Oh, and you haven't tasted her husband's brownies...he mixes brown sugar with the batter in the bowl and makes a scrumptious topping that he drizzles all over them... no wonder you couldn't resist!
No, these were quickies from the box, but they were still warm. Sigh. I told him to take the rest away!!!
B1: db shoulder press 3 x 8 x 2(17.5) B2: Wide-grip lat pull-down 2 x 8 x 80, 1 x 7 x 80
C1: Lunge 1 x 8 x 15#, 2 x 8 x 17.5# C2: Swiss ball crunch 2 x 15, 1 x 12
I got through today, but man, I'm still really low energy! What's up with that? I had a really hard time getting up, really hard time getting going once I WAS up, and was really shaky and slow at the gym . Oh, well. I did it, anyways, and felt great afterward .
First--I got in a workout!!! I was almost stymied because I forgot my log sheet and couldn't remember the exercises, much less how much weight to use, but the gym has a public-access Internet terminal. I always wondered what it was for--well, apparently it's for folks like me to look up their last workouts on the fitness forum ! That solved my problem.
This workout is one of the last two in stage I, so felt a little weird. I pushed so hard in each set (which are "as many reps as possible") that I had to rest more than one minute before moving on, but I was pretty happy with the reps:
A: Squats 1 x 20 x 85#
B1: Push-up 1 x 10 x bw B2: Seated Row 1 x 11 x 80#
C1: Step-Up 1 x 15 x 2 15# dbs C2: Prone Jackknife 1 x 12 x bw
Warning: Rant/Whining below
So the day started off pretty well. Came home, got in some good writing time, and then...it was time to take DS (I use "dear" loosely here) #1 to his eye appointment. Bear in mind that this is the fourth time this appointment was scheduled and I told him several times when it was scheduled AND it's on our family calendar that he's supposed to check. We missed the first appointment because he forgot he was supposed to meet me at the car after school and hung around school for an hour instead. The second time was just before Christmas break, when he was really, really busy with make-up schoolwork from being sick, so I rescheduled; the third time he was sick.
I went to pick him up--and he shows up at the office without his backback. "Mom," he says, "this is the worst possible time to go to this eye appointment. You know that Spanish contest we had? Well, our class finally won and today's the day we get to eat churros and watch Pirates of the Caribbean in class. I can't go today."
By the time I got him to go back to class and get his things, we were late leaving. Then he started saying more angry things and, when I pointed out his responsibility in the schedule conflict, he called me a hypocrite.
Yeah. You get the idea. And it's not like my favorite activity is chauffering cranky teenagers to eye appointments in another town; I had work to do.
I won't bore you with the rest, but circumstances and mood combined to produce one very stressed-out mom by day's end. I've always said that if anything would drive me to drink, it would be my kids. I guess I was right, because it turned into a 3 glass of wine night (oh, but it was really, really nice to enjoy something yummy and mellowing after all the day's crud....), plus a half dozen peanut butter cookies, and pizza for dinner because we didn't get home until 4:45 (from a different appointment with DS #2) and had to be out again at 5:30, so I TOTALLY blew all healthy eating I'd accomplished for the week. I'm very discouraged.
I decided not to count calories for yesterday, because it would take so much time to enter everything and I'd rather use the time to make a strong start on today. Argh.
As Alexander would say, I guess some days are like that--even in Australia.
Oh man, I missed the dreadful day and didn't even make you feel better! I'm so sorry ds was such a ... very articulate child? We've been having a few days like that here also... Anyway, it looks like you bounced back quickly, so that's a good thing. Nice AMRAP workout, btw.
How's it going? Do you need bail money for attempted strangulation of articulate teens?
Here I am feeling lousy for not logging on for so long, and I return to the CUTEST new avatar and nutbar's crack-up post!
Nope, no bail money needed, altho last week was a doozy. Being a parent is definitly the most challenging job I've ever taken on. At the end, I'll be full of wisdom, grace, peace, sense of purpose, balance, and other good things...right? Right? Please tell me I'm right!
Anyways, to sum up:
Started stage II of NROLFW last week, but it felt more like a practice run than a real workout I had a really hard time with the front squat-push press exercise. According to the directions, your upper arms are supposed to raise until they're parallel to the floor, while the bar balances on your fingertips at the top of your shoulders. That sounded pretty straightforward...until I went to do it. My arms don't go in that position! I tried it again two days ago in a "real" workout (to be posted later) and it worked a bit better, but my wrists aren't flexible enough to let me bring my elbows all the way up. I learned how to modify the front squat hand position in a way that helps, but I can't use that position if I'm doing the push presses, too. Not sure what to do on that one...
Meanwhile, my gym membership is about to expire, so I've been exploring other options. I was excited about another gym, one that's much closer to home and has a great weight room, until I found out that they're even MORE expensive than my current (expensive) gym. So...last weekend, DH and I went shopping and bought a barbell, weight bench, and weights off of Craig's list, all for $50.
It took a bit of work to clear a spot in the basement (low-ceilinged, dirt floor covered by thin carpet, exposed beams overhead)...but I now have my very own little workout area. I'm so happy about it! I couldn't have worked out Monday, for ex., except that I had the weights here. They saved me 45 min of travel. Plus, I'm able to get psycho-puppy (have I mentioned psycho-puppy, who froths at the mouth when left in his crate and destroys random objects when left home alone outside of his crate) and work on de-sensitizing him to his crate. So far, it's going REALLY well.
