We didn't stop at the Blue Bell factory today. I thought I would be late getting to karate. Plus, when my youngest falls asleep in the car, I try to get as far as humanly possible before having to stop. I made it all the way home, ran into the house for my karate uniform, and got back into the car without her waking up. (My oldest was in there with her, I'm not that terrible of a parent.)
I actually made it 50 minutes through class before being completely winded. That's really great for me. I'm getting some endurance built up. I'm doing the best I can to push myself to be ready to test on July 14, the day before we leave for Las Vegas.
The funny thing was that I had my mom dye my hair while I was visiting her in Austin. (Why pay $100 at a salon when you can pay $4.99 and do it at home?) I got to the karate school and put on a brand new karate top. (I lost enough weight to go from an XL to a L... I was really proud of myself.) So, I worked up quite a sweat. I finish class, take off my new top, and my husband says, "what the heck did you get all over your new gi top?" His friend says, "that must be the blood of her enemies." I dyed my hair red. The dye must have been in the pores of my scalp and sweated out. It "bled" all over my beautiful, white karate top! Great!!!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Training update
Wholy moley! It is hot! I'm in Austin visiting my parents. I brought my kids to visit my mom and step dad. We wanted to take the kids swimming, but it was actually too hot to go swimming. How can it be too hot to go swimming? When it is 105 degrees. We decided to take them to an indoor facility that had all these inflatable bouncy toys. That place is making a killing this summer!
We went out on the lake this evening. It was 99 degrees at 8:30 this evening when we left to go back to the house.
Austin has all these runners and bikers. I have no idea how they do it. They still get out there in this blistering weather and train. I absolutely hate the sunlight. That's why karate is a great sport for me. I can do it indoors.
We go back home tomorrow. We'll stop in Brenham on our way. I'm taking the girls on a tour of the Blue Bell ice cream factory. Then we'll be back in time for karate in the evening. My oldest and I both have class. I'll get in an hour of practice tomorrow night.
We went out on the lake this evening. It was 99 degrees at 8:30 this evening when we left to go back to the house.
Austin has all these runners and bikers. I have no idea how they do it. They still get out there in this blistering weather and train. I absolutely hate the sunlight. That's why karate is a great sport for me. I can do it indoors.
We go back home tomorrow. We'll stop in Brenham on our way. I'm taking the girls on a tour of the Blue Bell ice cream factory. Then we'll be back in time for karate in the evening. My oldest and I both have class. I'll get in an hour of practice tomorrow night.
What have I gotten myself into?
Amy's first weekly challenge
The first challenge involves cooking? I don't cook. That is going to be really be hard for me. I tried to prepare a father's day meal for Tommy last week, and it didn't go very well. I'm really lucky my family survived. Tommy cooks everything. I heat things. It took so long for me to make spaghetti that he had to step in. He put a lid on the pot and told me that the water would boil faster with the lid on. (I'm a science teacher...I really should have known that!)
I need to re-read the rules and see if I can enlist Tommy's help. I didn't realize that the challenges would be so...challenging. Maybe I can come up with the idea, write it down, and then Tommy can actually make it for me.
The first challenge involves cooking? I don't cook. That is going to be really be hard for me. I tried to prepare a father's day meal for Tommy last week, and it didn't go very well. I'm really lucky my family survived. Tommy cooks everything. I heat things. It took so long for me to make spaghetti that he had to step in. He put a lid on the pot and told me that the water would boil faster with the lid on. (I'm a science teacher...I really should have known that!)
I need to re-read the rules and see if I can enlist Tommy's help. I didn't realize that the challenges would be so...challenging. Maybe I can come up with the idea, write it down, and then Tommy can actually make it for me.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Amy's 15-Week Challenge
Starting weight: 189 lbs.
Exercise log:
After my WW meeting, we had our karate demo practice. I'm finally getting the moves down! I keep thinking that it is taking me a lot longer to remember things than it used to when I was a teenager. But then I remember that when I was a teenager I was at the karate school every single evening after school except Sundays. I had my own key, and I was just a student there!
I am getting tired much faster than the other team members. I have been blaming it on the fact that they're all much younger than me. But, I am also very much out of shape, and they aren't. When I was younger, I was in much better shape. So, when my body gets used to this, I assume it will be easier. I have to retrain my brain to think positively and stop thinking I'm old and busted!
I've been focusing so much on WholyFit (yoga alternative) that I neglected my karate. But, the really cool thing about the WholyFit, which is a blend of yoga and pilate minus the Eastern philosophy, is that I could actually see the results. I can bend farther and farther, and my kicks are getting higher. I can even touch the floor with my nose when I'm sitting on the floor and bending forward.
I have always told people that I'm actually quite flexible. I can bend farther if I could just get this fat out of the way. For the fat gals out there, you know what I mean? For example, if you've ever been in a class where you're stretching and you've been told to bend over to the left and try to touch your left hand to your left foot. You can feel this fold of fat between your ribs and your hips...somewhere in there you have a waist. It hinders me from bending all the way down. But I'm getting better and better at it!
