Round 2: Week One, I'm BACK

Well hello my lovelies. Long time no chat. I know, I know, I should do better. Well, I am going to do better... at least for the next 12 weeks anyway. Why 12 weeks you wonder? Because the challenge is back and blogging is yet again the best way to keep myself accountable. This time however, I am going to be doing it a little bit differently and only blog once or twice a week. I am making a lot of life changes at this current juncture, committing to once or twice a week is doable, so we will start with that.

The challenge is also set up a little bit differently this go round. We were all put into teams and have accountability through our captains who will handle our nutrition and such. I am signed up for training again, but now we are focusing on strength training instead of cardio based weight loss since Q did such good job last time of teaching me how to do that on my own.  So now I have two people to keep me in line! My team is owned by my favorite Q of course, and my new trainer is Stephanie.  Meet Stephanie, she is kind of a Crossfit goddess:

 

I was a little bit nervous at first to switch to a new system, given I was used to Q being my rock and I didn't know how being trained by someone I'd never met would work out for me... As it turns out, it works really well. Stephanie is a total badass and I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship (thanks for picking a good one Q). So far I have trained with her 3 times and she doesn't take it easy on me at all. She is kicking my ass in the nicest possible way. As you all know, I am a total goofball, and she puts up with me. I think she got jokes of her own though. The other day she told me to make sure when I got home not to just lay around OR I would be sore... well, I went home and stood up for a couple hours while I studied and still couldn't move over the next 3 days... What she should have said was "haha, just kidding, there is no hope for you. I just kicked your ass and your body is going to be jelly no matter what you do". But she didn't say that, she just smiled sweetly and I am still sore almost a week later. This is exactly what she inflicted on me to make me so sore:

 

I look amazing right? Ha, I'm just kidding, I look crazy... 55 pounds doesn't seem like a lot until you are made to pick it up 57 times. It was taking everything in me just to get the damn thing where it needed to go. I did it though. My burpee form severely suffered during the WOD, but I rallied and pushed through.

 

Since finishing the last challenge, the majority of my lifestyle changes and new habits have stuck around. I drink minimally, I try my best not to eat crap food and if I do, I eat in moderation. I split dishes with friends when we go out; and most importantly, I listen to my body. When it says it is full, I stop eating. That is something I was never able to do in the previous 28 years of living. When I weighed in last Thursday, I was lighter than I was when it ended. I have been sitting around 233 for months now.

 

I'm not going to lie though, the fact the scale is not moving is getting on my nerves... but it is my own fault. I did a lot of gallivanting this summer. I spent 2 weeks eating my way through Europe, 4 days in Canada shoveling Poutine in my face, and spent a lot of time down south where fried everything is life. The difference this time is I wasn't only sitting on my ass eating all the artery clogging deliciousness.  I was eating AND hiking, biking, climbing, running, and walking all over Gods creation. It still didn't help me loose any more weight, but it did prevent those Bojangles biscuits from sticking to my ass, so I will consider it a win. But play time is over and it is time to get back to business.

 

This time, the goal is to get below 200, drop my bodyfat by 5% and be able to do an unassisted pull-up. I think it is possible. Getting back on the healthy food only wagon is going to be the biggest hurdle, but with the help and support of my lovelies, I can do anything. Thanks in advance for being here for me ya'll, God knows I'll need it. Here is to a new leg of the journey. Talk to you soon.

 

Day 63: Run for Your Life

I am exhausted. Last night, I slept like shit. I can't get out of my head, so I just stare at the ceiling for hours until by some miracle I fall asleep. I need a better plan. Especially when I have a day as busy as today.

I have four weeks left in the challenge. I still have 4 additional PT sessions on the books with Q from prior to joining the challenge, so we have decided to use one a week until the end. This weeks sessions are all at 9am. This came really freaking early this morning after no sleep. I woke up at 7:30, got ready, cooked breakfast, choked half down before I couldn't stomach another bite, then headed out. My arms are still killing me from over the weekend; so Q took it easy on my upper body. We did leg presses, different types of squats and lunges then headed to the treadmill to... RUN. SHIT! I hate... no LOATHE RUNNING!

I told Q last week that I didn't know how to run... I figured that must be the reason why I despise it so much. Maybe there was some secret trick I didn't know and that was going to unlock my secret love of running.  NOPE! Apparently I know how to run and have excellent form. So, I really don't have an excuse and there are no magic secrets I didn't know. I just hate it. I hated it in high school and I hated it in the military. I jiggle. My lungs hurt. My shins hurt. My knees hurt. My boobs hurt. Fuck. Running. It. Sucks.

 

But here is the thing. There is no exercise on the planet that can take its place for quickly burning fat... which is what I need for the next four weeks.... and I hate running, a little less than I hate being fat... So guess who is going to run every mother f'ing time I see Q for the next 4 weeks. Me. Me. Me. I am going to run. DAMN. IT. ALL! 

