Cathe Fans Part 5

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ Sorry I missed you all yesterday. I only worked until 12:30 and then headed to my dental appt for the afternoon and home. My appt went very well and my dentist of course was there and took the time to answer my question thoroughly about my concern with the 2 teeth being lined up with on another. Basically due to them both being molars and the one has had a filling as a kid then a porcelain filling and it is used A LOT it can sometimes just develop cracks and/or I could have bitten something hard to make them happen. The already crowned tooth he explained he did very “conservative” job on that tooth due to the minor cracks, now some decay along with cracks at formed so a new crown was necessary. Both made sense and he said it wasn’t something I was doing, especially since I wear retainers at night. I was completely numb from my eyebrow to middle of chin so they suggested I didn’t go back to work. So I headed home and did my workout. Felt like I should be at work but they didn’t mind and it is still very slow for me. Did KCM Step Boxin #2 + JS Cardio Abs for a little cardio.

Laurie: You first because I feel like a HUGE WIMP to even mention my little crowns compared to what you have gone through. OUCH. I am so sorry. I hope today has been better for you. We are also hoping for a nicer March than February was. We have small break other than single digits at night until Thursday and then more snow is in the forecast. We will see.

Laurel: I am very relieved to hear your leg is going to heal on its own, but YIKES. Who would have known! No wonder it hurt so much. Do they know if it is from that day or an older injury? Glad that you have peace of mind now and can move forward. I know you will be 100% even sooner than they say so the patience to stay off of your normal routine will be the hard part. Fabulous job with your workouts during this time! You are always amazing in what you put together!

Thelma: Excellent job getting in your KB and Leslie Sansone workout. I hope if you are coming down with a cold it is short lived. I’m sorry to hear that. Glad your hands are back to normal though. Yes, the Metallica Monday was definitely NOT my favorite. I think she could tell by our lack of motivation it wasn’t a good idea by the end.
Have a great weekend ladies!

Tami

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

First of all Laurel, I hope that you and your DH are okay after yesterday's tornadoes.

I'm having some problems with my mouth and lifting weights. I tried to do my Meso 2 workout on Sunday, and that didn't go so well with the heavy weights. I guess that I need to lift lighter weights for a little while yet. I did get in Jillian's Lift & Shred Level 1 on Friday after work with no problem , and yoga with Eion again on Saturday. So I nixed my M2 workout on Sunday after the initial chest work, and took some ibuprofen. This morning I went back to the Lift & Shred workout Level 1 and tried out Body Design Upper Body Strength with it. That seemed to be okay, so we will take this course for the rest of the week. I noticed some problems with M2 last week, with some tingling in my elbows also.

On a bright side, I finished another banner for church and it turned out to be very nice.

Laurel, Great job on your workouts, it sure looks like you are going to be going strong. I have not tried out cardio yet with this mouth, so I may be in the same boat as you. I'm thinking that kickboxing might be okay, so we will see. You will not be alone in modifying some moves on the Road Trip, I really don't do a lot of jumping moves anymore. If I do them, I end up going to low impact when my knee starts to complain that I'm doing to many. I'm so thankful to Kelly, Jessica and Cathe for giving different moves in workouts so that I can use other instructors and modify.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Hope you enjoyed the weekend. Thankfully we were not near those horrific tornadoes that hit Alabama yesterday. So very sad. This just seems to be one of those particularly brutal winters for most of the nation. Reading about people stuck in snow for days in Oregon, the cold temps across the country, and then storms like here in Alabama yesterday.....well, hoping for a better spring for everybody.

My workouts this weekend were good, though. On Saturday I pulled out a very old workout, which was Jules Benson Total Core Pilates. This is a one hour mat workout that really hits the lower body and core. My ab muscles were screaming yesterday from it! Yesterday was STS Disc 15/Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, and I felt pretty strong on that one yesterday. I also had DH reintroduce me to his Bowflex Max Trainer, which I am going to ease into slowly this week. This morning I got on it for five minutes. I wanted to do more, but I made that promise to myself last week to set goals and stop.....so I stopped! But the leg felt pretty good with it. Then I did Cathe’s Fit Tower Legs, Glutes and Core doubled premix. My legs are going to be sore tomorrow, no doubt. But it felt good!

Tami, I am happy things went well at the dentist and you got a full explanation on what happened and why. Now you at least have some peace of mind that it isn’t something you were doing that caused the cracks. Great job getting a workout in with a numb face! That is one feeling I don’t enjoy, that’s for certain. Honestly, I got no answers on my leg at all. It was a little frustrating because the conversation kind of went ‘you’ve torn this and have a cyst. Do you want us to refer you to PT?’ I asked a couple of questions, but didn’t know enough about anything to ask any smart questions. And, of course, reading the internet is about the worst thing I could do, but that is where I went to figure out what it meant to have torn this muscle. But since I heard the ‘pop’ that day, I am pretty sure that is when the tear occurred, though I had probably partially torn it earlier in the week when I could no longer push off on the leg. I am going to give it until the weekend and if I still don’t feel more comfortable in figuring out how to rehab it, I will probably call back for a PT referral, even if I just get to talk to somebody and get some questions answered.

