NYE

Today is an off day for us...We'll end up having some drinks this evening and enjoying some New years Dinner with friends...We'll be back in action tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow starts the 3 challenges I'm excited about.

#1 100 pushups per day all month
#2 120km (75miles) running for the month
#3 three sets of Pullups every day this month.

These challenges alone (with clean eating would be WONDERFUL), but I'll still be teaching Turbo at least 5 times per week and I will ALSO be doing weights at least 2-3 times per week.

I also hope to get my bike back on the road at SOME point this month. This is the worst month of the year money wise for me (recovering from chrsitmas, which I have no discipline when it comes to buying Christmas presents) so we'll see!! ;)

December30- 2006 Grand Finale!

Detox week has been GREAT! The food I've been eating is almost 100% completely clean, completely natural and it has completely cleaned me out! It feels so good to get back to clean eating! I haven't felt this healthy in weeks. I know it sounds funny, especially to those who may not be quite as obsessed, or for folks who have never been out of shape to the extreme, but I've felt this way and I've felt the exact opposite. The funny thing is that when I was eating horribly, snacking on junk after dinner, before bedtime, and making poor meal choices I didn't even know I was feeling bad. Not until I felt good!

Today is a busy Saturday. I have class to teach in an hour, then a full day at the office (till 6pm). Then tonight its Ultimate Fighting! Heather and I LOVE the UFC so we have a blast trying to stay up past midnight every couple months to watch the pay per views!

Food

Meal1: EAS Edge Protein Shake (4points)
Meal2: Power Crunch Bar (4points)
Meal3: Whole Wheat Pita with Falafel and Veggies (11points)
Meal4: Power Crunch Bar (4points)

Workout

Workout#1-930am. Turbo Kick Class. Class was AWESOME! More ladies than I expected and the class was WONDERFUL! I was completely drained at the end, and then had to head to my "day job" for a long and busy day. That was my last class for 2006! I'm going to work this weekend and next week to get a new Round ready for the ladies! We're going to start 2007 off with a BANG!!!

December29- The year is running out!

So I feel my run this morning! Not running since July, even with the short length of last night's run is felt in my ankles and calves. Weird. I've got Turbo Kick™ class tonight and that is all I will be doing fitness wise. Tomorrow I have Class, and work all day, but I do want to get a run in as well (before my guests arrive, as we are hosting an Ultimate Fighting Night to watch the new UFC Pay Per View!).

I'm excited about the New Year too! For the first time in forever I'm not trying to lose weight as a New Years Resolution, although I probably will drop a little more body fat as a result of the new challenges we'll be doing!

The 2 Challenges I'm participating in during the month of January include a PUSHUP Challenge and a Running Challenge.

1. The Pushup Challenge will be basically 100pushups per day on top of whatever else I do.

2. The Running Challenge will be a mileage counter. Over the month I need to run a total of 120km (75miles)

These two challenges will REALLY help me stay on track through the dark months of winter, and be ready for the Sporting Life 10km Race here in Toronto that I've decided will be my first race of the year. I'm not sure how many races I want to run this year, but I am REALLY hopeful that I can get a bunch of friends together to do the Sporting Life Race!

Food

Meal1: 3x Chicken Breasts (6points)
Meal2: Whole Wheat Pita with ChickPeas and Veggies (7points)
Meal3: Whole Wheat Pita with Falafel and Veggies (11points)
Meal4: Chocolate Chip Cookie (6points)
Meal5: Power Crunch Bar (4points)

Workout

Turbo Kick Class 730pm - class was GREAT! The last Friday before New Years...Small Class? NOPE! We had 20 ladies in class (not as big as the 30-40 we normally had but still big and AWESOME). There were quite a few ladies in class who have been absent for a while because of work, illness and other Christmas obligations so I was SOOO Happy!!! I miss my gals when they are not here!

December28 - Running Again

Awesome awesome sleep last night! I don't think I've slept that soundly ever! I've decided to do my run this evening after work rather than this morning though. So I will do an update on my workout tonight.

Food

Meal1: 3x Chicken Breasts (6points)
Meal2: Whole Wheat Pita with Chickpeas and Veggies (7points)
Meal3: Whole Wheat Pita with Chickpeas and Veggies (7points)
Meal4: 3x Chicken Breats (6points)

**snacking on carrots as well throughout the meals**

Workout

Running - I decided that this first run (since July) I would take easy. I figured I would only run for 20minutes just to see how it felt. It's been a while...So I decided to work on a negative split. Basically I start out at one pace, and make sure that the second half of my run is faster than the first half. It was kinda cruddy out, and much easier to measure on the treadmill, so I headed upstairs to our gym to do it. So here is how it went.

