Picture Post - Me & Hubby at Fundraiser

Doesn't he look so excited to have his picture taken? Oh yes. He loves it! :)

This was right before we left the house for a fund raiser on Saturday night...we had a great time! It was kind of date night for us...sorry for the red eye.

So, it doesn't count as a "before" pic but it is still a picture!!! :)

Happy New Year's EVE!

Jessica

Day 9 - Staycation : The Burpee Challenge and Then Some

I have to admit, I am becoming sad that the end of my staycation is near. :( It has been so wonderful and I am loving every minute of it but really want to relish the next few days (2 is all I have left!! RATS!!!). That means two more days of killer workouts and getting a few more house projects done and working some to prepare for the madness.

Anyhoo, todays workout was pretty light...we had a bunch of running to do today in preparation for the big new years party coming up tomorrow night. But, I still got in a pretty good little workout and here it is:

10 min bike warm up at 150 bpm on heart rate...then I moved to Debbie's challenge from today (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THESE CHALLENGES DEBBIE! THEY RULE). I only did parts of the challenge (there are 11 total challenge items) but I am going to try to do the whole thing tomorrow at the gym.
1) Push-ups- How many push-ups can you do without stopping? I did 48 without stopping.
2) DB Walking Lunges- 2 laps around the track without stopping - since I don't have a track at home :) I did 80 walking lunges without stopping with 10 lb dumb bells.
3) Sit-ups-100x/Push-ups-100x- Must complete this in under 5 minutes. I did not do this in under 5 minutes - took me 6 1/2.
4) DB Shoulder Press- 50 times - I did 38 with 10lbs and then dropped to 8 for the last 12.

5) DB Bicep Curls- 50 times - I did this with 10lbs.
6) DB Lying Tricep Extensions- 50 times - I did this with 8lbs.

THEN I did the burpee challenge....which is how fast you can do 100 burpees. Let me just tell you I almost had to call an ambulance. I did it in 9 minutes and 2 seconds. And it was brutal. My heart rate was at about 170 the whole time.

The whole workout took me about 65 minutes and I burned 470 calories.

These challenges have been fun and....ironically, challenging. :) But they are great in terms of pushing you harder. I can't wait to do the burpee challenge next time and decrease my time. Amber is a bad ass for doing it in 7 mins and 30 seconds. Insane.

Eats are pretty good - a little high on carbs today but I don't feel overly guilty about it. The key will be to continue to this level of intensity when I go back to work! :)

One more day left in 2007!! Enjoy it!
Jess

Day 8 - Staycation: 2-a-Day Day

Greetings from the land of staycation!

Still enjoying things immensley. My best friend Leanne came in from North Carolina to see me with her BEAUTIFUL daughter Victoria. She is so wonderful!

Anyhoo, I had wanted to team up with Amber for another workout but with all the errands I had to run before the girls came to town, I couldn't pull away to add the 50 minutes to the gym....BUT before I picked them up at the airport I did the following at home and for those of you who don't know, I have an awesome home gym...smith rack, Olympic bar w/ Olympic weight set, cable pulley system, etc. It rocks. And I have a pull up bar.

15 minutes on the bike w/intervals followed by Debbie challenge below (copied from Debbie's blog):

ROUND ONE:
Unassisted Pull-ups- Males- 10x/women- 5x (total sets 5/rest only 10-15 seconds between sets)
****FOR EVERY PULL-UP MISSED, YOU MUST RUN 1 LAP TIMED(For example, after your 5th set/men should have 50 total and women should have 25 total. Sooooooo say that Juan had a total of 35 pull-ups at the end of his 5th set-HE OWES ME 15 LAPS TIMED (Try to shoot for each lap falling between 30-38 seconds! And the same goes for the women.
Rest 45 seconds after you have completed this round and any running if necessary!

I made it to 21 pull ups so I had to do 4 laps - did them on the treadmill but made it in my alloted times.