I really hate running, ya'll don't even know. If running was a person and it was on fire, I would not piss on it to put it out. I would let that mother burn and dance on his grave.

 

So in the spirit of not giving up, I left the gym and killed it the rest of the day. I ran by to view a property I'll be staging this week, headed to Arlington to destage a townhome, unpacked at the warehouse, went shopping for soft furnishings, jumped on the Avon Walk team leader call, finished manipulating some CADs for a client, queued up the renderings, and now I am talking to you drinking some sleepy time tea.  Maybe it will work. I'll let you know. Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 57: Surround Yourself with Greatness

I don't think my brain was properly functioning this morning, our training session was at 9am. I wish I could tell you what we did, but I don't remember. I do remember that we did super sets of arms and I remember doing Abs because I'm still sore, but everything else feels like a blur. Stupid time change. When are we going to stop this nonsense?

I came home and my mind started to become clear around noon. I cleaned my house, prepped for this weeks work things, then headed off for a staging consult at 5pm with a new realtor. It went fabulous. I love my job, truly. I left about 6:15 and headed to the house to get ready to go back to the gym.

Rush hour in this area is a bitch, but I made it back to the house in time to get ready and head back to the gym. Joey had a training session and I always try to go back when he goes. 1. For solidarity. 2. Because it keeps me accountable for doing two a days. What can I say, I am a social creature. I don't like going anywhere on my own if I don't have to. That may be why this go round is working out so well for me. I have Q, trainer and nutritionist extraordinaire and Joey, friend and motivator extraordinaire. They both keep me going and accountable. If I didn't have them, I don't think I would be doing so well. It is working out quite nicely. So, this evening I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill doing interval training. The incline was set to a low of 3 and high of 18.5. I sweat like a beast on that bad boy. That's how you know its working right?

I will leave you with a quote I saw that really spoke to me. I am blessed to have incredible people in my life and I wish the same for you. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 54: Adventures in Sobriety

This mornings workout was, lets just say, tiring. Q had me do a timed obstacle course that consisted of 4 rounds of 20 squat presses with 45 pound bar, 90 pound sled push, tire flip, 20 battle ropes, and ten 14 pound medicine ball slams. My best time was 2 minutes 35 seconds on the second round, worse was 3 minutes 40 seconds on the third round. I hate tire flips. Tires feel dirty. I don't like it.

After the course we went over to the stair climber for 15 minutes. Color me surprised I was able to stay on that thing so long without completely dying. I mean, I was dying, but I didn't die. Does that make sense, lol?

I stuck around the gym a few minutes chatting with Q, went out and ran a few errands. (Fran, I got my reduced sugar ketchup, finally!), then headed home to debate for the next 5 hours whether or not I was going to go out for a friends birthday tonight. I ultimately decided against it. I am 2 weeks sober into a 6 week plan and I still feel volatile. It is easy to say no during the day and when I am out to dinner, but going to a bar at night, I really don't know if I could do it so, I ultimately decided not to take the risk, no matter how sad I was I didn't get to see Mal for her birthday.

Instead we met up with some friends and all decided to all be sober together. We went and played a game of Laser Tag then headed over to the bowling ally for 4 games of cosmic bowling. I had a freaking blast. Laser Tag was amazeballs and bowling, well, apparently lifting weights for real ups your game... or maybe it was the whole not drinking bit. I don't think I have been in a bowling ally sober since high school. I was actually good! I was tossing a 13 pound ball down the lane like it was a rag doll, my arm wasn't even tired! We bowled from 9:30 to 1 am. Maybe this whole 6 week sobriety situation won't be so bad. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 53: Snowbody Can Stop Me Now

It is a winter wonderland outside, so OPM closed the government… which meant my two favorite Airmen were home for the day. Over the morning we mostly just laid around watching Walking Dead and Sleepy Hollow, about 10 Joey started asking “We going to the gym?”, Me: “Yeah, one more show”. We decided to leave at noon. I really thought the snow would be bad enough by then that we couldn’t go, but I was wrong. It wasn’t bad at all yet, so off we went.

Joey put together a workout from Men’s Fitness and I started out with some cardio doing 30 minute interval training with the incline ranging between 3 and 18.5. I was sweating like a pig. When I had 3 minutes left, Joey wondered over to ask if I wanted to do abs when he was done with his next set. Well, duh. Yeah. I like working out with Joey, he makes me push myself harder than I would on my own. Once I was done with the interval training, I wondered over to Joey to find him on the bench press killing it. I had to take a picture of his face. This is the face of a man putting in work, for real.

When Joey finished we went over to the turf and did 3 rounds of the following: Decline Sit-ups, Mountain Climbers, 12 reps; Mountain Climbers, 20 reps; Russian Twists, 20 reps, 35 pound Kettlebell; Roman Deadlift, 12 reps, 35 pound Kettlebell; Bicycle Crunches, 20 reps; Back Extensions; and Side Extensions.