Laurie, I am sorry to hear about the difficulty with your mouth, but with stitches like that.....well, I don’t think I would have even tried heavy weight. I am such a stitch wimp! So good job giving it a try and figuring out what is going to work best for you as you recover. Thank you for your thoughts with the tornadoes. They had predicted some severe weather here, but except from the never-ending rain, we just had a little thunder and lightening. We were pretty busy all day so I was surprised when we got home to see the news on what happened south of here. About the Road Trip, I figure we won’t be alone in modifying, especially if the floor is as hard as some hotel conference room floors. I have no problem modifying if it keeps me safe, that’s for sure!

Thelma, hope you are well.

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ Weekend was VERY cold but good. Saturday a.m. I headed out to my hair appt and then some errands. Then Home Sweet Home to get warm. Yesterday I did STS #15 Chest/Should/Tris followed by Rockout Knockout (TS #3 pre-mix) which was right about 45 min. Just love adding on KB for cardio after Upper Body work. No workout this a.m. but will head to BootCamp . . . . praying for no Metallica Monday action again this week.

Laurie: I am so sorry to hear you are still having some pain/discomfort with your tooth. And AGAIN may I say what a WIMP I am for complaining and feeling nervous about my procedure last week. I hope this week shows some improvement for you very soon. Sounds like you are picking some workouts that work for you right now and that is awesome! Yay on finishing up a banner for church as well.

Laurel: I was so happy to see you reporting in today after hearing about those horrible tornadoes in Alabama on the news this a.m.! YIKES. I was thinking, that can’t be Laurel’s area, she was just having SPRING weather. I realize mother nature changes things up quick but I was super glad regardless it wasn’t your area. Another weekend of fabulous workouts, even with your injury. I am happy to hear it continues to feel better. That’s super frustrating about no answers. I would suggest not reading the internet forsure ….. that always sends a person right into another world of unknowns and sometimes panic. Depending on the PT they can be really helpful (as you know) so that might not be a bad idea.

Happy Monday Ladies, Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I've continued on my cardio kick and on Saturday I did a stretching workout. DH and I worked really hard on doing things around the house. We've been exhausted. We got a little snow on Saturday and last night we got hit with 14 inches of snow. Poor DH had to clean that up!

Thankfully the cold symptoms were short lived and didn't hit me like it did DH. On Friday I met 2 of my ex-coworkers and that was fun. It made me realized that even though I am busy with getting the house ready I am no longer stressed like I was when I was working. One of my co-workers said I looked younger. Probably because I can actually sleep now. I will be meeting them on the 15th one last time.

On Sunday we met my BIL and SIL for brunch. I knew that was the last time I'd be seeing them before my move. I lost it when it was time to say good bye. Now it's feeling real ladies.

Ladies, do any of you have satellite TV or do you have a streaming box like Roku? Trying to figure out what we will do in GA. A lot of people seem to be streaming in BR. Roku seems to be the best from what I'm reading. Of course streaming is as good as your internet speed, and that is not very fast in BR! OMG!

I've been researching dance subfloors for my workout room. I think I found one but God knows when DH will have time to order it and install it. I'll have to do any jumping on the trampoline.

Laurie, OMG with your extraction! I hope your mouth is feeling better. Amazing that you tried lifting so soon after that surgery! Great job with your workouts. Good idea to go lower if your body is sending signals that something doesn't feel right. Take it easy please.

Congrats on finishing another church banner! I bet it is really nice just like your last one.

Laurel, I heard about the tornadoes and I checked the area and knew you were not in the affected area. The country has been hit hard with the weather. I heard that GA had tornado warnings too but thankfully nothing happened.

So glad you've started to do a little leg work! I bet that feels great! Good for you for setting limits to the amount of leg work you're doing!! I know that is hard for you, but better safe than sorry.

I'm with you on the stich wimp! My cats just had oral surgery last week and I had to give them pain meds for 4 days which made them pretty sleepy.

Tami, so glad you were able to get a good explanation about your teeth from your dentist. Great workouts!!
My hands are not exactly back to normal I'm finding when I am cleaning walls. I did a lot of that and windows over the weekend and my right hand was hurting. I have to push through the pain though because I am getting there. I have 6 windows left to clean, and 2 rooms. Then I'll move on to other types of cleaning. Finishing up the kitchen cabinets tomorrow.
I told DH that now that I am the cleaning lady we need to be very careful about keeping the house clean. LOL

Have a good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

The mouth is feeling way better today than it has all weekend and even into yesterday. It is really cold here, and I'm really ready for some warmer weather that we are getting this weekend. I can't believe that I'm excited about 30's, but the single digit and below zero's are getting old. Anyway this morning I did Jillian's Kickbox FastFix Workout 1, and then followed that up with Kelly's Body Design Cardio Bootcamp. This was my first attempt at cardio, and I think that I picked good ones. I have to confess that I really loved yesterday's combo of Lift & Shred with the upper body workout from Body Design. I have DOMS that I didn't think I would have.

