Cathe Fans Part 5

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ Happy Monday ladies! Saturday was a non-scheduled workout with KCM and I did her Strength & Stamina workout; as I plugged it in I realized I still hadn’t done that one in my collection. It was really good, I enjoyed it a lot and then yesterday was back to my rotation with STS Chest/Shoulders/Bi’s Meso #1 so as you know “PUSH-UPS”, but it felt great and then I headed off to Volleyball. We won all 6 this week which was a lot of fun. Minus the moment a small un-attended child pulled the fire alarm at the gym; we all had to go outside and it was about 30-40 minutes later when we were able to resume play. The fire dept. was told it wasn’t an “emergency” so they took a while. Sheesh! We whipped through the last 3 games so that was good. Today’s workout will be Katy’s BootCamp tonight after work. DH made it home safe & sound and he couldn’t be happier to be home. He’s been spoiled the last couple nights with homemade meals and I even made cookies on Saturday for his arrival. I think they are all gone already. Luckily I didn’t double the batch. LOL He is exhausted but happy to be home.

On a sad note …. My Grandma who I was able to see at the family reunion I went to with my sister this summer is not doing well at all. My uncle had found her collapsed in her home and unconscious on Friday evening so they rushed her to the hospital and she is slowly shutting down, instead of getting better. She doesn’t know who anyone is but is out of pain and they are managing that. She is just shy of her 99th Birthday on Dec. 12th so she has lived a very long and hard life; losing 2 children along the way, one being my dad. So it is just her time and she lived her elderly years in her own place right up to the end, which is something she was very proud of. I’m beyond grateful that we went to that reunion and she totally knew me and hugged me, loved our small time we visited and that I have that as my memory of my last time seeing her. Such a sweet lady.

Becky: It’s a good workout day when you “Laurel it Up” forsure! Great job Friday with all that energy. Sounds like the weekend wasn’t good eating but you are back on track today, which is fabulous! I love Total Body workouts as well; just really feel the workouts when I have worked all the muscle groups! Plus the added cardio factor gets in there working all the muscles.

Thelma: Great job with all the studying, I’m sure not how you wanted to spend the weekend but sounds like you made a huge dent in the modules! That’ great. Excellent work getting in your Bulk Legs and then ICE LI Sweat on Saturday!

Laurie: Fabulous work getting in your X2 workouts and a huge congrats on coming in on the end of your next phase soon! That is so great. Happy to hear you feel the combo is doing good things for your body; always a huge testament to hard work forsure! Happy for you. I bet your older DD’s hair looked amazing when Little Sister was done. The Ombre technique is very pretty. I’m sure the owner of the salon will learn some things from her being fresh out of school and in the know on all the new techniques; That is so great. I think DH and I will be right back into our routines; it is the sleeping part that always kills me. Currently I think he must have been sleeping on “my side” of the bed while he was gone. He keeps crowding my side. LOL Adjustments …… it’s all good though! He was just fighting staying awake yesterday and kept going outside to put more things away, tidy up a bit. I told him to just take the day and rest but he said he had to get at least some stuff put away. Probably this weekend he will do all of it and be done.

Laurel: Way to go on the golfing! Sounds like you had a lot of fun too and so nice you guys had time with your FIL to celebrate his 80th! Excellent workouts yesterday and again today; great combos as always. Yes, I love the RWH Legs workout so much especially compared to many others. I always feel like I want to take full advantage of LEG DAY vs. just a leg workout; if that makes sense. That AZ/Seattle game was bananas! I ended up going to bed myself. I think DH stayed up for the whole thing, but what a weird ending after all that craziness. Congrats to you as well on feeling so strong with your X2 program; always great to feel the difference and even see the difference in how your body is performing. WooHoo! Happy for you as well.

Hope you all have a great evening ~ talk to you tomorrow! Tami

smile_laughter

Hey ladies - I got STS in the mail tonight! I am so excited! I am going to read that large manual that came with it. I want to figure out the best rotation to do with this and hope to start tomorrow morning. I want to make sure I have the entire time available to do the first workout......so I might be getting up early.

Our water has been out since last night. I can turn it on, but the shower won't turn off. So, I am filling up the bathtubs with water, then turning off the water to the house. We use the bathtub water to fill toilet tank, fill the sink to do dishes, etc. It's not too bad, but it should be fixed tomorrow. It's kind of a pain to fill up cups of water and take them to the toilet tank.

Tami - Great job on your workouts and winning the volleyball games! So glad your DH made it home safe and is enjoying home cooked meals and a warm bed. I am so sorry to hear about your gma. That is amazing that she is almost 99! I hope, for the sake of the family, that she continues to not be in pain. It is wonderful that you got to see her at the reunion and have a good visit with her. Those last memories are so important. I lost my last grandparent in December. It's weird not having her at our family parties.

Laurel - Glad you had a good weekend and played golf. How is your FIL doing at 80? If he was playing golf, he must be doing pretty well. Phew.....your Sunday workout has burned 100 calories for me by just reading it! Great job.

Laurie - You had a great weekend for workouts (plus yoga!). Wonderful job on it....I bet it helped with the sticky fingers event. What food was at this event?

Thelma - sorry that you didn't like the monster mash dance video. What type of dancing do you like? I absolutely love to dance (prefer country, latin, mexican, 80's, etc). I used to do Zumba with one of my best friends.....I miss that because we would just laugh the entire time and have fun. I hope you have had a good day.