ROUND TWO:
Wide Pull-downs- 12 times (50 lbs)
Barbell Standing Shoulder Press to the Front- 12 times
Standing Bent-Over DB Flye- 12 times
Close-Grip Pull-downs- 12 times
M.B. Squat Jump Toss- 25 times

ROUND THREE:
Wide Reverse Pull-downs- 12 times
Barbell Shoulder Press to the Front (on your knees/**BE CAREFUL NOT TO HURT YOUR BACK/WEIGHT SHOULD BE MODERATE/POWER COMES FROM CORE)- 12 times
Sitting Bent-Over DB Flye- 12 times
Close-Grip Reverse Pull-downs- 12 times
M.B. Squat Jump Toss- 35 times (challenge yourself with the medicine ball that you choose)

ROUND FOUR:
Barbell Bent-Over Row (palms-down)- 12 times
DB Front Raises to empty the cans (palms down)- 12 times
Barbell Bent-Over Row (palms-up)- 12 times
DB Front Raise to empty the cans (palms up)- 12 times
M.B. Squat Jump Toss- 45 times (same as round #3)

ROUND FIVE:
Chin-up Pull-Up Hold- **goal is to hold yourself from falling for 20-30 seconds
Unassisted Dips- 10-12 times
Standing Rope Pull-downs- 15 times (moderate weight)
Chin-up Pull-Up Hold- **goal is to hold yourself from falling for 25-30 seconds
Unassisted Dips- 10-12 times
On Knees Behind the Back Rope Overhead Extension- 15 times (moderate weight)
Chin-up Hold- **goal is to hold yourself from falling for 30 seconds
Unassisted Dips- 10-12 times
Diverbomber Push-ups- 10 times + Low to the Floor Mountain Climbers- 30 seconds
*Repeat Diverbombers and Low Mountain Climbers for a total of 4 sets

Followed this by a 20 minute ab workout I have on DVD that is super touch. Cramped up half way through and had to rest for 45 seconds.

Then I did 3 rounds of conditioning drill #1 which is the following...30 seconds of each, no rest:

Burpees
Mtn Climbers
Split Jump Lunges
Mtn Climbers
Split Jump Lunges
Burpess

After that, I was done - 850 calories in 1.5 hours.

Then tonight - I did an hour workout which was 10 sets of 10 bicep curls with the same burpee challenge above in between sets. I did the challenge 5x through and then rode the bike in intervals between the other 5 sets of biceps. 500 calories.

Good workout today! Man, if I could just pay for this!! :)

More later...pic of me and hubby going to this snotty event in a few!

Be strong...the holidays can be stressful - use your energy to rock the body! ;)

Jess

Day 7 - Staycation: Light Day

Hello all!

I ended up having kind of a light day today - ran for an hour (650 calories) outside...pretty tough to find the energy but I did it...also did a heavy set of German Volume Training Shoulder Presses. This is a technique to build muscle over a six week period of time - you find a weight that will challenge you but not take you to failure at the end of 10 reps. You find this weight and then do 10 sets of 10. It should be your last exercise but since I am doing the conditioning drill with shoulders tomorrow, I decided to not do a full workout. Then did some abs.....burned another 350 calories so overall 1000 calories for the day in exercise - I will take it! :)

Tomorrow Amber and I are meeting at the gym for a smack down! Should be awesome! I am starting to feel like I am leaning up again which is good - haven't weighed myself but will on Wednesday.

Only three more days till the new year! WOO HOO!
Jess

Day 6 - Staycation: Team J & A RULE!

It's official...Amber makes an awesome workout partner and I only hope I provide her the same sense of accomplishment and desire to push harder in each and every workout. We had another great workout today! Awesome in fact.

Here is how we rocked it....first of all, it was leg day and for legs, I watched Charles Glass put Jenny Lynn through a brutal leg workout during pre-contest Olympia. I caught it on Bodybuilding.com's Fit Show. I watched the whole episode and wrote down the workout. Because Amber and I couldn't do the workout together we split it into two super sets and then traded.

Amber warmed up with a 15 minute run before I got there...I did 5 minutes on the step mill.

Then we did the following (I started with Set 1, Amber started with Set 2):

Set 1 – 4x through 20 reps each unless otherwise specified, no rest between exercises except to set up with a 45 second rest after each set.

Close leg sled press with 2 45lb plates each side.

Hack squat with toes pointed out - 25lbs each side.

Straight leg, feet together deadlift - 60 lbs.

Pile squat to midway point with heels on 5lb plates (35 lb dumbbell)

In between this set and next, I did 2 sets of 20 jump squats. Amber ran a lap and did 10 jump squats at each corner twice.

Set 2 – 4x through, no rest between exercises except to set up with a 45 second rest after each set.

