#i decided to start working out and just finished 20 mins of fun cardio but wdym i can't eat for the next 2-3 hours?? 😩😩😩

[zevrans]

.

[workthefloorfitness-blog]

My First Dance Fitness Class

I have never been an athletic person. S**t I would even refuse to run the 20 min mile in high school. Sorry, no. Over the years I had eaten poorly and drank copious amounts of alcohol and let’s just say, I got a lil fluffy and extremely lazy. I had attempted to do the usual, go for walks, run on the treadmill, I even subscribed to a gym and hired a personal trainer. None of that panned out though because it was *work.* (Not to mention my trainer’s style was to literally scream what he called “motivation” at me which really just made me cry every day) I gave up thinking there was an effective way to lose weight while having fun and feeling good about myself. So, I quit the gym and I lived with the fluff. I owned it, it was me. 

Then I discovered ZUMBA®! 

Growing up I was always dancing. Not professionally but hidden away in my bedroom with the music cranked, I would attempt to replicate the moves I saw on TV, pretending to be a video girl. My dream job in life, and still to this day, was to be a Las Vegas go-go dancer. 

I had heard of Zumba® before through social media and word of mouth and thought how fun! A workout that involves dancing?! I’m IN! So when my best friend asked me to attend a class with her it was a no brainer. Down. THEN, that b***h didn’t even show up. I was all alone, fluffy and out of place in my over-sized t-shirt and sweatpants, surrounded by fit women in their cute lil matching athletic outfits who looked like they knew what the f**k they were doing. I was so intimidated but I was already here so I decided to press on. I found a spot all the way in the back, closest to the door in case I had to make a run for it.

Finally, after standing for what seemed like ages alone and awkward in the corner, this short, fit, tan girl with flashy, colorful clothes strolled in and up to the front of the class. She seemed full of energy and ready to do the d**n thing. I liked her already. She introduced herself, broke down a couple of moves she mentioned they had been working on the last couple of weeks and turned on the first song. Everyone in the crowd seemed excited and started stepping to the beat, anticipating her first move. I followed suit. Next thing I knew the instructor was moving left, then right, then spinning and it was all happening so fast! I was so f*****g confused! How was I supposed to know which way to go!? That first song I went right when I was supposed to go left, put my hands up when they were supposed to go down and said “sorry” at least 15 times for bumping into the ladies next to me and that was just the warm up. I was mortified but determined to see the class through. 

Song after song of reggaeton and Latin music I didn’t understand bumped through the speakers and we single, single, doubled our way through each and every one of them. While I had never heard a single song that was played, I was grateful it was all upbeat and fun music; music you definitely wanted to shake your a** to.

About half way through class with a huge boob sweat stain smack dab in the middle of my neon orange t-shirt, dripping wet and clearly looking like a hot mess, I started catching on. It was becoming FUN! I started to realize the moves weren’t overly complicated and every move was repetitive, so as long as you had half a brain you could anticipate what was coming next. And something about a group of women all dancing together in unison is enough to make me straight giddy. I caught myself in one of the 16 mirrors sporting a HUGE smile on my face that never seemed to fade. This was the most fun I had had in a long time; not just as a work out but in general. Plus not only was I having fun, it was WORKING! I could feel every inch of my body aching, lungs burning, legs weak, feeling like I may honestly pass out at any moment. I was using muscles I didn’t even know I had! 

The class finally came to an end after what seemed like 3 hours of intense cardio. (It was 45 mins) We finished with a slow song and some stretching. I remember not even being able to bend all the way down to touch my toes. I wasn’t sure if it was because my fluff was blocking me or because my body felt like I had just undergone a war. My underwear was soaking with sweat, I was uncontrollably coughing because my lungs were on fire, and I was literally counting the seconds until I could go home and die on my couch but...I was STILL smiling!

