorite subject in school? 

i really loved history - and almost became a high school history teacher

{five} have you ever ridden in a hot air balloon?

no i haven't - but wouldn't mind it!

{six} what was your high school mascot?

we were the Celtics - i still know the fight song & dance

{seven} if you had the chance to go in to space, would you?

probably - i mean how many people EVER have that kind of chance?!

{eight} how often do you go dancing?

not very often - but went a couple weeks ago w/ friends

{nine} would you rather drive or fly?

fly -- i want to get where i'm going so i can enjoy it the longest time possible

{ten} have you ever been caught re-gifting?

don't think so, but i definitely have re-gifted! muahahaha

Sorry for the lack of interesting posts as of late friends - I've been trying to focus my energy on getting my rear end to the gym & making better food choices, but alas the food is still my hang up.  

All in all, what usually ends up happening is I go to the gym for Group Power/running or go running & then get home and am exhausted. That's right, exhausted. As in no energy for anything.  So as a result, our laundry has yet to be folded, we have yet to go grocery shopping (yes I've mentioned probably about4 or 5 times here & on my twitter that we were going...it's yet to be accomplished), and there are still dishes in my sink.  I'm looking forward to the day when I'm energized from all this working out to get the house spic & span, have the office finally organized (i.e. go thru isaac's old paperwork & organize), the middle room finished with Isaac's recording things put together & our entire bedroom/bathroom cleaned top to bottom .  Yes that will be the day!

Maybe I'll start registering my food choices here as a for of accountability...hmm...or not. That's a whole heck of a lot of transperancy with the blogging world I'm not quite sure I'm ready for.  I think I'll just stick with my WW log.

Love to you friends!

<3

Pain In The Neck

And I'm being 100% literal.  I woke up this morning ready for a normal day - hopped in the shower; and BAM!  Immediate pain in my neck - not even sure what it was.  Maybe raising my arm and turning my head a certain way.  Who knows.  But the entire day has been spent slowly turning my head trying ot stretch out and push thru the pain.

I even went to see a chiropractor - which I normally do not have a problem with.  I've seen chiropractors previously ( I have a tendency to hurt my lower back) and had no problems.  But today I saw a different doctor, walked in, filled out my paperwork, sat down in the chair, he felt my neck, had me turn my head left to right - and crack crack crack; one more go around with turning my head - and crack crack crack.  To be honest, it sort of caught me off guard.  So much so it got me a bit choked up.  Though the cracking ultimately felt good - I didn't really feel all that much better.  I finished up some other items at work and then have spent the remainder of my day on my couch, icing and trying to relax.

This all comes at an awful time in my opinion -- I'm supposed to fly out tomorrow morning and spend the weekend with my brother driving home from San Diego.  Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be feeling better because Lord knows I want to!


On a side note -- I'm on the hunt for some good wedding blogs.  Yes yes I know -- I'm already married.  But I just love all those details surrounding a wedding.  It is so fun to pull all those seemingly unconnected pieces together to create a larger picture that truly expresses the personalities & love of a couple.  So here I go on my search!
Hope you have a GREAT weekend!  I'll try & snap some good photos from this weekend with Allan to share!

<3

Pet Peeve of the Moment

I absolutely HATE being on hold - it is the worst way to spend my time.  There is nothing worse (obviously I know there are worse events in life) than wasting X amount of time on the phone listening to lame elevator type music.  Then its amplified in its sucky-ness when an overly energetic woman comes on the line... Bah-hum bug is all I say to that.

Oh well...
Made it to 5:15am Group Power this am...it was a little easier than I thought it would be.  Once I was up & dressed and in my car, I was awake and ready to go!  But boy oh boy - I am out of shape! Group Power was pretty dang hard this morning.  That won't deter me though... I'll be back Monday morning!

<3
ps...SUPER annoying & frustrating when you get a short sale approval in TWO WEEKS for a buyer, and then they back out.... gah! Lord where are you in this??