Cathe Fans Part 5

Morning Ladies,

Had a really nice weekend with shopping, baking cookies and just doing some projects. Added a new favorite cookie. Oatmeal with the new Hot Cocoa Kiss. No workout for me on Friday or Saturday. Yesterday was Kelly's Cardio Pump Workout 2 and Monday was her Cardio Quick Fix Workout 2.

Laurel, Great job on all the workouts! That really is a very long leg workout, and then you got on the bike to and more torture. Hope that your legs where okay. My shopping was very painless, and the wait lines not to bad. Felt sorry for the people checking out when they experienced the register malfunctioning. Everyone was very patient and waited.

Thelma, Sorry to hear that you are sick, not fun at all. You did some great workouts though, and nice that you where able to get back on the bike. Your chili sounds really good, I have had some pumpkin chili before and it was delicious. Hope that you are able to get the meds worked out, that has to be a pain when you get something that works and the insurance doesn't have the product on their list. Congrats on your order being shipped.

Erika, Nice that you are working though your Cathe rotation, but dang on the cold. DH has been working through that cold, he still has that cough too. Good job on getting your Christmas shopping done, we have been doing a lot of on line shopping. Just way easier. So sorry to hear about the aggressive hockey, and that your son has sustained injuries in the games. Your temps sound about what ours have been. We woke up to snow this morning, but just a dusting. The snow has been concentrated up north this year. No tooth pain whatsoever since it was only putting a cap on the titanium screw that was already in my mouth. This whole tooth implant has been fairly painless.

Have a great day!
Laurie

Hi Ladies! I'm still not feeling well but I managed to drag my body to Barre class and to my home gym downstairs to do RWH Legs. The cardio part was hard on my throat so I kept it low impact. I didn't think I could finish the leg workout so I told myself I would do 20 minutes. Then, I said five more minutes and just like that, I was able to finish the workout. No cardio for me today.

I spent a couple of hours on the phone with the Humira nurse and their insurance specialist. They have quite a nice process. My med hasn't been approved yet but they already are getting the ball rolling. I was assigned a nurse who will come to my house to train me to inject myself. She will also be on the phone with me the first few times I do it solo. Their insurance advisors are very good too about helping you navigate the insurance companies.

We are getting hit with heavy rain, lightning, and loud thunder tonight. I believe it will continue to rain most of the day tomorrow.

Laurie, I'm glad you had a nice weekend. That new cookie sounds good! I will not bake cookies because I will eat them all!
Nice workout combo yesterday!

I am very happy with my workout progress for the last 2 weeks. I'll have to try the spinning bike again when my throat is better. I hope I'm able to get the med this year but it seems that the process could be long. It really is a pain to have to switch meds.
I'm excited about the new Cathe DVD's. Did you order them too?

Laurel, I'm glad you had a nice weekend too. Good job with the Christmas shopping and cookie baking! I have no will power when it comes to sweets but I would like to learn to make oatmeal raisin cookies because DH loves them.

Great workouts! I hope the Step Boss DVDs arrive this week too!

Thanks so much for the kudos about my workouts. I am so happy to be able to workout like this again! The Total Body Giant Sets upper body premix is very good. I am loving all the workouts for these first 3 weeks. The new PHA workout looks really good.
It will take time for me to get used to injecting myself. Humira will send me a training epi-pen which doesn't have a needle or med so I can practice. I agree that once every two weeks is not bad.

Hi Tami, I hope you had a great trip! I can't wait to read all about it!

Goodnight ladies!
Thelma

Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was a 45 minute Tabata spin ride from Peloton followed by Ellen Barrett’s Yogini. Both felt great.