Becky

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies! tonight I did XT CBS w/u, BB Bulk Chest, KCM 30MTF Cardio Quick Fix. I tried on of the premixes on the KCM DVD which I loved. It was 23 minutes and it had the first 1/2 of workouts I and II. I have a new strategy for finishing the course. I will try to do 1/2 hour at work every day and 30-45 minutes at night at home to see if I can do achieve my goal.

Beckie, congrats on getting your STS DVD's!!! YAAAY! great job keeping up with the workouts! My diet was bad this weekend too. I didn't find the Monster Mash exciting. I didn't see Thriller but I think I would've loved that one. I found these ones which I liked
https://www.youtube.com/embed/sWKGQnmd6Kc?list=PLYUrlk9XN1xy3DiWuX4j6DyBCsadi7KWG

I'll have to keep this 80's music workouts in mind cause I love that music.

Sorry about your plumbing issue! The things we take for granted! In El Salvador where I'm from water is shut off all the time. People fill up large tubs with water and have buckets to carry water from room to room. We don't fill up the toilet tank just dump the water directly into the toilet. Of course we have a bucket so it the amount of water does the flushing job.

Laurie, great workouts! I'm sure both Zoey and Rocket missed each other!
My mind is definitely on this course. I wish I had this motivation 3 months ago though! LOL

Laurel, amazing workouts this weekend! Sounds like a fun golf game! I think you're right about a rotation not quite being the right thing for the 3 weeks my aunts will be here. I need do fun workouts for sure. Maybe some of the fun total body and I definitely have Cathe's muscle meltdowns because they are short and very effective. HEY! maybe an ICE rotation is the right thing to do! I just need to a little bit of a rotation idea so I know what to do instead of standing in front of my DVD's trying to select one. LOL

Tami, great workouts this weekend! Too bad about the little kid pulling the fire alarm!
Glad your DH made it home safely! Now back to some good snoring at night! LOL
I did make a huge dent on the course this past weekend. I just wish I had started at least one weekend sooner.

Good night ladies!!!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

After work I did Peak Cardio Interval Burn 1. This morning was Peak Cardio Core Crusher. If I have the motivation tonight, I'm hoping to do Stretch X.

Laurel, Great job on the workouts! I like that you are pairing these workouts with other Cathe series to see how they work out. Sounds like the day wasn't so good for everyone golfing. Glad to hear that your FIL had a good day, even though he didn't have a good day golfing. We are on week four, and I had been considering tacking on a 5th week. I just felt that I didn't have a good first week. If you want to continue on with the next phase I'm okay with that. The youngest watches these stylists on youtube of all things. There are quite a few colorists online that show new techniques. I'm just glad that her older sister is willing to be a test subject.

Tami, I'm so sorry to hear about your Grandmother. I can see why you where glad that you went to see her this summer. My Grandmother was in the hospital recently also, but seems to be doing okay. I'm sure when we go up there for Christmas, we will be going over to see her. Great job on the workouts! Wow on the alarm during your volleyball. They must have taken there time making sure that there really wasn't a fire. Apparently the next time that the girls do a color session again, they will be going lighter on the blond section. She has the ombre that is a light brown on the top, and blonder on the bottom. From what I gathered, they will be going lighter on the bottom next time. It is nice that the oldest is going to the salon to get this done, and not doing this at home. I'm sure that the salon owner is going to see a few new things. I'm actually going to be changing my stylist to my daughter. My last hair appointment, I wasn't to happy with. My stylist used the razor for the whole cut, and it seems so chopped. Wonder if she did that on purpose, so that I wouldn't feel guilty about going to see my daughter.

Becky, Love that you are so excited about your new purchase! I think that you will have a great time with STS. I like that each workout feels different, even though some of the same footage is the same. So sorry to hear that your water is off, that really has to be annoying. I think we had that once when our water pump quit. I really do enjoy yoga, so all future rotations really need to include one day of yoga for me. The Sticky Fingers event is different restaurants and catering business showcase an appetizer, entree or desert. As a matter of fact the guy I work with that started a smokehouse this summer had a booth there. His restaurant won the entree, so they received 5K in free advertising from the radio station that was hosing the event.

Thelma, Nice job on that workout, I have done that one and it was fun. Sounds like you have a solid plan for getting your course complete. Have fun with those dancing workouts, got to love the foot loose! I have a love for the 80's music also.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Another morning of waiting for the 'tile' guy. This is a three day project (to replace two tiles!) which is completely throwing off my schedule!! The unfortunate thing is it looks like the cracked tiles were caused by a shift in our foundation, so we took photos of that to send to our builder if things get worse.

Anyhow, another early morning of workouts for me so I can wait. Sigh. Anyhow, I started with XTrain Chest, Back and Shoulders and Core 1. For cardio, I did RWH Low Impact HiiT One and Two premix. I love that workout too!

Tami, glad your DH made it home safely. Great workouts this weekend, but that fire alarm much have been a pain. Hopefully it wasn't too chilly outside. Can't imagine it being very fun to leave a hot gym to stand in cool air for that long! I am so sorry to hear about your grandmother. It is so amazing she was able to spend all her life at home. What a gift that was for her. I am also happy you were able to spend time with her this summer. Those memories, no doubt, are treasures. My thoughts are with you and all of your family.