Laurel, Now that sounds like a great core workout if the abs got worked so well. Great job on your workouts, and being able to get your legs working again. Hope your legs are doing okay today, even though we do love to have those DOMS and not the injured feeling. I did have my hygienist said that with my age it may take a little longer to recover, guess that she was correct. Dang this getting old thing. I'm glad to hear that you are safe. We have had some nasty tornadoes go through our state, but they don't really hit high populated areas.

Tami, Got to love all the workouts! I to hope that you didn't have Metallica Fest going on for your class. I think that combo is my favorite way to do upper body also, it just seems to work together. I have had so much work done on my mouth that sometimes I take a rather laid back attitude sometimes. It is hard trying to find soft food that isn't boring though, that has been a challenge. Lot's of soup has been consumed the last week.

Thelma, Dang on the snow. We had a dusting last night, and DH asked me if he needed to go out a shovel. He was so happy to hear that he didn't. Have a great time with your cardio, we just need to be doing what makes us happy and moving that body. Glad you enjoyed your time with the co-workers, they are probably wanting to be you and retired. I know that I'm looking forward to that time. I hope that I don't have anymore tooth problems for a long long time, but I do have to go get a filling replaced which I don't think will be a big deal. I will take a picture of the banner hanging, it turned out fairly well.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Definitely feeling a bit tight in the lower body today but in a good way. Feels good to get a little DOMS going in the legs, that’s for sure. Today’s workout was STS Disc 18/Back and Biceps, and, again, I felt really strong on it. I also added in ten minutes on the Max Trainer, some squats and lunges with light weights and a 20 minute core workout from Jessica Smith.

Tami, glad you enjoyed the weekend despite the cold weather. Great workouts! I too love adding kickboxing to a tough upper body workout. Really helps ease up the tightness in my shoulders. Hope the BC class last night was a Metallic-free zone!

Thelma, great job getting workouts in despite how busy you are with the move. Yikes on the snow! We don’t have satellite TV, but we used Roku a bit in Alaska. Honestly, I didn’t care for it over our standard cable service.....but we had cable so I never let myself adjust to Roku. Wish I could help more. Glad you enjoyed your time with your former co-workers and your BIL. Moving is always so bittersweet. No matter how anxious I am to leave a place, I always find it sad to go.

Laurie, so happy to hear you are feeling better. Yep, this aging thing is no fun! Glad you found a set of workouts you are enjoying, and it sounds like your body is benefiting too! Alabama can get some wicked storms from what I hear. One of the reasons we chose to live in the hills is because this area of Huntsville doesn’t get the tornados like the flatter section. So fingers crossed for that! But the abundance of storm shelters and generators in the hardware stores tells me we may be in for some scary weather.

Enjoy the day!! We finally have sunshine again which makes for such a nice change!!

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ Happy to report that BootCamp was a Metallica Free class. She did make the comment she realized that last week’s play list did not go over very well. So glad I was not the only one in there. LOL It was a pretty tough class last night. We did 2 exercises that was a set of 25 on one and 5 on the other then you go 20 on one 10 on the other and so on until you are back to 5 one the one and 25 on the other. Not sure if that makes sense but it was Sumo Squats and Push-Ups. Burpees and Biceps, Lunges off the step and overhead presses. etc. This a.m. was STS Legs.

Thelma: Glad to hear you were able to get in a nice workout over the weekend and time with your BIL. YIKES on the snow. We are supposed to get a few new inches tomorrow. We will see. Just cold and no melting right now so this snow should be here for a very long time.

Laurie: AMEN to the warmer weather. I agree! I think today is our warmest day and it isn’t even 34 degrees, but feels so much better. LOL Great job with the JM KB workout and KCM Body Design Cardio. That upper body must have worked well if you have DOMS today.

Laurel: Excellent work on the STS Back/Bi’s this a.m. and glad you are feeling strong! Nice that you are able to start incorporating the Max Trainer as well for your legs, I bet it feels good to get them moving a bit.

Have a great evening ladies ~ Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I did a Body Project low impact workout. I had my mammogram today and everything is OK. It was a couple of hours affair though. Mammo first and they were running late, then my visit with the breast specialist. It was cold early this morning, then it warmed up into the 30's.

Someone from BR posted on Facebook about Copperhead snakes and I guess this is the time of the year they come out. One more thing to worry about when hiking and even when gardening! Thankfully, we don't have a garden! I will have flower pots on the deck but that is about it.

Laurie, so glad your mouth is feeling better! Great workouts! Looking forward to seeing that banner picture! I bet your DH was happy about not having to shovel the snow! A lot of our snow will be melting over the weekend.
What streaming service do you use for your Raw workouts?
My co-workers wished they could be retired and out of that place for sure!

Laurel, fabulous workout combo! So glad you're feeling good enough to add some lower body work. DOMS are always good!

If our satellite service works well I won't need a streaming service. I can always hookup my ipad to the tv and watch somethig through Amazon's Prime. I noticed they have some subscription workout channels that look pretty good. I won't be subscribing to any though. I have plenty of DVDs and great choices on YouTube.
Moving is definitely bittersweet.
I am having panic attacks about it though. I cried today when DH and I were talking about it and I just told him I am afraid to be without him. He hugged me and told me everthing would be alright.

