I'm clearly having probs with the text size... so I guess the new surprise daily will be if I can get it 'right' :)

I love my team

It has been an interesting weekend - every time I make big work out plans, I get thwarted - well, maybe not every time - but it feels like a lot of times... Saturday I did Zumba with Leslie, Tasia and Sara D. - and it was A LOT of fun - imagine dancing in the club with great music and everyone's doing the same moves you are... FUN!! I was planning on going bike riding, but not only was the weather gross, but I had this horrible headache... so I just did stuff around the house, which in some ways was a huge plus - because there is plenty to do!!

Saturday night, Leslie, Betty, Tasia, Sara D., and Sarah G. (trainer) and I did dinner at Leslie's house (which is gorgeous - LOVE that house!!!). But it wasn't just dinner - we all brought something to share with the group for the week for meals! Leslie made chicken noodle soup with whole grain noodles (which I now have 4 servings of!!), Tasia made chili - YUMMY! (also, 4 servings :) ), Sara D. made some cool cabbage casserole, and Betty made to die for bran muffins - which will be perfect for pre-workouts in the morning... I made chicken kabobs with quinoa. I can't wait to do this again - we now all have several servings to get us through the next 1.5 weeks (11 servings total - not including muffins)! We decided it was so successful that we'd do it every 2 weeks or so. For dinner, we had salmon, asparagus, brown rice, and salad - yum! I love my group - not only are they so supportive and kind, they are a great group of people that are easy to hang out with! Jenelle and Tina - we missed you - we'll do it again so that you can make it!! :)

Today (Sunday) is really just a huge annoying continuation of Saturday's headache! I've moving through it to an extent, but I'm dizzy, too, so I think, unfortunately, that I will be taking a break today - HOWEVER, it is still early in the afternoon, so if I feel better later, I will head to the gym and get my obligatory 45 mins of cardio. Monday, I start working out twice a day - and I want to make sure that's a definite, so I'm resting up now!

Choices & stepping up to the plate :)

"Regardless of what came before or of what has yet to come, what matters most right now is how I choose to respond to the challenge before me. Will I lie down or will I fight? The choice is mine and I choose to finish strong." ~Dan Green

That was the quote on our weekly newsletter that came out today - this newsletter has all the results from the weigh-in and how the teams are doing and measuring up to each other. And though our team is not in the top 5, I am very proud of our team and how we have already accomplished great things. Leslie is still in the top 5 for women - she is in the number 2 spot and has lost 15 lbs in 3 weeks - GO LESLIE!!!

Eventhough I had an injury this week, I decided it was important to keep moving - and maybe that constant blood flow helped me heal faster? I don't really know how it works, nor am I going to pretend to, but I do know that I could have used the injury as an excuse to get out of exercise, and I didn't. I swam Tues, Wed, & did water aerobics on Thursday. I chose an activity that would keep the weight off my leg, but I still managed to get cardio and have a good work out. I'm not sure if I would have chosen those options had this happened to me before the program - but as the quote hints at - it doesn't matter what has happened in your past or what will happen tomorrow - what I am concerned about is TODAY and the choices I make today.

I did a spin class this morning, and was able to hold out for 40 minutes before deciding that pushing any longer would possibly further my injury - but 40 minutes, wow! And it was 40 minutes with Katie B. (one of the trainers - who has pretty difficult classes (as much as I love her, I think she's a little crazy... ;) there is not much down time or relief in between her crazy 'exercises'... that'll have to be a goal, though, to do everything she has us do when she does them... I tend to go at my own pace in her class...

Tomorrow our group is trying out Zumba at 9 AM - I'll let you know how it goes :) And starting Monday, I'm going to do '2-a-days' - I'll work out in the morning with the group, and then do a class in the evening... hopefully with at least 1 or more of my team mates... as of now, I plan on:
Monday - a.m. = elliptical or similar cardio for an hour
p.m. = Nia at MUSC
Tuesday - a.m. = light cardio with weights
p.m. = 'Cardio Power Hour' at MUSC
Wed. a.m. = Spinning with Catherine :)
p.m. = Taebo at MUSC
Thurs. a.m. = Water aerobics & swim laps
p.m. = HCC Weigh-in & meeting
Friday a.m. = Spinning
p.m. = break
Saturday a.m. = Walk the bridge with team - or another team activity
p.m. = Ride my road bike
Sunday p.m. = Group work out with all of HCC - usually = a type of cross training or mini cross fit class

I feel better when I write it out - feel free to not pay attention - but I feel like I'll do a better job of accomplishing these goals if I write them down. I was unable to accomplish the 'goals' of buying a heart rate monitor - it is definitely on my 'to do' list - but I'm short on $ right now and I probably shouldn't have made that one of my HCC goals - we talked last night about making short-term goals and following through. Following the above schedule is my goal for the next week.

I LOST 3.2 LBS - FOR A TOTAL of 6.6 LBS!!! YAY :) More from me tomorrow - but I'm excited, exhilarated and ready for the next day!!! Thank you, again, for all of your support!! Tomorrow I attempt spinning again - with the proper shoes, this time :)

Praise for (almost) healed appendages!