After the instructor had thanked us all for coming everyone started bustling around, grabbing their items and hurriedly scattering. I stood there for a moment taking in all of my thoughts; I had such an incredible time! I felt amazing, rejuvenated, proud, skinny and excited to have found something that seemed perfectly catered towards me; an average female who isn’t obese but definitely not fit either, who is lazy and gets bored easily. FINALLY there was something that could hold my attention span and get me the results I craved!

I went home and immediately Googled every single dance fitness class near me and attended every single one over the following four months.

This was it. The beginning of a new era. I had found my calling. Dance. F*****g. Fitness. 

[jlmckee13]

Week 2 #MommySchool in Review

If you caught my earlier blog post you may have gathered from the tone that I was not overly impressed with my job performance as a first grade teacher this week. Now that I have decompressed a bit, I have decided that it wasn’t necessarily awful.

When you put things into perspective like my increased life load and still end your day with your child saying that they had a great time, really all the details don’t even matter. Regardless, I tried and as I attempted to convey in my previous post- really from Day #1 this week you could feel there was a different vibe in the air.  Here is how it went:

DAY #1 & #2- Rock n’ Roll Monday...cont’d to Tuesday

The weather really was crap on Monday. It poured all day. Any normal person that may be planning to do an outside activity might check the weather prior- I did not and then I had to adjust on the fly. My plan was to listen to rock music all day while he and I both worked (Which we did), learn about geology (Rocks. Get it?), play some games, and go outside and dive into the gem stone dig kits and a rock tumbler that Santa brought. 

On this day, I also had to plan to go to the school’s work drop box to do a drop and grab. Well, that was a great opportunity to rock out to music on the way BUT THENNNNN... All the work we completed the previous week fell into a huge puddle. That’s what I got for wearing Minecraft gear to “protect” myself at the drop off location. 

All was not lost on Day #1, however, as all of his work returned home with us and dried out on the floor. (I wanted to cry- but I salvaged it) We played... drum roll please... “Are they a Rockstar or Are they a Pirate?” the best cardio Rock n’ Roll game known to mankind. 

Needed: Googled Photos, One Sign in a corner that says “Rockstar” and Second sign that says “Pirate”

Rules: Lay on your stomach, look at photo, run to correct answer.

It was hilarious to me. I guess that counts for something. 

Tuesday picked up the slack on what I was not able to fit in on Monday. The weather allowed for us to get outside in the late afternoon to break out the gem kits- always a crowd pleaser. BUT then... insert the rock tumbler. What I thought might take 20 mins tops has now become a symbol of my entire coronavirus existence. 

Just so you are aware, a rock tumbler takes upwards of a MONTH to complete the process.

Here is a fun video that we threw in there to hit our geology education piece.

DAY #3- Outer Space Wednesday 

More appropriately called Work Wednesday. We both had our share to tackle so here is what outer space day entailed: This, a really unmotivated attempt at this, and a pretty sad light projector show at night (I could not find the pamphlet explaining the slides- good job mom- he didn’t have a clue). He was also not pleased AT ALL with his actual gym teacher’s assignment of this. The wall very much was arriving. 

DAY #4- Dinosaur Thursday

I don’t even feel like it happened. During his work breaks and lunch he watched a youtube video that was interesting enough for him to shout out some facts later though so- WIN. 

We had moved into our basement earlier in the week to accommodate my need for a work area, so I opened our bilco doors to motivate us with extra sunlight. He was able to finish his daily work up early- praise the heavens! Mon.-Weds. he was dragging and so was I. It was hard for him to stay focused with me having to direct my attention to zoom meetings, phone calls, and my laptop needs. Curiosity? Maybe? 

Thankfully the weather totally flipped and so did any plans on this day. In fact, today was the day where there were no plans. 

Our walk to the park was so helpful to get our bodies back in motion. We were not the only ones, however, who needed to get out- I got nervous about the increased amount of people that started to trickle in so it was short lived. On the way back, I fought the good fight on trying to convince him to take a nap with me- but even better happened. He suggested sitting and looking at the clouds. Oh. My. G. YES!

It was glorious. The sun! The beautiful sun!  

