Cathe Fans Part 5

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

I had a really busy week at work, but I can say that the interns are gone so I have my mornings back. They left a bunch of work for me to finish, but I can do that when I have the time. My workouts did suffer because I was working overtime, but I managed to get in some type of workout each morning. I tried a little running with Rocket, and it turned out to be pretty good. I'm hoping to have at least one morning a week will be running. This morning I put in ICE Rock'm Sock'm, and did the Tricep premix. I love the warm up in that workout.

Laurel, Great job on the BB workouts, looks like you are really increasing your strength from the last time you did them. LOL about getting the hair off your neck, can understand that since I did the same thing.

Tami, I saw that movie in the trailers when DH and I went to see the Star Trek movie, it looked pretty funny. Nice job on your workouts also.

Becky, Of course you can join in on the group, welcome! Love Power Hour, that one really torches each muscle in a creative way. Glad to hear that you are getting back on track with your exercise. Well my recommendation for a "set" is the ICE series. I love all the workouts, and premixes have a ton of variety. They would be good workouts for someone getting back to doing workouts.

Thelma, Fantastic job on the workouts! Good to know that the felines are not afraid of the T-Storms. When our furry friends have anxiety from storms, it can be heartbreaking to see them go through that.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Hope you all had a nice weekend. We did here, even getting out on the golf course yesterday which was nice. DH was in a training course on Saturday, though, so instead of my usual day off from workouts, I pushed through both days this weekend. Saturday was Body Beast Bulk Arms followed by Cathe's Step Moves from her Shock Cardio series. Sunday was Bulk Legs, followed by Cathe's Athletic Step. And today was Bulk Arms followed by all of Cathe's Shock Cardio HiiT workouts blended into one workout. Love doing that from time to time. Weird that I have felt like doing all these Shock Cardio workouts right now since they aren't my favorites.......but it has been good. Have been increasing weight as well in all the Body Beast workouts which feels fantastic.

Tami, hope you enjoyed a nice weekend. I am curious to see how you like Bad Moms if you see it. People have been talking about it, but nobody I know has yet to see it. It looks like it could be funny.

Thelma, great workouts! That Cross Fire workout is one of my favorites. Thanks for the info on the water bottle. I am definitely going to look into it because we can't seem to have too many insulated bottles this time of year. My hair is about chin length.....sometimes even collar length. There is enough hair for me to get a flat iron on it, if that gives you any idea. Some day I will post an updated photo, but it is definitely a bob cut, so there is still some volume in it, which I like. So imagine the style in my photo.......but four inches shorter! Hope that helps.

Laurie, glad you have your mornings back now! Great job sticking with the workouts despite the busy schedule. I bet Rocket would enjoy running with you every week. Sounds like fun.

Becky, welcome!! Hope you keep posting. Regarding what workouts to get.....you have some great ones, that's for sure. I agree with Laurie's recommendation for the ICE series. It is SO versatile, so you could really match your workout level any way you want as you get back to working out with Cathe. Another thought I had since you mentioned the issue with your knees and impact is Cathe's Low Impact Series. These workouts are no joke when it comes to intensity, but there is no jumping at all. I think between all of us, we pretty much have all of Cathe's workouts, so if you have questions, please ask!!

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

I had another pretty “quick” weekend but it was good. Saturday I had my hair appt. bright and early and then off to run errands, housework, etc. so no workouts on Saturday. Ended up going into work again yesterday, but before I did I made sure I got my workout in! I did another KCM workout which was “Strength & Stamina”, a good one that I hadn’t tried yet in my collection …. All of hers I enjoy. Tonight will be BootCamp after work and then back to my regular rotation tomorrow a.m.

Thelma: Sounds like the weather was just what you needed despite it being thunderstorms ….. rain is always good this time of year! Fabulous job with Meso 3 Legs and CrossFire + Spinning over the weekend. My rotation is a good one; I have changed some workouts here and there just because it continues to do the same few over and over of the 21DFX – XT. Which I like, just not over and over; all and all I really like this rotation; exactly what I wanted. I was thinking you were talking about the “Elmo” push-ups where you do them right on the ball, feet out behind you, hands on ball. Because you wobble so much is why she called them that! LOL

Smile-Laughter (Becky): Please feel free to join us! It’s such a great group of ladies here that love to workout and we all offer encouragement, check in about our workouts, questions, whatever is on our mind. All started with our common bond of loving Cathe’s workouts! Like Laurel said, between all of us we have pretty much every single program/workout she has put out! Even ordered the newest series coming out this Fall. Can’t wait!

Laurel: Sounds like another fabulous weekend of golf and workouts!!! WOWSA. Your stamina never ceases to amaze me! Great job going up in weight on BB as well! I will let you guys know when I see it; my BFF saw it with her sister and said she was crying in laughter!

Laurie: Hope you are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Good job getting in some workouts and even a run with Rocket. That’s great and feels great through a busy stressful time as well.

See you tomorrow.
Tami

smile_laughter

I am impressed with your group. Thx again for letting me join.

So.....who is in the group? How many typically post? From what I am reading, there appears to be 4 of you and want to make sure I am not missing anyone.

If you don't mind sharing, what is a typical workout week like for each of you? How long do you work out each day? How many days? Do you change from legs one day to back next day (etc)?

Also, are each of you solid with your diet? Are any of you struggling with weight, or are you where you want to be?

Thanks for the recommendations. I will look into the low impact workout and ICE.

So, a little background: I have been doing Bikram Yoga and hot Pilates for 9 months now to increase my flexibility. I try to swim, too. Missing weight training, though, hence here with you all. I have 20 lbs I'd like to lose and struggle with sugar. I am married with 3 kids, 2 dogs and work full time. Today I swam, so tomorrow will be my lifting with Cathe day.

Side note, my in laws, bro in law and his girlfriend saw Bad Moms. They said it was hysterical and that I had to go see it.

Have a great night - Becky

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, tonight I did STS Meso 1, Disc 4 Chest, Shoulders & Biceps. LOTS of pushups! I did them all. I couldn't do them all full form so sometimes I did them on my knees. Again arms were pretty fried at the end of the workout. I really think I need to repeat Meso 1 5 times until I develop good endurance! It's amazing how fatigued my arm were!