Tami, so happy for you about Metallica free BC class! It doesn't sound like there will be another Metallica class either! Wow, that sounds like a tough class!
We are having very sunny days and in the 30's and a lot of melting is happening. By the time I get to BR I'll have to dig out my summer clothers. I think they will be having days in the 60's next week but the nights this week are in the 20's there.

Have a good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

This morning was Jillian's Lift & Shred Level 1 & Kelly's Body Design Stronger/Leaner Lower. I used my weighted vest for both of these workouts, so I could go just a bit heavier with the weight on the lower body without having to use heavy weight. I also put on my ankle weights for some barre type moves that Kelly has in that workout. I'm finding that my elbows don't like the heavy weight, must be some type of tennis elbow. All I know is that if I use lighter weight, I don't have that tingly sensation afterward.

So yesterday DH and I went to the church to put up this really big cross that our church has had for years. Anyway mice had infested the foot, and we had to take it apart. Talk about stinky. We informed our Pastor, we will let him make the decision as to weather it stays up or not. He is the one that has to be near it through services. I also have to do some TLC to my banner, the crown of thorns isn't visible enough. We didn't have all the lights on in the church either, so I will see how it looks tonight when I go there.

Laurel, Awesome job on the workouts, and of course having those good DOMS from your previous workout. You are doing such a great job of keeping your workouts tough and working for you. They probably have shelters and generators in abundance like we have snow blowers. I will just pray that you don't endure any sever weather.

Tami, I'm so glad to hear that you didn't have anymore Metallic. Great job on your leg workout also. I have to say that I'm impressed with Jillian's weight work in this workout. It is straight up weight work, without being fancy. She normally does compound moves, and cardio.

Thelma, Nice job on your workout. Glad to hear the okay from the mammo, always a relief to get that news. I put snakes on top of mice for things that I don't like to deal with. When that mouse popped it's head out of the cross for church I did my little squeak. A snake would make me run. We have RoKu, and it works fine for us. I usually stream from our WiFi for my workouts, I don't usually have any problems. We mostly use cable for everything else.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Well, every day just gets better. Today I almost feel like I had a ‘normal’ workout. Nowhere near as intense as usual, of course, but just feeling stronger and more confident. But I promised myself to stick with a plan this week, and I am being diligent about that....which is very hard for me. Anyhow, today’s workout was Gym Style Chest and Triceps, which remains one of my favorite all-time upper body workouts. I followed it with 15 minutes on the Max Trainer, some weighted squats, lunges, etc and another Jessica Smith Pilates-based leg workout. If nothing else, this injury is reminding me how much I love Pilates.

Tami, so happy to hear Metallica was put back on the shelf. I love the sound of that workout, though. She has a way of doing reps in such different ways. Changing rep patterns is one of my favorite ways of working out because I don’t get bored. It definitely feels good to be moving the legs more. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly I lose strength. But, thankfully, I also seem to get it back pretty quickly.

Thelma, good workout! I am glad everything went well with the mammogram. Snakes? Not my favorite thing, for sure. We had a few in the yard in Florida, and I steered very clear of them. But, unlike Laurie, I will take snakes over mice. I have never had a snake eat the food off my kitchen counter.....but I have had mice do that. No fun. I am sorry you are feeling so concerned about the move, but I also completely understand it. Just keep taking deep, deep breaths. So many of our moves have pushed me so completely out of my comfort zone, and, no doubt, this one is pushing you out of yours with being separated from your DH. I imagine you will look back on all of this when you and your DH are safely settled in Georgia and think ‘I really did that!’ Getting there is the tough part, though, but I have no doubt it will be so worth it for you both in the end.

Laurie, great workouts! I love that you are incorporating your weighted vest in these workouts.....and taking some of the stress off of your arms. I notice that, despite all the lifting, I am losing more and more strength in my hands as the years go by. No doubt within a couple years I will not be as comfortable gripping the heavier weights, and you have given me a great path to follow to keep the weights up without causing undo stress on my hands. Again, this aging thing . But I do have to wonder how much worse it would be if I weren’t somewhat fit. Anyhow.....yikes about the mouse! Like I mentioned to Thelma, they are not my favorite things in this world.

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ This a.m. workout was STS Back/Bi’s and headed home after work. DH is gone for a couple days to Vegas for business and so I don’t want Mr. Bernie to be outside too terribly long, I will miss Spinning and do a workout at home. “Win-Win” for me.

Thelma: I am happy to hear your Mammo went good and everything is ok. OK that would freak me out about the snakes. I also had mice but never a snake in my kitchen. I would run out of the house and wait for Brett. LOL I’m happy for you guys having sunny days. Our days have been really clear and nice but cold. We are supposed to get a rain/snow mix this evening.