Coparenting needs kicked in. I asked his father earlier in the morning to try and swing by because the weather was perfect to stay outside. It was a nice surprise for him and he visited for a few very essential hours. Both my son and I were able to recharge a bit from the visit- and any conversation needs between dad and I were met. Our divorce papers don’t exactly have a global pandemic clause... I wonder how many will moving forward into our new world... 

DAY #5- Fun Fact Friday

FRRRRRIIIIIIIDDDDAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

What a huge day!

Big moment for him with his first class Zoom Room. Yes I cried! You try sitting and listening to a bunch of 6-7 year olds go around and say that they miss their friends. So innocent and heartbreaking at the same time. It was so good for him and his classmates though.  Modern technology will certainly get us all through this.

Fun Fact Friday was cute.  Every time he finished his remaining work for the day, I gave him a few fun facts. Here are some helpful links if you would like to mix it into your day:

Fun Facts #1

Fun Facts #2

Fun Facts #3

Fun Facts #4 - All things Animals

We truly finished the week up strong. We both finished what work we needed to. The weather was a huge factor again.

OH! Second big moment... We switched the grit on the rock tumbler! Yup- See you in a week rocks.

He and I went on a pretty long nature walk.  It was therapy for the soul for sure.

I was proud of us this week.  This was a tough one settling into a new reality.  It almost felt like Week #1 was a joke and that Week #2 was that person that comes along and says... “No really- I am not joking.” with a stern look.

The schedule skeleton that has been mapped out up until this point works well for him but we are both learning to listen to what our body and minds are really asking us for.  Whether it is time to get moving, time to stop and just soak up the sunbeams in silence, or even be alone where we can. Learning how to identify this and more importantly the skills to communicate it without moaning, fighting, or crying will prove to be one of the best if not the best skill acquired through COVID-19 #MommySchool. 

"That process in itself was an education for me.” - Mark Messier

[athleisure-aesthetic]

Ugh I did the thing again where I was busy all week and forgot to post on here. So here’s a lightning fast recap of my workouts from the past week, if you care at all. I actually think I worked out (ish, except Friday kinda) every day which is a first in a while. Bless.

Tues Mar 21 Abs and shopping. I went home after work to get my car so that I could drive to trainings the next two days, but went out to Target as soon as I got home, cause duh. Stupid idea to try on like real clothes tho, my self-conscious ass was like ohhhhh no way you need to tighten up those saddle bags and that back fat before you get any of this. So. I got a crop sweatshirt and athletic leggings, felt bad about myself but hadn’t had dinner, so I went to Wawa. Woof.

3x each 15 reps straight leg raises 15 reps roll ups leaning camel x 45s bird dogs x 45s 60 reps heal touches plank 35s, 40s, 45s 10 reps assisted push up 40 reps russian twists 8# alternating superman 1 min 15 reps single leg pulses

Wed Mar 22 Run on the trail after this horrific training class in which I was literally the only student for an all day session. And I had to go back the next day 😩 went to Marshall’s before my run to see if I could find any cold weather gear bc I only had my sweatshirt, gloves, wool earwarmers, and thin leggings. Didn’t find any of that, but got those AMAZING NEON PINK LEGGINGS IN THAT ONE PICTURE and some other ones too. You know me, can’t stay away from that athleisure ish.

It was hella freezing and took me so long to warm up once I started on the trail. Fortunately it was so picturesque and my music was bangin so. I survived.

2.78 mi 9'55" min / mi

Thurs Mar 23 6 x 200m sprints on the trail. Bless up, convinced my instructor to finish early bc tbh he was not really all that helpful once I started following the book that was included, so I went to the mall and got some more athleisure (deh), cheap sunglasses, athletic ear warmers for $.50 each, a VERY cute lightweight rain jacket, and (!!!!!) these black leather slip-on sneakers I’ve been looking for for like 6 months. I just caved and got the name brand ones but stILl omg I’m so excited about them I finally found them.

