A Dream Come True: working out with Jillian Micheals

 

Yes I know the picture isn't great!  But that's her standing behind me with the black hat and yellow and black shoes.  She is truly 5 foot nothing, but her bark... has some serious bite.  I don't remember how many times she said she would personally kick our asses... It was AWESOME!!!!   Ok so let me tell you the story!

 I can't remember if it was Monday or Tuesday when my friend Sherry asked me if I had submitted my name to workout with Jillian... I was like "what??? no one said anything about this to me!!!!  ahk, what do I do? what do I do? who do I call? Thank the Lord Sherry is used to my panic ridden anxiety because she sent me the number right away.  I called and they told me I couldn't get in the class unless my name was drawn from the lottery.  I wasn't about to give up, I asked if they could call me if anyone didn't show up, then I asked if I could be in the gym... so they could call my cell.  They had no problem with that.  So plans were made.

I taught on Wednesday morning, then grabbed lunch, picked up Sherry and off we went.  She had gotten into the class, I was literally loitering by the bottom of the stairs waiting for the ok to take the class. There was one other lady waiting to get it with me, then two more joined.  Class was due to start at 3:30 and at 3:27 Jillian with her hat and aviator glasses bounced up the stairs.  I nearly missed her, at 3:35, after photo's were taken they let us in.  I grabbed my weights and walked right up front.  See me in the picture, I did the class from there.   

The way I figured it, I wasn't about to miss the most amazing opportunity of my life by hiding in the back of the class.  I wanted the whole experience.  I wanted to be yelled at!  I wanted to leave everything on the floor... at her feet... yes... yes I worship the woman! 

The class was 45 minutes, of the most intense moves I have pretty much ever done.  You know those moves that you might only see a few of in a 60 minute class... and lasting about a minute... Ha. Well I don't actually remember her ever stopping at any point in the routine.  It was one intense exercise to the next... and she was very clear that she would give a 5 second count down and were were not to stop the previous exercise until she said 5, then we were to start the next one.  Ok so we are talking,  tuck jumps, jumping squats, plank walks, push up-walk ups, side arm raise lunges, single leg squat with bicep curls, mountain climbers, plank jumping jacks... and the list goes on and on... (apparently similar to her videos ... but harder! )  I got yelled at, looked at, tripped on... all by Jillian... I swear to this day, I gave it everything I had.  Nothing was left in the tank.. and also if that lady had asked me to do a 1 finger push up... I probably would have... Because it's Jillian Micheals asking. 

I was so proud of myself! I was so greatful for having been allowed the chance to workout with her. And so blessed that I had an amazing friend to share it with.  

The rest of the day, we re-fueled and then went to her Maximize you life seminar.  Also a mind blowing experience... I can even begin to get into everything that she covered. But yes, she spoke about diet, exercise and mental wellbeing.  Here's the short version... Eat less!!! Move more!!!   And also metabolism is your endocrine system... so the food you eat affect the hormones in your body... Eat crappy=hormones aren't working to optimize health=fat cells growing.... Eat clean/nutritious/and the right amount for you = you have happy hormones=optimize health=burning fat

She gave us the math.  You can look it up too. Look up how to calculate you BMR. You can just find one online.  Mine comes out to being 1436... That is how many calories I need to live. Now you can multiply this number by your normal activity level. 1.1 sedentary.... 1.2 slightly active throughout the day 1.3 you are a trainer...  1.4 construction worker/heavy repeated motions all day long.  (she was a 1.3 so I'm a 1.2)... so my daily caloric intake should be 1723.  If I want to lose weight... I need to eat less and move more!  

Ok and my brain is still trying to wrap itself around the mental/mindful aspect of the seminar.  Diet and exercise I get... But then she asked some pretty important questions... "Why are you doing what you are doing?"  (so for me... why am I killing myself with the triathlons, why do I then turn around and consume alcohol and other treats, which sabotage my hard work?) Why?