I was so SO dead by the end it. We were at the gym for 2 hours. I am going to be so sore these next few days. I haven’t don’t anything like this, ever. I felt like Wonder Woman. I wish I was Wonder Woman, because that would have meant we could fly home, and that would have been so much better than the shit we had to deal with. We are in the middle of a Snowpocolypse 2.0 up here and there are cars stuck everywhere.

 

Thank God we made it home one piece. I am certainly not getting back out there in this non-sense today. I am going to snuggle up right on this couch, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 46: Do You Boo

Today was quite the adventure! I was supposed to stage today, but mother nature is back to her old tricks and ended up snowing us out, so we had to reschedule for tomorrow. Instead, I used today to run all of my errands I would have done Friday... except for one very awesome inspired surprise.

I started off the day running to Gainesville to meet Andrea from Thick to Thin to pick up items for this weekends Combine where I am a vendor. I left there and headed to Alexandria to see my stylist Caitlin for new color. For the last year I have been doing super fun colors, pinks, blues, purples, oranges, yellow, greens... whatever mood I'm in really. Today was pink and orange. It's fabulous, I love it.

 

As I was sitting in the chair I felt inspired to go get a tattoo. There is a saying that really spoke to me at the beginning of my journey. As a matter of fact, I posted it on Day 21 of this blog. I even went out and bought an engraved bracelet to always have it near me. So, today I decided to get it on me permanently to celebrate 45 consecutive days of a successful lifestyle change. I stumbled upon a shop in Arlington where there were two artists that really impressed me with their portfolio... so I decided to chance and see if one of them was available. It was a sign, because Amy rounded the corner and it was on. We discussed what I wanted and decided to do it in two phases. I got the quote today and after the challenge, in early April I will get the background (which will be watercolor flowers). I am so pumped. It is going to be so rad. This is it so far:

 

 

 

After I left Rick's, I headed over to Del Ray to go meet up with friends. Ed was in town from Ohio, so we all got together for dinner. Let me tell you, eating out on a strict diet is hard as hell, but I managed to do it. They didn't have sweet potatoes, so I just had plain Salmon and green beans, no butter or hollandaise. As soon as I got home, I cooked my sweet potato and it was delicious. It was a great evening. We found out Ed was just selected for Chief and that couldn't be more spectacular. There is no one more deserving that him. I love you Ed, CONGRATS again honey!

 

We ended the evening around 8 and back home we came. Overall, it was an amazing day. I had a phenomenal time just doing me. And now I am super tired, so I am going to take my behind to sleep. Goodnight beautiful world. I will talk to you tomorrow. 

Day 45: Next Level Ish

Welp, today is half way point of my little adventure. I asked Q to take my measurements to check the progress. We measured my waist, leg and hips. I have lost a total of 6.25 inches. The largest loss coming in at my waist with a little under 4 inches. I don't know what I was expecting, I guess some kind of miracle, because I surely thought 6 inches seemed low. Q assured me I was crazy and this was actually better than she expected, so we are certainly on track.

Day 45 is not something I was exactly looking forward to because I knew what it meant. The first half of this journey was getting me used to eating clean and cutting back on alcohol, the next 45 days are going to be me kicking it into overdrive and saying goodbye to everything except eggs, coconut and almond milk, protein powder, plain oatmeal, green veggies, spinach, brown rice, quinoa, couscous, sweet potatoes, and fish. I was kind of stressed out about it because I was scared I wouldn't be able to do it, but I think I will be okay. I keep reminding myself I have gotten this far. I can do anything for 45 days.

Throughout the day I had organic plain oatmeal and 3 eggs, a protein shake, salmon, green peas, baby spinach, cod, baby sweet potatoes, and mixed long grain brown rice and quinoa. Check out my pretty fish with its 4 different rubs. I used wasabi, Dijon, jalapeno sriracha, and horseradish mustard. I had the sriracha and Dijon today. OMG Delicious. I think this is the first time I have ever had cod. I may be in love.

 

 

Other than the regimented eating, my training is being taken up a notch too. This morning I did something called a grid-iron workout which included 4 rounds of sled pulls, battle ropes, tire flips, 14 pound medicine ball tosses, kettle bell swings, and planks till failure. It was exhausting, but good stuff. I intended on going back tonight for KB class, but I got caught up packing for tomorrows staging and didn't get out of the warehouse until 6:30, so I missed it. Honestly, I probably got just a good if not better of workout in at the warehouse moving couches, pulling down tables and chairs, and packing up accessories for 3 hours. Trust me when I tell you my job is not in the least bit sedentary and I LOVE that!

 

On that note, I must be off to get my beauty rest as tomorrow's property is a big'n and I will need the energy. So, goodnight my loves, I'll talk to you tomorrow. 

 

 

Day 42: My Day Job... Which I LOVE!

I can honestly tell you I truly, truly, truly love what I do. I love every not to pretty, sweaty, physically exhausting detail of it. For those of you who don't know, I am a Lead Stager for The Staging Fashionista, one of the DC area's premier full service staging companies. We do a lot of properties ranging from super tiny condo to enormous McLean Mansion's. The smallest I have been in was a one bed DC condo and the largest a 5 story multi-million dollar monster outside of Tysons. 

