Back to the BodyBugg

I renewed my subscription with my bodybugg so that I can know exactly how many calories I am burning. I have been wearing it religiously, even sometimes when I sleep. Today in Zumba I burned 625 calories. I love knowing the numbers. It truly is a science; how to lose weight.

Today after Zumba they were shooting a quick video for the website that a group of girls said "Group Fitness is Fun!"..I knew the camera crew so a little pressure to be in the video. Another reason to wear your make-up to the gym. Once the video is posted, I'll put a link on my blog.

I really do love to dance. As soon as I am done training for the half I plan to do Zumba a lot more often. I just can't right now because I need to focus on running. It is fun to have one cross training day of zumba though and one of spin. Zumba is still high impact though so I will have to be careful of my knees. I can't wait to try out my tape...it should be here today! Tonight I have CPR class at Hudson's preschool and Hudson has karate. Travis is going to take the kids to the gym tonight but I am glad that I got my workout done and out of the way. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain so I am back to the treadmill.

Bare Necessities

A couple must haves while running

1) I-pod (Pandora...Lady Gaga station)

2) Skull candy ear buds

3) Good shoes (just got some new Brooks Glycerin)

4) Water

5) Towel (if on treadmill...I sweat really bad)

6) Deodorant (remember the sweating)

7) Hair band and a bobby pin (hair must be pulled back and bangs too)

8) Workout clothes (I love my one pair of pants that has a small pocket that my ipod can fit into while I am outside)

9) ICE!!! (Yep, you are reading it right....after workout)

So here are the things that I have to have to complete a successful run. Without them I am lost! I have never had knee problems but the running and spinning are making them ache. I bought some new stabilizing tape called KT Tape from amazon (it will be here tomorrow). I am excited to try it. I can't do a brace, I hate how they bunch up in the back. I have some soft flexible ice packs that I have been putting on my knees every night. They don't feel injured, just tired. I figure that people on the biggest loser practically take ice baths so I can ice my knees. I am hoping that this whole running thing can only get easier.

I am not good at it! Also this race is something for my bucket list, it is to honor my friend Win Apel who recently died from battle with a brain tumor. However, I guarantee you that I will not get hooked. This is a one time deal. I love to ride the bike and dance but I am only running to prove to myself that I can do this. I am excited to see the results too. My hips and legs are my biggest problem areas; I can only assume that running and spinning will be good for them.

What are you're running essentials? Do you love to run or do you do it cause it works?

Happy Birthday Tammye

(Tammye and I at the Sugarland concert)

Yesterday was Tammye's birthday; so a quick tribute. I like to tell people that Tammye is like my mama bird. A little more than a year ago I entered her nest and she taught me how to fly. She gave me all of the tools to learn to work out and gave me the passion and motivation to work on my goals. She has got to be one of the most knowledgable trainers I have ever met.

When I first met her I knew how to work out. I knew all the basic moves (i.e., bench press, squat, curls, etc) but she taught me much more about compound movements and how to burn the most calories in the shortest amount of time. Sometimes I felt like I was hopping on one foot, patting my head and rubbing my belly at the same time....but it worked. I got more balance, more strength and more endurance.

As many of you know I have left the Tammye nest. I have joined a gym and now that I know how to fly I am trying to take my fitness to another level; and while I am at it show some of my friends how to fly too. I still visit the nest and go back for more. I am loving Weekend Warrior and all of the motivational texts and talks Tammye and I have. I know that she is one of my biggest fans and believes in me.

Truth be told, I am one of her biggest fans too. She has invested lots of time into me and I love her for that. I have shared things with her that I wouldn't share with very many people. You should see my before pictures. Can you imagine me in a sports bra and bikini bottom? Yuck. Yep...she has seen it. Probably didn't want to but she did.

She has became one of my closest friends and I can't wait to finish the journey and to make her proud. Happy Birthday Tammye! You have changed my life more than you will ever know. Words do not express how grateful I am to have found you and to have you be a part of my life. Thanks for being such a great support! I promise that I am going to finish this thing!

A half marathon...really??

Well today was day 1.

2 miles down, I only have to be able to do 11 more. Lol. I am following the galloway walk-run program for 14 weeks. Today I did 1 minute intervals between walking and running on the treadmill. I just put in my head phones and went. I pretended in my head that I was dancing as I just bounced along to the beat. It actually felt really good. I sweat a ton. The sweat was actually dripping onto the treadmill. The treadmill was awesome because it had a setting called speed interval. It allowed you to put in a walking speed and a running speed and then you just had to push the interval button once to switch back and forth. I am slow! Today I did two, 13 minute miles. Not bad though, figuring I was walking half the time. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew...but here it goes. The goal is to finish.

My Training Schedule looks like this:

Monday: Weight training-Walk/Run intervals

Tuesday: Spin

Wednesday: Weight training-Walk/Run intervals

Thursday: Zumba

Friday:Weight training-Walk/Run intervals

Saturday: Long run

Sunday: Rest

This will be pretty intense for the next 14 weeks. The walk run intervals become harder over time....more running, less walking. I have no excuses though, I can always use my treadmill at home if needed and I have weights at home as well. If I skip anything it will be my cross training days on Tues and Thursday; however these are the nights that Hudson goes to Karate so I will be there anyway.

Another 1.5 down

Not what I want but at least I am losing! I start my run-walk 14 week training today. I'll give more details soon.

Makeup at the gym??

OK, so some of you may think that I am absolutely crazy because I almost always wear make up to the gym. Yep, it gets all sweaty and gross and as soon as I come I usually shower, scrub my face and do it all over again. That is nuts right?

Well my make up gives me more confidence. I feel like I am pretty good at applying it, I like to wear it and I've never had major problems with how my face looks. I know I am not a super model but I don't look in the mirror and hate my face. I do hate my body. If I don't wear make up at the gym then I feel not like myself and I feel like now I have just put an ugly body on an ugly face. Now not everyone that doesn't wear make up looks bad. People actually tell me all the time that I look fine with out it but I feel ugly. Maybe if I had a killer body I wouldn't care as much. I don't know.

One other thing is what to wear to the gym. I am talking about this because last week I went to zumba and wore a big baggy t-shirt and no make-up. Today I wore a cute black fitted shirt and my make-up. I felt 1000 times better looking at myself in the mirror while I was shaking it. I know that I actually felt more confident and that I did a better job working out too. I know I burned more calories.

Not everyone will agree with this post but just thought I would share some of my random thoughts. Look how you feel. If you feel good, try to look good....cause if you look bad, it sometimes can make you feel bad. :)

Anyway, I had a great workout this morning and then went to the grocery store with Travis to get some good protein sources. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 64 degrees so I am going to try and do a run-walk on the greenbelt.

Visual Motivation

So I saw this idea on pinterest and I think I am going to do it to give me some visual motivation. Every marble is 1/10 of a pound. I am going to fill it with 250 marbles representing the first 25 pounds that I want to lose. As I lose the weight I'll move the marbles. I LOVE IT! I think it will be great to see. I think I am going to put it right on my mantle. If anyone asks, I'll tell them.

What do you do for motivation?

I am hoping to go to Body Combat at 9:30. I have come down with a very stupid, runny nose though and my sinuses are killing me. Hopefully it will get better. Tomorrow I am going to get a nasal irrigator and hope that a brain eating amoeba doesn't kill me. Lol. If you commonly use netti pots you may want to read the article in the link above and make sure you are using filtered water or boil your water. I'll keep you posted on how I feel.