Food log:
I've pushed past my plateau. The latest issue of the Weight Watchers magazine had a great article on it. We also discussed it in a recent meeting. There's a different between the motivation of a beginning WW member and someone who's been around a while. The beginner is all motivated and tracks everything. Once you've been around a while, you get lazy. Well, I've started tracking better. I've also started eating more frequently.
I re-checked my points, and I am down to 23 now. I divide it up and eat 5 times a day. I plan and pack for the entire day and take them with me. This may not work for you. But, this summer I'm able to do the same thing at my summer job...at the family karate school.
I've fallen in love with the Kelloggs Protein water packs. They're zero points. I drink one after my workouts. They seem to help my muscles repair themselves faster. I've also taken to eating high fiber cereal in the mornings. I think its made an overall impact on just plain feeling better.
Exercise log:
After my WW meeting, we had our karate demo practice. I'm finally getting the moves down! I keep thinking that it is taking me a lot longer to remember things than it used to when I was a teenager. But then I remember that when I was a teenager I was at the karate school every single evening after school except Sundays. I had my own key, and I was just a student there!
I am getting tired much faster than the other team members. I have been blaming it on the fact that they're all much younger than me. But, I am also very much out of shape, and they aren't. When I was younger, I was in much better shape. So, when my body gets used to this, I assume it will be easier. I have to retrain my brain to think positively and stop thinking I'm old and busted!
I've been focusing so much on WholyFit (yoga alternative) that I neglected my karate. But, the really cool thing about the WholyFit, which is a blend of yoga and pilate minus the Eastern philosophy, is that I could actually see the results. I can bend farther and farther, and my kicks are getting higher. I can even touch the floor with my nose when I'm sitting on the floor and bending forward.
I have always told people that I'm actually quite flexible. I can bend farther if I could just get this fat out of the way. For the fat gals out there, you know what I mean? For example, if you've ever been in a class where you're stretching and you've been told to bend over to the left and try to touch your left hand to your left foot. You can feel this fold of fat between your ribs and your hips...somewhere in there you have a waist. It hinders me from bending all the way down. But I'm getting better and better at it!
Food log:
I've pushed past my plateau. The latest issue of the Weight Watchers magazine had a great article on it. We also discussed it in a recent meeting. There's a different between the motivation of a beginning WW member and someone who's been around a while. The beginner is all motivated and tracks everything. Once you've been around a while, you get lazy. Well, I've started tracking better. I've also started eating more frequently.
I re-checked my points, and I am down to 23 now. I divide it up and eat 5 times a day. I plan and pack for the entire day and take them with me. This may not work for you. But, this summer I'm able to do the same thing at my summer job...at the family karate school.
I've fallen in love with the Kelloggs Protein water packs. They're zero points. I drink one after my workouts. They seem to help my muscles repair themselves faster. I've also taken to eating high fiber cereal in the mornings. I think its made an overall impact on just plain feeling better.
Friday, June 26, 2009
And they all come tumbling down...
Icons from my childhood seem to be dropping like flies this summer. It started with David Carradine. I really liked him. When I was a kid, I watched endless hours of Kung Fu on TV. I was genuinely happy he was enjoying a comeback in his career. Now Farrah, Ed, and Michael.
My karate demo team is doing a tribute to the 80s for our competition this summer in Vegas. Ironically, we had just finished a karate/dance sequence to a clip from Thriller Wednesday night. It is going to look cool. It was taking Tommy and me down memory lane. (We're the only ones over the age of 30 on the demo team...the next oldest on the team is a 21-year-old, and the rest are teenagers.)
I'm feeling a little mixed up this summer. I joined Facebook as part of a class on Web 2.0 technologies for professional development. I started reconnecting with some people from high school that I wouldn't necessarily have otherwise have had any contact with. The only people I've stayed in contact with from high school are my two best friends from high school (Jeff and Angie) and my husband.
Jeff and Angie and I haven't attended a single high school reunion. While we weren't necessarily miserable throughout the experience, we got out as fast as we could and didn't look back. We spend holidays together and we're pretty much like family. We spent the present together and plan our futures together.
Now that I'm on FB and Angie is on FB, we have some contact with "the past." We also have the dreaded 20th HS Reunion coming up this fall. UGH! Are we really that old? Certainly that can't be right?
I am starting to look back fondly at 80s-related things and things related to when I was in the band and in karate (I started karate in High School...met Tommy and ended up marrying him.) But, I also remember being an outsider and a nerd and feeling like a complete loser in school. I don't want those feelings coming back, and I don't want to deal with that again.
I haven't mentioned before that several weeks before I got married, my parents divorced. They ended up both remarrying other people. Now I am related to kids I graduated high school with. My step brother and his wife (on my mom's side of the blended family) were in that popular group in school. My step brother and his sister (on my dad's side of the blended family) were not in the same crowd as me in school, but they weren't in the "cool, mean group" either. Being related to people you used to go to school with is not cool; that's part of being from a tiny Texas town. YUCK!