Becky, we're happy to have you! I really hope you can stick around! I don't have any of those workouts. Sorry about your knees. I have to be very careful with mine and sometimes I do things low impact. My advice would be to play the video clips on Cathe's website of the workouts you may be want to buy. Cathe has a low impact series.
Can you do step or does the step bother your knee?

We are very committed to working out and we all motivate each other. I don't know if I'd consider myself tough but the other ladies are tough. These ladies keep me motivated and I have learned a lot from them.

Hi Laurie! So good to have you back!! Good for you for getting your morning workouts in when you were so busy with work! Did Rocket enjoy running? How is his training going? Love Rock'm Sock'm!

So far none of the cats I've had have been afraid of T-storms but I can see how it would be heartbreaking.

Laurel, you've been on FI-YA my friend! Great job! I don't have any of those Shock workouts. They must be tough! I hope you like the water bottle if you end up getting it.
OK so you do have some length to your hair. I was thinking you went for a boy cut! LOL. Thanks for clarifying!

Tami, great workouts! You had big burn from that Strength & Stamina workout!
We needed the rain badly! Of course it wasn't enough but hopefully we'll get a little more rain this week. I know what you mean about that beachbody rotation tool repeating the workouts over and over again! I noticed that the last time I was playing with that tool. I really need to start planning my next rotation.
Those Elmo pushups sound HARD! I don't think I've ever seen Cathe do those in any of the workouts I have. So I figured out why I wasn't able to get off the ball safely last week! I wasn't using the mat so the ball was sliding a lot more. MUCH better tonight with the mat!

Good night ladies!!!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

After I was done posting yesterday, it just seemed that the place went wild. What a busy day, and looking like this week is going to be about the same. So got home late, and wasn't able to do another workout. This morning I was able to get in a run, and I'm surprised at how fun it has been. I think today is the only day I don't have something going on after or before work.

Laurel, Great workouts, and continuing to increase your weights. Rocket is doing pretty good with the running, there are only a few times that I have to tell him to not sniff something. My hair is shorter than yours! I have it tapered in the back, and it only goes to the bottom of my ears on the sides. I really like it when I exercise.

Tami, I don't have the Strength & Stamina, but it is one that I'm looking at getting at some point in the future. I will probably have all of Kelly's workouts at some point. It is nice to be busy at work, but sometimes I think it is way to crazy.

Becky, You are our first swimmer in the group. I can swim, but not well enough to do laps. I usually workout 5-6 days a week, and take a day off on the weekends. I try to get in about 30 min. in the morning, and then a longer workout after work. Sometimes that doesn't workout to well. I try to stick to a rotation, but this summer has been so busy that I'm just doing what feels good that week. I'm still struggling with eating, because I also have a sweet tooth. During the week is usually pretty good, but weekends are tough. I'm on a mission this year to get the excess weight off. My oldest daughter is getting married next year in August, so I would like to look good for that occasion. I'm married with two daughters and a pup named Rocket. I also work full time.

Thelma, Awesome job with that workout, and all the push-ups. Either do Meso 1 or Gym Styles, she does a lot of push-ups in that one too. Rocket is doing great with the training, he understands where the stopping point is. We are slowly taking the flags down, so will see how it goes once they are no longer there. The trainer said by the time the snow falls he will know where he is able to go in the yard. One nice thing is that we can let him outside and don't have to watch him constantly.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today's workout started with Bulk Shoulders, which felt good. For cardio, I did Cathe's Party Rockin' Step 1 74 minute premix. The nice, long steady state workout really felt good after yesterday's HiiT craziness.

Tami, sounds like a good weekend. You are sure getting in some overtime now, aren't you? I will admit that I had to really talk myself into my workouts after getting home from Phoenix, so I don't know that I would say my stamina is all that great right now. It is more my stubbornness than anything. But this week I am feeling a little more energetic which is nice.

Thelma, great workout!! SOO happy to see you enjoying these Meso 1 workouts this time around. Great job with the push-ups. That is so fantastic!

Laurie, sounds like the running is working for you right now. Boy, I wish I enjoyed running because it is such a good workout. I didn't realize you had gotten your hair cut that short! It bet it does feel good when working out. I still have to wear a head band to keep my hair out of my eyes. I imagine in a few years I may go even shorter, especially when I decide that hiding the gray just isn't what I want to be doing any more. But I have a few years before that.

Becky, there are four of us (now 5 with you!) who post here regularly. As everybody said, we support and encourage each other. I joined MFP 7 1/2 years ago (early 2009) with 40lbs to lose. I have kept it off now for 7 years due, in large part, to the support I get here. My diet......varies. I would say I eat well about 80% of the time but, like Laurie said about herself, I have a sweet tooth. And that can get me at times. Generally my actual meals are pretty healthy.....but I can go crazy with chocolate. So that aspect is a constant struggle for me. I don't work or have children so, in many aspects, I have limitless time to workout (which helps counteract those dietary 'indiscretions' ). So I do two workouts each day......one strength and one cardio. I workout six days a week (nearly always take Saturday off). The type of strength training I do varies depending on what program/rotation I am doing. Right now I am doing Body Beast (a Beachbody program) that pretty much has me doing one body part per day. But usually I try to hit each body part twice a week. (A 'typical' week for me would look like: Day 1-Chest, Shoulders, Triceps; Day 2-Legs, Day 3-Back and Biceps, Day 4-Legs, Day 5-Yoga or another Upper Body split like Chest and Back, Day 6- Total Body Strength or an upper body split like Biceps, Shoulders and Triceps). I have found as I have gotten older (I am 51) that strength training is really key for me being able to maintain my weight. I do cardio because I like to (even though I know science says it doesn't need to be done every day). For cardio, I pretty much do what I feel like on any given day, though I try to get at least two tougher workouts in (like HiiT workouts) during a week and also vary between step, Kickbox, etc.....just to keep the body guessing a bit. But when I was working full time......my workout regime looked nothing like this!! In short, I worked out five days a week and alternated between strength and cardio days. Hope that helps!!

See you tomorrow!