Thelma, I am sorry you aren’t feeling well. I hope you recover quickly. Good job with the workout and good idea to skip the cardio right now because of your sore throat. It will be there when you recover. I am so glad your insurance people are being helpful with this medicine change. Honestly, I can’t figure out the medical system anymore, so having somebody helpful is so good! You must have gotten the same storm we did last night. It was bad! Thankfully where we live in town, we just got the really high winds, lightening, thunder and rain. But on the north side of town, they had the tornadoes and power outages and all that stuff. I just walked our yard and except for two fallen Christmas decorations and a pretty large branch on one of the porches, everything seems to be fine. But it was one of the strongest storms we have had here with the wind gusting until dawn. I was so thankful, though, because DH beat the storm home by no more than 3 minutes. I was talking to him during his drive while watching the weather and just kept saying ‘maybe a little faster would be okay!’ But he made it! I know there are a lot of people today waking up to a lot of damage to their homes which makes me so sad, especially this time of year. Anyhow, I made this Oatmeal Raisin cookie this summer, and it was SO good. Just in case you want to give it a try.

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/soft-chewy-oatmeal-raisin-cookies/


Laurie, great workout! My MIL makes a version of fruitcake cookies that is really good, especially when they are just out of the oven. So good. I made coconut macaroons (my DHs favorite) and Spritz this weekend. I still want to do some shortbread and then my favorite....amaretto fudge. And that will be it this year.....I think. I, too, was thinking this weekend that I really need to figure out what groceries we need for Christmas. Of course that means planning the meal first. It just seems to be coming up so quickly this year. Thankfully we do the same Christmas breakfast every year (Eggs Benedict) so that one I don’t have to plan.

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

Hi Ladies! My body finally said get some rest woman! I didn't workout today. I was just exhausted and I think yesterday's workout irritated my throat more. I took it easy today and my throat feels better.

It rained pretty hard the entire night. The thunder was so loud that it scared my cats a little bit. They kept looking at the ceiling! LOL. It was 60 degrees early this morning and tonight it's 30 degrees and very windy.

Laurie, that KCM workout is a good one! Good job!

I am glad I'm being helped to navigate this health insurance world. It really is complicated. That is a good idea to allow yourself 2 cookies each night. I do love my cookies too!
I ordered two of the new workouts, PHA and I can't remember what the other one was called. Thanks for letting me know about the Quaker oats cookie recipe!

Laurel, great workouts today! I still need to give Ellen Barrett's workouts a try!

I am finally feeling better. The cough was driving me insane and it woke me up at about 3 am today. Resting today has helped for sure. The medical system is incredibly complicated. My med costs 5K a month for 2 doses but my co-pay will be $25 BUT if I fill out the 'discount card' info it goes down to $5 a month! Incredible! This is possible because we have commercial insurance.

Sounds like we got the same storm! Thankfully, we didn't lose power. Thank God you don't live on the north side of your town! Poor people! That kind of storm seems common here in BR because we've had storms like that in the past. I'm glad you didn't have any big damage at your house and that your DH was able to beat the storm home! WOW!

Thanks so much for that cookie recipe! I love how she explains the ingredients and her instructions are also good!

Tami, welcome back! I'm so glad you had a great time! You did arrive so late though! Yikes! No wonder you're tired! Great job getting back into working out! The sand counts for a lot when it comes to walking on the beach!
I wonder chich Step Boss may not be opened??? OH, I know! The one I didn't get! LOL

Thanks for the kudos on my workouts! I've been trying hard and it's felt so good. I think I'm doing better and definitely coughing less!

Goodnight ladies!!
Thelma

Hi Ladies ~ RWH Legs this a.m. I will probably be sore tomorrow but that is ok with me. LOL I did feel a little more “normal” this a.m. when I got up, so I think the "tireds" I was feeling has moved on.

Thelma: Way to get some rest! I think sometimes our bodies will definitely scream at us if we don’t. I am glad you are feeling better today. DH came down with a sore threat and stuffed up sinuses last night. Poor guy. He thinks it was from being on the plane for so long. Hopefully it subsides quickly.

Laurel: Love that you call it “De-Aged” that is perfect for a hair appt! Excellent job with your workout combo today! Thank you for the Welcome Home. It feels nice to be back. Such a strange time to take a trip, but I do appreciate having that time away. It did help take my mind away from things. Not sure why the sads have come back, probably because of the holiday season and just missing loved ones I guess. Plus work has been feeling a little "off" with my supervisor being cranky (again).

