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The Fall

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

So… It seems that I have jumped ship, fallen off the band wagon, just plain stopped following the rules.  I even attempted to start Cycle 3 over again with no luck.  It just doesn’t fit in to life right now.

What does fit?  Well this week I weigh 135 – 10 pounds to go!  I have been swimming laps every morning, digging up sections of my yard every afternoon and making all my food at home.  I have been trying to have at least half of every meal come out of my yard.  I have ripe things now!  It is great.  I will be doing the sets of push ups, crunches and leg lifts weekly as well… and we may also be having a Yoga night in the Celler.  I need to have my workouts fit in to my daily life.  OY and coach I will also do the weight ball workouts  twice a week as well.  When Rashell goes back to school I will see about asking for another schedule of things to do from you.  For right now I will keep working out for at least 45 min daily and let you know how I am doing with the tossing myself to the wind.

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Shoulda

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

I should be cleaning right now, but I have decided it is more important to finish my coffee.

This morning the Universe told me to see each new person I meet as a band new challenge to fall in love.  For the most part that is exactly how I view the world.  I love easily, and often.  I am in love with everyone of my friends from the ones I have just met to the ones I have known since I was 8 to the ones I am about to meet.  Why not?  There is staying power in the people who pull at my heart strings.  I know that our society gets all romantical weird about the saying “I love you”, this I have never understood.  If you are worth my time you are much deserving of my love as well, it shouldn’t make people get all weird and back away slowly (ok ok ok, let me tell you right now that THAT is MY usual reaction when someone tells me they love me).

I Love You has been used many times as a tie, kinda like bondage but not nearly as fun.  The ones that catch me by surprise make me want to throw back my head and laugh.  Then there are the people who really are just passing through, fleeting moments of fun but they just don’t pull at me that way… the staying way.  I don’t see a difference in how I FEEL  about the staying people in my life.  There are some people I have a deeper connection with, but that comes from what we have gone through together.  You would be amazed (I was) at how MUCH a connection to a person can change once you have help their hand through labor, or stood with them at their wedding, or watched them grow and change along side you for the last 20 some odd years.  There is no way to HAVE that kind of connection with someone who recently came in to my life… why should there be.  But I can still love them with the same unconditional well with which I love all my people.

And you are all my people, my family, my lovers (body and spirit), my friends.

There is a magick in that, one that creates a Peace at my center… YOU are all my grounding force.

So, thank you for all that you do.

Thank you for being you!

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Cycle 3 – Workout

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Cycle 3 -

Note from the Coach:

Shannon,

Attached is cycle three.
I blew it, I think it is a day late. Start with Monday.
Cycle 4 will be very different IF you perfectly follow Rule #1 and #3 this cycle.
You really need to get this one right. Show me you can do this and will mix it up next time
Have fun with the jump rope but do it for the full time.
http://jumpropevideos.com/
How is your diet?
Coach Jeff
Workout
Week 1
Monday – 60 min walk
Tuesday -OFF
Wednesday – 45 min walk with weight balls
Thursday – 3 sets each: 8 push ups, 34 crunches, 22 bridges, 35 leg lifts
Friday – Weight ball exercises, Jump rope 5 min 2 sets
Saturday – OFF
Sunday – Hula Hoop 22 min, Walk 25 min, Weight ball exercises
Week 2
Monday – 70 min walk
Tuesday – OFF
Wednesday – 50 min walk with weight balls
Thursday – 3 sets: 10 push ups, 36 crunches, 24 bridges, 40 leg lifts
Friday – Weight ball exercises, Jump rope 3 sets of 5 min
Saturday – OFF
Sunday – Hula Hoop 24 min, Weight ball exercises, walk 30 min
Week 3
Monday – 80 min walk
Tuesday – OFF
Wednesday – 55 min walk with weight balls
Thursday – 3 sets: 12 push ups, 38 crunches, 24 bridges, 40 leg lifts
Friday – Weight ball exercises, Jump Rope 4 sets of 5 min each
Saturday – OFF
Sunday – Hula hoop 26 min, weight ball exercises, walk 35 min
Week 4 -
Rest week
walk swim or bike at least twice in the week.
Harder… he said cycle 4 is going to be HARDER?
I will survive!

