Today: Yay!

So, I did wake up early this morning and put on the Kickin’ Core Turbo Jam video (45 minutes cardio), along with Booty Sculpt (30 minutes of free weights).  My feet hurt a lot this morning during the cardio exercise but I pushed through it and now am quite proud of myself.  After my workout, I washed up and set out to spend time with myself.  I meant to head to Hilo Bayfront and sit by the shoreline but I accidentally passed by the spot that I had designated as my “hangout.”  The only place to turn around was at the scenic point which is about 5 minutes out of town and as I headed there to do my turn-around, I realized that I just wanted to keep on driving and not stop, so I passed by the scenic point and drove on and on and on and on until I remembered that my car is really crappy and I didn’t know how far I could take it before it would break down on me, so 11 miles out of town I turned my car around and came back to Hilo.  After that, I went to Starbucks, turned on my iPod, and worked on my Turbo Kick Form & Technique class.

Long story short (is it too late for that?), I got back on track regarding exercise and began concentrating on my Turbo Kick routines.  I also went to the grocery store and picked up healthy food for me to eat… things are definitely looking up from last week. 

One Word: Blah.

Wow, this week could not have been worse.  It’s right before my period and I gained, like, 10 pounds.  I know they will soon come off, but the fact that they showed up at all threw me off and made me depressed and unmotivated this whole week.  It also gave me the hugest cravings I have had in a while.  The other night, I downed a personal pan pizza, a cheeseburger, fries, and a bowl of ice cream with cookie crumbles… in about 30 minutes.  Can I hear an “oink, oink”?  These cravings consumed all my thoughts until I could eat what I wanted and it sucked that I succumbed to them.  However, yesterday my cravings went away and that has been a relief to me BUT since I was so terrible this week regarding my diet, that made me so depressed that I didn’t stop eating everything that came in sight.  It’s been such a battle!

Tonight, though, I became so disgusted with myself and my lack of willpower that I resolved to do the things that make me feel happy and balanced and to get back on track to my search of being nutritious, healthy, and fit.  So, tomorrow, I am waking up early to do Turbo Jam (cardio & weights), and then heading out to the park to get in some reading and writing.  After that, I plan on going to the grocery store to pick up some healthy snacks.  I’m getting back on track… yay!

I heave a happy sigh and say good night!

It’s All Up To You

If you have read my very first post, then you will know that my current fitness status (crazy, exercise-obsessed girl) didn’t come easily and is still a work in progress.  It took me about a year to get to this place that I am at; and “this place” is my ability to exercise for a long time without getting tired, fitting into sizes 3-5 (compared to when I started which was nearing the sizes 7-9 arena), loving exercise, and eating healthy.  And this all came out because of my determination to succeed and my discipline to keep on keeping on - it wasn’t easy!

However, if you talk to people that know me, you would think that I got here by some magic formula.  Now that I am starting on a journey towards teaching my own exercise, I’m getting comments like, “You have to make me skinny like you” or “Teach me how to run” (seriously?!) or “Help me exercise.”  The last comment is fine to make but the implication is that it is up to ME to help YOU lose weight and be healthy.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to help someone become fit but I’m just not the type of person that will coddle and fuss over someone if they don’t want to do it.  I’m sorry, folks, but that is not how it goes.  It starts with you and it ends with you.  If you want to lose weight, fit into those size 5 jeans again, or just feel better about yourself physically, YOU have got to be the one to get your ass out there and do the work.  YOU have to take responsibility for YOURSELF.  Forget about dieting, using pills, or those “quick fix” workouts - there is no secret to getting into shape, all it is is making the decision to do it AND STICKING TO IT!  I’d like to say this just one more time:

THERE IS NO SECRET TO GETTING INTO SHAPE, IT IS MAKING A DECISION AND STICKING TO IT.