Laurie: Awesome workout again today! Sounds like a great combo. Great that you are figuring out ways to go heavier without bothering your elbow as well. I was so happy to not have Metallica either. Good to know on those JM workouts, I sometimes think of pulling out one of hers that I have but again …. So many choices and so little time it feels. LOL

Laurel: Really great to hear you are feeling nearly “normal” with everything but good that you are staying true to your course. Excellent job with GS Chest/Tris. + the JS Pilates. Which workout is that one of hers? Yes, Katy definitely takes her approach differently each workout. Eventhough the format may be the same sometimes as far as the exercise(s) the rep patterns are often different and/or cardio thrown in to keep it interesting. She is still injured and very frustrated but tries to do some of the workout with us if she can.

Have a great evening ladies ~ talk to you tomorrow! Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I did another Body Project low impact workout today. I really like this instructor and the modifiers.

DH is going to have a trailer hitch installed in my SUV so we can tow a trailer. Pretty cool cause maybe some day we can get an RV so we can travel with the cats if we want to.

Speaking of generators...A lot of people in BR have them because it is a windy area and they lose power from time-to-time. Our house doesn't have one but will eventually get one or we may take the one we have now. Everything is propane there so everybody has an above or below ground tank which is nice when you have a generator. It can be hooked up directly to the propane tank.

Laurie, great workouts and good move to stick to lower weights for your upper body given that your elbow is talking to you.
Did you see the mouse in the cross last night? OMG, I would've freaked out. I actually think I am more afraid of mice than snakes. The thought of them being in the house freaks me out. I used to have an apartment a long time ago and once a mouse went over my foot! I screamed so loud! I wanted to move right there and then. I had no idea there were mice there until that moment. Thankfully, the landlord acted quickly.

Do you have to pay a monthly service to use Roku or is it just a matter of having the device and internet service?
I'm sure you'll find a way to enhance the banner.

Laurel, I'm so happy for you and your speedy recovery!! Great workouts!
I think I would take snakes over mice too. I would think that as long as you don't disturb the snakes they won't bother you.
I know there country mice get in the house but I've never seen one because DH has traps all over the basement. We've never had one upstairs. I don't like mice or bugs. I bought this thing called bugzooka. It sucks the bugs right into this tube thing. If bugs get in the house when DH is not there to rescue me I'll be prepared.
I am definitely being pushed out of my comfort zone. The last time I went through a scary move was in 1980 when I left my family in El Salvador to come to the US.
I am going to learn how to use a firearm. I found a lady who teaches women how to use firearms.

I know exactly what you mean about looking back some day and saying "I really did that".
I was chatting on Facebook with a lady from Murphy, NC and she wants us to get together for coffee. She owns a beautiful rental cabin. We are very close to the state line and Murphy is right across the border. So I hope to do this too. People are so friendly in the south! I love it!
I also want to push myself some more out of my comfort zone by making myself take yoga and barre classes. I found a place that has unlimited classes for $99 a month. If I like it I can see myslef taking 3-4 classes a week; wich makes the price a great deal. The place has great reputation too. There is a Pilates Reformer studio there too but those classes are expensive so I won't be going unless the lady has free classes which she does from time-to-time. Each session is $24!!!! OUCH!

Tami, nice workouts! I'm sure Bernie loved having you home early! How is he doing?

I just remembered that in our previous house our cat caught a mouse somewhere and brought it to DH's office where we were both talking. I saw the mouse tail sticking out of the cat's mouse, I screamed and jumped on top of the desk! That was the only time one of my cats has ever caught a mouse. DH is my hero when it comes to saving me from bugs and mice.
I hope you don't have scary icy roads in the morning! Be careful driving!

Have a good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Apparently there is a lady at church that knows how to cover up mouse smell, so the odor from the mice living in that box wasn't wafting through the church last night. I'm going to be asking her what the secret is, so that if anything like this ever happens again I will be prepared. DH is going to redesign that box, so that we don't have a mouse problem ever again. I did have to take the banner back with me, the crown just isn't visible enough. Guess I learned a lesson that you really don't need to be subtle when creating these things. This morning I did Kelly's Body Design Light Dumbbell Cardio Sculpting plus Eoin Finn's Power Yoga 4 Happiness The Quickie. I just love the hip openers, and I realized that I need to do more of the workouts on this DVD.

Today I'm wearing a sweater that I crochet!

Laurel, Awesome news on the injury improvement and how you are feeling. Love your workouts. I have never really gotten into Pilates, but I'm glad that you enjoyed that workout. Maybe it is just the instructors that I have tried, don't remember if I have ever done one of Jessica's. Are you going to continue to use the Max Trainer after you have recovered fully? It sounds like it has been a great option for workouts. The hands and gripping is another thing that I have noticed, the 30 pounders are getting tough to hold. I have the same vest as what Cathe used in her DVD's, and I love how the weight is distributed so that even doing dead lifts doesn't bother my lower back. I'm going to use that option for any leg workout that doesn't involve cardio.

Tami, Great job on the workout, and being able to head home for another one. I'm sure Bernie was really happy to have you home. This morning Rocket was running up and down the stairs while I was working out, and at the very end of the Body Design workout I put my foot down on a squeaky ball. Took me by surprise, but I guess that he wanted to play. I'm just glad that it wasn't one of his tennis balls. Jillian has been a surprise for me, I always felt that her workouts where hard on the knees. But now I take the intermediate to beginner approach to her workouts, and they are a lot more doable for me. I find that I like them more now.