Today was a pretty standard staging in Fairfax, VA. I did this baby by myself because my assistant couldn't make it due to it being rescheduled from the snow. One of the greatest things about my job is the fact it is extremely physical. We don't have a large team like some of the other companies. Most of the time we have one mover and one stager, so guess who is moving the furniture. We are.

This one we had 2 couches, 4 accent chairs, 2 tables, 6 dining chairs, 1 coffee table, 2 ottomans, 4 side tables, book shelf, countless pieces of art, accessories, lamps, rugs, kitchen and bath accessories. With no one else but us, Anthony and I hauled everything right up to the second and third floor where it all belonged. After everything was said and done, it took me a good 7 hours to do the house, we had the foyer, living room, dining room, eat in kitchen, den, master bed and bath, and office. I must have gone up 45 flights of stairs by the end of it. All this working out is really paying off. I wasn't huffing and puffing at all. It was the craziest thing!

Here is a couple of shots from the staging. In order to see the before and after's of the entire home, click here

 

 

Day 40: I Didn't Need That Skin Anyway

Today was crazy busy. I was at the warehouse all day prepping for this weekends staging. I got out of there about 5:30, just in time to run back to the house, walk Fi, and grab clothes for this evening's pole fit workout with Q.... and surprise guest Sabrina! I was so excited. This was her first pole class.

As usual, Q's music was on point. We opened the class with The Weekend's Earned It which is probably my favorite song at the moment. It was all fabulous R&B with a little hip hop mixed in. I always feel so amazing when she teaches. I was even able to CLIMB the damn pole tonight for the first time ever. I still can't invert, but I am getting closer. A few more weeks of arms and I think I will be there.

I told you a few weeks ago that Pole can be "dangerous". I usually end up with bruises and such (which I kind of love)... Well, tonight was no exception. About halfway through the class, I look over and see Sabrina with a pained look on her face, holding her finger. She knocked into the pole wrong and completely took off one of her acrylic nails. OUCHY! With 15 minutes left in class, S runs out to catch up with her hubby and I took her pole. That thing is CURSED I tell you. I was going through our choreography and went to hop up into a pole hold when I heard something rip, immediately followed by the feeling of one thousand tiny needles digging into my hand. I pulled my hand back, looked down and realized my skin just separated from my body. Sexy, right?

That shit hurt like a BITCH! I looked at it for a second, kind of in shock, because it didn't make sense to me. It was a smooth pole.... but upon further investigation of my hands, I realized that I had a callous coming up because of the type of training I am doing. So, between the callous and the alcohol I was using to keep my hands dry enough to grip the pole, my skin decided it no longer needed to be attached to my hand. Needless to say, I am not getting back on the pole without some gloves... which happens to be conveniently sold at the front desk.

Once I figured out what happened, I ran out of class to the front desk, grabbed some pain cream and Band-Aids, and went to the locker room to change for this evenings festivities.  One of my friends (Hi Sophia!) got promoted, so everyone converged on Samuel Becketts' Gastro Pub to celebrate. It was a really good time. I imbibed on some delicious Pinot Noir and a couple shots of Fireball (since this is my last weekend to drink), hung out with some of my favorite people, and met some new friends. It was a great end to a crazy week.

I hope my future weekends will be as much fun without my good friend, red wine. I guess we will find out! I will talk to you tomorrow.

Day 31: Keep Calm... Or Not.

Today was "leg" day (and by leg day I mean ass day).... LUCKY FOR ME there is no more "taking it easy on Nicole because she is sick" business. I still have a nasty cough, but the color is back in my face and apparently I sound better... So yay for that.

Today we started out on the leg press and did 4 or 5 sets of 25 with God only knows how much weight. The next thing seriously about killed me. I don't even know what it is called, but Q had me bend backwards, balance my shoulders on the weight bench, and grabbed a 40 pound weight bar and placed it on my hips. From this position she had me dip my ass down, then bridge up squeezing everything at the top. I did this movement for 20 reps. Then we went over and did reverse lunges, 20 per side, then back to the dip it low thing. This went on three rounds.  It was exhausting to say the least.

After that was done, we went over to the turf and did more lunges, kettle bell swings, squats, and planks till failure... I feel like I am forgetting something... we ended a little early because I got super lightheaded, I just don't remember what I did to make me dizzy. Probably got up to fast... Oh well. Today sucked, but my ass thanked me in the end. I rewarded myself by hanging out in the sauna for 30 minutes, then headed to the smoothie bar to talk to Shep and Matt. It was a good day.

This evening I went back for some Kettlebell with Caes. I finally used a heavier weight for the majority of the workout! I can't even begin to remember everything we did. I was the test dummy tonight and started out with 5 Turkish get-ups (kill me, those things suck) while everyone else did swings. They were supposed to be progressive, but Caes realized this was going to take too long, so we went strait into the workout. We did a couple rounds of one minute swings, in and outs, squats, 3 partner exercises (plank rows, presses, and something else), lunge pass through's, leg lifts, Russian twists, flutter kicks and some other stuff.