Started the sprints in the cotton leggins I was wearing, then after like maybe 9 or 10 strides I was like oh FUCk no they suddenly lost all their elasticity and I was having to pull them up for my life. So after completely embarrassing myself hoisting those mothereffers up for my first sprint, I jumped in the car and changed into spandex pants, then zoomed back to the trail start and actually did my workout. Good thing my house is only 8 minutes away from that part of the trail.

I think I may have mis-read what my Nike app was telling me to do, but I’m pretty sure it said to do 6 x 200m sprints with 4:45 min in between. So that’s essentially what I did, I sprinted for the 200m and ran / jogged in between. Although the app only recorded the distance for the sprints, I wanna say I did a little more than the day before, since I went further on the trail. I hate that you can’t go back and check what it told you to do; you only see how you actually ran according to the app. Lame af. Though I was proud, I increased my sprint speed at almost every length except the 3rd.

0.77mi 6'59" min / mi (lol can’t believe I actually ran a mile faster than that at one point in my life holy shit)

Fri Mar 24 No real workout here, since I had to leave work early to take the train back to le Nova for Palooza. I scarfed down a Snap pizza (the classic spot) right before the show, and somehow stayed away from the dangers of late night college food. Though I did get all my steps in my showing one of our friends’ home friend around campus, and apparently that little tour counted for a nice brisk walk. Obvi the Snovas killed it, as a great opener for what my friends and I dubbed AcaWeekend. Saturday they’d be competing at ICCA regional semifinals #pitchperfect for the first time ever, which was so exciting. Palooza the day before was just their warmup, but fortunately we got to see two new songs from them. It kinda sucked for them though bc they went first out of the seven groups and the sound guys always need a few groups to warm up before they actually refine the balance, and they just sounded muddled. Womp. Oh well. Everyone knows they’re/we’re the best anyway. Proud alum.

Sat Mar 25 Run in the morning before the day’s festivities. This was a quick workout before most of the humans who stayed in my apartment became humans, a brief mile ish to the waterfront and back. I realized I’d been wearing a blueish shirt and black leggings in literally all of my pics lately so I spiced it up with these fun stripey ones. Lol.

We adventured to brunch, where I had a yummy spinach and goat cheese salad with fig dressing, and wandered around the city for the afternoon before we had to head to semis. I splurged on Hunger Burger at RTM because I told myself that this was my indulgence for the weekend, and I wasn’t going to be drinking anymore for the next few months (it’s not like I do it that often anyway, I just want to try it to see how it helps my training/weight loss, if at all), so I got a specialty thin mint shake. Woops. Honestly, it was so worth it though, and I didn’t even end up eating most of the fries anyway, so it wasn’t the worst I could’ve done.

At semis, there were literally so many good groups and we were all like oh shit how are they going to stack up?? But Snovas SLAYED even better than they did last time and ENDED UP IN THIRD PLACE WHICH IS THE CRAZIEST BEST HONOR WE’VE EVER GOTTEN AND IT’S JUST SO COOL!!!!! A cappella is the shit, guys, I swear. I’m so proud of those kiddos, and they get to submit a wildcard video for a chance at Finals in NYC which is like legitimately insane. They’re somewhere in the top 18-27 groups in the country right now, and coming from a school where we legit don’t have music majors and a joke of a music activities staff / support, this coulD NOT be cooler. They murdered it. And so did all the other groups at semis, like damn. We weren’t even sure anything was gonna happen for them, but they clearly did some things right. Ugh so obvi we celebrated when we got back to Philly, going to a few bars and ending up at Frankford, where we got some amazing soft pretzels and other snacks. Best day ever.

1.26 mi 9'21" min / mi

1.32 mi 10'03" min / mi

Sun Mar 26 Long ish run and relaxing. Got up and was worried about the weather forecast for Monday because I was supposed to be doing my long run for next week then, and it was going to be torrentially downpouring all day, so I was hoping to switch my days because the weather was decent enough that I could’ve done it on Sunday. But then I updated my app and A, it changed my schedule for this week anyway, and B, I remember I could’ve moved it anyway if I wanted to. So instead I went and did that 5K Sunday challenge thing that it introduced. And I ran back from there, so it actually was closer to the 5 miles I had wanted to do anyway. So ya.