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Cycle 2 – Week 2

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

I DID IT!  Today is Sunday and that happens to be the day I step on the scale for some sort of measure of progress.  I now weigh 139 pounds… YAY! Less that 140!  At the end of Cycle 2 I think I am going to have my mom take another picture of me (I do have a before picture, but I didn’t want to put that up all by it self) so I can put them both up.

Dear Coach:  Here is a list of things I ate this week that were not on the approved to eat list: Flourless Chocolate Torte, Panda Bar, one small bag of original Lays potato chips (but they ONLY have 3 ingredients) and I shared a plate of french fries at a restaurant with someone.

This cycle I have decided not to have ANY wine or cider (unless I go out dancing) to see if it helps me feel better or drop weight faster.  So far I seem to be losing at the same rate.  I have also started doing to exercises right when I wake up in the morning… ok ok ok so I do them after my first cup of coffee.  My body is more sore this week than it has been in the last 2 weeks (this is NOT a complaint.  Being sore from working out is a good kind of sore), so maybe I pay more attention when I work out in the morning.  I also learned this week that while doing 1 set with the jump rope bare foot is fine and dandy, 2 sets hurts my feet!  So this week I will start out with shoes on (BLEH!)

Now… where is that Hula Hoop…

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Cycle 2

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Here is what I was given for this Cycle!

Directions from the Coach:

You do remember the rules?

Monday- just go for a walk and enjoy Spring
Tues – off
Wed – walk and enjoy Spring and remember how it would feel if you weighed about 8 lbs more. Walk with both weight balls.
Thurs – less push ups, more leg lifts
Fri – repeat exact same exercises and # of reps as cycle 1.  Jump Rope? Yeah, time to get your heart pumping. 5 minutes as fast as you can. Week two rest 2 to 3 minutes and do it again. Week 3 same rest between. Remember the rules about pain. Stop. But remember about feeling tired and out of breath. Keep going. This one you should be out of breath and your heart should be beating hard.
Sat – off
Sun – Same weight ball exercises as cycle 1. Do all three of these (hula hoop, walk and weight ball) in a row with minimal time (5 min) between.
The weight loss is right on schedule, about 2lbs a week is good.
Because of that and your mostly home grown food you don’t need to tell me how much you are eating. Remember to keep it food and not food products and it if has a nutrition label on it its a food product.
Remember to stretch before the harder workouts. ( 5 minutes is good but more if you feel stiff)
Keep up the good work and remember the rules!
Coach Jeff

Cycle 2 :

Week 1

Sunday – Hula Hoop 20 min, Walk 20 min, Weight Exercises

Monday – Walk 50 min

Tuesday – OFF

Wednesday – Walk 40 min WITH Weights

Thursday – 3 sets of; 6 push ups, 30 crunches, 20 bridges, 30 leg lifts

Friday – Weight Exercises, Jump Rope 5 min

Saturday – OFF

Week 2

Sunday – Hula Hoop 22 min, Walk 25 min, Weight Exercises

Monday – Walk 60 min

Tuesday – OFF

Wednesday – Walk 45 min WITH Weights

Thursday – 3 sets of; 8 push ups, 34 crunches, 22 bridges, 34 leg lifts

Friday – Weight Exercises, 2 sets of Jump Rope 5 min

Saturday – OFF

Week 3

Sunday – Hula Hoop 24 min, Walk 30 min, Weight Exercises

Monday – Walk 70 min

Tuesday – OFF

Wednesday – Walk 50 min WITH Weights

Thursday – 3 sets of; 10 push ups, 36 crunches, 24 bridges, 40 leg lifts

Friday – Weight Exercises, 3 sets of Jump Rope 5 min

Saturday – OFF

Week 4 – Rest Week!

Sunday – walk 30 min

Friday – Walk, Swim (still too cold!) or Bike

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Cycle 2 – Week 1

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

I have not been putting my progress on  here as I should be.  I started this venture at 150 pounds and as of sunday I am down to 141.  I have a new and harder schedule to follow (thanks Coach Jeff), but I am having fun.  I will post the whole of cycle 2 on here for everyone to see when I get around to it.

Basically I just wanted to say thank you to Coach Jeff and talk about what I have been changing in my life along with the workouts.  I am trying to eat at least 80% fruit and veggies.  The other 20% of my eating habit will contain things like Brown Rice, Brown Rice Tortillas, Olives (stuffed with peppers and garlic!  YUM!), and things like Mayo, cooking Oils and Cheese.