The weight I used ranged between 26 and 35 pounds depending on the exercise. During the lunge pass through's Caes made me switch to the 17 pound because my balance was off and he didn't want me to fall over (which was a distinct possibility). I am pleased with my overall performance. A few more weeks at the 35 pounds then maybe I can move up to the big boys. Yeaahhhhh.

After KB, I jumped on the treadmill and walked it out at a varying incline while Joey finished up with Josh. Their session was particularly hilarious this evening. At one point, I look over and see Josh sitting on top of the sled that Joey was pulling through the gym.  I swear to God Josh looked like Santa and Joey was a reindeer. I wish I had taken a picture. It was awesome.

On that note, I think I am going to start my letter to Santa early. Let me get on that. I will talk to you tomorrow.

Day 22: Ain't No Half-Steppin'

When I walked into the gym this morning, Q tells me we are going to be straight cardio training today. My first thought was "Shit, she is going to put me back on my arch enemy, the stair climber. I am going to have to make a run for it".... thankfully, she did not. She stuck me on the treadmill for an hour and jacked up the incline to one billion. My head was basically touching the ceiling. It didn't suck like I thought it would though. She does a really good job of keeping my mind off of what I am actually doing.  I ended up burning over 750 calories, I tried to take a picture of the incline, but it turned out all wonky and you can't read it. So Q took this one:

 

 

I am a bit surprised with this picture. Wendy mentioned the other day that she could tell a difference in the side pictures. I could not.... but when I look at this photo, I can. Maybe it is because my arms are up. I don't know. I mean, the numbers don't lie... I know there are major changes going down. I checked my weight again this morning... Since first seeing Q for nutrition in September last year, I have lost 17.1 pounds. 10 of those pounds were lost in the last 21 days. The weight is melting off with this whole insane training schedule I have going.

 

Speaking of melting. Q has me in the sauna for 20 minutes after our workouts now. Apparently its good for your muscles. I had never been in a sauna before. They honestly just looked like a really hot box and not very much fun.... but I was wrong. Saunas are awesome. It reminded me of my once beloved tanning bed. (I used to be an obsessive tanner, but stopped a few years ago because I became absurdly paranoid about skin cancer.) I went to sleep and ended up in there for longer than I meant to be, but not before taking a selfie... 

 

 

After I left the gym I went on about my business. I ran up to Alexandria and had lunch with my friend Desi. I love her. She is the best. She is kind of a social media genius, so she gave me a crash course on all things social. I have my work cut out for me. I left around 5:30 and headed back to the gym for round two.

 

I told you once before I am a bit of a voyeur when it comes to the trainers. I love watching other peoples sessions. When I went back to the gym, I was 20 minutes early for my Kettlebell class with Steven; so, I posted up on one of the stationary bikes. I am fairly convinced those things don't do a damn thing for you body, but I can easily sit in the corner, play on my phone and take unsuspecting pictures of Joey with no one any the wiser. I sat there with my hood up for about 15 minutes before my peoples noticed I was there. See:

 

Hi Joey. I miss your hair (Seahawks lost so he had to shave it all off this morning. Boys an their bets, I will never understand it.) The dude in the yellow is that Josh guy I talk about sometimes. He is one of the Crossfit coaches and personal trainers. He is cool.... kind of... ;)

 

After I got my kicks from watching Joey, I waddled over to the KB class. Sabrina had just finished up with Q so she made her go to the class with me. Poor Sabrina. This is why you have to run out the gym as soon as your time is up, otherwise you end up getting thrown into something else. KB was "fun". I used the 17 pound weight again and realized that I really was tossing that thing around like it ain't nothing. So, Wednesday I really am going use the 26 pounder (I know I said I was last Wednesday, but I was scared). After all, ain't no half-steppin' when it comes to fighting this battle.

 

On that note, I am out. I will talk to you tomorrow.

 

 

Day 19: With a Little Help From My Friends

Man, today started out awesome. I had Pilates with Vicki, which is certainly my most looked forward to class of every week. We have excellent music, excellent instruction, and excellent results. I got some really awesome stretching in. I felt limber, awake and happy, and then my mental shit hit the fan.

I really wish I could wear a shirt all the time that says "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe". I would mostly use it as a reminder for the other me to stop being such a buzz kill when I am having a fabulous day.... but I would also hope that other people would see it and think to themselves "Maybe I shouldn't be such a dick" or maybe they would magically become aware of the shittastic energy they are putting out in the world... but it's whatev's. People are assholes, they have their own shit, I get that. You can't be happy all the time.