I felt a little subconscious in these leggings because, though they are a spectacularly bright and amazing color, they also show my cellulite on the back of my legs… but I thought, fuck it, people will see me, and if they give me a look, I’ll just push harder and show them that cellulite means nothing if you’re fast and capable and strong. So. I used it to empower me, I guess.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching ICCA videos, still hyped up on the Snovas victory. Legit it’s still coming to me in waves, it’s actually incredible.

3.11 mi 9'41" min / mi

1.53 mi 9'44" min /mi

Mon Mar 27 Full body circuit and a benchmark run. Work is starting to bore me so much lol on Monday I think I may have done approximately 2 work related things all day, otherwise I was just distracted. I decided to do a NTC workout and then my benchmark, so I chose Body Flexor 2.0, which worked a lot of different areas and was pretty fun. Then I ran on the treadmill for my benchmark for the first time, which was weird knowing my exact speed at certain times and being able to force myself to a certain pace. If I have to do it that way again, next time I’ll just cover the numbers and just focus on how it feels to push hard. The picture up there is me literally dying because of how sweaty I was. Plus fun leggings from Marshall’s.

1.54 mi 9'49" min / mi

Tues Mar 28 Abs / some arms, plus 20 minutes on the elliptical. I was an idiot today, and not only forgot a hair tie after my shower, but I left my phone at home, which I realized too late in the elevator on the way to work. Nice. So I had to go without both all day, though Kelly let me borrow a hair tie so I could work out thank GoD cause I was looking at using a legit rubber band, which would’ve been awful. The moves I chose for abs today ended up also working my arms a lot, which was nice to combo them. Because I didn’t have my phone, I just kind of had to make up my elliptical workout, which was meh but whatever. Next time I’ll be prepared. That’s definitely not my favorite type of cardio anyway.

Tonight I made these AMAZING baked zucchini fries, I probably could’ve eaten like 90 million in one sitting they were so crunchy and good. My sweet potato fries didn’t turn out so good (I actually burned the shit out of them, but I’m going to attempt to eat them tomorrow for lunch anyway 🙃) but I’m happy I’m trying new things in the kitchen, even if it’s taking me like 3 hours each time lolol.

I’m down a few pounds from last week, though, which is kind of nice! A little affirmation after working hard every day.

3x each 15 reps dumbbell side bends alt. sides 8# 15 reps twisting core stabilizers alt. sides 8# 15 reps bow extensions alt. sides 8# 15 reps woodchops 8# 10 reps windmills 5# 40 reps russian twists 8# 30 s plank 7 reps full extension inch worms 15 reps in-&-outs

Wooooof I’m going to try to post more often now that I’m all caught up. Lol it may last for a day but you know. #Goals.

[karenemilne]

Tactical Weigh-In

If you’re reading this it means you’re still interested in my weight loss journey and not yet bored of my shit chat, so thank you for that! So happy to say I had another weight loss this week! I lost 0.5 kilos (1.1 lbs) which means so far I have lost 1.8 kilos or 3.97 lbs. I’m going to go ahead and say I’ve lost 4 lbs in two weeks (and I’ll work extra hard to burn off that 0.03lbs)!

 I decided to weigh myself on Friday this week instead of this morning. This weekend I was away on Gemma’s hen weekend (so much fun!) and I didn’t hold back from all the alcohol, crisps, chocolates, and heavenly, lasagne-y carbs! I knew that if I weighed myself this morning then I 100% would have put on weight and felt guilty for enjoying myself. So instead I worked really hard last week (including a 6am run- I’ve lost the plot!) and weighed myself before my over-indulgence! Even though it was a small loss this week, it still made me feel better about thoroughly enjoying myself this weekend. My plan is to not weigh myself until next weekend now and I expect I will probably have some form of gain but I would be thrilled to maintain the same weight next week- that’s my aim!