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies – Well last night’s BootCamp class was a refreshing “change of pace” … Katy is gone all week because her mom is visiting from Chicago. So we had a sub and we have had her before. Very good and thorough but not brutal! LOL Like Katy. We did 4 different sequences of 12 exercises, each one minute long with a 10-second rest in between. First 2 rounds were more cardio based and sort of Insanity Abs style of moves thrown in as well, 2nd half was strength based with a couple cardio(s) mixed in. This a.m. was Hammer Power and tonight I will go to Chelsea’s Insanity Class, which she has filled in for many times. Should be tough but again, not Katy tough.

Laurel: What a perfect combo you had this a.m. and I am sure you enjoyed every moment of it! Yes, I have had a lot of OT lately and yesterday I received my first check with my extra 7 hours on it. WHAT A difference that made! Loved my check. LOL My next one will have twice as many hours on it so that will be exciting and make all the extra time worth it forsure. Glad to hear your energy is coming back and you are feeling good. Stubbornness or Stamina …. You are a rock star in the workout room I say! Truly.

Becky: So happy to have another friend to our group! Good on you for doing Yoga! Something i tell myself often to do more of and just don't seem to make the time for it. I joined MFP 8+ years ago. I wanted to reach out to people with similar fitness goals/interests, etc. to help keep me accountable and motivated, but even moreso, I don’t have a lot of friends (or my husband even) that workout or even enjoy talking about fitness and when that is something you love it is great to have a group of women to share that with! I have worked out and stayed active my entire life, growing up playing sports and competitive volleyball in High School and College, (now I play VB just for fun with some friends in the winter).

I started doing “at home” videos about 23 years ago (The FIRM and Cathe were my first VHS tapes) .. Yikes! Does that date me?!?! I have a pretty large library; ok its GINORMOUS in a way but that’s ok. I have almost all of Cathe's programs We all joke here in our group about enabling one another when new workouts come out and we immediately encourage one another to get the program/workout, etc. But truly I love my at home workouts. I try to get in an hour workout in the early a.m. before work (5 a.m. or earlier) and then after I get off work in the evenings I usually attend a BootCamp, Insanity and Spinning class 4 days a week; each time those are an hour as well. So I plan and schedule for 6 days a week, 4 of them being twice a day and then on the weekends I usually do 2 back-to-back workouts (weights & cardio or weights and something else). I don’t typically plan my REST day but seem to always get one in somewhere due to hitting the snooze button in the a.m. or missing a workout at the gym after work. LOL This has been my schedule for quite some time and it works for me. I do my strength training typically at home, and the classes at the gym are usually mostly cardio.

I work full time, I have a husband of 20 years (actually closer to 21 now), 2 dogs and a grown step son, but never kids of my own …. Other than the 4-legged kind.
Thank you for the info on Bad Moms …. I heard it was hysterically funny as well and hope to see it soon.

Thelma: Congrats on conquering the push-ups last night! Sounds like you did a great job on making them work for you. Glad to hear you were better on the ball push-ups last night. Pretty much any workout I do with KCM is a pretty good burn, she mixes in weights/cardio and often a little KB into the workouts so your HR stays up the whole time. Fun stuff and sometimes she has a way of throwing in various moves that just feel different than other workouts I do; which keeps my body guessing! LOL
p.s. you are tougher than you think lady! You have persevered through many injuries, didn’t give up, gained some endurance & strength and have lost LBS along the way ~ just those few listed off the top of my head count for TOUGH in my book!

Laurie: Great job getting in your run again. Like Laurel, I would love it if I enjoyed running. Would make my summer workouts with Katy a lot more fun as well. LOL But just a nice way to get outside and get in a good workout no matter where you are. Hopefully today wasn’t as crazy for you. I am sure you would enjoy KCM Strength & Stamina. She does quite a few kettleball swings in between various sets as a cardio/strength factor. The format is 3 exercies, repeat the same 3 and then go on. Really straightforward but good but good stuff. One of her “newer” ones as you know.

Enjoy your evenings ladis ~ until tomorrow . . . Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, tonight I did Hard Strikes. Great workout but there are a lot of jumping jacks very early on and my feet don't like that. I can tell it is because my feet ready for those early jacks. Once my body felt warm enough the rest of the jumping jacks felt good. We got a little rain today! YAAAY!

Becky, I was introduced to My Fitness Pal by a personal trainer 2 1/2 years ago. She wanted me to log my food using this tool. She nagged me about using it for a long time and I didn't think I needed to do this. Thanks to MFP, the support and encouragement from this group and daily exercise I was able to drop I think 20 lbs. So I have lost a total of 24 lbs.
Thankfully one day I decided to explore the MFP Community and discovered this group. Thanks to these ladies I've learned A LOT! I was introduced to rotations which I had never done before. I've injured myself left and right trying to keep up with these ladies LOL but I've bounced back because I listen to my body and slow down once I have an injury.
I log my food every day. I know I can never stop doing this. I measure all meals and we only eat lean meats at home. Everything is low fat around here. We eat lite bread, lite everything! We do our food shopping on Friday's, so on Thursday we plan what we'll eat the following week. We have a cookathon on Sundays for the week. A great source of recipes is the www.skinnytaste.com website. This lady converts unhealthy recipes into healthy ones and gives you Weight Watchers points as well as calories.

I am also guilty of having a sweet tooth. I think I'm the biggest offender here so I go up/down about 4-5 lbs when I go crazy for sweets and lose control. So I struggle with my weight always. I'm very short so 5lbs show like 10 lbs on me. Right now I'm trying to drop those pesky 5lbs because I'm going on vacation in early September and will see my very thin sister so I don't want to look fat next to her. Of course she is a couple of inches taller than I am so I will always look heavier. Talk about serious motivation! I'm doing good! So far I've lost 3 lbs.