Sumo squat on horizontal leg press with 60lbs. 15 reps.

Single leg lying leg press w/30lbs. 15 reps each leg.

Butt blaster, 50lbs, 15x each leg.

Hamstring curl - 3 position peek-a-boo's; 50lbs. 3 = 1 to 15 reps.

Smith rack deep sumo squat w/25lbs (?) each side (total of 50lbs). 20 reps.

After we had both finished both super sets (REMEMBER - each set was 4X's through!!!! WHEW), we did the step mill on level 10 for 10 minutes.

Then we did an awesome set of abs...about 15 different sets of lots of variations including lots of 30-60 second duration exercises....pretty brutal!

It was an hour and 50 minute workout and I burned 11oo calories....Amber burned 1350 (I think).

The only thing we will change for next time is to change up the exercises so the single leg movements are interspersed with the compound leg movements....the first set was definitely harder than the second and I think it we split the exercises better it will give a better overall burn.

We were going to do the Burpee Challenge but we didn't have time -the BOYS thwarted us! :)

Great workout and my legs are smoked! Amber, I hope you are feeling it too!

Oh, and I rode bike for 45 minute intervals this morning - burned about 500 calories so a pretty kick butt day for calorie burn!!

Have I mentioned how much I love the staycation??? :)

Ok Debbie, we're gonna hit the Back/Shoulder/Tricep Challenge tomorrow. We are feelin it even while you are away!

Jessica

Day 5 - Staycation: Amber + Jessica = Awesome Worktout!

I didn't get my post Christmas dinner run or abs in last night...but we knew that was going to happen didn't we? :)

But today...oh, today is another day!

Met Amber at the gym, both of us armed with our trusty workout printouts. Here is what we did:

Duration: 1hr 50 mins
Calories burned: 900! for me and 1100 for Amber

Warm up: Amber and I ran 3 laps (she had already put in 7 so she way had me beat)

Then, we did Debbie's Chest/Shoulder/Bi's Challenge below:

Do Not Rest Between Exercises/Challenge Yourself Always/Choose Challenging Weight For Each Exercise

Weights listed are noted if we did different weights.

ROUND ONE:

Lying Flat Bench DB Chest Press- 12 times, 25 lbs

Barbell Upright Row- 12 times, 80lbs on cable machine, Amber 40lb straight bar

Push-Ups- 20 times

Standing Barbell Curls- 12 times; 20lbs

One Lap Sprint- Under 28 seconds (check and WHEW!)

Rest 45 seconds and move on to the next round!

ROUND TWO: *Try to increase the weight from the previous round

Lying Flat Bench DB Chest Press- 10 times, 30lbs

Barbell Upright Row- 10 times, I did 6o lb bar for 5 reps, then did Olympic bar, Amber - 85lbs on cable row

Standing Cable Flye- 20 times; 30lbs

Push-ups- 10 times

Barbell Curls on the Preacher Curl- 10 times; 45lbs; Amber 30

Two Lap Sprint- Under 58 seconds (check and double whew)

Rest 45 seconds and then move on to the next round!

ROUND THREE:

Incline Bench DB Chest Press- 12 times; I did 65 lbs; Amber 30lbs dumb bells

Standing Side Lateral Shoulder Raises- 12 times; 12lbs

Push-ups with feet elevated from the floor- 20 times

Standing Barbell Curls with back pressed against the wall or the green bar- 15 times; 15lbs

Windjammer Race- 2 min/Level 7-9 (Holy Crap)

Rest 1 minute and then move on to the next round!

ROUND FOUR: *Try to increase your weight from the previous round

Incline Bench DB Chest Press- 10 times; I did 65lbs; Amber 30lbs dumb bells

Standing Side Lateral Shoulder Raises- 10 times; 12lbs

Sitting Cable Flye in high position- 20 times

Push-ups with feet elevated from the floor- 10 times

Sitting DB Curls with back pressed against the wall or the green bar- 15 times; 15lbs

Windjammer Race- 4 min/Level 7-9 (Thew up in my mouth a couple times and we only did level 6)

After that grueling workout, we did an awesome set of abs (I may get some of this wrong - just using my good ole memory):

The following number of reps of all of the following exercises: 12, 12, and 15
Situps/crunches on swiss ball/reverse crunches/bicycles on butt/around the worlds on swiss ball - each side = 1 rep/sit up with medicine ball twist/situps/reverse crunch

OUCH!