 This week I learned two important things. 1) Don’t obsessively weigh yourself during the week. 2) It’s OK to not work out every day!

 1) Although I didn’t write it in last week’s blog, I tactically weighed myself last week too, as I weighed myself on the Saturday morning (before the takeaway and gin). As you’ll know if you read last week’s blog I lost 1.3 kilos in week 1 (woohoo). After going to the gym for the 8th consecutive day, I decided to weigh myself midweek one morning to hopefully see that my weight was still going down (forgetting to take into consideration all the food I consumed on Saturday night). When I weighed myself I had gained 1kilo, meaning I had actually only lost 0.3 from when I started. I felt deflated, upset and pissed off with myself. Poor Ross had a 7:15am rant from me along the lines of ‘what’s the fucking point?’, ‘I’ve worked my arse off and nothing is changing’ and even ‘I wish I hadn’t started this blog’. I obviously didn’t mean that, but at that point my body ached, I felt physically exhausted and above all, felt like I was letting people down. I couldn’t face writing a blog saying ‘week 2, gained 1k’. Since that weigh in I’ve lost 1.5 kilo in 4 days losing the extra weight from the Saturday, and more. Had I not weighed in during the week, this week would have been another really positive one for me as I’m delighted to have lost a pound. So I guess I’ve learned two things from this hurdle. First of all- losing weight is fucking hard. It’s exhausting and I need to learn that at times I will gain weight and that’s OK. This ‘journey’ is going to be long and tough but I know it’ll be worth it! Secondly- in future I won’t weigh myself more than once a week as weight fluctuates daily and becoming obsessive about it will make me demented (and Ross too)!

 2) On Tuesday morning (post midweek weigh-in full-blown breakdown) I was getting myself stressed about fitting in everything I had to do that evening after work. I wouldn’t be home until at least 5, I was meeting up with Joanne for a bit, I had to make dinner, I had to practise piano accompaniments, I had 100 reports to write for Wednesday, and I had to fit in a workout. I knew there was no way I could physically fit it all in, but in my head I was thinking ‘if I don’t work out then I won’t lose weight’ which I realise now is ridiculous. This week made me realise that I am never going to be able to exercise every day (nor am I going to want to!) and that’s absolutely fine!! As soon as I had got into my head that I wasn’t going to do exercise that night, I felt less stressed and actually, quite enjoyed a night without wearing a bloody sports bra! And thank goodness I didn’t go to the gym as I was up until midnight finishing the reports! (but hey us teachers only work 9-3 ;)…). So moral of the story- life happens, it’s okay to not exercise every day, you won’t turn into a whale overnight!

 So! Last week’s workouts were quite cardio heavy:

 Sunday- I managed to run 11k (I’ve never ran more than 10 before) and some ridiculous part of my brain is making me consider a half marathon later in the year (lol).

Monday- I did light cardio (legs were killing me from Sunday) and then some weights.

Wednesday- I did the stair master and cycled again. Realised that one of the parts of my body that sweats the most are my wrists- is this normal?!

Thursday- Joe Wicks 20 mins HIIT workout in the house

Friday- 6AM run before work. I forced poor Ross out of bed to come with me because it was dark- not a clue how I haven’t been papped yet!!

 I’m really busy again this week but aiming for 4/5 workouts (including the weekend). Wish me luck!

 Meals this week are:

 Sunday- PON chilli with a baked potato and salad

Monday- HB Chicken Caesar salad (highly recommend this- sauce is really easy to make and it tastes really fresh!)

Tuesday- SW Salmon teriyaki

Wednesday- Moroccan style chicken with veg couscous

Thursday- eating out between school and a school event at night

Friday- SW beef pad thai

 Again if you want any recipes just let me know :)

 Thanks again for following this blog and for the supportive messages! Let’s hope I lose the millions of pounds I gained over this weekend!! X