 And then she got into the reasons why we fail... Destructive patterns of behaviours... done because why? We are looking of a different result? We follow the same routines leading to some type of unhealthy behaviour. Rince and repeat... We essentially determine our own failure by taking the same path.  So the point is to be conscious... to constantly check in... How do I feel in this moment.. Is it making me happy, ok good, continue, or is it making me feel crappy, ok bad, disconnect!   She really liked using the term "listen to you bull crap meter"... it's probably right. But we get really good at ignoring all emotions, we stuff them way way down so we don't have to deal with the unpleasant ones.  

So the point is!  Make the changes!  Stop making the same subconscious destructive patterns leading obviously to failure!   Live healthy, live actively and live mindfully.

My first attempt at Granola

I've always heard it was super easy to make granola so I finally took the plunge.  As my coating I used coconut oil (melted) and agave. What ever you decide to coat in the liquid is completely up to you, I just used what I had available in my pantry. I just added dry ingredients till the liquid didn't seem to be able to coat the mixture.

Ingredients (aprox measurements**as usual!!  I am terrible at paying attention when I'm baking)

- 2 tbsp coconut oil melted
- 2-3 tbsp agave (or maple syrup if you prefer)
- 2 cups rice puffs (GF)
- 1 cup of GF oats
- 1 cup of mixed seeds and nuts (some dried currents and raisins too)
 - 1/2 cup chia seeds

Bake at 400F for about 10min or until edges begin to turn brown.
(note... it will not be crunchy or solid until after it cools off, so don't panic (like I did... thinking I made a dud batch... it turned out.. )

Was so delicious.  I also put it on my oatmeal the next day!

Lots of numbers.... Benchmark post

I've been gaining weight. Not sure why, but I do have many theories.  Hormones, my addiction to nut butters, too much wine and not enough water.  So I have vowed to do something about the last 3 things, and get the first checked.  But the weight gain, about 6lbs in the last 6 weeks has forced me to take a good hard look at what I'm doing.  Is it extra muscle from the super sets I'm doing? Am I getting enough protein? Over-training? Over-eating?

Today I worked till 1:30, had my counselling apt. from 2:00-3:00 then I went to Goodlife for my Wednesday workout.  I was planning on doing my shoulder super-set but... plans changed.  I decided to get my body fat tested. This was Sherry's common sense idea..." If you don't know something... find out silly!!!"

 I measured myself as an athlete and my number came up as 22%.  I was hoping for lower, but isn't that pretty much everyone's story?  The trainer I was talking to said that my protein intake should probably be about 120g/day... I probably get about 90g.  She figured that out because my weight minus my body fat is 114lbs.  And so normally she would recommend that amount (114g protein/day) but because I train so much she upped the number.   I'm not sure of all the science behind her recommendation and I'm sure there are tons of theories but what harm can eating more protein cause?  She also recommended that I scale back on the fats but increase my whole gluten free grains and veggies. So I will give it a try and in two weeks I will check it again and see what happens.  I'm also going to tell you about my workouts today so that I can keep a record of it.

  After stretching my stupid tight ITB and gluts I worked out on the cybex (thanks to it's introduction from my amazing friend Maxine) for 15minutes.  Doing a bit of a pyramid workout.  Incline 10, resistance 20 (4mins) - 25(4 mins)- 30(4mins)- 20 (3mins).  Which made me nice and warm for my speed work on the treadmill.  I've only ever done this type of speed work once like two years ago, but holy crap what a treat.  I was sucking wind big time.  I alternated between 1min at 5mph and 1min at 10mph... I could literally only do 15 minutes!!!  It was soooo hard!  My personal thanks to Buddy Green for suggesting I add speed work into my routine.

So here is a new goal when it comes to speed work... work my way up to 30mins.

My second workout tonight (after I came home and had diner and put the kids to bed) was a swim practise. So here it is with my times.

