Final Boot Camp Update

Well you guys, I successfully made it through 6 weeks of boot camp. We had our final assessment today and I definitely can't complain about my numbers in that area. However, I found myself quite discouraged at that fact that I have somehow managed to gain 3 lbs and only lost 1/2 an inch in my waist. Talk about a mood killer. I don't know what I am doing wrong, I am eating SO MUCH better than I was 6 weeks ago, like really watching what and how much I eat (but not starving myself, I love food too much to do that :) ) and I am working out 4-5 times a week. I don't know what else I can do. Weight loss or not though, I have signed up for 12 more weeks of this camp. I have seen an overall improvement in my health, energy, mood, etc. Whether I lose weight or inches is not nearly as important is being active and doing something to better my overall health, which this is doing. So bring on the next 12 weeks! I will continue updates throughout those as well (for the few of you who care). Here are the final results of my boot camp, all number up except 1, so that is one positive. Here are results from all 3 assessments:

Week 1, Day 1: 
Mile - 10:16
Push-Up - 20
Crunches - 46
Sit-Ups - 20
Plank - 1:06
Squats - 41
Squat Jumps - 38
Hell Burpees - 7


Half-Way Mark, Day 12
Mile -*We only did this the first week and last*
Push-Ups - 34
Crunches - 61
Sit-Ups - 30
Plank - 1:30
Squats - 50
Squat Jumps - 51
Hell Burpees -12

Week 6
Mile -9:16
Push-Ups - 41 (overall increase 21)
Crunches - 72 (overall increase 26)
Sit-Ups - 37 (overall increase 17)
Plank - 1:40 (overall increase 34 seconds)
Squats - 52 (overall increase 11)
Squat Jumps - 46 (clearly was not feeling these today, so we will go with last week's number and say an increase of 13)
Hell Burpees -15 (overall increase 8)

All-in-all I think this was worth it, and I can't wait to see how much I have improved by the time I finish all 18 weeks. My only hope is that I eventually start losing some weight and inches these next 2 sessions.
 

Boot Camp Update 2

Alright you guys, I started week 6 of boot camp today. Man oh man, it has been a tough 6 weeks, but I am definitely seeing some differences. While I have not lost a single pound - I have lost some inches, and I have seen some serious improvement in my numbers from 1st day assessments. We will have our last assessment Wednesday, so I am very anxious to see how much more my numbers go up! Here is what has improved so far - it may not sound like much to some people, but believe me, for me it is a huge accomplishment! We do each of these exercises for 1 minute, get a 30 second break and move to the next (other than the mile of course, we just run that and try and improve our time, and the plank is just how long we can hold it, up to 5 minutes)

Week 1, Day 1: 
Mile - 10:16
Push-Up - 20
Crunches - 46
Sit-Ups - 20
Plank - 1:06
Squats - 41
Squat Jumps - 38
Hell Burpees - 7


Half-Way Mark, Day 12
Mile -*We only did this the first week and last*
Push-Ups - 34
Crunches - 61
Sit-Ups - 30
Plank - 1:30
Squats - 50
Squat Jumps - 51
Hell Burpees -12

Now, like I said, we are doing our last assessment Wednesday, but we ran our mile tonight - and HELLO! I shaved an entire minute off of my first time just 6 weeks ago. I ran it in 9:16 tonight, and I must say, I have not been this proud of myself in a while. I know that is not a crazy good time to run a mile by any means, but to see so much improvement in such a small amount of time is very rewarding. I will blog a final update Wednesday with my final numbers in all the other exercises. Can't wait to see how much they go up (hopefully) and share with my few followers :)

Boot Camp Update 1

Good Morning!

     Well, I have started boot camp and survived the 1st week + 1 day with MemFit. That is 5 days of a combination of sprints, lunges, planks, abs, mountain climbers, squats, push ups, star jumps, burpees, and so much more that I HAVE SURVIVED thus far! May not sound that bad to some of you, but for me - it is nothing short of a miracle I haven't keeled over dead yet. I don't think I realized just how out of shape I was, but I am taking control and I am going to be feeling great by the end of this (at least I hope).

     Boot camp is something I dread going to, but once I am there and especially when I finish I love it. There is such a wide variety of people there that there is always someone I can look at and say "I want to be on their level" because they are just destroying every workout done, and then there are the people there who I look at and say "If they can do this, there is no reason I can't", both of which are great motivators. We have assessments next Thursday, so I will definitely update again after that to let you know about the improvements I have made - hopefully there will be some!

      I have been enjoying enjoying this "boot camp" style workout, but I would be lying if I said I didn't wish the 6 week end mark was this week. However, the all mighty Groupon struck again (that is where I bought the boot camp package I am doing now, it was a $280 value and I got it for $37), and I found myself purchasing yet another 4 weeks of boot camp, with Memphis Adventure Boot Camp for Women , for a whopping $34, (it usually runs about $160 for 4 weeks). I don't know what has gotten into me, but I am loving the feeling I get when I come home knowing I did something to benefit me that day. Groupon has been a life (and bank account) saver with all of these fitness deals. I plan on starting the next boot camp February 20, which will give me 1 week off after finishing the one I am currently in. What's even better is that one of my best friends is going to be doing it with me, so that adds that much more accountability for me!

Have a wonderful Tuesday, blogworld!

2012 Resolutions

     I am not usually one for resolutions, but this year I decided to make a few that would help better my quality of life. I am going to share them here, in hopes they will help keep me a little more accountable - unlike in years past.