Then we did the following lunge workout:

10 traveling burpees followed by walking lunges with a 3 count pulse 1/2 way around track; 10 traveling burpess followed by walking lunges with 3 count pulse for reminder of track. Ouch.

BUT WE DIDN'T STOP THERE!! We did Round 1 & 2 of above AGAIN! :) It was awesome!

So, take THAT Christmas dinner! And GREAT WORKOUT Amber! Thanks for pushing me today chica! And Debbie - do we make you proud or what???

Man...I dig the staycation....life is good. :)
Take care and enjoy!
Jess

Day 3 & 4 - Staycation: Keep on Keeping On & MERRY CHRISTMAS!

First and foremost, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I was talking to someone at work the other day about how sensitive everyone has become to the Merry Christmas greeting and how it implies religion and that to be politically correct we must say Happy Holidays. Well, my opinion is that the holiday - Christmas - should be about the time you spend with family and friends, loving those around you and being thankful for everything you have in your life. So, enjoy this time at Christmas with your family and friends and truly consider everything you have to be thankful for...I read an article that 75% of Afghanistan's don't have electricity or plumbing. I have electricity, plumbing, a car, food in my fridge and most importantly, my health. I have nothing to complain about - that's why I don't! :) Merry Christmas all....I am so thankful for each and every one of you!

Secondly, been keeping up on my workouts! Ran for an hour yesterday - almost 600 calories and did a great mini-back workout. So, I did almost 4 hours of intense workouts over a 24 hour span - WHEW! And yes Debbie, I ate something after my workout - it is important to refuel after a workout you know! ;)

Today I did bi's and tri's supersetted in push ups...not the greatest but being Christmas day and having to workout at my mother in-laws, I was happy to have weights to use! ;) I did 12 sets of biceps and 12 sets of triceps and about 12 sets of alternating close and wide grip push ups. I am going to try to go for a run after dinner and do some abs - we will have to see how it goes...it is Christmas after all!

Thanks for stopping by my Staycation log! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy Almost New Year!
Jess

Day 2 - Staycation: Debbie's Challenges

Happy Staycation my fellow bloggers! Ah, another glorious day! Fantastical, in fact Woke up late (again, with not ONE regret), had coffee on the couch with my husband (my #1 fav thing in the whole world to do - well, maybe #2 :)), rode my bike for an hour and burned a whopping 600 calories. Then proceeded to do some shopping and wrapping and cleaning and eating...a little reading, a little relaxing. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Can you hear my mental being improving???? :)

For my workout today (in addition to my bike this morning)...I decided to done one of Debbie's conditioning drills in between my shoulder workout. It looked like this:

I did the following workout and super setted in Debbie's Conditioning Drill #1 (see drill directly after seated shoulder press). FOR THE RECORD, I ADDED THE 30 SECOND REST IN BETWEEN - Debbie's directive is actually NO REST with a 30 second rest between circuits but I didn't want to throw up today so I added the 30 second rest. Debbie, next time I will only rest 20 seconds and then 15...etc. Check it but be warned - you may break into a sweat just READING it. :) I burned 900 calories in 1 hour and 40 minutes. WHEW!

Seated Smith Shoulder Press 50lbs x 12
Burpees x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Mountain Climbers x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Split Squat Jumps x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Mountain Climbers x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Split Squat Jumps x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Burpees x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Repeat 3x through for a total of 4 sets

Seated Lateral Raise w/12lbs x 12
Repeat drill above 1x to total conditioning drill is 5x through.

Seated Lateral Raise w/12lbs x 12
Supersetted with jump squats 10x and jump reverse pull ups 5x
Repeat 3x for a total of 4 sets.