I know you can do it because I did it.  Me, Miss Start-something-and-never-finish-it, did it.  I lost 15 pounds and dropped 2 pants sizes because I didn’t quit.  People will always make the excuse that they don’t have time to exercise but will still complain about how fat or out-of-shape they are.  Hey, if you have time to complain, you have time to exercise; if you have time to watch tv, you have time to exercise; if you have time to surf the web after you get home, you have time to exercise.  Maybe you feel like you don’t have the energy, then start small.  No need to begin jumping rope or sprinting - take a walk.  Gradually increase your speed until you start jogging.  If you get home after dark, do squats.  Buy a home-exercise video (I highly recommend Turbo Jam).  There are ways to get into shape if you just think about it. 

Really, becoming fit is all up to you.  There is no way around it, it’s hard work.  But it can be fun, just find what it is you like to do and DO IT!  If you remember just one thing, remember this:

YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE DECISION AND JUST DO IT.

Happy exercising all.      

Turbo Kick Workshop Was a Blast!

I had so much fun at this certification workshop!  Blasi Jacobi, who conducted the workshop, has such a positive attitude and incredible energy!  She kept the class fun, exciting, and interesting.  There was about 15 other girls who were in the class as well and they were all awesome! 

We learned the choreography for Round 32 (a round is a routine) and it was intense.  Turbo Kick classes are more challenging than Turbo Jam which for me is both exciting and a bit scary.  I’m excited at being pushed out of my comfort zone excercise-wise but I’m also nervous that I won’t be able to do it.  Eek!  Must keep positive attitude!  We also practiced cueing which I am told is the hardest part of teaching.  So, that is something that I will definitely be working towards being good at. 

There were so many things that were taught that it would be impossible to write it all down.  The most important thing, though, was that I had tons of fun.  The workshop and people totally exceeded my expectations.  I CAN’T WAIT to start teaching. 

Turbo Kick!!!

Let me tell you what I’ve been up to and what I will soon be up to. 

The past two weeks, I have been exercising so much and loving every minute of it!  A little while before that, I was feeling tired and lethargic and I wasn’t sure why.  I’m still not entirely sure why, but I think it’s because I wasn’t eating enough to sustain my energy and not getting enough sleep.  So, I have been making more of a conscious effort to eat enough to get through my workouts and then some, and it’s working because I feel so great whenever I exercise now.  In the morning, I do a Turbo Jam workout (usually cardio with some weight lifting) and then after work, I run for 30 minutes before paddling practice starts, and practice usually goes for about 2 hours.  I love it that I can put in these hours of exercise and still come out energetic and ready for the next thing.  Now, I just have to work on getting those 8 hours of sleep in (but my gosh, who can do that?!?!). 

And now, for what I’m REALLY excited about: Tomorrow, I will attend a Turbo Kick (live class version of Turbo Jam) workshop to become certified to teach my very own Turbo Kick class!!!  I am uber excited but slightly nervous.  I shouldn’t be nervous, I know I’ll do great but there’s still those doubts that creep up in my mind that I am going to be the most inexperienced and uncoordinated one there.  I am also hoping and praying that when the workshop is finished, I’ll feel prepared and confident enough to actually teach a class.  The workshop will be given by Powder Blue Productions (Chalene Johnsons’ company) presenter Blasi Jacobi and over the phone and through email she seems like an absolutely awesome and positive person, so the class should be fun!  From the email she last sent out, it seems there will be about 11 other people taking the workshop.  *Sighs* Ah me, all I can say is that I am INCREDIBLY excited and I can’t wait to share with you how the training went.  I’ll be in touch! 

Nutritional Knowledge Quest

Eating right is the most challenging part of being healthy for me. I have always LOVED my McDonald’s cheeseburger & fries, baked potatoes, rich desserts, and cheese crackers. If someone puts a plate of anything (except vegetables) in front of me, it doesn’t have a prayer - I will attack that thing like there is no tomorrow. I realize that exercise is not enough for me to be healthy, I must be healthy on the inside as well as on the outside. And if I don’t start now, I will have a much harder time later in my life. So, I am on a quest to be conscious and smart about what I put into my body.