So...I'm off to do workout B from Stage II. I'll post the details this afternoon (I hope!) Sorry to go AWOL on everyone...
Poor psycho-pup... We've always crate-trained and I guess we're lucky that we haven't had any major issues - I think we just assume they'll go in and stay there and after a day or 2, they do. Our old guy (RIP) used to go in his crate during the day when he was tired and nap in there, with the door wide open...
Oh wow I'm SSOOOOO jealous!!!!! (In a lovey sister kinda way...) Hooray on the weights! I've been searching Craigslist around here, but no such luck. So how did the workout go? (and the puppy training?)
Hi! Puppy training is definitely going better than before. Funny, but when he has to watch his adopted sis (Lily the poodle) gnawing on a really yummy bone in the crate for a while, Beau (aka psycho-puppy) is all on fire to have his turn in the crate! A week ago, he would start shivering every time he'd get near the thing; now, he's excited to go in and see what treat awaits. Meanwhile, we've completely cut out leaving him there when we're gone...and since we can't leave him alone in the house, that means he's spending a lot of time driving around town with me. C'est la vie! I'm hopeful this is going the right direction....
As for workouts--the week before last, when I tried these workouts, they didn't go so well. But I quizzed my friend who's a personal trainer, got some tips on form, and this week's workouts were much more successful. Here's the report (sorry to combine...trying to catch up here!!!)
Tuesday
A: Front Squat / push press 2 x 10 x 45#
B1: Step-up 2 x 10 x 17.5# B2: Dumbbell one-point row 2 x 20 x 15# (didn't mean to do 20--accidentally did 10 on each side instead of 5 on each side!)
C1: Static lunge, rear foot elev. 2 x 10 x 15# C2: Push-up 2 x 10 x bw
D1: Plank 2 x 60" D2: Horizontal db twist on Swiss ball 2 x 10 x 15#
(Gotta love doing a new workout, with all those reds!)
Thursday
A: Wide-grip DL from box 2 x 10 x 50#
B1: Bulgarian split squat 2 x 10 x 12.5# ea. B2: Pullover 2 x 10 x 12.5# ea
C1: Reverse lunge from box with forward reach 2 x 10 x 12.5 ea C2: DB prone Cuban snatch 2 x 10 x 12.5# ea
D1: Swiss ball crunch 20/60", 30/60" D2: Reverse crunch 2 x 10 D3: Lateral flexion 2 x 10
...OT, I just found out that I won a full-ride scholarship to attend a v. wonderful writing retreat/workshop in Taos NM the beginning of May. The editor who judged the contest really liked my book and wants to see more of it. Of course, there isn't more at this particular moment....
...OT, I just found out that I won a full-ride scholarship to attend a v. wonderful writing retreat/workshop in Taos NM the beginning of May. The editor who judged the contest really liked my book and wants to see more of it. Of course, there isn't more at this particular moment....
...OT, I just found out that I won a full-ride scholarship to attend a v. wonderful writing retreat/workshop in Taos NM the beginning of May. The editor who judged the contest really liked my book and wants to see more of it. Of course, there isn't more at this particular moment....
Guess I'll be busy this next month!
Congrats on the retreat!!! And on outfitting your home gym!!!
Very cool about the writing retreat. My ex and his brother live in Taos. When I was still married we'd visit his brother and sister-in-law and I remember visiting a lodge (can't remember the name) that was used for writer's retreats. I was an aspiring writer at the time so it was really thrilling for me to read about all the writers who'd spent time there. I wonder if it is the same place where your retreat is. I'm guessing there is a good chance since Taos isn't that big...but it is beautiful. But then you live in Colorado...also beautiful. I am in awe of anyone who finds success as a writer--it is not easy. Congratulations! That really is very exciting.
...the more daunting it becomes to do that next post! But my sis is bugging me to pop in and say "hi" , so I'll attempt to catch up.
First: thank for all the congrats re. Taos! I attended that retreat, which was amazingly wonderful--and landed me an agent, which is really exciting. He took one of my books right away (a middle grade fantasy), asked for a few changes, then started shopping it around. It's gotten a lot of interest, even got sent to the editorial board once, but hasn't sold (yet?). The book he critiqued for the conference (and the reason he asked to represent me) is a young adult novell about a girl who travels to Peru to find her missing mother. THAT book took a ton of rewriting, so between rewriting it, outlining another, making changes to the fantasy, and keeping up on my normal bread-and-butter writing...well, life got pretty intense.
My workouts came and went, but for the past two months I've been pretty happy with the healthiness-level of my life. I'm traveling right now, which makes the whole diet/exercise thing a challenge. We'll see what the scale says when I get home again!
Some health probs also kept me from weightlifting for a bit, but I started running in the interim. That kept me feeling great. I'm actually at the point, now, where I really miss it if i don't exercise! That definitey makes me happy.
I'll try to read over people's logs and pop in a bit more often, now that Celeste has prodded me over that first hump.
It's always hard to come back and post when you stop. I remember another board I stopped posting on, and it was years before I wandered back. We knew about some of this from Celeste, but now that you're here - congratulations, and here's hoping for lots of success.
--but no more brownies!)
. Oh, well. I did it, anyways, and felt great afterward 
.
after the morning's workout. Energy definitely better later in the day!
Today's a better day.
)
, so I'll attempt to catch up.
Linear Mode