Becky, woo-hoo on STS!!! Please let us know if you have any questions!! I think the book can make the program seem a bit more confusing and daunting than it actually is so if you have any concerns about anything, please ask! Yikes on the water, though!! That is NO fun. Hope they get it fixed soon. My FIL is doing pretty well at 80. He was diagnosed with severe Type 2 diabetes about 23 years ago, so his vision isn't great. And even though he golfs, his balance is going and this weekend we noticed he has more hand tremors. Don't know what is causing that. But he is as sharp as a person can get and he and my MIL just took a cruise through New England and Nova Scotia. So, all in all, they are both doing very well. I love that we are only two hours away from them after my experience this year with my mom. Here we can keep our eyes on them and help them with things around there house, etc.

Thelma, good job pushing through BB. Sounds like a very reasonable plan with your course. Those timeframes sound very reasonable. I hear you on wanting some kind of guideline for following while your aunts are there, even if it isn't a full rotation. Sometimes (especially before I started doing rotations) I would decide what kind of workout I wanted to do on each day but not decide on the actual workout itself until the day in question. So, for example, if I decided to set my week like this: Upper body, cardio, lower body, cardio, upper body, cardio, total body or circuit, off, I then at least knew what to look for in my DVD cabinet and could pick a workout that fit my mood and timeframe. Of course, I did spend my fair share of time every now and again staring at my DVDs saying 'I don't know!'

Laurie, hope you are well!!

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ Last night’s BootCamp was actually a very “normal” strength training style workout. Alternating with Lower, Upper, Ab exercises and a little cardio thrown in as well. It was done in sets of time; 90 seconds of squats, 90 seconds of push-ups, 90 seconds of ….. etc. You get the picture. It was jam packed too. YOWSA. I got in there right away but was visiting with a friend and ended up in the corner next to the mirrors. IT all worked out though. This a.m. was STS Meso #1 Legs. Felt great. Tonight will be Insane-X with Katy and I have a feeling that won’t be a tamed version.

Becky: WOOHOO! When I saw your post this a.m. that you did your first STS workout I was so excited/happy for you. That is wonderful. As Laurel said, if you have any questions at all “ASK” ~ we are happy to help. Getting your workout sheets printed out when you have time is a HUGE help and something I still refer to each and every time I do the program. So sorry to hear about your water situation. What a bummer. I hope it is fixed very soon for you. I think it is awesome that you love to dance and enjoy those type of workout as well. I am one of those that wishes I loved to dance and enjoy watching others but somehow choreography always messes me up! LOL so good on ya!

Thelma: Excellent work with Bulk Chest + the Cardio Quick Fix! I bet it feels good to have a new strategy in place for finishing your course. That’s awesome Thelma, you will do it! I know you will. An ICE rotation of some kind might be just right while your Aunt’s are visiting. I’m with you on having something in place, even short term; otherwise I too will stand there thinking well this one might be good, or this one or these other 20. LOL then I have wasted 10 minutes in the a.m. deciding.

Laurie: Great job with Peak Cardio, always fun! Hopefully you are feeling it for the Stretch X tonight; I would imagine it is a good one and will feel good to your body. That’s funny about your daughter watching the YouTube videos; my BFF (hairdresser) does the same thing quite often to keep current and/or refresh herself on some of the newer ideas/techniques. I’m not sure what took so long the other day but it was pretty cold out just standing there. I guess they had to go to the main building after the gym in order to turn it off. What great timing that you can just start going to your daughter! No need to look for someone after being disappointed from your current lady. Yay!

Laurel: Frustrating when your waiting on people to show up ….. makes your whole day scheduled around “when” it happens and how long. At least it is getting fixed and great idea on the photos. Sounds like another great XT combo for you today, great work! As I mentioned to Laurie, it wasn’t warm out at all so luckily it wasn’t raining but didn’t give us much time to warm-up again and play; we just started playing right away.

Thank you for the kind words on my Grandma. You are exactly right, what an amazing thing that she was able to spend her whole life in her own home. She used to talk to me about that and how much it meant to her to live on her own. . . . . Thank you all for the well wishes and nice thoughts on my little Grandma. I am doing pretty good about it and thinking very positive; I know when I get the call from my cousin there will be some tears but I am so happy for the wonderful life she lived and wanted to live right until the end.

Have a great evening ladies ~ until tomorrow!
Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies! tonight I did XT Bi's & Tri's w/u, BB Bulk Arms. Today was a very stressful day at work, add to that the self imposed crazy deadline for the course and you have the recipe for a total meltdown. Tonight I decided that I wasn't going to kill myself over the course because work got on the way. So tonight instead of studying I worked. Oh well!

Laurie, great workouts! 80's music is my favorite!
I forget to comment on your DD watching youtube videos. My niece does the same thing and her hair looks amazing! I could watch a video a million times and could never achieve the look on my own!

Laurel, I hope the tile guy showed up! Great workout combo today! I definitely need a workout plan for my daily workout. Ever since you helped me create with my first rotation I just can't live without one. It's more efficient!

Tami, does the BootCamp class ever get so jam packed? I don't remember you talking about the place being so packed! Awesome workouts!!!
I wanted to finish that course before my aunts got here but it may not happen. I need to prepare for their visit. Like wash/refresh all the winter clothes they wear when they are here. So much to do, so little time! Then on 11/5 we have my BIL and his wife here for DH's bday! I hate not having me time! I'm so overwhelmed!

Hi Becky! So glad you loved your first STS workout! Congrats again!

Good night ladies!!!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

After work was Stretch X, and that really did feel good. This morning I did the warm-up from ICE Upper Body and then X2 Core.