I bought three books the other day to help me with this. The first I purchased on Amazon.com called Nutrition for Dummies (I must start at the very beginning since I know nothing), and the other two I bought from a bookstore, Eat Better, Live Better and Diet & Health.  I have already started reading Eat Better, Live Better and am very excited about what I’m about to learn.
One thing that I have done to help myself eat better is to plan my meals.  I pack my lunch and snacks the night before so I am not stumped as to what I will eat for lunch the next day.  Whenever I find myself unprepared, I usually buy the most unhealthy things.  So, planning my meals for the next day is one way that will help me stay on track.

As I read and learn, I will keep you updated on how well *crosses fingers* I am doing.  Cheerio!

The Beginning

I began my fitness journey about one year ago.  And I started it because I wanted to look fit - not necessarily that I wanted to be fit, but I wanted to look it.  It’s shallow, I know, but that is the long and short of it.

Growing up, I always worried about my weight.  But I guess I didn’t worry about it too much since I didn’t really do anything about it.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I have never been “fat” but I was never skinny.  I was average.  And my sisters (with the exception of my oldest sister) were of average weight too, so I figured that as long as we were average together, everything worked out.  However, as my two middle sisters reached their twenties, their weight just magically dropped off and they became incredibly skinny… to my dismay.  And, unrealistically with a hint of desperation, I thought, “Okay, if that happened to them when they reached 21, that might happen to me, too… right?”  Well, it didn’t.  The binge eating didn’t help much either, but I didn’t pay attention to that - all I knew was when I reached the age of 21, I was 150 lbs and the heaviest of all my sisters (there’s 3 of them).  Now, while you would not have called me athletic, I wasn’t a couch potato either.  I was more of an in-and-out exerciser - I would start but not have the discipline to stick it out so my exercise bouts would last for a couple of weeks and then stop.  Also, I LOVED TO EAT - I ate when I was emotional, I ate when I became bored, I ate to have fun, I ate at mealtimes, I just loved to eat.  So, my typical exercise/eating cycle would go like this:

“I need to exercise, I’m getting fat!”

*begins to exercise.  starts to feel good.  then gets lazy*

“I don’t feel like exercising today.  Missing a day won’t hurt.  I feel better anyway.”

*takes a day off of exercising. next day: *

“I don’t want to exercise today.  This is so unfair!  Why can’t I be thin without having to put in so much effort?  I’m depressed, I don’t want to exercise now.  I’m gonna eat.” 

*eats something delicious yet incredibly fattening. stops exercising completely and a couple of months go by.*

“Omigod, I’m so fat.  I have to exercise.”

*starts to exercise.*

This is the cycle that I continually went through.  Last year, though, I got downright sick and tired of it and thought to myself: “What in the world would happen if I actually stuck to an exercise routine?  If I ever were consistent with exercising, can you imagine how much thinner I would be now?” (Remember, I wanted to look fit, not necessarily be fit.)  So, in March 2007, I began to exercise.  I looked for an event that I wanted to look good for and I set my goal that I would exercise regularly until that date.  And when that date came around, I set my sights on another date, then another, and then another.  So, I just kept on exercising so when the event would arrive, I at least knew that I was doing what I could to feel better about the way I looked.  And to my surprise and delight, not only was I losing weight but I was also curbing my appetite, regulating my mood and bowels (I know, a little TMI, huh? :), desiring to eat healthy, and having heaps of energy that I never had before.  I loved being so active and felt so good about the way I looked and felt.  But now, I went to the other side of the spectrum and became obsessed with fitness.  I worried that if I missed just ONE day of exercise, I would immediately gain weight and would fight against anything that would potentially stop me from exercising.  *sighs* Can I ever win?  ;) 

Where I am at now: I am still a little obsessed with exercising but am aware of it and working towards finding a balance between living my life and fitting in exercise.  This blog will follow me from here on as I try to achieve this balance.  It will also have information or articles about fitness/healthy eating that I find particularly interesting and other little tidbits that I find here and there.  So, let’s get started!  Enjoy!