I have to mention one last thing about feeling old. I spent the entire year thinking I was 38. I told everyone when they'd ask me how old I was that I was 38. Well, I'm not 38. I'm 37. I won't be 38 until July 10. I just effectively stole a year of my own life. I will never get 37 back. That really sucks! I'm already feeling old, trying to get in shape and keep up with these teenagers on the karate demo team and I have to go and steal a year off my own life. How lame is that!
My karate demo team is doing a tribute to the 80s for our competition this summer in Vegas. Ironically, we had just finished a karate/dance sequence to a clip from Thriller Wednesday night. It is going to look cool. It was taking Tommy and me down memory lane. (We're the only ones over the age of 30 on the demo team...the next oldest on the team is a 21-year-old, and the rest are teenagers.)
I'm feeling a little mixed up this summer. I joined Facebook as part of a class on Web 2.0 technologies for professional development. I started reconnecting with some people from high school that I wouldn't necessarily have otherwise have had any contact with. The only people I've stayed in contact with from high school are my two best friends from high school (Jeff and Angie) and my husband.
Jeff and Angie and I haven't attended a single high school reunion. While we weren't necessarily miserable throughout the experience, we got out as fast as we could and didn't look back. We spend holidays together and we're pretty much like family. We spent the present together and plan our futures together.
Now that I'm on FB and Angie is on FB, we have some contact with "the past." We also have the dreaded 20th HS Reunion coming up this fall. UGH! Are we really that old? Certainly that can't be right?
I am starting to look back fondly at 80s-related things and things related to when I was in the band and in karate (I started karate in High School...met Tommy and ended up marrying him.) But, I also remember being an outsider and a nerd and feeling like a complete loser in school. I don't want those feelings coming back, and I don't want to deal with that again.
I haven't mentioned before that several weeks before I got married, my parents divorced. They ended up both remarrying other people. Now I am related to kids I graduated high school with. My step brother and his wife (on my mom's side of the blended family) were in that popular group in school. My step brother and his sister (on my dad's side of the blended family) were not in the same crowd as me in school, but they weren't in the "cool, mean group" either. Being related to people you used to go to school with is not cool; that's part of being from a tiny Texas town. YUCK!
I have to mention one last thing about feeling old. I spent the entire year thinking I was 38. I told everyone when they'd ask me how old I was that I was 38. Well, I'm not 38. I'm 37. I won't be 38 until July 10. I just effectively stole a year of my own life. I will never get 37 back. That really sucks! I'm already feeling old, trying to get in shape and keep up with these teenagers on the karate demo team and I have to go and steal a year off my own life. How lame is that!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Smashing the Yo-Yo
Here's a link to an O Magazine article on what to do when you regain weight. I got the link off a fellow blogger's site. Good stuff.
http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/ss_omag_200701_mbeck
http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/ss_omag_200701_mbeck
Saturday, June 13, 2009
5% Goal Achieved!
I finally blew past that 5% goal this week. The workouts have been killer because we're working really hard to get ready for a karate demo in Vegas this July, and we're still just putting the pieces together. I have regular classes in addition to these practices, and I have never really known how to correctly eat to fuel my body.
So, I've been getting the normal sore muscles the day after workouts, but now I have all over muscle tremors from complete fatigue. They're probably unable to repair themselves properly, especially if I don't choose the right things to eat. Even if I am sticking to my WW plan perfectly, which I did this past week, I might not be properly fueling my body for the exercise.
I started eating a light carb about 30 - 45 min before my first class, the yoga alternative. After that one, I've pushed myself to the point that my muscles are all shaky, and I grab a G2 and down that. I start my karate class. I drink a bottle of water periodically through the class. (I can get away with that because I'm the teacher's wife and one of the owners of the school.) When I get home I eat 4 pt - 5 pt lean protein and drink more water. When I wake up in the morning, I'm still shaking and have totally worn out muscles.
I'm hoping that (a) I'll get stronger and it will go away in a month or two or (b) as I lose weight and the workouts become a little easier, my muscles won't be pushed to fatigue.
So, I've been getting the normal sore muscles the day after workouts, but now I have all over muscle tremors from complete fatigue. They're probably unable to repair themselves properly, especially if I don't choose the right things to eat. Even if I am sticking to my WW plan perfectly, which I did this past week, I might not be properly fueling my body for the exercise.
I started eating a light carb about 30 - 45 min before my first class, the yoga alternative. After that one, I've pushed myself to the point that my muscles are all shaky, and I grab a G2 and down that. I start my karate class. I drink a bottle of water periodically through the class. (I can get away with that because I'm the teacher's wife and one of the owners of the school.) When I get home I eat 4 pt - 5 pt lean protein and drink more water. When I wake up in the morning, I'm still shaking and have totally worn out muscles.
I'm hoping that (a) I'll get stronger and it will go away in a month or two or (b) as I lose weight and the workouts become a little easier, my muscles won't be pushed to fatigue.
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