For the first time this year I have finished strength training programs which I was never able to do before. I finished Body Beast and gained a lot of strength and proper form which helped me with my injuries. While I was doing Body Beast the ladies moved on to Hammer & Chisel so I had to do that next and completed the program too! I don't know how many false starts I've had on Cathe's STS program because I kept injuring myself early on in the program. Now I am 2 1/2 weeks away from completing the 12 week program. The rotation I'm doing consists of 3 STS workouts a week and cardio every other day.
I workout 7 days a week most of the time. I usually do my spinning bike on Sundays while I watch tv so it's an easy workout. I have work so I can only do one workout a day. Now that I've been doing these strength training workouts my workouts plus long stretch routing can take up to 2 hours. I have to stretch and massage my legs with massage balls to prevent knee injury. When my IT band and quads get tight my knees let me know about it!

I am married and we don't have children but have 3 fur babies. Our cats are our kids.
Where is home Becky? I live in MA.

Laurie, sorry work got busy again! Great job running! Does having young Rocket help with the running? I wish I could run but my knees can't handle it.
I have some of those Gym Style workouts but I haven't done them in years. Great news on Rocket's training! I hadn't thought about the snow covering the flags so it has to start visual at first with the flags! I pass a house every day to/from work and I notice they have a lawn sign that says "dog in training" but I don't remember seeing the little flags.

Laurel, I love Bulk Shoulders! That is really good for for strengthening bad shoulders like ours! Party Rockin' Step another good one! OMG that is a LONG premix! Good for you!
I've only been able to do this STS routine because of your suggestion to start with Meso 3. That was brilliant feedback! Thank you!

Tami, sounds like you actually enjoyed the non brutal BootCamp class! What's wrong with you my friend? If it's not brutal you're not satisfied! LOL. Great workouts at home!
I used to do The Firm VHS workouts too!HAHAHA!

Good night ladies!!!
Thelma

smile_laughter

Good morning all - I hope you had a restful night.

Yesterday was a very long day, but I was able to get 2 workouts in! Felt so good. I made it to the gym and did Cathe's Slow and Heavy workout on my upper body. Good grief it tired me out. I forgot how hard (and wonderful) going slow with weights is on specific body parts. My weights were much lighter than they used to be, so my goal is to be able to use heavier weights within the next 6 months (need to get my strength up). I followed the weight lifting session with an Inferno Hot Pilates class. Not sure if you are familiar with this, so here is the explanation. I am a member of a Bikram Yoga studio. They added a hot pilates class 2 months ago that does interval training using pilates principles. It is also low impact. We concentrate on abs, arms, legs, chest and cardio - and it is done in a 100 degree room. The group and teachers are so much fun.....great music......not to mention that class kicks our butts. Today, I am going to get a yoga class in and lift weights this evening (at least....that's the plan).

Thelma - Thanks for sharing your fitness story. I am so happy for you that you have lost 24 pounds. I know the journey was probably long and hard, but you made it. You mentioned rotations and how the others taught you about this. So, I think I need to learn, too. So....what is a rotation? Thanks for the recommended website skinny taste. I will check it out. Our diet at home decent, but not what is should be. I try to get lots of fruit and veggies in my kids, but it's the other things they eat. Home for me is in Phoenix. We had a beautiful rain around 3am; it was much needed. I totally understand about the thin sister. Ha....made me laugh out loud. I try to lose weight before I go and see my thin cousin. I hope you reach your goal and enjoy your vacation.

Tami - Also, thank you for your fitness story. Your bootcamp class sounds like a great class. Is it inside or outside? You mentioned Hammer Power - what is this? I also don't have a group of friends, or husband, that are into fitness like I am. That is wonderful that you have been using MFP for 8 years. This is a great support system. It somewhat (not a lot) saddens me that we find more support from strangers than our family. I try to encourage my honey to workout, but he doesn't. Oh well......he does play football with the kids every once in awhile. Better than nothing. Volleyball is a great sport. The neighbors across the street are always taking their daughter to a tournament. Do you also play beach volleyball? It sounds like you get quite a few workouts in. At home videos are great! There is no excuse in saying "I don't have a gym membership".

Laurel - Thank you for your fitness story. Congrats on your 40 lbs lost and maintaining. That is so key.....maintaining. The Body Beast program sounds like a really good workout program. If I am reading the posts right, do you do your workouts all at home? Is Body Beast a video series you watch? I saw that you mentioned golfing. Do you golf much?

Laurie - Oh the joys of getting ready for a wedding. Congrats on your daughter's engagement (well....assuming that you like the guy). I hope you are able to reach your goal. It sounds like Rocket helps with keeping you moving. It's too hot in Phx now to take my dogs out, and I can tell they miss going for walks. I should be able to start taking them again in the next few weeks.

Have a great day.
Becky

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

No workout yesterday after work, was another late day of working. I had a conference call that lasted longer than I though it would. Oh well, I'm bound and determined to get one in after my hair appt tonight. I only need to get a color, so it shouldn't take to long. This morning was Jillian's Extreme Shed and Shred Level 1. Have not done this one in a while, and it was nice to visit with Jillian again.

Laurel, Love the workout mix! I have been surprised at how much I'm enjoying the running, but I think that I need to keep it to 1-2 days a week or I will probably get bored with it. I do still have that nagging knee problem, but my running shoes that I purchased seem to be doing their job. The only thing I have to do with my hair when working out, is to put a couple of bobby pins on the side to keep the bangs out of my face. My dd did a great job with cutting my hair so short. I too still have a few more years before I'm totally gray, and will be nixing the coloring when that happens. I'm hoping that I have my paternal grandmothers hair, it was a beautiful white. So far most of my gray's are actually white.

Tami, Sounds like a great class, and nice change of pace from Katy's torture. I too really enjoyed getting the overtime on my check these last couple of times. It will help pay for the little extra $ we had to spend on the car breaking down while on vacation. Now I really do need that workout of Kelly's, just because you mentioned the kettlebell swings. I have her Slim Sculpting, and really enjoy that one.

Thelma, Nice job with the Hard Strikes! I agree with you on the jumping jacks in that workout, my feet feel it after a while also. Probably why I avoid that one more that I should because it really is a good workout. Rocket isn't the best running partner, but he isn't as bad as Cami was. She always wanted to stop and sniff stuff. I just tell Rocket not now, and he listens. I'm sure the more I run with him the better it will get. Interesting that the dog in training doesn't have the flags, that is what we used before his collar was activated. We have taken our sign down, guess everyone in the neighborhood knows what the flags mean.

