Brutal Brian

Are you kidding?

This statement probably came out of my mouth 6 times this morning as Brian put us through a grueling cardio/core interval workout. I was disgusting---literally dripping sweat---by the time it was over. Cherish and I were actually crawling on the floor to get from one exercise to the next by the time it was over. I'm so proud that I made it through :)

Brian is really good at what he does and makes sure that you're working your hardest. Thanks Brian!

Happy Labor Day Weekend Everyone!

Are my teeth white yet???

I got the opportunity to meet Cherish's darling trio today at the playground. Geez does her baby look alot like her! My boys enjoyed meeting them and Will asked me on the drive home if they could all come for a sleepover!
I did my first teeth whitening session today, which went well overall, aside from a touch of sensitivity on one tooth (which is expected at first). I asked my husband immediately after "do they look whiter yet?" and he flatly said no (it is supposed to take 3-4 times, but I can already tell that I'm just going to have to ask after every single session). The weight training and hour of cardio were intense tonight, but I'm thrilled to report that it's working---so far, I've lost 5 pounds of flubber. HOORAY!
I also saw one of the other finalists today at FT. It is really generous of FT, Dr. Nahata, and Indra to offer services to all the finalists. I hope they all do well and wish them the best. They were all a bunch of great gals.
Oh, and Anna Banana, trainer extrordinaire, will be celebrating her birthday this weekend, so let's all wish her Champagne Wishes and Kenny Chesney Dreams :)

Teeth Whitening Begins!

The amazing Dr. Nahata and staff have finished making my teeth whitening mold and trays and I start tonight---goodbye red wine and soda!

Dresscode!

Lisa told us that Amy from Dresscode has some ideas for our "reveal party" outfits. I can't wait to visit Dresscode and check everything out and meet Amy! Cherish and I are having so much fun and are so grateful to all the great people who make this EM happen.

Plankies and Pikies

OK, I think I mentionned previously that Anna is very sweet. Well, she has this power of persuation about her that I think comes from her sweet demeanor. She is a drill sargeant in disguise. Although we're in there, gasping for air, hoping Anna will have mercy on us and let us "take five" during interval training, she says, as nice as could be that it's time to move right on to the next thing. "Get movin' Cheryl" she chirps in from across the room as I am on the treadmill moments later. The interval training includes core strength work like planks and modified pikes, which she endearly termed "pikies and plankies" the other night. With a laid back collection of Kenny Chesney tunes surrounding us, Anna's sweet smile, and terminology like plankies, how could you go wrong???

Back to the Grind!

After a two day break, we're back in the gym and the weights just keep going up! Today's session was fabulous. Tomorrow's workout is the core stabilizaton/abs/interval workout, which I dread. But Cherish is going to workout at the same time, so we'll have fun watching each other try to not fall! Lisa will do a nutritional consult with each of us tomorrow too, and I think I'm pretty on track in that regard---but let's wait and see what Lisa thinks ;)

Week One: Done

This was a GREAT first week! I LOVE going to FT. It's challenging and it's so motivating to have the trainer with you----you KNOW your form is right, plus you don't have to count reps, and they push you to go further than you would alone. It's pretty much non-stop work the whole time. I think the best part is the whole mind-body thing---you're able to forget about the issues or stresses that might be happening in your life, since you're just so focused on not falling off a ball or treadmill! :)
My husband is so supportive of this process and is also planning to follow some of the nutritional program with me. I've been experimenting with adding protein powder to a whole bunch of different foods---it is a vanilla flavor and tastes fantastic in yogurt. I love the Perdue Perfect Portions chicken too---it cooks in 15 minutes in the toaster oven and is a good 4-4.5 ounce size. Because the pieces are individually wrapped, there's not alot of prep or cleanup involved.
Dad and Bill ordered pizza last night from the new Wicked Cheesy Pizza that people have been raving about. It smelled good in the car on the way home, so instead of sitting around watching them eat, I took a jog around the neighborhood. Haven't done that in a very long time, and it felt great! The pizza didn't seem as appetizing by the time I got home, as I was feeling that the energy I just burned wasn't worth blowing on a slice or two. I think I had a rice cake with almond butter instead-yay!
Steering clear of the birthday cake tomorrow---as Lisa says, we have to be "clean eating" right now, and birthday cake is anything but clean.
Hope everyone has a good weekend...thanks for visiting :)

Day Two: Nutrition and Interval Training

Spent two hours at FT today. I have to keep a journal of everything I eat and had to hand in my first week's entries yesterday. Tonight, Lisa broke everything down for me-carbs, protein, fat, etc-and basically I'm doing most everything wrong! There is so much conflicting and confusing information out there about what to eat-low fat, low carb, low calorie-Lisa created a customized plan for me that I think is do-able. It will change as the workouts change, but it's actually alot more food than I've been eating this week, and it requires me to be eating 6 meals instead of 3. I went to the grocery store to stock up tonight-we'll see how it goes.
Anna is very sweet and worked with both Cherish and I tonight. We were cross-training between abs and core stabilization and cardio; it was pretty nuts. I was happy to have Cherish there, as it challenged me to hold my planks longer and do more pikes on the ball.
Tomorrow is a day off from training. I will still do 30-60 of cardio on my own. My father is visiting from Florida the rest of the week for my oldest's 4th birthday. He'll probably try to get me to eat some of our regular "visiting junk" like take-out pizza and ice cream, plus there's the whole birthday cake problem. I think the nutritional counseling today and then shopping for the right foods tonight will help me with that. I hope.

Day One

I'm so happy it's Day One! Today was my first training session. I worked with Brian. He was very no-nonsense and had a "let's get right to work" attitude. It felt great to have him there so I knew that my form was just right. I expect to be sore all over tomorrow. Next session: tomorrow with Anna!