Swam this morning - and walked against the 'current' in the pool with Leslie... my hamstring is MUCH improved!!! It still looks ugly as hell, but it no longer feels like hell, which is clearly much more important that aesthetics! 45 minutes in the pool on the 'shallow end' (3 feet vs 4 feet where the lanes are) due to the quantity of people who apparently swim at 6 am is all the motivation I need to go swimming at 5:30 am - that extra foot makes a difference when you're cold :)

Today I was able to walk without a limp - their was a slight hint of discomfort, but not all out pain... so I went to Nia tonight to round out the day :) And after a day of hefty decisions and concerns, Nia was amazing! I really love this class - each is different and each is equally fulfilling for me - it always fits into the different-sized holes I have at that moment - whether it's a great cardio work out, or a need for some grounding on a mental or spiritual level, or just the need to be free - it fits all of these for me and leaves me calm, cool and collected. I really encourage everyone to try a class wherever you can find one... and if you ever want to come with me, I'd love to have you!! These classes are offered at MUSC Wellness Ctr as well, which I haven't tried, but plan to this coming week :)

Have been absent a couple of days... sorry!!

From my journal to blog...

SATURDAY

Today was Nia! And I still love it! Jen Merz joined me and loved it, too! If anyone wants to join me for a class of Nia, let me know - I believe your first visit is free :) Spirit Moves: http://www.spiritmoves.com/index.html

They have a schedule online but I'm not sure if it's right - so if any of you Charleston peeps would like to go with me, Nia is on Monday at 6:15pm, Wed at 6:15pm, & Saturday @ 10:35am. Also Luna Yoga (my fave) is on Tuesday at 6:15am. And monthly there is a community class on the 3rd Sunday of the month at 3pm for $3 and that donation goes to a local charity - right now it's going to Haiti in one form or another...

SUNDAY

I did spinning again today. Today = the BEST spinning class EVER! As I said before, I am encouraged by repeating classes and being able to push myself further - today, in the spin class, I was able to do ALL of the jumps, sprints, hills, rolling hills that Catherine threw at us - WITH the instructor (Catherine - who is my fave spin instructor - because she takes the time to make sure we all know what to do right then and she is VERY encouraging - and so far, she has the best music accompanying the class :) ) (I've actually treated Catherine as my 'assistant' trainer - she was Kaye's trainer last HCC and has been very helpul AND she used to work at 'V' and I remember her from there... well, she remembers me from my 2 week stint there - and she remembers Louisa...anyway, I digress - like that's a surprise - Catherine is really amazing :) ). So I've decided to do spinning on Sundays, Wednesday's and Fridays.

MONDAY

Started off a normal day (now that my normal days start at 5AM) - I finally remembered to bring my headphones AND ipod... leave it to me to remember only my headphones... I had planned on doing the bike in the cardio room for an hour. Sarah's been great about my wanting to train for the Century ride - on the days that I'm not spinning, she's encouraged me to do the bike... When I got to the gym, Betty told me she was doing spinning, and said I could come with her if I'd like... and I was torn - I've had a hard time turning down spinning these days - I'm really drawn to it... but I didn't have my shoes, and I much prefer using the cycling shoes than my tennis shoes... and I kind of didn't want to do spinning... Well, later I decided I should have listened to my body, mind or whatever.

SO I went to spinning and Katie B (instructor) was late... and I waffled while in there - but I stayed, somewhat committed to the class... when she came, we had all been spinning on our own for 20 mins - I wasn't really pushing myself, why the hell would I push myself, when Katie B was going to come and push us hard for an hour? When she go there, we started with uphill, standing and after 3 minutes, my right foot slipped out and I fell onto the bike - my left leg fell on the water bottle cage on the center of the bike and pulled my hamstring away from my leg. And then I kept spinning, until I realized that my leg was REALLY swollen. So I got off, went and found some ice and iced my leg... and it started looking really gross really fast... so I went to see the Dr. @ the gym, it's purely muscular and I've been icing my leg regularly for the past two days... and it hurts to walk which is stellar... I missed the workout this morning and will be going for a swim tonight to be followed by Luna Yoga tonight - if anyone wants to join me tonight... :) Otherwise, I've learned my lesson - one, follow the schedule (Spinning only 3 times a week) and listen to my body.

Wiped Out

I'm feeling better about my 0.2 loss today - because everyday is a new day and a new chance to prove that I can accomplish great things! :) I had a slow day - well, the morning was jam-packed with spinning - and this morning was a great spin class because I was able to do more. That's probably been the most exciting thing - noticing the little points of progress when I repeat a class. Yoga, for instance = scary hard the first time and not so scary the second time - in fact I could do a lot more poses (is that what you call them?) I've done 3 spin classes, and in the one this morning, I could do the jumps for longer and I could do the climbs for the whole amount of time allotted (versus sitting back down and cycling through - which is still good because you're moving), but to be able to do more with each class gives me a great sense of accomplishment and motivation to keep coming back to these classes and giving it my all :)

I did take a LONG nap this morning and grudgingly set about my routine today - I didn't have work, so I've been resting a lot :) Which isn't all bad for me - one my body probably needs it - and two, I am working tonight and Saturday night at the Comedy Festival from about 6pm-11:30pm/12am... and that is going to be QUITE the blow to my system, now that I've grown accustomed to 9:30 bed times - thank God it's the weekend! I can sleep *in* (til 9).

So today I was a tad bit wiped out - but there's a possibility that there will be one day - maybe every other week, when my body screams in protest and I take a nap - that's not so bad, is it?

I also want to give a shout out to my team mate Leslie, who is still in the top 5 of women overall who have lost the most weight in the program (and the most % weight...). She is in the # 2 spot (out of the top 5) and has lost a total of 12.2 lbs in 2 weeks!! GO LESLIE!!!