Bent Over Dumbell Raise (rear delt focus) 12lbs x12
Supersetted with jump squats 10x and jump reverse pull ups 5x
Repeat 2x for a total of 3 sets

Front raises 10lbs x 12
Jump squats 10x
Repeat 3x for a total of 4 sets

Followed that with Debbie's ab challenge #1:

NO REST Between Exercises/Keep hands on your head at ALL TIMES when you perform each Sit-up/Keep your legs bent on all Sit-ups/Watch your form and make sure you engage your belly button AT ALL TIMES/Control your motion and DO NOT USE MOMENTUM!
Unassisted Sit-ups- 10x/Hold #10 at the Halfway Mark for 20sec
Core Plank- 30 seconds
Unassisted Sit-ups- 15x/Hold #15 at the Halfway Mark for 20sec
Core Plank- 1 minute
Unassisted Sit-ups- 20x/Hold #20 at the Halfway Mark for 20sec
Core Plank- 1 minute 30 sec
Unassisted Sit-ups- 25x/Hold #25 at the Halfway Mark for 20sec
Core Plank- 2 minutes

Then I walked Pablo around the neighborhood (about a 1/2 mile) and did alternating low shuffles (10 x each side) and then 20 walking lunges) and repeated that 4x for a total of 5x through.

As I said, 900 calories in 1hour and 40 minutes. Good stuff. I feel awesome! Loved it!!

Did great today with food, water and supplements. I gotta tell ya, feel like a new person.

Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve Eve and giving thanks for all those things in your life that you are blessed with!
Jess

Day 1, Part 1 - Staycation: Getting Back on Track

Good morning fellow staycationers - and anyone reading this! :)

Today is a GLORIOUS day. The sun is out (literally, it is 60 degrees) and the birds are chirping (ok, that may be a fabrication) but I DID wake up smiling today. For those of you who have been following along and for those of you who are doing the math - you might ask your self - wasn't YESTERDAY day one of the staycation??? Yes, it WAS but I ended up having to work all day. Yes, ALL day. BUT that isn't changing my mindset - I still have 11 GLORIOUS days and today is day 11.

I slept in until 830 which was pretty much heaven. Rode my bike for an hour and have already attacked three projects. Amber and I are going to hit the gym later to attempt to replicate a Debbie workout (yeah, yeah Debbie - we know it won't be the same). I have eaten perfectly, taken my supplements and feel awesome. What more could you ask for???

Stay tuned for part 2 when I recap my afternoon workout session! Here is a preview: INTENSITY! :)

For those of you out there not moving your body, not allowing your muscles to break free, not feeding your body - start today. Move. Feel the energy in your soul seep out into your physical self. YOU CAN DO IT!

Jess

Intuitive Living + STAYCATION

My friend and fellow blogger Cynthia has discovered a new eating program focused on intuitive eating....meaning you eat when you are hungry until you are full and eat the things you want and that your body craves. Eventually, you will get to a point where you know your body well enough that you don't over eat.

I am going to try Intuitive Living. This involves listening to your body and responding to it appropriately. Right now I am working too much and too many hours...not getting enough sleep....and not eating enough or at proper intervals....as a result, I am starting to get sick again. Woke up in the middle of the night last night with a headache and sore throat and when I started to really think about why I was feeling bad again, I recognized that I am not listening to my body. I am not living intuitively. I KNOW that if I do not get enough sleep and am too stressed out - I will get sick. This 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night and long, stressful days is just not healthy - not good at all. This turns into missed workouts, crankiness and bad eating. Not good.

I am making a commitment to live intuitively from this day forward. I am listening to my body and listening to the choices I make to not go to bed earlier, not prepare my food or drink enough water because I am too "busy". By body is my temple and I have to respect that temple.

Sorry guys - I know this isn't a super fitness related post but is all interrelated. If I don't take care of my mental health and my overall well being my fitness suffers and so do my muscles. It is a vicious cycle and one I am breaking now.

As for STAYCATION (a vacation where you STAY at home...Stay-cation :))...starts tomorrow! Woo hoo! 12 glorious days off! Well, 11 glorious days completely off and whatever time I choose to work! :) I cannot wait to start my STAYCATION! I am going to wake up smiling tomorrow. And it will be wonderful! What do I plan to do? WORKOUT! Lots. And while I have been working out - mostly in the mornings, I haven't been consistent...and my lifts have suffered. So, lots of workouts, eating consistently and clean. The usual. I actually have three sheets of large post-it easel paper with lists of things I am going to accomplish during the staycation - I can't wait!

Working out with Debbie has truly been life changing. I have a completely different perspective on how I will work out from now on...now, I will still lift heavy on body parts however when I train it will be conditioning and abs focused. She is such an amazing trainer - her goals are to SHOW you how to lift and workout with proper form so you can do it on your own. This way you aren't dependent upon her as the trainer - she truly believe in the philosophy: give a man a fish, feed him for a day - teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime. Debbie - thanks for peeling back the layer and showing me I am an athlete!