200 w-up
4X100 sw on 2mins (I made each one on 1:35)
200 kk
400 sw - continuous (about 75% max _ didn't get my time)
4X100sw on 2mins (I made each one on about 1:35-1:37)
200kk
4X50sw on 1min (I made each on on 0.45)
100 cool down
___________
2100m

I finished this in a little under 45 minutes.  I guess that's ok.  I wish I had a coach.  But I did get to swim with one during March break (thanks again Buddy!!!) and he said that I should establish my pace time for the 100 and then start to swim longer distances while maintaining the pace.  I think 1:30 for a 100m is a pretty good pace.  Right now I think I'd be about 1:40/100m.  

Have I completely lost you?  Have your eyes glazed over???... Don't worry I don't blame you.  I have a recipe for granola that I'll post asap.    cheers.

Oh Friday!

My alarm was set to wake me up this morning at 6:30, and in fact the baby beat it.  Today is Mark's birthday.  I was planning on going to the gym to do my shoulder workout.  But I skipped it, in lieu of getting Mark and the kids waffles for breakfast :)  Ok ok, I may not have in fact really wanted to go to the gym this morning.  My hips have been screaming at me and from what I understand from the training POV is that you don't want to over-train.  So I blew off the gym and spent the morning "shhushing" the kids and bundling them up to get them out of the house so Mark could sleep in and wake up to waffles in bed.  It actually worked out. :)  I should probably invest in a waffle iron and some white flour... but nope, no white flour and no white sugar in the house.  So it makes those special occasions when the kids get to have the stuff so much better.  Williams makes waffles for take out. It's been a bit of a tradition in our house, waffles on birthdays.  As much as I know gluten makes me sick, the smell was so amazing in the van on the way home.  I actually considered the stomach ache just to have a bite.  But no, I had my protein smoothy and GF bun with peanut butter and blueberries.  

I have to say though as a side note, I have been eating nearly 40 % more food.  At least 6 meals(and some snacks) a day.  I understand training makes you hungry but if I'm not careful I'm going to be "hauling" more of me around.  How do I find the balance?? Training, eating, recovering??? What is the secret? 

Banana and PB warrior smoothy

Amazing anytime snack! I've discovered this new raw vegan protein powder.  It doesn't have all the added bonuses of Vega one, but it is an amazing alternative to the crappy vegetarian stuff I've been using.  Plus it tastes just fine with almond milk (or coconut milk) and ice!

Smoothy - can eat it with a spoon its so thick! 

- 1.5 frozen banana
- 2 tbsp natural peanut butter
- scoop of warrior blend (vanilla) 
- handfull of ice 
- cover with coconut/almond milk 
- I needed to add a bit of water because it was too thick for my ninja

Training has Begun.

As many of you know last summer I competed in my first super sprint distance triathlon (basically a quarter of an olympic distance).  I placed 4th in my age category.  I was proud!  The second race I competed in was supposed to be a sprint distance (half the olympic distance) but it got turned into a duathlon at the last minute. Boo! And I placed 7th.  I would have done better if it had remained a full triathlon because the run is my weakest leg of the tri.  But I was still really happy with my results! My transitions were good, other than losing the insole to my running shoe.  Blah!  I trained with Mommies in Motion.

This year my goal is to train for a full olympic distance triathlon (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run).  I'm super excited to train with a new set of folks (men and women!!! woot).  Janicke is my new coach, from Millcroft Fitness.  Currently I am running with them, I go to Goodlife for spin classes and weights, and as always I am still doing hot yoga at Power Yoga Canada.  So if you are interested in my journey it it my goal to begin posting more often.  I want to share my journey.  To inspire anyone to try something new and scary, something that will make you proud!  And most importantly bring you closer to who you want to be. I want to be a mom, an athlete and a teacher. I want balance and happiness.  This is how I'm going to do it.

