Motivated

This morning I was up before my alarm, typical for a Monday. While I have never in my life slept through my alarm, the fear still hangs over my head. This morning I tried Jillians' kick boxing video.

(source)

I like that it's three separate 20 minute workouts. #1- Upper Body #2- Lower Body #3 Abs.
I did works 2 &3 this morning. They are certainly intense. I constantly felt like a was 30 seconds behind. However, I'm willing to bet that problem could have easily been resolved had I watched the tutorial prior to attempting the workout.... again, I'll never learn.

It was a great way to kick off the morning. My heart rate will still through the roof even several minutes after my cool down and as I got my neck traction going. I also again liked the circuit style approach. It's harder to get bored. I'm looking forward to seeing her again tomorrow for Shed and Shred.

This morning was also the first day of our new schedule. It went off with out a hitch.
Ryan didn't cry at his new daycare drop off. At least in front of us, hopefully he stayed happy after we left.
I'm loving that it takes less then 15 minutes to get to daycare and less then 10 minutes to get to work. I literally left my house at 7:02am and walked into work at 7:27am. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

No more hour long commute with cross town traffic and 5 school buses. Plus, I get 20 extra minutes in the morning. I cannot lie, I'm in love.


My do to list is 100 miles long, but I'm not sweating it. I have all day to work on it. It will all get done.


So far, life is pretty good for a Monday.


Menu and Workout Breakdown:

Menu:
Breakfast: Green Smoothie with Daily Multivitamin and Fish Oil Pills
AM Snack: Either Greek Yogurt with Berries or Piece of Fruit with Almonds
Lunch: Baked Chicken with Southwest Seasoning, Sweet Potato and Green Beans. I also have a small container of black bean salsa in case the chicken gets dry.
PM Snack: Carrots with Almonds
Dinner: Pioneer Women Comfort Meatballs (prepared with ground turkey, not fried), veggies and salad, Wild Tree Turkey Stroganoff, Honey Balsamic Pork Tenderloin.

*note: I bought a bunch of Wildtree Products in December. I hate them so far... anyone like them?


Workout Rotation:

Monday- JM Kick Boxing #2 &#3
Tuesday- JM Shed and Shred Level 1
Wednesday- Yoga Melt Down and Some Ab Work
Thursday- JM Kick Boxing #1 & #3
Friday: JM Shed and Shred Level 1
Saturday and Sunday: Jillian 6 Pack Abs


On the 6 Pack Abs Front: Sweet Jesus..... I did the workout on Saturday. I sweated like a beast the whole time. While my abs burned during some of the moves, I didn't feel it like I thought I would. I even told Mr. Berg after that I wasn't sure I did it right. Then came Sunday. Oh the burn, oh the pain.
I was excited to try it again. Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity as our afternoon went to shit thanks to Comcast, the Patriots loss and my need to label everything Ryan might be taking to daycare.

On the Bench

I got benched today.....

Today was supposed to by my last Ry-Day Friday. I had planned on going into work for the morning, picking up Ryan and having a totally awesome afternoon to ourselves.

That was until a major incident happened at work. I don't talk about my job here for lots of reasons and today is no exception. But, I will say this: A bad thing happened. While everyone is safe and unharmed physically, there will be emotional scars that will last us a lifetime.

It was a difficult thing to deal with and it caused a co-worker and I a lot sleepless nights and heart ache. We are both dealing with the issue from different perspectives. This is often the case for us, him with 30 years under his belt, me with 6, our views and experiences are very different. It was necessary for him to go home and just turn off the noise around him this past Wednesday afternoon. He returned the next day ready to keep going.

I didn't feel the major effects until last night when it all over and suddenly it all felt like too much.

I came into work this morning and Mr. President benched me. His instructions: Go home.

So, this morning I'll tie up loose ends, clean up my investigation paper work and set myself up for a good Monday.

Then I'm going home to rest my head. Physically, I am feeling good. Emotionally, I'm a 100 different things.