While I have been slacking on frequent blogging, you better watch out! I'm gonna blog every day on the staycation! :) Tune in!

Jess

P.S. AND I promise picture posts at least twice during staycation. YIPPEE!

Addiction

It's official...I have an addiction! My whole life I have made it without one....an addiction that is. I don't smoke, drink occasionally and have never done drugs. I drink a couple cups of coffee a day but that is all...just a couple cups and sometimes on the weekends I can go the whole time without a cup at all. Clearly, I have no addictions.

Thursday I had my third training session with Debbie - which was two hours or torture...but awesome torture...and I had a thought at the end of it - I MAY be addicted to her training sessions/training style! No joke. She is amazing. Non-stop - constant muscle fatigue. Yes, it's official. And even though I have to get up at 4am to do it - and I am exhausted by the end of the day - it is TOTALLY worth it. Thursday's workout was a shoulder/hamstring emphasis with abs, burpees and push up sprints. No ladder drill for me...thank goodness. Almost 1000 glorious calories over two hours!

Working out with Debbie has officially become an addiction. And Debbie, I thank you for that!

Sorry for the time between posts...this week was crazy busy with work. More 14-16 hour days. Yuck. This typically means I am only getting 5 or 6 hours sleep at most. This week is another one that put me into a really tough position with my workouts and my sleep. I only worked out with Debbie twice and got in a couple weak cardio sessions in between. I cannot wait for next week to end....after that I will have a full 11 days off....I have so much planned but basically will replicate a Debbie workout every day. Amber and I have committed to pushing each other during workouts and I have a couple mini-goals in mind.

We are in Iowa right now with my family and just got through sledding down a big ass hill! Good, good times. I am so totally in love with my husband at the moment for spending this time with me.

Remember that for each and every workout you are making a choice to improve your health and wellness. You are making a choice to improve your body and your health and lengthen your life. You are showing those around you that you are capable of more!! Your mind if your only limit and it can be limitless - if you let it.

I made a decision on Friday that I want to start affecting those around me at work and in my life with health and fitness. I want to share my knowledge, learnings and enthusiasm for fitness with others. It is my passion and my love - I want to share it with others!

Have a great weekend all!
Jessica

Workout #2 w/Debbie (AKA Bealzebub)

Happy Monday!

Today was workout # 2 with Debbie....FANTASTIC! I think I actually told her that she was the devil at one point...but I meant it in a loving way! ;) Amber, thanks for getting me through that last set of jump squats and holds. I think I definitely had tears in my eyes during those last few holds. OW, OW, OW! Debbie, you are the BOMB! I can feel my legs and my body stiffening already and I LOVE IT! That feeling of KNOWING you are changing your body is amazing. What a feeling to have so much control over your own physicality!! And Debbie is such a great trainer - truly - she could train next to Charles Glass (the baddest trainer on the planet) and hold her own! She rocks.

I downloaded an ebook today (free) called the Ultimate Diet 2.0 which is the program developed by some of the first bodybuilders that figured out how to use ketosis cycles to shed more fat and preserve lean muscle through many months of manipulation and experimentation. I am going to read it tonight - I am sure it will be like most other eating plans that I read about - a lot of the same information rehashed - but maybe there will be a few nuggets of information I can work into my own eating plan. Today was my first day eating more fat - it was actually hard to do - mentally and physically but I want to give this increased fat thing a try to see how my body responds. I nailed my supplements as well! Woo hoo!

I also had a realization today that my friend Amber is a bad ass! She trains with Debbie 3x a week! I can only hope to reach that level of training at some point in the future!

Until next time!
Jessica

Definition of Commitment

"The definition of commitment to fitness is the intensity at which you workout when no one is looking." J. Hendrix

(The J. Hendrix was a bit melodramatic but I wanted to mark my spot in history! :)).

Sorry its been so long since my last post! I wanted to have something really good to write about and I am feeling so psyched about this upcoming week I can't contain myself!!! I came up with the above quote from reading a bunch of other quotes and also thinking about what really sets an average workout apart from a really awesome one, and that is how I came up with the quote above! I will use it to remind myself of why I have to push a little harder!