Ok so for the last month I have been slowly getting myself into the kind of shape I think I need to be in to actually compete in these events.  I'm not kidding myself, last summer I was racing against other newbies into the sport.  Not many triathletes stay in the short distances for very long, they move on to bigger and scarier events.  So this summer I'm going to be competing against some fierce women.  I've been working on building endurance and strength.  So that means I've been killing my legs, arms and shoulders doing super sets. That means about 300 reps alternating major muscle groups.  (gluts and legs to calves) (biceps to triceps  and (shoulders to traps)  It hurts, I swear and it takes like an hour and half.  I warm up, stretch, do the stupid long set, do some abs core and then finish with a stretch.  So I aim for 3 times a week, on alternating days I do some long cardio.  For example I might do a spin class followed by a run (I'm working up to running 10k after spinning for 50 minutes) So far I can run 7.5k.  On Saturday morning I like to do a marathon workout.  CXworks (core type class with the rubber band), then a combat followed up with a spin class.  I am aiming to be able to sustain a high level of physical activity for about 3 hours.  I'm also running during my lunches with a fellow teacher a couple times a week, and running with my Millcroft Fitness group.

Eventually starting April official triathlon workouts will begin.  And starting this week I will also be adding a swim on Wednesday nights to the schedule.  Ok so what does this insanity look like....

Monday: Run at school, legs at gym and hot yoga
Tuesday: Run with group, (possibly hot yoga or swim practise)
Wednesday: Run at school, arms at gym, swim (if I didn't do it tues.)
Thursday: Spin then tread mill run
Friday: Shoulders at gym
Saturday:  CXworks, combat and spin classes at gym
Sunday: REST!  Amen!  (if I can I will bring the kids to little pretzels and I will do a hot yoga)

This schedule will change in April as I begin to add in more training with the group and less weights (but somehow I will need to keep my legs strong to support the extra load).  As of now my teaching schedule is letting me get most of these workouts in either before school or right after so that I'm home with the kids 6 nights a week.

Update, up to date, the date, a date...

Funny how all those mean something so very different.  I've been meaning to blog and every time I pull out my computer... all hell breaks lose around here.  I have about 20 minutes because Mark took all 4 kids grocery shopping after the bus stop pick up, so I"m going to type as fast as I can.  

So here is my update: my contract has been bumped up to 83% (almost nearly full time) but with the added bonus of having Monday morning off and Wednesday afternoon off !  It has taken many months to finally iron out the kinks in the kids schedule, my schedule, Marks new work schedule - yes he is still home full time with the 2 youngest kids but he works on Friday night and Sundays' at Longo's still- and my workout schedule.  I am officially starting to slowly get back into to "training mode" for my triathlon.  I plan on doing my first one in June (brrr cold water) so that means 5 months to train.  I have begun running on the treadmill, doing spin classes, adding in endurance style weights and resistance training (things called super sets) - they suck and make me want to cry and puke all at the same time - but it's all in the name of training. 

I have been terrible at keeping up to date with this blog.  I have this pressure on myself to be able to do all the things that I used to do before I was working, when I was home all day with kids.  I know it sounds stupid, I mean of course I cant' do what I used to do!  But I still feel as though it needs to be done.  It's not like Mark is going to be making me a vegan/GF meal at night in addition to a regular meal (he is trying ... but it's all a learning curve also for him) So I'm still cooking, working out 5 times a week, eating healthy, being a mom (cooking for me, occasionally for the kids), cleaning/tidying/laundry - these are shared chores now at least, knit and watch Dexter on netflix and True Blood, I do read still and enjoy a glass of wine when I can find some!  (aka afford it)

So many important dates... but the one that is stressing me out the most is Feb 11th, the day my report cards are due.  I haven't done report cards in 5 years!!!! OMG I have nothing, no comments, nada/zip/zilsh... I have to write them out for the 10 classes I teach... oh man...I hate doing things like that where I will be judged, corrected.  I could never be a writer, having someone constantly criticising you work... it would kill me!

And finally a date... wouldn't that be a romantic concept.  I deserve one! Can someone please take me out!