Thelma, Nice job on the workout. Trailer hitches come in handy, I used to have one on my mini van. Now DH has one on his truck. It helps a lot if you have to rent something like a generator for instance. Glad to hear that propane is the popular fuel source in that area. Here at work we had diesel. Never understood why we would have that option in such a cold climate. It never seemed to work, and we where constantly fixing it. LOL no we got all the mice out of the cross, but people in church last night thought that we had brought them into the church. I was like, NO! DH had taken his hack saw to the thing, so that we could take that box off.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today was another good workout. I started with 20 minutes on the Max Trainer (I am adding 5 minutes a day this week) then I went into the leg work from Cathe’s Max Intensity Strength. I chose this one because the exercises in this workout don’t require a lot of push off from the legs.....a move I am still trying to avoid. I did use very light weight but more to prevent serious DOMS than from any sign of the injury. From there I went into the floor work from Gym Style Legs, modifying just a couple of moves when I could feel my calf tighten...but not too much which made me happy. I finished with the core work from Max Intensity Strength. Good stuff.

Tami, great workout! Hope you enjoyed your evening at home with Bernie. The Jessica Smith workout I did yesterday was ‘Full Length Leg Slimming Routine’. I am amazed how many free workout options she has available. I also like she has plenty of options in the 10-20 minute range that work as great add-ons, like the one I did yesterday. I am sorry to hear Katy is still injured. Does she know what it is? Hope she is not looking at another surgery.

Thelma, great workout. Glad you have found workouts you are enjoying right now. A trailer hitch will definitely come in handy. We are talking about putting one on my car.....just in case. We had one on our old Toyota but haven’t put one on either of these newer cars. The first and only time I saw a live mouse in our house was in Colorado Springs. It was running through the kitchen and I screamed, ran and jumped into a chair. DH runs into the kitchen saying ‘I will get it!’, and then stops, looks at me and says ‘I am not sure how to do that, though.’ I was laughing. I loved that he was so quick to defend me from that mouse though. We called a mouse guy who managed to get rid of them, but not until after one ate through some chocolates, pretzels, granola bars........I don’t like mice. Sounds like you have a great plan for meeting people and getting out and about when you are in BR. I wish I could convince myself to take fitness classes. I am hoping this Road Trip in May helps me get a little more comfortable with working out with people. DH and I are headed to Hawaii in September (hopefully) and our hotel offers free fitness classes. So maybe those two things will have me looking for something closer to home. I really think I would benefit from it both socially and physically.

Laurie, glad to hear the church didn’t smell last night! I’m sorry you have to re-work your banner but better to err on the side of caution in something like that I think. Yay on the sweater! Photos? Great workouts! Oh, you have me wanting to workout with Eoin again! Maybe in another week or two I will be up to his yoga transitions. I admit to being pretty picky about my instructors with Pilates.....much like I am with yoga. But I find Jessica Smith to be about the most pleasant workout instructor out there, and she manages to incorporate Pilates and yoga moves into workouts without making those workouts seem.....well......seem like Pilates or yoga workouts. I think it is because she just does the moves without over-selling Pilates itself as a form of exercise. I don’t know if that makes sense or not!! I don’t know if I will keep using the Max Trainer or not. I definitely think, like spin, that it is easier on my body than jumping and such. And I am not quite as bored with it as I was the last time I tried it, which is good. And, no doubt, it is a good cardio workout. I think my days of doing 5 or 6 days a week of high impact cardio are over....and they should be at my age! So I am trying to figure out if I cut the number of cardio workouts a week, or incorporate more days of spinning and perhaps the Max Trainer. I love cardio for the mental release it gives me and that sweaty worked out feeling, so I am leaning towards the latter. Any thoughts?

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ Last night I headed home as planned and did a quick KCM workout: Build & Burn: Trim & Tone Intervals. Bernie and I had a quiet evening from there. I watched a couple episodes of one of my recorded shows “A Million Little Things”…. Do any of you ladies watch that? I LOVE that show. At any rate, I am all caught up on that now. Since I don’t have a workout this evening I decided I will do my workout when I get home tonight.

Thelma: Way to go on the Body Project workout, sounds like you are enjoying these streaming workouts a lot, that’s great. I think when you do this move and have gone through all the scary “out of your comfort zone” moments you will be so proud of yourself! I know I always am when I do something I don’t like to do but know I can. Then I think, why did that bother me all this time, I can do this. LOL Similar to what Laurel was saying as well. Bernie is doing ok. I think he is super bored right now because he spends most of his time on the deck …. Sleeping while we are gone all day. The yard is so full of snow and it is that frozen hard snow so he doesn’t venture out much. Poor guy. DH was mentioning not too long ago (again) that maybe we should get another dog now, for this very reason. Not during this still winter weather but soon. I don’t know. I am getting to the point of knowing we will have other dogs after Bernie I just want a break from the worry and sads that you go through. We have always staggered a young and older dog though because it seems to help the calming of the puppy and bringing a little spunk/energy to the older one. We will see.