Laurel, Great job on the workouts! Oh my on the foundation! Good idea taking those pictures, just in case something happens in the future. We had been typing at the same time yesterday, so our post are only a couple minutes apart. I forgot to tell you that I was trying to be brave on Sunday. When doing Balance & Power, I thought why not try the first stability ball move on the ball. I flew off and landed on the floor. That was the end of that one. It was the Sphinx side to side. I went back to doing the modified version, at least I was closer to the floor. Just thought you would understand.

Tami, Now that bootcamp class sounds like a Cathe bootcamp. Nice job on the STS workout also. Are you enjoying your current rotation so far? I think this younger generation can really appreciate the youtube, since they grew up with it. I'm actually surprised at how many things are on there. They are so good at changing their hair, makeup and color that it floors me sometimes. I'm happy to give my dd the business, and I'm comfortable with her cutting it so that works out good. She is a little leery of coloring my hair. I told her that really doesn't matter to me all that much. Just as long as she gets it close.

Thelma, Good job getting in that workout even though you had such a stress filled day. You are doing what is right for you, so never feel bad about that. I'm like you, I see those videos and can't make heads or tails out of how to do the same thing. My makeup is always super simple, but I know that the dd's have been trying to help me every so often. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they fail.

Becky, Hope your day is going well.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Well, bad news on the tile front. Who knew replacing two tiles would be so hard!! Anyhow, the guy placed the tile yesterday and was going to come back and grout this morning. But as the day went on, I noticed the tiles weren't level and when DH came home, he put our sink back in place (the tiles are under a pedestal sink)......and the guy had cut the tiles wrong!!! So he was here again this morning and was very nice about it. But it means starting over again. So I am waiting for a phone call to make another appointment for them to come rip out the tile, etc. Good thing I don't work or this might be making me postal.

Anyhow, I did get in a good workout this morning. I started with the standing work from XTrain Legs. Not my favorite workout but was a nice bit of leg work to take into X2 Total Body. I am enjoying this workout more and more each week. For cardio, I did Tabatacise and XT Core 2.

Tami, sounds like a good, tamer BC class. Again, it must be so nice to have a BC class where the instructor changes things up......unlike what you experienced for years. Bravo to Katy! But working out in a corner.......not so much fun. Great job with STS though! Bet your body is getting a pleasant shock from this undulating rotation. Love that one!

Laurie, we did post at the same time yesterday! Sorry I missed your post......and I even looked for it after I posted!! But it hadn't showed up yet. Anyhow, those Sphinx/plank things on the stability ball are no joke!! Believe it or not.....I have pretty much mastered that move now. But I couldn't do one my first time through the program, so I completely understand your experience. And have the memory of the bruises to prove it!! My shoulder still doesn't like that press from Sphinx to plank Tony does, so I do come up off my forearms pretty unevenly.....which is dicey on a stability ball!! I am fine with sticking with these workouts one more week. I am not at all tired of them yet! Actually, it works out nicely if we do this one more week, the next phase for four weeks and then three weeks for the final phase. I would actually be okay doing five/two for the final two phases if I am being honest. Tony recommends a minimum of three weeks for the final phases but you do the workouts twice each week. Not my favorite phase! Anyhow, we can get to that later but let's go with one more week on this phase. I love that your DD is self-learning on YouTube!! Fantastic idea actually.

Thelma, sorry to hear about the double whammy of work and studying! No fun. Good job with the workout. Hopefully that helped take your mind off some things. Like you, since I have started doing rotations, I have a hard time going more than a week or two without one. Too much thinking involved when there is no rotation to guide me!!

Becky, anxious to hear your impressions of STS!

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ I ended up not going to Insane X last night; DH and I went out for dinner and then watched the first game of the World Series, so that was a nice relaxing evening. He wanted to take me out the other night but just hasn't had the energy. So it was a nice gesture I couldn't turn down. Even for Insanity.
This a.m. was STS Back/Bi’s and tonight I will head to Spinning.

I did receive the call I knew was coming from my cousin and my Grandma passed away early this a.m. I feel sad in the loss of losing a loved one forsure but as I said before, she lived a very long and good quality of life so I am happy she was able to pass on peacefully and with loved ones nearby. Not sure when the funeral will be. They will let me know.

Thelma: Great workout with Bulk Arms despite the very stressful day at work and even into the evening. I’m sorry. Boot Camp is packed right now because the Biggest Loser started a couple weeks ago; therefore they are required to attend some classes. BootCamp is one that is at a convenient time and doesn’t sound like you will DIE. Little do they know what she can do (unlike the class description they read about . . . LOL). So it will be that way off and on for a few weeks. It’s hard when you have so many things pressing on the “To Do” list forsure; but you will get there and it will all work out. Remind yourself to do what you can do each day and take it one day at a time.

Laurie: Being from the Midwest which team are you rooting for in the World Series? I think it would be so good to see Chicago win since it has been soooooo long for them even being there.
Way to go getting in the Stretch X and then X2 Core this a.m. Yikes on the Sphinx move, but good on ya for giving it a try. Sometimes you can surprise yourself; and not to say you won’t be able to conquer that in the future. Yes, it was a very traditional but good BC class on Monday. It’s nice when she throws those in. It may have been because so many newbies were there, but not sure. I bet your DD will do a fabulous job on the color. Great there is no pressure on your part. LOL Thanks for the kudos on my workout; yes I am really like this current rotation. It is nice to opt in & out for all the X10 workouts on those days to add a little variety, but whenever I do an undulating rotation of STS it feels like a lot of variety ~ and keeps my body guessing. SO it is good so far.