Anyway, so in a two hour time span, I went from being relaxed and happy to tense and pissed off, or on, whichever way you want to look at it, and I took that attitude into what was supposed to be the best training session of the week. Q had set up for me and Lena to do a partner workout on Lena's last day at Gold's. Unfortunately, the first thing we did was get on my sworn enemy, the stair climber. Look, I am not even going to pretend like I was having a good time. I most certainly was not. At one point I was damn serious, I was about to quit the challenge. As the words came out of my mouth, Q yells "I don't train quitters"... which she doesn't. So I didn't quit. I sucked up my pissyness and kept stepping. I made it through the time on the stupid thing, but not without a lot of misery, huffing and puffing. The next twenty minutes I was still pretty grumbly, but then something weird happened and the happy me came back out of the blue. After we finished the 2nd round of inchworms, we stood up and interrupted our workout to dance it out on the turf. We are kind of awesome like that.

The rest of the workout was as fun as it should have be to begin with. Q took some pictures, check it:

Once we were finished, we wandered over to the smoothie bar, grabbed a drink and chatted with Morgan. I even met Joeys new competition, Dominic. Dude has the potential to be a beast. Joey better step his game up! Needless to say, I ended up sitting there until 4pm. The rest of the day went off without a hitch, I wrote, I stayed in my happy place. Lets aim to stay in our happy place next week, okay? On that note, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 18: BEST. DAY. EVER.

Okay, so first thing before I get into my SUPER exciting news… YAY, I did Crossfit again and it was awesome. Josh instructed, and he is dope. We learned how to do Clean and Jerks and I had way too much fun dropping the weights on the floor. I was like a really awesome bull in a china shop. I’m glad we had a good time because it was the last time I will get to morning WOD with Lena; she is leaving me to go influence young minds and going back to teaching. I will miss her at the gym VERY much…. But I will still get to see her because she loves me, so Yay.

Now on to the most exciting news in my world. Wednesday I got a sweet message from a friend of mine, Julie, who has been reading the blog and wanted to introduce me to her friend Andrea who is kicking ass on this same journey. What I didn’t know at the time is what a badass this woman was. I did a little bit of internet stalking and quickly realized that I had just met someone who is a constant inspiration to THOUSANDS of women who are all on this journey with us. So OF COURSE what else was I to do but message her and spark up a conversation. I couldn’t have made a better decision.

Andrea is the owner, operator, blogger extraordinaire from Thick to Thin, a clothing company that started as a blog in 2011. Her “rants” chronicle her struggle from size 18 to size 6. The blog morphed into a clothing company shortly after when she realized that all workout clothing is made to be geared towards your typically sized athlete. With how much I have read about this company and this woman, I could tell you, but I will let her do it instead:

Thick2Thin // About Us from Altamira Film Co. on Vimeo.

 
My initial message informed Andrea that she was awesome and I am awesome, so naturally we should get awesome coffee sometime soon.  What came next took me by complete surprise and I have been on cloud 9 ever since. Andrea tells me that she has read my blog and thinks I am hilarious and would love it if I could guest blog for them sometime. This in itself almost put me in tears because I could not believe that she, of all people, took the time to read my little ole blog…. But that wasn’t it. She then asked me if I would consider being in their video shoot this weekend for their new Kickstarter campaign to gather funding and awareness to bring affordable and fashionable athletic gear to every woman, no matter her shape and size because #weareallathletes

I may still be in shock that I get to be a part of something this monumental. This particular subject is incredibly close to my heart; not only am I a size 18, but I am also 6 ft tall. I can’t find a decent pair of workout clothes to save my life. So off I will go Saturday morning to meet 7 other beautiful women to tell our stories and hopefully begin to change the world of fitness clothing as we know it. I am so blessed and completely overjoyed.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 17: Work That Pole Girl

Today was SUPER fun! Q surprised me earlier this week with a playlist she was putting together for a private S Factor Pole class for one of our training sessions. This afternoon we got to put that bad boy on and she taught me how to perfect some integral moves. We threw on the red light, cranked up the bass, and I have never had more fun in my life in a personal training session.

Let’s get one thing strait, pole is incredibly difficult. It requires a shitload of upper body strength and trust in yourself that you aren’t going to completely bust your ass. I am a big girl, there is no way around that. I have taken this group class several times, and while I loved it, I wasn’t able to do a lot of the things the others girls could do. LO AND BEHOLD, today I did awesome. Like, really awesome. Like, I don’t even know who this girl was or how she developed enough upper body strength to spin her big ass around the pole as many times as she did.

Q taught me how to perfect a couple of spins which are the firefly, firefly with extended leg, and firefly with leg tucked behind me. She also got me to pole climb with the prance down MULTIPLE TIMES! I have NEVER been able to do this, no matter how many times I’ve tried. So needless to say, I am pretty damn proud of myself. Check me out, this is the pole hold, prior to prance:

 

I am so sore I can barely lift my arms. I’ve got bruises coming up on my feet and legs, my back is throbbing, and I STILL feel like a rock star.  Pole class will beat the hell out of you (if you couldn’t tell), but what it does for your inner goddess is just indescribable. You will just have to take a class yourself and find out. It is amazing and only yours. You don’t have to share it with anyone if you don’t want to.