Becky, Awesome job with the S&H workout, and your hot Pilates class. I have never done a class hot, but I can see where it would kick your butt. The class sounds like it would be a good one. I do yoga, but pilates has not been one of my favorites. Fortunately the fiance is a good guy, and DH and I really like him. He has been dating our daughter for 4 years, and has put up with her mood swings. Anyone that can do that is extra special. Rocket and I usually get out early in the mornings for our walks/runs, because he doesn't like the heat. I understand why you can't do that until the heat in your area comes down, kind of like here when it is below zero. I will walk the dog in the mornings, but I don't think I'll be running. Just way to cold!

It was fun to read all of our fitness journeys again!

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! I started my workout today with Bulk Chest, which felt really good today. Stuck with the heavier weights and really challenged myself. For cardio, I did the RWH premix of Low Impact HiiT One and Two, which is always a good one.

Tami, sounds like the BC class was a nice change of break. Thanks for your compliments on my workout 'tenacity'. I am so glad I stuck with my workouts through all of this because I think they have helped me from sinking into duldrums. While I have had to talk myself into doing them, once done.....I feel good! Don't know how I would feel without them, and don't want to know. I worked out with The Firm way back when too!! My first workout VHS tape, though, was Jane Fonda. I actually remember doing workouts with my mom or oldest sister that were on vinyl albums!! Oh boy.......I am really dating myself now!

Thelma, love that workout. But you are right......there are a lot of jumping jacks! Glad your feet warmed up to them. I wish I had your discipline to measure all my food still. I think that would help me so much.....but I get too lazy at times. Don't know if I shared with all of you that my DH went on Nutrisystem a few weeks ago. He is doing really well (lost 13lbs.....has about 17 more to go). But he has to measure his non-Nutrisystem food, so that serves as a good reminder to me about my portions. I need to get things in check for myself so that when he gets back to eating my food, I am doing everything I can to help him maintain. It kind of made me feel bad initially when he wanted to go on Nutrisystem because I serve healthy food! But he only eats one meal a day that I prepare for him, so I had to remind myself I am not the problem. Really......Ben and Jerry and their ice cream are his problem! Anyhow, so happy the STS suggestion worked for you!!

Laurie, hope your hair appointment goes well. I sure wish my gray hair was while but.....it isn't. I think I will probably stop coloring my hair at 60-ish. My oldest sister is turning 60 next month, and she let her hair go gray this summer. It just looked so much better on her than color. I just think after a certain age you can't make color look natural, and it is about then that I will want to give it up.

Becky, great workouts! I love the Slow and Heavy workouts. But, boy, do my arms start shaking whenever I do them. So good, though. I have never heard of Hot Pilates. Thanks for sharing that information. I was stunned when you said you are in Phoenix and do Bikram Yoga and Hot Pilates!! I am very familiar with Phoenix, and I am not sure you could find me in a hot gym on some days down there!! I live in Florida, and I feel that way about here too! Anyhow, my mother lived in Phoenix (Sun City) from 1995 until she passed away just a few weeks ago (July 28). The day after she passed away, I think the temp in Phoenix was 116! Crazy hot!! Everybody who says that 'it's a dry heat' thing hasn't felt 116. I am used to a heat index well over 100 each day here in Florida, so Phoenix under 105 felt great to me. But 116 is just plain brutal.....dry or not. Anyhow, my DH and I do golf quite regularly. He retired from the Air Force two years ago, and we settled in Florida where he now teaches high school. So during the summers off......we golf. I am miserable at it (started playing in 2010).....but I don't really care. I love being outside and in the sunshine and just able to spend that time with my DH without having to think about/do anything else. Do you golf? Anyhow, to answer your questions, I do all of my workouts at home. Body Beast is a DVD program just like Cathe's programs. I bought it in early 2015 for my DH because he wanted it.....and, of course, never did it. So early this year I decided to give it a try. And I loved it!! Sagi (the instructor) is a bit of a stereotypical bodybuilder who walks around with his chest puffed out and gives his fellow workout friends a hard time about the weight they use. But, underneath all of that, is a guy who knows his business and who developed a great strength training program for the home exerciser. Tami, Laurie and Thelma have all now done the program as well. It is sold by Beachbody.com, but you can also find it on Amazon.com.

See you all tomorrow.

Laurel

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, tonight I did STS Meso 1, Disc 5 Back & Triceps. Great workout! I am so happy to tell you that for the first time ever I was able to really do the seasaw pushups! I really felt them! I was also able to do the tricep push ups on my knees but I did them. I always have a hard time doing these pushups because I can never get myself in the right position but tonight it just happened. On the seasaw pushups what helped is that I was using the mat. I'm not sure I've used the mat before so the ball is more unstable.
The only exercise I didn't like was the seated double arm row horizontal. All those seated moves such as lat raises I find dangerous for my shoulders so I do them standing.

Becky, awesome job getting two workouts in today! OMG I would die if I had to workout in such a hot room but I can see how it would be good for yoga and it sounds like a great class.

A rotation is a workout schedule that last a number of weeks. These schedules are good because the thinking about what to do on a given day has been planned ahead. Cathe has a e-newsletter and once a month she sends a rotation out. Of course you have to have most of her workouts to do this. When you buy a workout program it will come with a workout schedule for the period of time that it will take do do the program. For example, Cathe's STS has 36 workouts and you do 3 discs a week so it will take 12 weeks to complete the program. I do cardio every other day. Normally you workout 6 days a week in these rotations and take a day off.
Body Beast I think is also a 12 week program. The rotations will have a purpose too like fat burning, muscle building.
http://cathe.com/cathes-january-2016-workout-rotation

AZ is too hot for my taste. Could never live there.
The weight loss became easy once I started logging my food. That was key because you don't realize you're eating too much. I was already exercising so why wasn't I losing weight? It was a little too much food.
BTW, my DH is thin and he is very disciplined about food. He says he exercises but a few minutes on the treadmill and and few minutes of weights a workout does not make as far as i'm concerned. His doctor told him once that he had to weigh 180lbs for his height and age. Well that is all he had to hear. He makes sure his weight is 180. I think he is way too thin but he feels good that way and that is all that matters.