1.) Get in shape. I know you are probably thinking, yea yea yea doesn't every one say this? Yes, you are right, I feel like this is a resolution that every human being makes every year, but this is definitely at the top of my list. While it is about losing some weight so I can be happier with my appearance, it is equally about doing it to simply be healthy. I got a sweet Groupon in December for 6 weeks of Boot Camp with Memfit and I jumped right on the deal. It was $40 for a $280 value worth of boot camp. When I bought it, I saw it was set to start January 2 (today) so I knew it was the perfect way to kick off this resolution. I cannot wait to get started and to start making changes for the better in my lifestyle.

2.) Stop biting my nails. Another, oh so cliche resolution - but seriously, I am sick of my nails looking like crap so I am going to try my best to fix it.

3.) Cook more. I want to do this for a couple of reasons. One being that I love cooking and trying new things, so cooking more would help me with my cooking exploration even more. Secondly, I need to cooking and stop eating out so much. The last month I have been throwing money away eating out a solid 3 days a week. That is ridiculous! I need to stop being so lazy and get my butt to the store and cooking :)

4.) Run a half marathon. This one will be by far the most difficult one for me. I am not a runner, never have been, but my hope is that after this boot camp, I will have developed a liking to working out and be able to tackle this goal. I would love to be able to say that I ran 13.1 miles, especially considering my love/ hate relationship with running.

5.) Last, but not least - I want to blog more. Not just blog, but have more substantial blog material. I would love to start back blogging about recipes experiments and start blogging about more teaching activities and lessons I have done with my students. We will see how that goes :)

What are your resolutions for 2012, or do you just throw the whole resolution idea right out the window? Wish me luck, I will try and keep you updated on my progress :)

Half-Way There

Well, tomorrow will mark my half-way point of Insanity! I will have successfully completed 26 days of the program and not died. I am very proud of how well I have kept up with doing it, I have only missed 1 day (due to moving, which is a workout in itself!). So once I complete tomorrow's workout, I will have 1 week of recovery consisting of low-impact exercises and after that week, I will have 4 more weeks of some really intense workouts :/ Originally, I thought I was going to be doing this workout alone, but then my wonderful little sister in Phi Mu, Jessica Shemwell, decided she wanted to take on Shaun T. with me. It has made a huge difference and it has definitely helped having someone to hold me accountable. We meet up Mon-Fri at 4 and do the workout for that day. Saturdays are a little more difficult to meet up on, but even if she can't meet me, I still get it done somehow!
With that being said, one month into this program, I have already seen results. I have lost an inch or a little more from each - my thighs, hips, waist, arms, and chest! I have also lost about 10 lbs. Another thing is that I just feel better in genereal. I am very happy with these results! I know the 2nd month is even more intense so I am hoping to lose even more during those workouts. Some people may not think that is a lot to have lost for such an intense workout, but that is about 2-3 lbs a week and that is without changing my diet. I can only imagine what my results would be if I had a stricter diet regimen. The thing about me though is that I love food. I cannot diet in anyway, like cutting out sweets, or carbs, or things of that nature. The one and only thing I will do when it comes to my diet at this point is control my portions, which is all anyone really needs. I find I do much better just eating less of things I enjoy than just cutting them out totally, because eventually I end up craving that something so badly I end up going overboard!
Just wanted to update the blogworld on my 60 days of hell Insanity program. Wish me luck for the next 5 weeks :)

Insanity

     Good morning, blogworld! I don't have much to update at this time, but figured I'd post a little something anyway.  If you know me, you know I am not a lazy person, however, I just don't like going to the gym and it is as simple as that. I really struggle to find the motivation to get up, drive to the gym, all so I can just run/elliptical/bike or a little of all 3. I get so unbelievably bored that time is just crawling by and I am miserable. I have tried everything, listening to music, reading, watching a movie or show on my phone... NOTHING helped. So I recently decided to ditch the gym membership and try something different. I got online and purchased Insanity. For those of you who have never heard of this, it is made by the same company that does p90x, but it is a more cardio-based workout that uses no weights and solely works you using your own body weight. Also, instead of promising incredible results in 90 days, it is a 60 day program.
     With that being said, I am not looking to be some lean, mean, ripped machine-- I am simply looking to get in better shape and lose a little bit of weight. I chose this workout over p90 because I want to get in shape by the time school starts, which is conveniently in about 60 days (from when I started). I have been an athlete my whole life, I played softball growing and then played other sports on and off non-competitively. I always liked being outside running around doing anything, but once I got to college I didn't really do that anymore. So it was time for a change, and boy oh boy has Insanity brought just that.
     I am on week 2 day 3, and I am addicted. It is a workout that I dread doing when I wake up every morning because I know it is going to kick my butt, but I also look forward to it because I can already see improvement in my endurance, flexibility, etc and it has only been 8 days!! I look at this program as a challenge. You start the whole thing off doing a fitness test and record your results. This test consists of 8 workouts in which you have 1 minute to do as many of that exercise as you can. You get about a minute rest between each exercise and do this until you get through them all. The great part about this is you repeat this fitness test every 2 weeks to track your progress. I can tell you without a doubt that I will be improving my numbers from my first week and I can't wait. I think that is my drive and motivation behind this program... it pushes me and makes me want to be better. No matter how in shape you are, this workout will ALWAYS be a challenge because there is no limit to how much you can push yourself. You will always be exhausted and pushing it to make it through. The difference is, by the end of it you will just as tired as you were the day you started, BUT you more than likely are doing about 2-3 times the amount of work you did when you began.
    Sorry for such a long post, but this has been a pretty big new development in my life and I plan on posting periodically throughout the next 52 days to share my progress. As of right now I am on day 8 and I have already lost 7 lbs, I'll take it! Can't wait to keep going and ultimately see and feel the result of this workout come August! Happy Wednesday, bloggers! Enjoy the rest of your week :)