Laurie: YIKES on that mouse! Excellent job with your workout combo this a.m. I know forsure I need to do more “hip opener” exercises of any kind. LOL I can feel the tightness in doing deeper squats and sometimes just tightness in that area. The curse of sitting so much during the day I suppose. I think all the Spinning helps though too. YAY on the new sweater, I hope you have received lots of compliments so you can say you made it yourself. Rocket sounds like such a fun dog. Bernie sometimes just comes and lays on my workout mat and if I don’t pet him or do anything he eventually wanders back to his bed. So funny. They just love to be with us. HE was definitely happy to see me and it had started snowing so I was glad I went home right after work.

Laurel: Your workouts are headed right back into higher intensity it looks like! I am SO happy for you that this injury has been short lived. I know it doesn’t feel that way to you but way better than what it could have been I am sure. I did enjoy my evening with Bernie a lot. I couldn’t believe how fast it went. That is great JS offers so many FREE online workouts. On Katy’s injury, I think she does know what it is but hasn’t really announced it. She just references that she has an injury that is frustrating and she needs to baby it for a while. I think in doing that she will avoid a surgery, but she still pushes it sometimes so hopefully it will get better for her.

Have a great rest of your day/evening ladies! Tami

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

My workout this morning was again Jillian's Lift and Shred L1 & Core/Abdominals from Kelly's Kickboxing workout. That one is a good one, because she does some standing and lower. Okay ladies I'm having a conflict with the workouts. I have lost 1-1/2 lbs in the last week, really haven't done anything different with my eating. Of course I have been eating soft foods, but that really shouldn't effect anything. I'm still consuming the same amount of calories. I want to do the Cathe workouts, but then I also want to continue to see if this weeks workouts contributed to my breaking this plateau.

Laurel, Great workouts, that MIS is such a good one and I love the floor work in GS. It is nothing fancy, so that is probably why I like it. I know that I should probably use my elliptical more often, it really is a good way to get a calorie burn without having impact. Just a 15 min. session would probably be enough if I go as hard as I can handle, so using the trainer once in a while would probably be a good thing. Especially if you feel any discomfort from a workout the day before. I will get some pictures of my sweater. It was very comfortable to wear. I also found a sweater that I had been knitting a long time ago, and it only needed some edging finished. So I will have another sweater to wear as soon as I wash and block it. You where actually the one that inspired me to pull my Eoin DVD out, and it was like welcoming a comfortable weird friend. I love how he explains the pigeon pose, and how you should feel. So I'm going to incorporate more of this DVD into my rotation, and the Quickie is a good one.

Tami, Glad that you where able to go home and enjoy a Kelly workout. I love that one! I do not watch that show, but nice that you had a chance to do some catching up. Hope that your workout was another good one. One of the things that Jillian mentioned in this Lift & Shred workout was the fact that getting your hips opened would help with going into your squat. Even after doing just two sessions with Eoin, I found that I was able to get a little lower in my squats. This made me very happy, so I want to continue. Yes Rocket is a funny guy. I bought him a jacket, and he really loves it. I don't know if he thinks he looks cool, or if it is because he feels warm while on our walks. The personalities they have are great though.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today’s workout started with Gym Style Back, Shoulders and Biceps. Then I (gently) hopped on to the Max Trainer for 25 minutes of cardio, and followed that with the barre and core work from Cathe Live Cardio, Barre and Core Meltdown. I am still a long way from doing jumping jacks, but I am also a very long way from where I was four weeks ago, which was the day after my injury. I think next week I will test the spin cycle and alternate that with the Max Trainer for some added intensity. And then, hopefully, I may be able to try some more dynamic moves the week after that, even if it is Jessica Smith walking videos. I am going to continue doing two additional upper body workouts next week (like I did last week with RUUB and this week with Gym Styles) while simultaneously trying to ramp up the lower body workouts. Boy do my legs miss the weights. Talk about getting jiggly! Not good!

Tami, sounds like a nice evening at home....and a good workout too! I have not watched that show yet. I have a tendency to play catch-up on most series after figuring out if I might like them. For example, I just finished watching the first season of ‘This is Us’. I have been curious about ‘A Million Little Things’ so I am glad you recommended it. I must admit that I am fighting a certain frustration/depression with my injury, but, so far, I am doing pretty good at keeping it away. I think being able to do something that looks like cardio this week has really helped that. And reminding myself that on the day I hurt myself, I thought I might have surgery in my future. So perspective is very important! I hope Katy continues to let herself heal. I imagine she feels like I do right now.

Laurie, great workout! As far as your workouts, I think you should go with what is working best for you and what you are enjoying. I know my body reacts to different workouts in different ways at different times. Usually my body drops weight when I am lifting heavy. But, for whatever reason, my body was dropping weight big time during our first phase of this rotation (pre-injury, of course). That really surprised me because my body hadn’t reacted that way to endurance workouts ever! I know I would have wanted to push on with that for awhile longer if I hadn’t had the break. So, again, I think you should go with what is working and what feels good. I love the way you describe Eoin! Yes, he is that uniquely quirky friend! Thank you for your thoughts on the Max Trainer. Looking forward to the photos of your sweaters!!