Laurie, great job getting a workout in! I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way about Hard Strikes. I thought it had to do with the plantar fasciitis I get sometimes.
I'm sure Rocket will get better at running once he gets used to it. I saw the dog in training flags today! It was weird. The were very close to the house yet there was more front yard.

Laurel, what an awesome combo! Love that Low Impact Hiit premix!
I don't know if I'll ever be able to go gray. There are some women who look amazing with gray hair but it has to do with the color of their skin. I met a lady at the ophthalmologist office last year who looked great with her gray hair. She recommended that when was ready to go gray I should cut my hair really short like a pixie. I used to have a pixie style over 13 years ago. It was soooo easy!
I sometimes say that I'll go gray as soon as I retire. I seriously doubt it. My friend who is very petite and has short hair decided to go gray at 63 and she looks so much older now. Not a good look.

Laurel, if I didn't measure my food I'd be in 24 lbs heavier. I'm so glad your DH is doing Nutrisystem! He is doing good!
I have a lot of little plastic containers for my work meals because they help me with portion control. Before we cook any meats my food portions are cut to the right weight so I can log the right portion in MFP.

Hi Tami!

Good night ladies!!!
Thelma

smile_laughter

Good morning ladies. I wasn't able to get two workouts in yesterday, but I did get a yoga class in (it's 90 minutes). I ended up helping my son with fraction homework which took 2 hours, and we still didn't finish. Poor thing is so lost, so I need to hire a tutor (I teach math, too......but I teach upper level math......also, I am his mom, he doesn't like to listen to me). Today's goal is to get weight training in.

Thelma - great job on doing a seesaw pushup! It is such a great feeling to finally do an exercise that has been your arch nemesis. Ha! Watch those shoulders.......most of the people that were in physical therapy for injuries were shoulder injuries (this was when I went for my knee after ACL surgery years ago). It's good that you modify the workout. I like the idea of the rotation exercising. I sometimes don't know what to do, so this may solve my indecisiveness. Keep up with those amazing workouts.

Laurel - Florida is too humid for me. If you are having fun golfing, don't worry about the score. I am horrible at it, too, but I enjoy playing. It's been awhile for me to play, but I'd like to get back into it. Maybe I can start taking the kids. It is crazy hot here, and I can't stand the heat (so, I am surprised I like the yoga and pilates class so much). But, I LOVE my job and have a great family support system. So, my honey and I are "stuck" here. Great job on doing Bulk Chest with heavier weights. Keep challenging yourself; that's when you will see those positive changes. I plan to save up some money and look into Body Beast or one of Cathe's programs. I am very sorry for the loss of your mom. I hope that you and your family were/are able to cope with the loss.

Laurie - Is Jillian's Extreme a Jillian Michael's workout? Sounds like work keeps you very busy. Hopefully you can squeeze in a walk around your work place to just "get up and move". Glad you like the fiance; that is so helpful. I love my inlaws......very blessed in that area.

Off to work - I have a 2 hour presentation and am quite nervous. Have a great day!
Becky

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

My hair is now minus the gray hair, but will have to go back soon because I will need it cut. DD cut my hair about 2 weeks ago, so it really didn't need a trim. I didn't get my workout in, got home and I was starving. Felt like I could eat everything in the house. This morning was ICE Rock'm Sock'm Kickbox Timesaver #4, that one has to be my favorite Timesaver of the series.

Laurel, Great job on the double HiiT, and challenging yourself with the increase in weight. Congrats to your DH for losing that weight, I will have to mention that to my DH. I don't know if he would be willing to give up certain things for the weight loss though. His passion for cheese comes to mind. My first workout VHS was TaeBo. Would love to get those tapes on DVD, because those early workouts are awesome. Now that DD is in the cosmetology profession, I have her look at my head. She says that I have way more "normal" color, than I do gray. I would rather not color, but that in-between stage just doesn't look good.

Thelma, Congrats on the push-ups! That is a great accomplishment. Wonderful job making the workout yours, totally understand standing vs. the sitting with the shoulder issues you have had. That is interesting that the flags are so close to the house. One of our neighbors only lets their dog be in the back yard, so the fence is very close to the house also. We let Rocket have the run of as much of our yard as we could. He likes to run around after his toys to much.

Becky, Nice job on the yoga! I really love yoga, but don't schedule it enough. I love math! My youngest dd was the one who had problems with math, and of course my DH was the one that had to help her. Our brains would think differently, but with my oldest it was easy. I found that interesting that each child's brain looked at the same thing in a different way. Yep that Extreme workout is Jillian Michaels, she is one of the may instructors that I like to workout with. Her workout is probably why I was so hungry, she works you good. I'm glad to hear that you have some good inlaws. Mine are very nice people, but they are in their 90's, so getting to that age when they need DH to help them more often. It can be very stressful at times.

Tami, Hope you had a great day!

Have a wonderful day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today was Bulk Legs followed by Cross Fire Extreme premix. Good stuff! Have spent the past two days working with one of my sisters on settling my mom's estate. Not fun......and tax laws are SO confusing. So the workout was a nice change of pace for my brain.

Thelma, great job with the seesaw push-ups! Tricep push-ups were always so tough on me until, like you said, one day everything just worked. I have limited range of motion in my left shoulder and I think it was finally getting enough strength in the shoulder and my core that allowed me to finally be able to do them. Now I love them.....because I can do them. Weird. I agree with you and gray with certain skin tones. I definitely don't want to prematurely age myself either. I think there will be alot of back and forth struggle with myself when I do get to that point trying to figure out whether the look of obviously dyed hair is better or worse than the gray. It is different for everybody, that's for sure.

Becky, fractions! That is no fun. But great job getting the yoga in. I'm not a big fan of heat either so there are many days that I am trying to figure out how I ended up in Florida! I am originally from Colorado and have spent most my life (minus 15 months in Los Angeles) in cooler climates. I will admit that it is about this time of year I have had enough of heat. I will be cranky until January because of it! I love autumn, and there is no hint of that here. At least in Phoenix you get those cooler (at times.....cold) nights in the winter. Last year we were lucky to get below 70 for most nights, especially in the autumn and early winter. I remember flying into Phoenix last January and absolutely freezing to bits!! But anymore, anything under 72 and I get chilled. Thank you for your kind words about my mom. It was not a surprise as she had been fighting cancer for quite some time. My two older sisters and I are very close, and while we miss her horribly, we are also happy she is no longer suffering.