Laurel: Dang it on the tile work ….. isn’t that how it goes sometimes. SHEESH. Hurry up and wait and then hurry up and wait again. Hopefully this time is the goer! Great job getting in your workout(s) this a.m. It is SO nice having a different format weekly vs. the same class week after week doing the same things all the time. Yes, I am so happy for that. I am really enjoying this rotation so far forsure; definitely shocking my body with undulating which is what I love about that format. Hoping it brings some good results as I always do from each rotation I commit too. I am being pretty strict with myself on my food/eating plan right now so hopefully the two will come together nicely.

Talk to you ladies tomorrow ~ Tami

smile_laughter

Hi Ladies - I started STS and am already in love with it. I read most of the book the night I got the series. Yesterday was the 1st disk - my arms felt like jello afterwards. It will take me awhile to figure out the amount of weights to use (I tried her 1 rep max spreadsheet on the website, and all it has done is confuse me......did you all do this?). Thelma - your excel spreadsheet is amazing and will be a huge help for me. Since the recommendation is to do 3 disks a week, I chose today to be a cardio day. I tried the Low Impact mix that included Blizzard blast with the 2 cardio routines. I felt like I was in the yoga hot room - I was dripping with sweat afterwards (so yes....loved it).

Water is back on now (thank goodness). Today, my daughter (4 yrs old) had to get two silver crowns, so I took the day off work. I didn't realize how much stress I was under with this until she was done and I almost burst into tears knowing she was ok. Apparently, her back molars didn't grow in all the way and have huge fissures in them. So, no amount of brushing could save the back molars. So, the dentist recommended two silver crowns and the rest she can fill. Luckily, these aren't permanent teeth. The "kiddie cocktail" that she had to drink turned her into a happy drunk. She was so giggly and happy. She loves her "princess crowns" that her teeth have now. I took a nap with her afterwards (I never take naps.....it felt great!)

Laurel - Ugghhh......your tile situation does not sound like fun. I bet it has thrown your whole routine off....yuk. I am glad you were able to get your workouts in. Thanks for offering to answer any questions I have, so - here it goes (these can be for the entire group, too):

• Did you do the 1 rep max test the Cathe recommends?
• How long did it take you to figure out the correct weights to use?
• I believe you want to go as heavy as possible, as long as you can do the entire set, right?
• Did you follow Cathe's recommendations of doing 3 routines a week and fill the other days with cardio or other things (Thelma's spreadsheet shows me what she did, but what did you other ladies do?)
• Any other advice?

I am glad your FIL and MIL are well. That is wonderful that your FIL has done well with having diabetes for that long. My grandmother had it for about 35 years. She kept is under control and lived to be 92. Sorry to hear that he has tremors, though. At least he is out playing golf and being active.

Laurie - Great job on your workouts - the stretch one sounds great. I believe I asked before, but I can't find the post - how many yoga dvds do you have and which ones? I haven't tried any at home ones. The sticky fingers event sounds like a lot of fun. I love trying new foods from different restaurants. Congrats to your friend! Advertising is so important in the success of businesses. Hopefully it helps him.

Thelma - I know I have said it a million times, but thank you again for that excel spreadsheet. It is so impressive and well done. Great job on your workouts, and I am very glad you got them in - even though you are stressed. You have to take care of yourself, too. Sorry to hear that work and the course may cause a melt down. When I have these moments, I will sit in my office (sometimes about ready to scream), turn off the lights and just breathe for a few minutes. Deep breaths......stress is so incredibly bad (it ruled my life for 6 years.....I refuse to let it do that to me again). You can do this! I love the 2 dance videos you shared.....they have great songs and routines to them. Thriller was another dance video we had to do as part of the "monster dance challenge", and that one was fun, too. I had no idea that you were from El Salvador. If I may ask, how long have you lived in the states? Do you miss El Salvador?

Tami - You are rocking the workouts; great job! Thanks for offering to answer questions, so please see questions in Laurel's piece. I did print out the worksheet for workout #1, but it confused me. It gives me my 1 rep max amount to use, so do I go a few pounds lower? I don't know....I am sure it is explained very well on her website or in the book, but it wasn't clear to me (maybe I need to slow down and read it all more slowly.....I was so excited that I may have read it all too fast). You and your family are in my thoughts with your gma. Well wishes are sent your way.

Tomorrow will be disk 2 - can't wait - Becky

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies! Another insane day at work! I did not feel like lifting weights so I jumped on the spinning bike.

Laurie, great workouts! I think you got a nice deal with your dd cutting your hair and soon shell color it too! I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't figure out those how to videos! LOL

Laurel, another great combo today!! Sorry about the tile guy not doing a good job! He better get right this second time around and I hope the house builder pays for the expense for you guys.
Making the decision to take the extension for the course I'm taking has helped with my stress. I do have tomorrow as a study day so I hope be able to finish module 4 between tomorrow and 11/1. Rotations are the best idea ever!

Tami, I'm terribly sorry about your grandmother. Sounds like she had a wonderful life.
Great workout this morning! How nice of your DH to take you out to dinner!
The poor Biggest Loser victims! No wonder the gym was packed! Thanks Tami, all I can say to myself is do the best I can about work. It's a hard when you're in multiple projects at the same time.