Recap from last week:

Lifted and cardio on Monday. Worked out with Debbie on Tuesday. OOOOOOOUCH! (See my awesome, not awesome post for more details). Took Wednesday off completely. Lifted on Thursday (pretty crappy b/c I could barely walk) and lifted and did cardio Friday. Lifted Saturday and did about 20 mins of abs. Then TODAY, glorious Sunday, I worked out with Amber. She is so awesome...sent me a text on our way to the gym that was our recipe for the day: 5 lap warm up, she would lead abs, I would lead back workout. We had a great lift and then did Body Combat for an hour. AWESOME! The only bad news is that we are working out with Debbie at 5:15 am tomorrow and we will BOTH be stiff! Oh well! Thats how we roll!

Overall, my diet has been good. I would rate it at B+.....only reason I wouldn't give it an A is because I had a drink Fri and Sat and also didn't eat enough over the weekend (I always do that!!).

I am feeling really good about the upcoming week for a couple of reasons - first and foremost, I AM/WILL workout with Debbie two times this week and I am also keeping up with my intensity commitment! I made a commitment to increase intensity in all of my workouts (this is when you tell me I sound like a broken record) and I DID IT! Woo Hoo! Supersetted all my workouts and worked in abs in every workout (yes Debbie, I do listen to you! :).

For those of you who have been asking, I haven't purchased Precision Nutrition and I am still unsure if I will...definitely thinking about it still but think it will just be a rehash of everything else I know. I have decided that I am going to increase my fats significantly because I have been holding on to my own I believe as a result of eating so low fat...by increasing, my body will release the fat I'm holding onto and allow me to use the remaining for energy and not my hard earned muscle.

Bustin it this week! Kickin it old school yo! :) Goal for this: take supplements consistently.
Have a great week all!
Jessica

Awesome: Not Moving....Not Awesome: Going Down Stairs

After reading Em's post about Awesome/Not-Awesome, I vowed to do my own awesome/not awesome post and after being tortured by Debbie, I realized this is the PERFECT time for awesome/not awesome.

Awesome: Sitting very still - literally, not moving a muscle.
Not awesome: Walking down stairs and looking like a robot b/c I can't bend my legs.

Awesome: Knowing that I am changing my body with workouts like I had on Tuesday!
Not awesome: Avoiding certain physical activities with my hubby b/c of how bad my legs hurt.

Awesome: Feeling like 40 weeks is PLENTY of time.
Not awesome: The dog jumping into my lap and me screaming out in pain as his paws dug into my thighs.

Enough of awesome/not awesome. You get the idea.

I am so excited to workout with Debbie...she is amazing. Working with her makes me think of one of the most profound things I read in Seven Habits of Highly Effective people. Stephen (Covey) was talking about planning and patience and used farming as a great analogy for planning and long term goal setting. Farmers know it would be futile to try to move a crop along faster than what nature allows...they know that in order to have a crop in the fall, they must plant in the spring - no exceptions.

Preparing for a competition is very similar to planting a crop and farming...the work takes place long before the crop is harvested and that is the most important part of the whole process - the long hours of working out, cardio and eating right...it will all result in a great stage package (crop). I must have patience and I must plan.

Next workout with Debbie - 5:15Am tomorrow. Listen carefully (you may hear me scream :)).

Jessica

"Are You Feeling This?"

"Are you feeling this?" Those are the four words I heard THROUGHOUT my training session today with Debbie....and my response: "Are you crazy?? Hells yeah I am feeling this!" - always with a smile on my face.

First of all, she is awesome! Awesome, awesome! I will detail out for everyone the workout she had me do today which involved lots of burpees, lots of lunges and lots of pain. :) But it was great...so great that this is all the energy I have at the moment...I gotta get some much needed rest. I can tell you that when I try to sit down tomorrow (yes, even on the toilet) I will be yelling "Ouch, ouch, ouch". Lots of leg work...YEOCH!

I can tell you that my goal of increasing my workout intensity has already been achieved! :) And as I was going through the workout, I see the end of my 40 weeks being in the best shape of my life and walking on that stage bigger, more conditioned and a better all around athlete!

Almost happy hump day!
Jess

RATS! Bad at Math!