Meanwhile: I had an awesome workout this morning with plans for a good yoga session this afternoon.

It will all be okay, I can promise you that. 

Kettle Bell Hell? & The Epic Pantyhose Battle

(source)

So, I did this workout twice this week......

And I'm going to have to whine about it a little bit......

See that purple thing up there? That's a kettle bell. It's not such a bad thing. It weighs 5lbs, it's purple, the handle is all metal, all in all, it's just another weight.

Except..... it hurts my effing wrist... just the left one. (Maybe I'm deformed?)

I really like this workout, it is pretty tough. It makes me sweat, gets my heart rate really high and it's fun. And like all Kelsey from the The Firm workouts, when she asks you for "a little more" she really means "here's another way for me to kick your ass."

And it hurts, it hurts soo good.

Except when I have to do the move she's demonstrating on the package.

That, right up there.

It hurts my wrist.

I must not be doing something right. (I probably should have watched the demonstration/how to portion of the video. 'Cept, Homie don't have time for that crap.)

Regardless, if you enjoy getting your butt kicked via at home workout videos... this one should be right up your alley.

And now....

Tuesday I was in Target when I remembered I needed new pantyhose. Since I had a coupon AND a cartwheel discount, I bought a pair of Legg's Nude Panty Hose (don't mind me- just channeling my inner Kate Middleton).

I carefully checked the sizing options on the box and picked up a pair in Size B.

Those people are effing liars!

Never in my life have I had to battle a pair of pantyhose. For a minute there I thought I was Ross Gellar in leather pants.I probably should have just given up. I mean for real, I fell over twice. The crotch is probably mid thigh right now.

If I wasn't trying to push a new dress code campaign at work right now, I would have ditched the bitches in the trash can by now and ever looked back.

Sometimes, being a girl is really, really hard for really, really stupid reasons. 

The One Who Kicks My Ass

This morning I woke up at 4:30am to willingly get my ass kicked my Jillian Michaels, and kicked it got.

(source)

This was my drug of choice. While the video did sorta make me want to cry, I secretly loved..... except for the burpees part.

WTF? Why does everyone and their brother want to torture me with such madness.....

Anyway..... the video is structured very similarly to other JM videos I have, three (maybe four? I was in a coma by minute 20) circuits. She alternates basic calisthenics, yoga, kick boxing and weight lifting movements. There are two workouts. She suggests you combine them, right now I'm pressed for time so I'm doing them one at a time. My goal is to some day reach the back to back goal. 

The best part: there places in the video where Jillian "Gets Real." While you're busy trying not to die while doing butt kicks, trying desperately not to drop the weight you're holding above your head, Jillian  breaks it down and talks to you about never giving up, motivation, etc. etc.

I love those moments. I wish wish I wasn't having them while trying not to die and throw up.

She also said two pieces of pizza can ruin the whole work out, which is a shame. Ever since she mentioned it, I'd really like some pizza.

Looks like I'll be seeing a lot of Jillian over the next few weeks. I think we'll get along just fine.

(PS- She turned my arms into jello)

Thank You Jesus!

No, I did not get my workout in last night. Between the Mr. Berg's Stomach Man-Flu and Mr. Ryan's resistance to a normal bedtime routine it was 8:30pm before I even had a minute to think about things like eating dinner, going to the bathroom and taking Advil for my thumping headache.

However, the good Lord smiled down on me and everyone slept through the night which meant I got to wake up and work out. Between that and the pedicure I squeezed in over lunch time, I've had a perm-a grin on my face ever since!


AMEN!


And now I have to go do all the things at work....
See ya tomorrow!

Here We Go

Mr. Berg and I leave for the Bahamas in 8 short weeks. While I cannot wait for the adventure, I'm not thrilled with how my body looks right now. I'm doughy,jiggly and tired looking. However, this whole problem is completely my fault. Thus it's my job to fix it.