Laurie, my appetite was like that last night too! I ate my usual lunch, but by 3:30pm, I was starving!! I went and sat outside to keep myself from devouring everything in the house. It was crazy! I am really surprised how well my DH has taken to Nutrisystems, but I think seeing the weight drop off has helped. He also says he isn't really that hungry, which also helps. But he is getting down to the point where it is going to be harder to take the weight off (especially since he doesn't exercise) so we will see how well he handles that. I love those early Tae Bo workouts! I got my first ones in the mid-90s, and they were so much fun.

Tami, hope you are well.

See you tomorrow!

Laurel

2BLean

WOWSER …. I missed one day yesterday and I have so much to catch up on with you ladies! Lots of posts …. It’s great  I was really busy at work yesterday and didn’t get a chance to check in. Tuesday evening’s Insanity class with Katy’s sub was pretty good. She did a workout she found on Pinterest where you do exercises that she lists with each letter of the alphabet. So for example: “T” was 50 jumping jacks, “A” was 40 squats, etc… After we went through our full name a couple times she had us do a bunch of line running, abs and burpees. No workouts yesterday, I had an appt last night so I missed Spinning. REST day. This a.m. was 21DFX XT Dirty 30 XTreme followed by Chisel Abs. Tonight is my ususal “no pm” workouts at the gym. We are going to dinner with some friends.

Thelma: Great job getting in Hard Strikes and then with STS last night. Congrats on the sea-saw push-ups! See, all that strength you have gained is paying off nicely. Great job doing what works for your shoulders to prevent any injuries. I did actually enjoy the class Monday night. I think mostly I enjoyed the non-marathon running portion of the BootCamp class. Tues night I was missing Katy again forsure! The Pinterest workout was just "so-so" and I ended up doing a lot of jumping jacks. I mean a LOT. Which got kind of repetitive. Just how my alphabet fell in the list of exercises. To answer your question you posted to me on the thread about Dirty 30 XTreme. I really enjoy this workout, one that is repeated a lot in this rotation I am doing but I do like it.
3 rounds of 2 exercises -Focuses on the shoulders, lats/back second. You do squats with shoulder presses and balance moves; curtsy lunges. Whole body gets in the act. Even renegade rows. Each move was 1 minute long w/ 10 second break.


Becky: Congrats on getting in 2 workouts yesterday, nicely done! Slow & Heavy is a great workout forsure. I’m sure you had “noodle” arms at the end. That hot Pilates class sounds intense with that heat. I am sure it is a fantastic workout! The BootCamp class is usually indoors but in the summer they sometimes have us go outside and do a lot of running and/or body weight work on the outdoor tennis court just outside the gym. Hammer Power is a workout that is in the series from BeachBody called: Hammer & Chisel. So the Hammer workouts are usually strength based and the Chisel workouts are more endurance. Both are a great combination of workouts. Earlier this year I did the rotation of just Hammer & Chisel workouts and really loved them. Then did Body Beast and after that I decided on re-vising some of the Hammer & Chisel workouts along with the 21DayFix Xtreme workouts as a combination rotation. I do love playing Volleyball. Unfortunately in our area there isn’t a whole lot of beach volleyball. I live in North Idaho and our beaches are by the local lake, which is beautiful but very rocky-sandy, unlike true sand courts that don’t hurt your feet as much. I noticed you mentioned living in AZ! WoW … that is truly a hot part of the country this time of year. I have been there a few times for visits and really enjoyed it. But was happy to get into the AC when I could. Kudos to you for helping with the math and being good at it. I have always struggled with math and often thought, what would I have done if I had kids at home that needed help. Hired a tutor forsure! LOL

Laurie: Katy’s replacement this week was a nice change of pace on one hand but always makes us miss Katy. She will be back next week and I am sure turn the torture dial up a notch just because she was gone. LOL I think you would really enjoy that KCM workout. It’s similar to others, but still different enough to not feel like you are doing the same workout with a different background. Don’t you hate days like that when you cannot seem to get enough food in you? Hopefully you finally satisfied your body. I have had many days like that and don’t know why it randomly happens . . . LOL Great job getting in the Rockm/Sockm Timesaver!

Laurel: Fabulous job in the workout room yesterday and today! I am laughing OUT LOUD about the Jane Fonda tapes. I didn’t ever do hers but I can picture the cover of them with the leg warmers. I did a little bit of TaeBo as well … you and Laurie were talking about that. But then I got so into Cathe and the others, they were quickly history! Another crazy combo today as well for you! Nicely done.
Congrats to your DH on the 13 lbs down. That is so awesome. I think I mentioned to you all after DH’s knee surgery he gave up some things in his diet. Well, he has lost 16 lbs since his knee surgery in March. He gave up drinking any alchohol, no caffeine and is trying to be more conscious of what he eats. Sort of … recently (I think I mentioned) he has been on an ice cream kick. I told him the other night it is better than the whiskey and cokes he was drinking before. LOL He said, if I gave up ice cream I would probably really lose some more lbs. He hasn’t hardly been doing therapy anymore at all, so no extra exercise, but amazing just changing it up like that how much his body responded. I knew it would.

Enjoy the rest of your days ladies .... I will talk to you tomorrow! Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, tonight I did RWH Low Impact One + Bonus Abs Two. Great workout and I made it high impact as much as I could. It's been a very long week at work. So happy tomorrow is Friday! Thanks for your nice words on the seasaw pushups! I saw this today and I just had to share cause I know those of us with fitness tracking devices have talked about doing this

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/52917364347557589/

Becky, great job with the yoga class! I like yoga. I wish I had more time in the day to be able to add yoga to my daily routine. I already hurt my shoulders trying t do chaturangas a couple of years ago. I wish I could go to a yoga class where I didn't feel intimidated by the slim women who attend those yoga classes.
You should put together a list of your workout DVD's and you might be able to see what kind of a rotation you can put together.