That sounds just fine to me to push the start of Meso 2 off a week. I will make a note of it. Again, since I am behind you ladies I will have some catching up to do …. No worries on my part for pushing this out a week.

I did find out last night my step son and his girlfriend and little girl will be coming over for an early Christmas this weekend (if DH is feeling ok) so that will be very nice. That way they don't have to make so many stops on Christmas. Looking forward to it.

I will talk to you ladies tomorrow ~ Tami

Morning Ladies,

Wasn't feeling well yesterday had a horrible headache, thought I was coming down with a cold. Tell the truth I don't know what is up with my sinuses, because I can still breath but I have a cough. Weird. Anyway no workout yesterday, because I didn't get a good nights sleep. Much better sleep last night, and was able to do Kelly's Stepboxing Dumbbell & Kickbox Only Premix.

Laurel, Love all the workouts! I'm going to do a yoga workout tomorrow, it just feels like something that needs to be done, and I think I will pull out one of Kristin's. I love Eggs Benedict, but have never been brave enough to actually make the sauce. Might have to try one of these days. Spritz are one of my favorite cookies, and of course fun to make.

Tami, Glad to hear that your trip went so well, and that you had such nice weather. I bet just getting back into the workout routine was nice. I know I felt that way after our trip. It is going to be nice having the girls over, we did invite DH's mother. She doesn't want to stay overnight with what she says are her medical issues. Oh well, I offered so that she isn't by herself on Christmas Eve. It just means more running around on Christmas Day to go pick her up. I'm sure it will all start feeling more like Christmas as you get closer, and of course having family stop by on that day will help. Can't wait for what all of you think of the new workouts.

Thelma, Glad that you are listening to that little voice. Great job on the fusion workout. I just had to deal with our insurance yesterday, they didn't pay the recent bill that I had with my doctor. For some reason they needed to know if I had any other insurance. This is the first time this has ever come up in all the years that I have been on DH's insurance. One would think that this question would have surfaced a long time ago. Have fun with those Gym Style workouts. I actually enjoy the premix versions on those DVD's the most.

Have a great day!
Laurie

Hi Ladies! I didn't have a very good day today so no workout again! Not happy about this at all but my throat seems to get irritated very easily.

DH is home now ! We're going to be busy this weekend socializing. On Friday our usual dinner out with our group of friends. Saturday dinner with our best friends and on Sunday afternoon a Christmas party at the home of one of my yoga pals.

My injectable medication has been approved by the insurance company. Now I wait for the specialty pharmacy to let me know when the med will be shipped out to me so we can schedule the nurse to come to my house to teach me how to inject myself. I also got a practice EpiPen and it bigger than had imagined. I hope the needle is small.

Laurie, sorry about that headache and that cough! I hope you don't have what I have! Great workout today!

It's weird, I seem to feel better in the middle of the day and then I go downhill again.
I think it is now standard to ask if you have additional health insurance. All the forms I've had to fill out here for doctors asked if the patient has other forms of insurance. Are the Gym Style premixes different than the main workout? I was thinking of doing the premixes because they are shorter.

Laurel, great workout! That Jingle All The Way class sounds really good!

I am frustrated about this health setback because it's forcing me to miss workout days. Thanks so much for the kind words and hug.
Thanks also for the workout recommendations!

Hi Tami!

Goodnight and have a great weekend ladies!
Thelma

Hi Ladies! So today I went for a super tough workout which was S&S Total Body Giants Sets Doubled premix. At 93 minutes long, it was definitely super tough. But I really enjoyed it and even tried to up some of the weight the second time through. But because it was so long, I went for a much shorter and lighter cardio which was Fit/Split Boxing Bootcamp cardio only premix. It was perfect for easing my muscles without being too taxing.

Thelma, I am sorry to hear you continue to feel poorly. Keep listening to your body and taking care of yourself. I am glad you have gotten the approval for your medication. Hopefully you can get the nurse set up quickly. Your weekend sounds fun. I hope you feel well enough to really enjoy it.