Becky, so glad you're liking STS so much and that my spreadsheet is being of help to you. I worked on that spreadsheet for a couple of weeks a little at-a-time. I didn't do that one rep max exercise but I know the other ladies in the group did it. During my first attempt at doing STS I had no clue what weights to use so I started with lite weights. That didn't last long cause I injured myself. This second time around Laurel suggested I start with the Meso II phase because I was had just finished Body Beast and I was afraid to do a lot of push ups. This worked out beautifully for me. This time I had the BB workout sheets so I used those weights as my starting weights. As I went I wrote little notes next to the exercises when the weights were too lite/heavy. This way I'd knew to go up/down the next time I did the workout. As you can see my workout sheets doesn't have the one rep max.
I bet you are relieved to have running water again! AWWW so cute about your little princess!
I hope to be in better shape for this week's work load by the end of the weekend. Just in time for next week's stress. I left El Salvador in 1980. I don't miss being there at all. Things are still very dangerous there. My family won't let me go visit because of the gang dangers. When my uncle passed away earlier in the year I was ready to go home but I was told not to by my father and my aunt. So for the last 4-5 years DH and I have been flying my aunts to the US so we can be with them. One of my aunts lives in Italy so it's a little family reunion.

Good night ladies!!!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

After work was Cardio Strength 1, and I don't know what I was talking about yesterday. I said I did X2 Core, and I really had done X2 Total Body! Truly getting confused as to which workout I'm doing. It must be that they are similar, but different. Anyway, this morning was Peak Sweat & Burn Cardio. I don't think I will confuse X2 Yoga for any of the other ones. That will be my workout tonight, and it is perfect to do when Rocket is tired.

Laurel, So sorry to hear that the tile work is still an issue, hopefully it will be taken care of quickly. That has to be really annoying that this issue is taking so long to resolve. Great job on the workouts, even though one of them is not a favorite. I agree with you by the way, that one just seems to go longer than it needs to. I think that I'm enjoying these X2 workouts more each week also, I can see improvement each week. I will be very happy when I master some of these moves on the ball. Yesterday I inflated my stability ball a little more, so hoping that will help me a little more. I really like your idea of 5-4-3, that would make the week of Christmas for me to do whatever I want to do. Since that is my busy time for family, it will be less stressful.

Tami, So sorry to hear about your Grandmother. Even though you knew that call was coming, it still is a shock. You and your family will be in my prayers. Awesome job on getting in your workouts, that has to help you at a time like this also. Dang on all those newbies being in class, they will surely get a shock when Katy pulls out a difficult class. It is really difficult to say that I'm rooting for the Cubs. Since Milwaukee is so close to Chicago, the Cubs fans use Miller Park like a second Wrigley Field when they are playing the Brewers. So when you attend those games, it almost feels like it is a Cubs home game. The fans are pretty horrible too. Might be that very long rivalry that the Bears/Packers have had also. I have a soft spot for the Indians, because when they where filming the movie Major League, they filmed the majority of that movie here in Milwaukee. Every time I see that movie, you can pick out where they filmed. I will probably be trying the X2 workouts again in the future, because they have moved me to improve my balance even more. The first phase of X2 reminds me of some of the workouts in Hammer & Chisel. Glad to hear the rotation is giving you the variety, that is what helps me stay motivated to do them.

Becky, Glad to hear that your water is back on. My youngest dd had a couple of silver crowns, sometimes teeth are like that no matter how much they brush. The STS 1 rep max can be confusing. It is easier to understand if you enter your 1 rep max numbers into the workout manager the first time. The workout manager will calculate your weight from what you entered as your 1rm. In the workout manager there is a tab that gives you can use to calculate each exercise in STS. So for the first week, I think you do somewhere in the 65-70% range, the workout manager will take your 1rm and give you the weight to use at the 65-70% range. So lets say that you used 10lbs on overhead presses for your 1rm, you would then use 6-7 lbs for that exercise in the first week of phase 1. Probably still confusing, but it did give me a starting point. The first time I did STS, I followed a rotation that Cathe created. This is the one that I did the first round. cathe.com/forum/threads/sts-cardio-rotation-suggestions.257971/ She had to split the pages up, so this is the second page. http://cathe.com/forum/threads/part-two-sts-cardio-rotation-contd.257972/ LOL I have a lot of DVD's for yoga, and I should really do more of them. I have the Yoga Warrior 365, all of Kristin McGee's. A few other instructors that I have one of.

Thelma, Nice that you got your spinning in after your stressful day. Not fun when you have a heavy work load and then this course on top of that. Seems everyone around here waits until the end of the year to get their projects finished up around here. Why!

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! No tile guy today.....but he will be back for three more fun-filled days starting next Monday. Sigh. They wanted to make the appointment for week after next but since the floor sits half-finished right now, I just want it done. Like I said before, I am a serial completionist.....even if I am not the one doing the work!

Anyhow, it was nice to do my workout in my schedule today and allowed for a little longer workout. So I started with Cathe's X77 premix which I have not done in awhile. It flew by today. I followed it with X2 Yoga which felt fantastic.

Tami, I am so sorry to hear about your grandmother. You are definitely in my thoughts and prayers. I think enjoying the evening with your DH and watching baseball sounds like a great reason to miss InsaneX. Hope you see and feel some good results from your workout and eating plans. Sounds like you are on the perfect track going into the holidays.....a time of year that requires me to be actively disciplined about both workouts and eating, that's for sure.