Laurie, great workouts! YOu're so lucky to have your own hair stylist!
I wonder if that house with the dog in training sign has a yard behind the house.

Laurel, another amazing combo! Great job! One of these days I'll develop the upper body strength I need to do the tricep pushups right.
I refuse to allow myself to age overnight over not wanting to color my hair. I am 52 and every thinks I'm in my early 40's. I take great care of my skin and I love it when the 50 year old woman I work with tells me you have a ways to go. You're much younger than I am. I of course won't admit my age. LOL. I am allergic to the chemicals in permanent hair color so I use this henna cream product I found and it's great. It's a pain cause I have to do it every two weeks. I really don't think I have the skin color that looks good with gray hair. I would think that if you decide to go gray you MUST wear makeup. Must wear lipstick always so you don't look washed out. This is where my friend is going wrong. Not only did she stop coloring her hair, she stopped wearing make up and her contacts and now wears glasses. So going gray may be a lot of work if you want to look good! LOL

Tami, OMG that alphabet workout doesn't sound like fun if you end up doing all those jumping jacks! My knees and my feet would be in trouble if I had to do that. Great workouts at home! I can see why you were missing Katy!
Thanks for responding about my question on the Dirty 30 workout. Sounds like something I would like! I was playing with that hybrid rotation tool today and I really think I'm going to do BB/H&C rotation next. I was exploring with the idea of making it BB/H&C/P90X since I never finished P90X because that is when I hurt my feet. I need a 10 week rotation that will be a little tough and this would do it. In mid November my aunts will come to visit us for 3 weeks. I'm going to need short workouts then for those 3 weeks. Not sure what I'll do then and that is my dilemma. Maybe do a BB/P90X first and then do H&C when my aunts are here since those are shorter workouts.

Good night ladies!!!
Thelma

smile_laughter

Good morning ladies - So, yesterday I was unable to get a workout in......grrrr......but, my son really needed help with fractions. So, one of my colleagues helped him. I did get some squats in and got my 10,000 steps in for the day. For today, after I drop by kids off at school, I will be heading straight to the gym before work so that I can't get "too busy" at work. I am looking forward to it because I could feel my energy levels dropping yesterday from not working out.

Laurie - Great job of getting the Time Saver workout in. You all keep mentioning all these workouts, and it is so exciting! There are so many out there that I need to research. You mentioned VHS TaeBo - I loved that workout! Me and some college friends would do TaeBo in the dorms.....brining back some memories with that one! Ha...

Laurel - I bet that it is overwhelming trying to get your mom's estate in order. My dad is a CPA, so if you have a question, I might be able to ask him for you. Plus, since her estate is in Phx, my dad is here too......he can help with AZ stuff. That is great that you got your workout in. Bulk legs sounds intense, and workouts like these don't allow outside thoughts to interfere.

Tami - I am afraid to miss a day of posting and get too behind. it's like missing a day of math class, you can't! Holy cricket on your Insanity class! I think my knee would have been screaming "What did I do to deserve this from you!!!" Great job on going through it and your other two workouts. Chisel abs is another one I need to look into. I definitely had the noodle arms after Slow and Heavy. I am trying to convince my husband to move to Idaho. I visited once and immediately fell in love with it. I am tired of the color brown that is surrounding me in Phx.

Thelma - I loved the fitbit post......laughed out loud because I do that. My kids made me run in place last night so that I could get my 10,000 steps in. So, all of us were standing in a circle running. Glad to see you got a low impact workout and abs in. That's great that you tried to make as high impact as possible......when the workout is occurring, do you add extra jumps (or whatever) to make it more high impact?

On Monday, I start teaching again. I am hoping to continue to keep up with posting every day, but I fear that my schedule will get in the way. I may miss a few days and will do my best to keep up with everyone. I am thinking about creating a spread sheet with some of everyone's info. I am still trying to keep you 4 straight.....I sometimes mix up who has Rocket, who lives in Florida, etc. Also - I have no clue what "DD and DH" mean.....I am bad with texting lingo when people don't spell out words. I just learned what "btw" means. You can totally make fun of me for that! My college students tease me all the time for how "behind the times" I am......oh well.

Have a great day.....here's to another fit one. Becky

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

I finally got in a after work workout, since Rocket was super tired from his day playing with his friends he just spent the time sleeping while I did the workout. I did FlexTrain, and that really was a great workout. This morning I did LIS Total Body Tri-sets Chest, Shoulders and Triceps premix. Nice short strength workout. Today we are going to our co-workers new restaurant that he opened on Monday. I was there once with the family during their soft opening, and the food was delicious. Hope they are able to make a profit on this venture.

Laurel, Nice workouts! So sorry to hear that the closing of your moms affairs don't go so smooth, that is one of the things that worries me about the in-laws. DH has been eating better, but like last night he was cutting up some cheese after we had just eaten our dinner. He says he has been losing weight, so we will see if it continues. I try very hard to not nag him when he does things like that, because he gets upset at me for mentioning it.

Tami, I have heard of those type of workouts, and yours sounded brutal. Nice job on your other workouts too. Hope you had a nice time with your friends at dinner. I blame the hungry feeling on working way to hard at work! It must have been something in the air, yesterday was so much better and I was more active.

Thelma, Great job on your workout. I love that meme, and so true. Yesterday I was trimming some pork tenderloin for dinner, and my wrist started buzzing. I was super happy that I didn't have to do additional movement for the rest of the evening. Besides my fitbit needed to be charged. It sure does help to have a hairstylist in the house when your hair isn't cooperating with you. She can fix my styling mistakes in a flash.

Becky, Oh don't worry about the dd's and dh's, I had the same problem at first. I then realized that the first d meant dear or in some cases damn and the next d is for daughter or h for husband. Accronyms can be hard at times, here at work they have a internal web page dedicated to all the different ones that we have. It is amazing how many workouts there are out there, and they keep making new ones that tempt me all the time. Beachbody just mentioned that they are coming out with a new MMA style set, and of course that is my all time favorite type of exercise. There just isn't enough time in the day to try them all though. I'm sure that you will be super busy with school starting, so post when you are able.

Have a great weekend,
Laurie