While I am a huge lover of most of The Firm Workout Videos, I have decided to bring someone new into the mix. Jillian Michaels is now responsible for kicking my butt into shape for the next 8 weeks. I'll still be incorporating Firm workouts, but a larger majority of my workouts are coming from Jill:

The formula for this week's schedule for success:

Workouts

Monday- The Firm- Transform Your Trouble Zones Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown

Tuesday: The Firm- Transform Your Trouble Zones

Wednesday: Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown Jillian Michaels- Kick Boxing

Thursday: The Firm- Transform Your Trouble Zones

Friday: Jillian Michaels- Kick Boxing

Saturday and Sunday: Jillian Michaels 6 Week 6 Pack Abs

Notes: I had to modify my schedule due to this morning's stomach flu/ not sleepy child show down.
I typically am not successful with evening workouts. I either run out of time to do them OR I do them and then I can't sleep because my endorphin's are in overdrive. However, I am committed to my success thus, I switched up my rotation a little bit. Moving Wednesday;s workout to Monday and shifting my Firm and JM videos down.

Menu:
Dinners: Italian Meatball Soup with Whole Grain Bread (very thin slice) and Salad, Sweet Potato Shepard's Pie with Salad, Salmon with Red Pepper and Onion Relish, CousCous and Vegtables.

Lunches: Butternut Squash and Vegetable Soup with Rye Bread, Salad 

Snacks: Orange Slices with Almonds, Apple with Cheese Stick

I'm also using a new app called Waterlogged to help me track my water consumption. I never have a problem with weekday consumption, it really helped me stay accountable for the weekend, when I'm typically screwed.

Bring it on week!

The Jillian Michaels Disaster or Why I'll Never Get to Workout Ever!

It happened again....

Saturday night I committed to getting back on the workout wagon and once again Ryan was up for the day at 4:30am. However, I was bound and determined NOT to let this derail my efforts.

Thus, Sunday morning after I sent Mr. Berg off to urgent care for a sinus infection and got Mr. Ass Crack of Dawn down for his nap, I changed into my workout clothes and decided to break out some Jillian Michaels 6 Pack Abs. Except, there was just one problem- logistics.

Since I was using Amazon Prime- My viewing options were:
1. In the Living Room on the Roku
2. In the basement using either my laptop or iPad. Our basement tv barely understands what a DVD player, so the roku is out.

Attempt #1- Living Room/ Hard Wood Floors

My atomic bouncing woke up Ryan within 10 minutes of beginning.

Mother Eff Word- Run upstairs, deal with the boy, get boy back down, run back downstairs.

Attempt #2- Living Room/ On the Play Mat

The burpees caused me to rip play mat in half....

1. No one said anything about burpees

2. Thankfully the play mat fits together like a puzzle and was easily repaired.


Attempt #3- Basement/ Watching on the Laptop

My laptop screen is too small, there's no good place to put the laptop and still see the screen. Then I ran into the coffee table and bounced off the TV.

Mother Eff word for the 3rd time.


Attempt #4- Basement with iPad

Atomic Bouncing causing iPad to fall over. Can't properly watch iPad when it's flat on the floor.


There was no attempt #5. At that point, I had done the same 7 minutes of the DVD four times. I was sweaty, frustrated and my inner thighs hurt (why?) but my abs felt fine.

So, I did was any red blooded American women would do. I picked my iPad off the floor, ordered the DVD online and went upstairs to take a shower.


Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I again laid out my workout clothes last night, wrote down my workout rotation and set my alarm for an early morning wake up.

As I kissed Mr. Berg goodnight, he mentioned his stomach hurt. I thought nothing of it- Homebody ate a greasy Italian sub for lunch, ate crap all night watching football and capped it off with a huge glass of egg nog. (I swear, this is not typical).

I was wrong.... he was starting with the stomach flu. And then Ryan decided that 3:45am was an awesome time to wake up for the day.

Thus, no morning workout for Jessica.... and no sleep either.

I feel defeated and frustrated and honestly, pretty sad.
But I'm determined not to let this ruin my week. I'm still gearing up for success.

A whole new post, coming up next.....