Thelma, hope you are well.

Enjoy the weekend. It looks like we are in for another round of bad storms so here is hoping for no more tornadoes. Between the floods and the tornadoes.....seems silly to complain about them given what the rest of the country is experiencing with the weather but at the same time, enough is enough I think.....for everybody!

Laurel

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I hope you had a nice weekend. Sorry I missed you on Thursday but we've been really busy getting the house ready and trying to arrange for things that need to get done in Blue Ridge. We don't have a mailbox in BR so I had to find out if the house address had been established with the 'addressing and 911' department. Finding this out took about 3 phone calls. Eventually someone answered the phone, and address has been established. I then called the post office to find out where to put the mailbox. The lady who answered the phone said I had to call before 9am to find out who our mail carrier was and that I'd have to wait for him/her on the main road so I could be told where to put the mailbox. LOL. Things are so different there! Thankfully I called again and I was told they'd have my mail carrier call. A sweet lady named Christine is our mail lady and we now have a location for our mailbox. I ordered us the cutest mailbox! It's a red barn and the base is a faux tree trunk! I told DH our mailbox would become a landmark around there.

On Saturday we went to NH to have brunch with couple friend of ours. She offered to come and spend a long weekend with me if I felt lonely. That will be a lot of fun because our other friend who lives in NC could potentially join us.

We've worked really hard this weekend around the house and we are tired and we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. My workouts have continued to be cardio and stretching.

Laurie, fabulous workouts! Let us know how that lady gets rid of mouse smell. I hope we don't have mice in our new house. We don't have a basement so that is a good thing.
I bet you croched a beautiful sweater! I remember the one you made for your daughter! HAHAHAHA! I can't believe people at church thought you'd brought the mice to church!
It sounds like training with instructors other than Cathe have helped you break through that plateau!
I think the trailer hitch will come in handy too.

Laurel, so happy you are adding more leg workouts to your routine. Great workouts! I know you miss doing leg work with weights but better to have giggly legs than injured legs! You'll get to where you want to be soon!
I really think having the trailer hitch will open new opportunities for us. I am glad I'm not the only one who jumped onto something to get away from a mouse. So sweet of your DH to rescue you! LOL. Thankfully, the mice we've had never ate our food. I think they got in because there was a hole in the foundation and DH had dropped bird food on the floor.
Jessica Smith really has a great workout collection. I love how she always incorporates ab work even with the standing moves.
I really hope I can get myself to go out to those yoga and barre classes. If I don't do that I'll only leave the house to go to the supermarket or to go get the mail which is almost 1/2 ml each way. I hope you also can find a way to get yourself to take fitness classes.
I think you, Laurie and I are finding that high impact cardio is not so much for us anymore. I definitely learned that jumping on concrete is bad for me when I hurt my feet. Once we installed the floating subfloor jumping didn't bothere me anymore. We are hoping to order the special aerobics subfloor for my workout room. It's tongue and groovea and DH says installation should be quick.

Tami, nice workouts! I am sure Bernie loved having you home all to himself! I am sure it is a bit emotional thinking that you'd get another dog but Bernie is probably bored. We've also talked about getting a dog once the cats get settled in BR. I am horrified at how people in the south don't seem to care about their pets. I joined FB group on lost and found pets and every day someone finds a dog and no one seems to claim them. It breaks my heart.
Getting out of comfort zone is not something I am corageous about doing.
I'm sorry Katy is still nursing an injury. It must be so hard for a fitness instructor to get their injuries to heal.

Have a good week ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

I was super busy this weekend, so I have to admit that I didn't workout at all. I'm okay with that, because I was busy cleaning and getting ready to create another banner. I want to get all of these things done before the weather starts getting really nice. I don't want to be stuck in the house sewing, when I could be out in my garden. I did workout this morning with Jillian's Kickbox FastFix Workout 1 and Kelly's Body Design Kickboxing with Light Dumbbells. I think that I should be able to get in some lifting after work, that way I'm sort of caught up. Still have to do my yoga workout.

Laurel, Awesome job on all of the workouts that you are able to do. LOL about (gently) hopping on that Max Trainer. I can understand the want to get that lower body moving, you will probably get that giggle gone in now time. Sounds like a solid plan to ease your way into lower body work thought. I'm planning on doing the Jillian/Kelly again this week, just to see. The STS workouts will be there for me if I find that my experiment didn't work. Hope to have those pictures uploaded tomorrow, I took them on my ipad.

Thelma, That moving day is getting closer and closer isn't it? I love how your mailbox sounds, I'm sure it will be a nice addition to the neighborhood. How fun would that be for your friends to spend a weekend with you. I'm sure that would be a nice break for them, and of course give you a chance to have company. They used peppermint oil to cover the odor of the mouse smell. Apparently mice do not like the smell of peppermint, so I thought that was a good to know. Now I want to go get a diffuser and peppermint oil for my house.

Have a great day!
Laurie