Even with all this upper body work during pole, I wasn’t about to give up my two-a- days or the opportunity to work with Caesare in Kettlebell. I really do love his class... So, I went back at 6 and rocked it out. We did 2 rounds of double squats with arm press, swings, plank rows, curls, soccer kicks, lunge pass throughs, butterfly kicks and leg lifts.  I am going to have to switch it up next week though. Currently I am only using the 17.5 pound kettle bell, but next Wednesday I think I am going to step up my game to the 26 pound. After all, Caes says: “Train the same, remain the same. Do different things, get different results… TurnUp!!!”

So I am going to TurnUp again tomorrow. Crossfit with my Lena comes early. We have Josh again, so this should be “fun” and by fun I mean awful...or awesome, I don't know... the Crossfit Kool-Aid has a way with distorting your emotions. I look forward to letting you know how it goes. Talk to you tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

Day 16: It's Official, I've Drank the Koolaid

I never saw this coming.... Today I woke up in full on beast mode, ready to take over the world. Apparently I have drank the Crossfit Kool-Aid and didn't even know it happened.

Last night around midnight I decided to wake up early and head to my once dreaded, now excited for, 9am Crossfit session. Maybe it is the fact this is the last week I get to workout with Lena and I am trying to marinate in her presence... or maybe it's the fact that I feel like a total badass throwing weight around the gym like a dude. Either way, I'll take it. Crossfit, two thumbs up.

This morning we worked with Josh. He also happens to be Joeys new trainer for this challenge. Joey always comes home looking like he has punched in the stomach and now I know why. Dude has no sympathy and I love it. This morning our skill was dead lifts and cleans. Then followed by the 10 minute AMRAP with 10 deadlifts, 10 cleans, and 5 burpees. Check us out:

 

 

 

Look, I am slow, but I own it. I only got through three rounds, but man, I wanted to die after the first four minutes. Weight lifting is hard! 

To put the cherry on top, once we were done with AMRAP, Josh sees we technically have 15 minutes of class left and sends us over to the turf for abs. I don't know if you have ever heard of a Turkish getup, but seriously, fuck that. They suck. I hate it less than burpees, but it is a very close second. Anyway, we ended after those and we went over to the treadmill where I found Q looking at me as if I were crazy...And I actually might be.
 

The fact I did Crossfit in itself wasn't the crazy part. What made it nuts is the fact I had a training session with Q two hours later. I am used to this two a day situation, but it is usually one weight session and one strait cardio session. A good 6 hours apart... Not two hardcore training sessions back to back. 

I brought this on myself, as such, don't think for one second that the fact I did Crossfit in the morning made Q go any easier on me than she normally would. She didn't. We went hard with high reps. I did single leg presses 25 reps each, medicine ball throws, patty cake planks, bicycle crunches, 60 sumo squats with escalating weight, and some kind of torture where I sit down and hop up like a bunny 25 times. She made me do three rounds of these and I loved every second of it. 

I am either turning into a meat head or have completely lost my marbles. Either way I'm cool. The endorphins that I get when training are like nothing I have ever experienced. My favorite part of the day is working my ass off in this gym. 

Wait, who the hell is this and what has she done with Nicole?! I think the other Nicole is back in the basement painting, channeling all this new found energy with a glass of wine... Simultaneously talking to her best friend about the awesome afternoon she had creating art with her friend. So, I don't know who your going to talk to, but one of us will talk to you tomorrow. 

Day 15: You want me to do WHAT with that tire?

Ugh writers block is not fun. I would love nothing more than to sit here and write a hilarious diatribe about today’s fitness adventure, but I’m not feeling it. I need a creative reset. So, here are the highlights:

1. I managed to pull out 15 real pushups (and 30 “girly” pushups)

2. My legs are shaping back up into what they once were nicely. Pretty excited. I need a tan.
3. I have lost 7.2 pounds in 14 days… WOO RESULTS!
4. 2-A-Days continue, 1pm training session, 7pm Barre Fit class
5. Barre Fit is Hard, Barre Fit is Awesome, Barre Fit fixes jacked up backs.
6. Q made me flip a freaking tire so I wrote this Haiku about it:

Rubber touches my fingers

Arms hurt uncontrollably

The pain welcomes me

 

 

 

Now I am going to go to sleep…. or continue watching Fight Club, or start working on a canvas, or clean my kitchen. Who knows, it’s snowing. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 14: Shop the Perimeter, Check!

When I first joined ETC, I learned about this fancy idea called “perimeter shopping”. The idea is to shop the perimeter of the grocery store, where fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are located and avoid the center aisles where junk foods live. I put this in action Sunday as Joey and I roamed around Costco. I picked up delicious fresh salmon, chicken, ground turkey, roast, grapes, blueberry’s, raspberry’s, kale, peas, 5 pounds of nuts, and 7 grain bread.  Eating healthy is a lot less challenging this go round. Probably because I am learning to look at food as fuel for its nutritional value instead of a pleasure source. A side effect to this is that I am learning how delicious truly fresh and non-processed foods are. Overall, I’d say I am winning. One step closer to being even more fabulous! ;-)

Day 13: Gym, What Gym?