20minutes-15minutes: 6.5mile per hour pace
15minutes-10minutes: 7.0mile per hour pace
10minutes-5minutes: 7.5mile per hour pace
5minutes-1minute: 8.0mile per hour pace
1minute-finish: 8.5mile per hour pace

Total time: 20minutes
Total mileage: 2.398 miles.

I want to get my pace that I am hitting at least 3miles in 20minutes. So I will keep my TIME based runs at 20minutes for now (every other run) and my MILEAGE based runs will vary depending on the day. I will do a mileage based run on Saturday next.

Lucky Irish Fitness Frenzy!

Well the last couple of weeks have been insanely busy! My workouts have still been wonderful, bt the food...OH the food! Christmas was great, but like every year, I am glad that its done. There are only so many days of family cooked gourmet (to the extreme) that I can handle! I don't know what it is about the holidays that makes not only our apetites grow, but also our judgement fails. I ate food, and quantities that I would NEVER eat throughout the year. My justification? Oh its Christmas. WTF?

Well Christmas is done, and all the festivities, save one New Years Eve Party are finished, so today marks Day1 of my Winter Fitness Frenzy! My workouts will continue to be consistent, although starting Jan1 a few of us are doing another Pushup challenge in addition to our workout schedule. January will see us do 3000 pushups on top of our normal workouts!

Food

Meal1: Fibre One Cereal with Skim Milk (4points)
Meal2: Whole Wheat Pita with Falafel and Veggies (12points)
Meal3: Whole Wheat Pita with Chickpeas and Veggies (7points)
Meal4: Pad Thai with Curry Chicken / Ginger Chicken (??)

Workout

Turbo Kick Class - 630am. Class was Great. As I anticipated, the class was a little smaller than normal. I figured that because of the Christmas Season (and the obvious 630am class) that we would have less folks, so when we had 6 including me, I was pretty happy! I know we'll have more in the evening class, but this morning's class was wonderful and really made me regret the food choices of the last few days. I'm not too worried though as I know that the next couple of months are going to be amazing!

Turbo Kick Class - 730pm. Class was freaking AWESOME! We had about 20 ladies, which was more than I expected during the Christmas holidays! I was DRENCHED at the end of class, it was GREAT! That's too classes today with over 1000 calories burned in EACH! I'm wiped!!!

Fortune Cooking comes true?

As I mentioned yesterday, my parents took Heather and I out for dinner last night as a surprise and we had chinese. At the end of our meal we got our fortune cookies and I read mine.

"A long awaited letter will appear any time now"

As we arrived home, I we checked the mail and I have a package from Beachbody! It was my pictures from the photoshoot we did for the new Turbo Jam™ infomercial! Too cool!

I wish my fortune said that a million dollars would be waiting in the mailbox, but I am still really excited about the pictures! I've never had "REAL" pictures taken of me, especially for such a cool event, so I am really excited to check them out!

I looked at the pictures briefly last night and there a couple that I think turned out really well! I don't find myself overly photogenic at all (quite the opposite actually), but I think the Beachbody folks did a great job!

Here are a couple of the "casual" pictures they took. But before....Here again is the "BEFORE TURBO" picture



and my Day 1 picture.




I'm MUCH happier now!!







And a couple pictures they took in my workout clothes



...just being silly



and the "FAT PANTS" pictures! YES these actually did fit at one time...and they were tight!!!

The Day of the Run?

Today is my first training run. I am not planning on overdoing it, especially since I have 2 classes to teach tomorrow, but I feel really strong, and healthy, so even though its my first run I may stretch it out a little. Depending on the weather, I'll run outdoors or upstairs on the treadmill...all depends on the weather, as I'm not going to GET myself sick either :)

Food

Meal1: Fibre One Cereal with Skim Milk (4points)
Meal2: Whole Wheat Pasta with Sauce (8points)
Meal3: Whole Wheat Pita with Falafel and Veggies (10points)
Meal4: Surprise Chinese Dinner from Mom and Dad (???)