Becky, so happy to hear you enjoyed your first STS workout! That one moves so quickly and is such a killer on the arms, that's for sure. To answer your questions:

1-2. Yes, I did the one rep max. I did it as my workout one day, and if I recall correctly, it took a little more than an hour. I will admit, I wasn't compulsive about being exact on all the moves but even with a relatively half-hearted attempt, I was SO happy I did it. What I found was that having the weight suggestions on my worksheets based on my 1RM had me lifting heavier than I anticipated. I do credit that for some of the amazing results I had with STS. It was not my favorite thing to do, so I understand why people don't do it. But I am glad I did. So, for me, there was very little figuring out of weights when I started the program.

3. If you don't do the 1RM, I definitely suggest trying to lift as heavy as you can. Again, I surprised myself by lifting heavier on some moves than I thought would be possible, especially since I, by habit, have a tendency to go with Cathe's weight recommendations in her other workouts (a rather bad and lazy habit of mine if I am being totally honest). If I had reached for those same weights in STS, I would have been shorting myself. So do try to push it--within reason, of course!

5-6. The first time I did STS, I did it three days a week as recommended. I did cardio on the 'off' days, just as you did this week. I did Cathe's six month rotation the first time I did STS. I know a six month rotation is a scary option, especially if you aren't used to rotations (I had only managed a couple one month rotations before doing STS). But I think this was hugely important for me because it really allowed me to settle into each workout, learn the moves in each workout, make minor weight adjustments, etc. I have done a few six month rotations with it now, and since it is just three days a week (and you only do each workout twice in that whole time), I have never gotten bored with it. Just a suggestion. Anyhow, since the first time through STS, I have added extra strength sessions to it. My favorite is to do STS like this: Day 1--Non-STS Lower Body, Day 2--STS Upper, Day 3--STS Lower, Day 4--STS Upper, Day 5--Yoga, Day 6--Non-STS Total Body (or Cathe's STS Total Body workout which is fantastic!), Day 7--Off. But this suits my workout schedule since I can add cardio each day. But I would recommend doing STS three days a week as recommended in the beginning.....just to see how it goes for you 'as is'.

Hope that helps! Hope your DD is handling her new crowns okay. Great cardio workout too! Love that one. That Blizzard Blast is pretty serious!

Thelma, sounds like the spin bike was the best option after what sounds like a long day in an already long week! I forgot one of your aunts lives in Italy. Hopefully she wasn't impacted by the recent earthquakes there. Just north of where we lived in Italy (we lived north of Venice), there was massive destruction from an earthquake that had hit the area. So those Italian earthquakes can be scary! The good thing about the tile job is it is covered in the house warranty. We are coming up to two years in the house and the warranty expires then. So that so why we are trying to get it done now. If we were paying for this........we probably would have opted to do it ourselves and, with little doubt, done a better job.

Laurie, after I wrote my post yesterday I remembered I had forgotten to explain why I was thinking about the number of weeks remaining in our rotation. I pictured you reading it saying 'What's the rush?' But you got it!! Yes, my hope is to finish the rotation before Christmas. I have hard time working out over the holidays at times, and with DH on Christmas break......well, I do what I can. Plus, I think we are going to try to get away for a few days at that time......so I have a deadline in mind that I forgot to tell you about! But I am happy you are on the exact same page with it. 5-4-3 weeks it is then! Great workouts! LOL at confusing X2 Core with Total Body! I should have noticed that.....since that's the workout I did too!

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ Good Spinning class last night, good music that didn’t let my mind wander. Not packed full and a handful left at the 45 min mark; which was strange but sometimes people do that. This a.m. I slept in. I was exhausted. No workout tonight so it will be a “REST” day I suppose. Back at it tomorrow with Cardio!
Thank you all for your kind words and prayers about my Grandma. I’ve been reflecting on so many wonderful memories I have from her and all of our conversations over lunch we used to have. Truly an amazing woman.

Becky: Again, SO happy for you with STS! Imagine, that is pretty much how I feel each time doing the program. (Just a little something to look forward to always). LOL So looks like everyone answered up really well on this. I also did the 1RM’s and it took me a good hour I would say as well. At the time, I thought UGH, why am I doing this but as precise as she has calculated out percentages for each Meso Cycle I thought, there is some specific reasons for this and just do it! So I plugged them into the computer on her site and then printed out my sheets. Fantastic! Now on some of them I obviously didn’t calculate right because I automatically went up in weight and over the years I have made notes and adjustments. But yes, if you aren’t going to do that then just go as heavy as you think for those exercises as long as you can make the reps. Great job with your workouts.

Thelma: Way to go by jumping on the Spin bike! You got some good sweat on and I am sure it felt great. I do feel for the BL participants and the “deer in the headlights” look they sometimes have. Despite it being crowded I usually try to help someone out because I can’t imagine that feeling and being discouraged.

Laurie: Fantastic workout with Cardio Strength 1, Peak Sweat & Burn and hopefully getting in your X2 Yoga tonight. You’re exactly right when Katy pulls out the full guns on them one of these nights. Poor peeps. I understand your thinking on not rooting for the Cubs with all the rivalries going on there! So go Indians for you. I think it is fabulous that they are both there after so long. That is awesome that those X2 workouts remind you a little bit of H&C! I should have stuck it out longer. LOL That’s great and happy you are liking them.

Laurel: Yay on no tile guy and back to your normal a.m.! Fantastic work on X77! That one has never “flown” by for me so good on you. Great job ending with X2 Yoga as well. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts about my Grandma. Yes, the evening with DH felt very relaxing and nice. Of course Katy asked me where I was. Sheesh! I hope to be very diligent with my rotation and eating. I usually don’t stray too far but buckling down right before the holidays can be a challenge. So thank you!!