Laurie, great workout! I love Kristin’s pointers and she seems so accessible with her yoga.....until she turns herself into a pretzel. I have to admire her strength and flexibility. But there are things I know I will never be able to do. Thank you for mentioning those Gym Style premixes. I have a feeling I will definitely be doing the leg premix on Sunday.....because, yes, I tortured my legs today. But aside from that, that GS Leg workout is about ten minutes longer than I would prefer it to be, to be honest. Sounds like a good plan with the Eggs Benedict. I hope you enjoy it. Hope your throat feels better soon. Merry Christmas!

I plan on checking in on Monday so see you then. Enjoy the weekend!

Laurel

Hi Ladies! Hope you enjoyed the weekend. Ours was filled with rainy days, errands and more cookie baking. All the rain made me want to bake I suppose. But it was nice.

For workouts, on Saturday I did a 20 minute Jessica Smith Standing Pilates Abs workout into a 45 minute Kristin McGee yoga routine from Peloton. Yesterday I did Gym Style Legs followed by IMAX 4 from Step Boss! I got my DVDs on Friday and couldn’t wait to try them. I enjoyed this workout. It is a manageable length at 44 minutes and lower impact/intensity for sure from her other IMAX workouts. But I think when I am familiar with it, the intensity level will feel higher. Besides the impact level, the other big difference between this IMAX and her others is the choreographed sections and the blast sections seem to be held to a minute tops (where in some of her older ones, they could go for a few minutes) and the rests were probably closer to 30 seconds. Hence why the workout was shorter than her older ones despite having as many segments. I will be honest, the choreography was a little harder than I expected, but, given time and patience, it is learnable and I think worth the effort for this workout. I followed it with one of the Abs sections....this one using the step. It was different and challenging but not too challenging. Cathe did a good job of explaining each move and taking time between the moves as well.

Today was Gym Styles Chest and Triceps, which I will always love despite the pushups. I followed it with Step Boss Step Sync. This one is full choreography and a lot of new steps. I only had to rewind it once, but that doesn’t mean I have it mastered. But, again, being honest, if you don’t like choreography, this isn’t a workout you will enjoy. My only real complaint about it, though, as a choreography lover, is that it takes so long for Cathe to teach some moves that the cardio factor is way down in this one. It was fine for a day like today where I intentionally do lighter cardio, but for anybody looking to be breathless....this isn’t it.

Anyhow, I followed it with the Abs using the step risers which was fantastic! It was a tough routine, and I really enjoyed the extra element of using the risers. I plan on doing PHA3 on Thursday! Looking forward to that one for sure.

Tami, I hope you enjoyed your weekend with family. I am glad to hear your DH was feeling better. I completely understand when you say his being sick is fun for nobody. I often ‘joke’ I could have limbs falling off and it wouldn’t really register with DH, but he sneezes and the world stops turning. But I enable that, so I own part of it. Anyhow, thank you for sharing your thoughts about the holidays and just being sad. I don’t ever remember a Christmas where I have quite felt like I do this year, and I can’t quite understand why. Through all the moves and tragedies and such, I have always managed to pick myself up and try to be cheerful. Maybe this year I don’t have a reason to force it? Does that make sense? But I love the idea of finding joy where you can through these tough days. On Friday we were in the grocery store and they asked if we wanted to donate to Toys for Tots. We did, and they let us pick the gifts. I chose this cute little bear and the lady asked I wanted her to put it in the box or if I wanted to. I wanted to. I’m walking across the store with this teddy bear in my arms, telling it to take care of its new owner and make him/her smile and DH is just staring at me like I had lost my mind. Well, he had a point because I was talking to a stuffed toy in the grocery store, but that little gesture of donating that toy made it feel like a real Christmas.....if only for a minute. So there is joy out there to be had, as you say, even in small gestures. I want to do more of that as well.

I do hope you ladies have a wonderful holiday. Merry Christmas!

Laurel