I woke up this morning to one of my favorite things, a house full of people. (I'm quite serious, I love company. We have an open door policy, everyone is always welcome.) See, we have a fully stocked bar in our basement and one rule, if you are drinking here, you are staying here too. Friends don’t let friends drink and drive. So needless to say, I woke up and cooked breakfast for everyone.

Ugh, let’s just talk about trying to cook a healthy version of a regularly fattening and delicious breakfast pastime.

One of my most favorite breakfast food objects is french toast casserole in all of its fattening glory. Mmmmm butter, whipping cream, white bread, maple syrup. Yes. PURE deliciousness. This whack adventure consisted of wheat bread, sugar free syrup, skim milk, and cooking spray. Ugh it tasted like cardboard. Thank God for cinnamon and nutmeg, otherwise there would have been no flavor at all. I do have the best friends a gal could have though, they were all so kind to pretend to like it, even though I told them they didn’t have to eat it. Note to self: come up with better healthy recipes for groups.

Needless to say, I had big plans for the day, but it all went to hell as soon as we sat down and started watching Kevin Hart stand-up. He is so hilarious, it just sucks me in. I finally got up about 3pm and headed out for work. I worked until 8ish then headed home.

I wish I could say I went to the gym today, but I didn’t. I did, however, walk around IKEA for an hour dodging horrible people and small children coming at me from every direction... but at least I still ate healthy, it’s the small victories that get me through.

 

 

 

Day 12: Welcome Back Flexibility, I’ve Missed You

I don’t have much to say about today other than I LOVE Pilates and holy crap I almost did a split. Last week when I did Pilates for the first time in many years, I left a little disheartened because I could no longer fold my body in the ways I once could. (Note: Many moons ago, I did Yoga/Pilates 5 days a week and was super flexible; I had since lost all flexibility and could barely touch my toes.)  

I am not sure what happened between last Friday and today, but I was killing it. During one set, Vicki had me keep moving my foot further away as I was going down, to the point I was almost in a complete split. I felt the stretch, but I was still in disbelief, so I asked her after class. Sure enough, she said she was so excited because I was in fact, almost in a full split. Next time, she is taking a photo for proof.

Now I am off to enjoy my weekend. We have friends coming over for game night. Yay! Here is to celebrating life and a week well done.

Day 11: Those Burpees are Fun… Said No One Ever.

Well, today started out great. I was all excited for my workout... I just knew it was going to be awesome, just like yesterday, right? But the dream died as soon as I walked through the door and saw Q standing in the Crossfit pit. Next words out of her mouth were “I got bad news, today you’re doing Crossfit again”. I, for the LIFE of me cannot figure out why this has caught on the way it has. I get going hard, but this is just ridiculous. Regular burpees suck, but Crossfit burpees are just plain hell. Why would anyone want to throw themselves on the floor and jump up and clap repeatedly? Ugh. I HATE Crossfit.

I may hate Crossfit, but there are certainly some aspects of it that I enjoy. Like doing front squats with the barbell. I had a 25 pound bar with a total of 55 pounds. I know that’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but when doing 50 of these bitches during the skills lab, that little bit of weight starts to feel like 500 pounds. I felt like a beast. 

The other thing I enjoyed was how hard Q pushed me. If she wouldn’t have been screaming at me to give her at least three rounds, I wouldn’t have. I would have quit. No doubt about it. But I didn’t and as such, I can feel my arms gaining strength, I notice it with every movement and every shirt I put on. This feeling is addicting... So does that mean I just contradicted my declaration of deep hatred for Crossfit? I think it does.

Apparently I didn't hate my life too bad because I did go right back there tonight for Krank and Moi Class. I think Krank may be creeping up to be my favorite class. The craziest part is that it is HARD. You sweat like a pig and the music kind of sucks, but the high you get when you are Kranking is immense. I somehow transport myself into another dimension and just role with it. It was over and I didn’t even know it. I just kept going until I realized I was the only one moving. If I was to sit back and diagnose why I love this class, I think it is because it reminds me a lot of basic training with Steven instructing. This dude missed his calling as a drill instructor, no joke. At some point during the first leg of the class, someone said they were bored. This was the WRONG thing to say. Next thing you know everyone is out of their saddle doing lunges and squats. I was like damn, yo, this kind of behavior could cause a mutiny, girlfriend need to stay quiet... BUT AGAIN, that is still part of its sick and twisted charm. I still love it. Can’t you tell by the smile on our faces?

On that note, I must be on my way. I have to get my beauty rest for the best day of the week, Pilate’s Rehabilitation Friday! So cheers to pushing boundaries friends, I’ll talk with you tomorrow.