Talk to you ladies tomorrow ~ Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies! No workout for me tonight. I was just too exhausted from doing the course all day long! I made good progress so I may just be able to finish this module then. I did get the extension today. I have until Feb 1st I think but I can't afford to procrastinate anymore.

Laurie, great job with those workouts! I hope you enjoyed your yoga workout! With this course everybody waited till it was too late at my job! LOL

Laurel, sorry you have to wait till next week to get those tiles done. Nice combo today! Thanks for asking about my aunt in Italy! She's not near the earthquake area thankfully.

Tami, great spin yesterday! So glad you've been reflecting on the wonderful memories you have from your grandmother! You're so good for helping helping a lucky BL person during Katy's class!

Hi Becky!

Good night ladies!!!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Got in X2 Yoga last night, and it was perfect. This morning was X2 Balance & Power. Don't think I will be doing a workout tonight, Rocket has to go in for some shots, and then we will probably be having a date night.

Laurel, Dang on the tile work! I would be wanting them to complete the job sooner rather than later also, so good job getting them to not wait until it starts getting into the 2 week time frame. Awesome job on the workouts, I still have never tried that premix on X10. I'm glad that we where thinking along the same lines with Christmas coming up, I usually don't want to worry about a rotation during that time frame. Then we can start a new rotation at the beginning of the year. I do have to say that the girl in Balance & Power, I think her name is Barbie? She is starting to annoy me with all her pretend groaning. Seriously, those moves that she is groaning in are not that difficult to warrant all that noise. I think Tony even indicates that she is over dramatic at one point. Just thought I would make you laugh today.

Tami, Glad that you enjoyed the spinning music. Interesting that so many people can't take the full class. That is what you need to do, remember all the good times you had with your Grandmother. LOL about the poor peeps, they will be falling on the floor at some point. We will see how the next two phases go with X2, so far I really enjoy all these balance moves. I'm sure that if I went past the 3-6 weeks, they would get really old fast. I should give you a big thank you for having these workouts available for me to use. I have been a little surprised at how my hips are feeling, so that makes me think that I have not been engaging my core as much as I should be. Will have to work on that more.

Thelma, Glad you are able to get the current module finished up, and that you have until Feb to get it all done. I'm not surprised that a lot of people procrastinated about that course. It sounds like a daunting thing to have to finish, and also do you job. I'm glad that our courses are spread out, and short. I did enjoy the yoga last night, it really felt good on the hips.

Becky, Hope you are having a great week.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Did a nice, long workout today since my time is mine today again. Next week.....not so much. So I started out with Flex Train then went right into X2 Balance and Power. Wow, that one flew by today. I was doing a couple of moves and remembering that just four weeks ago I was struggling so badly on them. And today......not easy, but definitely easier! Love that so much about this program! It is like what once is impossible becomes possible. Anyhow, that was quite a duo of workouts, so I took a bit of a break, then did Rockout Knockout. Perfect for today.

Tami, music makes so much difference in workouts, doesn't it? I am glad you are going your body and mind a rest. Grief is, literally, exhausting. So keep listening to your body, do what you feel like doing.....and forget about what you aren't doing.

Thelma, don't blame you for taking a day off. You've had a tough week! Glad to hear your aunt is okay. Bet you are getting anxious to see them!

Laurie, great workouts! Hope you enjoy a nice date night tonight. Yes, Barbie can be annoying, and I completely agree with you on the noises. But she is not as annoying to me as Dreya. Dreya didn't bother too much in P90X, but she gets on my last nerve in X2 Total Body. But the good thing about having my Fit Tower in another room is I am not listening to that workout as much as some others!

Becky, hope you are well!

See you Monday.

Laurel

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies! on Friday I did ICE Chiseled Upper Body and treadmill, on Saturday ICE Rock'm Sock'm and today spinning. I didn't do any studying this weekend but I did work. I just couldn't do both. Did you ladies get an email from BeachBody about a MMA inspired workout called Core de Force? The videos are scheduled to be released on 11/1. They're still doing test groups.

Laurie, good job with your X2 workouts! How did Rocket do with his shots? The course really is a daunting thing to have to finish. So boring! Glad you enjoyed your yoga workout!

Laurel, great job with X2 and seeing improvement already! I can't wait to see my aunts. It's always fun to have them around.

Hi Tami and Becky!

Good night ladies!!!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Friday DH and I had a very nice date night, and Rocket did fine with his shots. He actually is a trouper when it comes to those, in and out with the tech. He sure doesn't like to go into the vets office though. Saturday was a rest day, and cleaning the house. We also went to look at carpeting for our family and living room. There are just way to many choices out there. Sunday was Jillian's Bodyshred Launch and then followed that up with X2 Core. This morning was Bodyshred Rise, and after work will be Plyocide.

Laurel, Great workouts. I can say that I agree with you on these workouts. I didn't think that would be the case when I first started these, couldn't imagine being able to do a push-up with the ball at all. I'm not great, but way better than I was the very first day. Oh yes Dreya, she annoyed me a lot in P90X, and I'm trying really hard to not notice her in this series. Tony tends to fawn over her though, so that makes it hard. I like it better when he is bantering with his sister.

Thelma, Awesome job with the workouts. Don't blame you for avoiding the training, that must have made your weekend a little better even though you had to work. Yep I did get the information on the Core de Force, and I'm really interested in them. I'm a huge fan of MMA, so really will have a hard time resisting.

Tami and Becky, Hope your weekend was a good one.

Have a great day!
Laurie