Today I was getting organized at work and planning out workouts and getting all my crap together. Pretty much whistling at my desk...happy as could be and I printed off a new calendar to write down and map out my 42 weeks. It is the same calendar I used to count my weeks. Well, they overflow onto three pages and so there are 2 weeks repeated so I only have 40 weeks! HOLY BAD COUNTING BATMAN!

Revised plan:

Gaining/conditioning cycles: 3 weeks conditioning (don't need as much time on initial conditioning cycle b/c haven't been lifting heavy) starting today/12 weeks mass building/4 weeks conditioning & heavy lifting recovery/12 weeks MASS/9 weeks final conditioning. 12 week diet down will correspond with last 3 weeks of 12 week mass. I will be comfortable with a shorter diet down if I am at 16% bf and I can actually start dieting at 12 weeks out even if 2 of those weeks are still in mass building. The last 9 weeks will be exclusively conditioning while I diet down.

Ok, not as bad as I thought - glad I found that mistake now as opposed to 39 weeks in! :)
Jess

Fitness Love Letter to Debbie

Debbie,

After much fear and trepidation, I am contacting you to formally request that you get my a&& into shape.

If you are on my blog read the post directly below this that summarizes my 42 week plan you will have a good idea of what I need you for...basically just getting in the best shape of my life and going to a figure national show in Sept in New York. I want to rock the house! And it is with your help I know I will do it!

I am thinking Wednesday and Friday this coming week if I can bum along with Ambers group at 5am...and if you want us to just have a one on one session prior to that is cool too! Amber has a real good sense of where I am....we have worked out a handful of times over the last few weeks. Just let me know. I am just so excited to be given this opportunity and let me say, you are the bomb!

Can't wait!!!
Jess

Note to those who are not Debbie:

Debbie is the baddest personal trainer at our gym and dare I say all of NW Arkansas. Heck, I would even go so far as to say in all of Arkansas. Anyhoo, she is amazing - her body reflects that she knows what she is doing and she would whoop most people on stage even at the national level. NO JOKE! I won a lot of personal training sessions with her last month and I am so pumped about working out with her!!! Amazing! If she will let me, I will take a pic of her bad ass kicking my butt! :) Anyhoo, I have no doubt my body will transform b/c or working out with her which is motivating me to take before pictures (insert peer pressure comment here).
Hope everyone had a great weekend!!! Rock it!!
Jess

42 Week Plan - Part 1

Ok...I've been talking about it...you've been waiting for it...you have been checking back to see it...and here it is:

Currently, I am at 125lbs and around 18% BF (I know, I know - not good). That means that at 125 I have 22.5lbs fat. Ultimately, I want to get to 16% BF during my off season so I don't have so far to go. When I read about the pros, they all stay around 14-16% off season. And I need to add a lot of lean muscle - 8lbs min/10lbs max to be exact. Disclaimer: I know this is UBER aggressive. Gonna take a lot of hard work but I will do it. So plan is: reduce fat and add muscle.

Specific Goals:

1. Get to 16% off season body fat (I need to lose about 3lbs fat)

2. Gain 8-10lbs of muscle (in 42 weeks = .20-.40 lbs a week) - off season weight should be around 131-133.

3. Going to trade between gaining/conditioning cycles: 4 weeks conditioning (starting Monday)/12 weeks mass building/4 weeks conditioning/12 weeks MASS/10 weeks diet down. I will be comfortable with a shorter diet down if I am at 16% bf and I can actually start dieting at 12 weeks out even if 2 of those weeks are still in mass building. The last 10 weeks will be exclusively conditioning while I diet down.

4. Diet for conditioning weeks will be 1500-1800; 3 days low carb, 1 day high carb (refuel and shock metabolism); 1 cheat day; diet for mass building will be approx 1800-2000 calories w/ carb cycling 1 day low/2 days med/2 days high – repeat – additional protein/additional fat. Then 12 week diet is low calories 1200-1500 w/3 low car/1 high carb.

Part 2 of the plan will be to detail out my workouts....I am going to use my Outlook calendar to actually map it out. While I know 42 weeks is a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time, I need to transform my frame. Change my body. Slap a pound on each shoulder, a pound on each arm, a pound and a half on each leg/glute and the rest on my back. I will do this.

Week 1 of 4 week conditioning starts Monday. Woo hoo!

Can you tell I am feeling better???? OH YEAH! :)
Jess