Workout:

My run did not happen tonight as I had planned. My parents, who I haven't seen in over a month showed up unexpectedly and took Heather and I out to dinner! Although I have a very specific plan, seeing my parents was amazing, and I will get my run in on Thursday (since I work all day and teach 2 classes Wednesday and a run on top of that would be a little much).

Back in Action!

I have already received some pretty cool ideas on where I can run and when!
I still kind of want to do the run in the April Time-Frame, but I've been told about a few pretty cool runs that are a little earlier.

For my jouraling, I will be eating a few more carbs than I was when I was losing my 85pounds, for the simple reason that I am burning a lot more now, and with the added running I will need them! I wear my heart rate monitor during the Turbo Kick™ classes I teach and I always burn more than 1000 calories (closer to 1100 most classes), so that and the average of 500-700more on a given 3-4mile run means I am going to have to be taking in a few more calories too!

I'll still use Weight Watchers as my journaling tool. It may not be the most high-tech, but it works for ME, and I lost all my 85pounds doing this, so I am back on it! Just need to go buy some string cheese!!! ;)

Food

Meal1: Fibre One Cereal and Skim Milk (4points)
Meal2: Whole Wheat Pasta and Sauce (8points)
Meal3: Whole Wheat Pita with Chick Peas and veggies (7points)
Meal4: Whole Wheat Pita with Chick Peas and veggies (7points)

total Points consumed: 26points

Workout

730pm Turbo Kick class - Class was AMAZING! We had some new ladies in the class today and I got to find out some potentially REALLY cool stuff that may happen in the near future!

Tomorrow is an OFF-Turbo day, so Running is on the schedule!!!

List of things for the upcoming week!

If I am going to be successful in anything that I've set out to do with the schedule I already have, I am going to make lists of things to do. I am going to go back to the journaling I had done in he past. My food intake as well as my exercise. Each Sunday, I will write down my goals for the next week and on Saturday I will comment on how I accomplished them!

My day job as a travel agent has an entire list of goals I have set to accomplish that is completely separate from my fitness goals. These goals, and this list will be completely related to my fitness goals and fitness career and I will keep my alter ego (Travel Agent) out of it.

1. Journal my food every day
2. Water intake of AT LEAST 3 Litres per day
3. Weekly Mileage of 10miles (16km) - split into 3 runs.
4. Chapter 1 and 2 read and studied in my ACE Text Book
5. Teach all of my Turbo Kick Classes (5 this week)
6. Include 1 Weight Lifting working in this week.

Between this, Christmas Shopping and WORK I think I've got a busy week ahead of me. Wish me luck! Please continue to send me ideas for my spring race/races!!

Back to Forrest Gump!

Well since my bike is still out of commission and I don't currently have the funds for the new Frame/Fork I will eventually purchase, I decided today that I am going to start my running training again! 2007 is going to be a GREAT year for my running! I want it to ALSO be a great year for my cycling, but I don't want to get too exicted about the bike quite yet, at least not until I can afford to get mine back on the road!

The last couple of weeks I have added some weight training back into my schedule and its been tough, mainly because of the schedule I have set for myself, but its been good overall! My Turbo Classes and Training has definitely kept my cardio up, so now its just a matter of some sport specific training! To run better I need to run! I am going to pick a race in April. I am not sure WHICH race, or where, but I know that THIS race will be an important one for me!

If any friends out there know of a cool 10km race in your town or anywhere, let me know! I won't decide WHICH race I do until the new year, but for now, its time to train!!!

Pictures from the Event!

My photographers, who also happen to be family sent me a bunch of awesome still shots from the event! I spent most of the evening after work going through them (after I got home from my massage). As far as my neck goes, according to my therapist, it was just a really bad knot in my neck that was triggered by stress. She REALLY beat me up, which got the knot worked out, but I am bruised and sore from the massage. I know that will feel better within a day or so, but the relief to be able to turn my head again is HUGE!

Anyways, here are a few pictures of the event!

The group really packed themselves into the room and although the room was frigid when we arrived, it didn't take long before the ladies warmed the room up!





This one is a little dark, but here's me kicking!




Who says the back row can't ROCK IT!!! Here's a picture of Christine bustin it up from the back! She ran around from the front to the back, and all over! I am so greatful that she and her crew (Heidi and Lynn) came up and kicked butt with my gals!



Here is Fran showing that EVERYONE could use a little Junk in their Trunk! Shorts are courtesy of SASSNSWEAT women's athletic Wear! (www.sassnsweat.com)



The most HAPPY guy in the room!!


This is some seriously amazing form! During the PiYo Class!



This one was taken the day before the event, at my Friday night class, but I had to post a pic of me and the "Heathers!" How awesome do they look! That's AFTER taking class too!!

Zoolander?

If anyone has seen the movie Zoolander, you may remember that although being extremely ridiculously good looking, Derek had one fatal flaw. He couldn't turn left. It was quite the issue to have as a super model. Well the last couple of days I've felt like Bizzaro Zoolander. I can't turn right!

I woke up Tuesday morning and I couldn't move my neck! I was in extreme pain! I made it to the shower and afterwards could get a little movement in my neck, but if I tried to turn to the right, the pain would be too much to deal with.

So being the smart person I am, instead of going to the doctor, I just pump myself full of muscle relaxants and pain killers, and head off to work. The pain killers didn't help one bit.

Then Wednesday comes around. 2 classes to teach! EEEK. I didn't mention anything to my morning class and just sucked it up. I don't think anyone noticed, but I sure felt it. So much, that I told my evening class that if they saw my doing anything odd, or wincing when I turned right, not to follow what I was doing ;)

I made it through class, and Heather bought me a heating pad, which seemed to help a lot. It still hurts SOOOO much, but I have more mobility at least. This morning I feel a lot better than before. It's been 3 days now, so I hope I'm back to normal soon! I promised Heather I would go to the doctor if it's not better by tomorrow!

First of the Pics

I should have a bunch of pictures to post soon, but until then I do have a group shot from right after we finished working out! There were a few camera shy ladies, but this picture is MOST of the people from class!!! I can't help but smile just looking at this picture!!!

Turbo Kick Event!!!

What a day! I was really excited and wanted to try and out shine our last event in October! Behind the scenes, it was a tougher organizing this one, and the gym didn't make my life easier (They dropped the ball on a number of promises, including food and prizes at less than a day before the event), and the running around didn't stop until the 11th hour, but it went SO well! More on that soon!

My most awesome friend Heather from Arizona flew in Thursday and is staying with us until Monday morning! My friends Christine, Heidi, and Lynn drove in from New York as well! I am so greatful that these awesome ladies came up to support me in this event!

We had the gym open the doors an hour early, so we could finish cleaning up/setting up and getting all of our prizes and food

My butterflies were fluttering like CRAZY as the folks started arriving! I still have "FUN NERVES" before every class, but my nerves fluttered like my FIRST CLASS! I couldn't have been more excited if The National Promotions Director from Powder Blue was taking my class!
That's because she WAS!!!

Having Christine Dwyer taking my class was such a treat! I have so much respect for her, not only for how amazing an instructor she is, but for her own success in weight loss and fitness! This lady had her first baby this spring, and to look at her in class you would have NEVER guessed! Christine brought Lynn and Heidi, two other phenomenal ladies from Rochester who I adore and I was so happy to have them kicking up a storm with my ladies!

Heather, who is injurred (worse than she lets on) and has not been working out for about a month from doctor's orders jumped in for 2 classes this weekend including the event and her energy, volume and power was SUPER infectious! The local ladies really stepped it up with her up in front!

We had just about 60people arrive and participate in the event and it was amazing!!! The energy was so high and so were the voices of everyone so I really had to belt out the cues in class (since I teach sans Mic), which did quite a number on my voice. I will hopefully be getting a hold of a mic system (thanks to Lynn) and experimenting with that to try and save my voice so I can continue teaching ;) But Voice loss or not, this was the most fun I've ever had teaching Turbo Kick!

I had some REALLY talented photographers / videographers recording the event (who also happened to be my amazing Cousins Sarah and Pete), and I should be getting their pictures later in the week and I will post those as they arrive. I do have some pictures already though and will also post those later in the week!

I also have to say that I had some pretty awesome friends and businesses donate the most amazing line up of prizes!!

Christine added EXTRA excitement to the event by teaching a PiYo™ Class after my Turbo Kick™ class and the ladies LOVED IT! I will likely add a PiYo class to my week in the new year so this was a very cool way to show the ladies what they have in store!

I couldn't believe how amazingly generous EVERYONE was, and how exciting the event was!
I want to thank each and every person who came, brought friends, brought the excitement, the power and the fun to this day! This was the best December 2nd ever!! :)