On top of that I have decided to see what this Cycle will bring to me if I cut out ALL drinks aside from water and coffee.  No wine, no cider.  So far so good.

Please give your love and support to my coach as he sets out to do over 2,800 Miles in the next year.  This adventures focus is to raise money for the Blue Planet Run Foundation who brings safe and clean drinking water to places that are in need.  For more information on his adventure please visit his website www.kozhawaii.com  (and YES, I am the one who made and maintains the website… so, if you have any suggestions please feel free to send them to me!)

Sleep sweet where you get there! And stay tuned for the complete schedule…

Oh and Coach… Today for the walk with the weight balls I had to go downtown for an interview so I put them in my backpack and walked down there.  Then I bought books and did the walk with the weights in my hands in the park, put them back in my bag and walked the mile and a half home… My backpack weighed 20 pounds with the weights in it (and books and water and books)!  I think I got a work out today…

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Cycle 1 – Week 2

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

The schedule:

Sunday – Walk 50 min

Monday  – Off

Tuesday – Weight ball exercises

Wednesday – Walk with weight balls 35 min

Thursday – 3 sets of 12 push ups, 34 crunches, 22 bridges, 22 leg lifts

Friday – Off

Saturday –  Hula Hoop 20 min, walk 20 min, weight ball exercises

This week was great.  On the off days I actually took about a 3 mile walk downtown and back.  The sets on Thursday went very well.  I was able to do 12 push ups non-stop once and I did 2 sets of the bridges before my knees started to hurt too much and I had to do the 3rd set using the bed.   I am still not sure exactly what you are looking for with the leg lifts, but I do my best.  Yesterday I may have forgotten the rules… I did the hula hoop and the walk and started the weight ball stuff, but my hands hurt so bad that I couldn’t grip the weights so I stopped the exercise.  This marks the end of week 2.

I am trying to get all things with an ingredient list out of my daily diet.  I do have some things left at home and will continue to get cereal and Almond Milk for Rashell, but I am trying to cook more.  I am now on a quest to make a gluten and white rice free pizza crust.  Any Suggestions?

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End Week 1

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

I did my workout after we got home from our wonderful day… so I would say it was about 9pm that I started…

Saturday. Have fun with the Hula Hoop and walk right after. weight ball same as Tuesday.

this is the one that will need tweaking. Start week one with this. Standing with legs shoulder width apart and a weight ball in each hand:

1) lateral raises  - just how it sounds, raise arms out to the side to shoulder height and GO DOWN SLOWLY. 10×3   45 second rest between.
2) forward raises – same thing to the front  10 X 3
3)  Overhead press. Arms bent and even with shoulders and one arm at a time fully extended over the head. Down slowly. 20 (10 each arm) X3
4) Take one ball and hold it out in front of you with one hand. Move that hand around to you back where the other hand is waiting to receive the hand off so the ball is moving clockwise around you. Do this quickly for five (changed to 2.5 min but since I do not have a timer that does half min I settled on 3 min) minutes then do the same in opposite direction for five minutes.

hula hoop 15 min
walk 15
weight ball
exercises

Rashell was totally excited that I went out for a 15 min walk around the block and left her home.  She has deemed that she is now old enough for that kind of thing AND told me that I worry too much.  The change in time for the roundy roundy weight ball thingy was good.  I only started to lose my grip in about the last min (but I still don’t have a timer that can do half min so*shrug* I will just try NOT to throw the ball directly at the laptop again.

What I had to eat… – Coffee, water, leftover hash browns, PB&A, pickles lettuce and cheese, Hard cider, one slice of gluten free Angle Food birthday cake, brown rice with sour cream and garlic, wine, water.

This is the End of Week One.  I feel good, and I just got a hell of a lot more free time and 90% of the snacks in my life removed.  My feet are still a little sore from my 3 mile walk in my sandals, it also still aches a little when I laugh and I am ready for more!  Anything special for me to do this week Coach?

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Cycle 1 – Day 6

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

Today was a day of rest on my calendar from Coach Jeff… BUT I had too much to get doing for there to be rest.  I walked something like 3 miles with a backpack that had to weigh a good 10 pounds with the water, laptop, resumes and PB&A snacks *smile* … okay so maybe it was closer to 8 pounds… but still way heavy.

As far as what I had to eat… apparently getting laid off and having nothing else to do (HA!) causes invites to get food.  So here we go – Coffee, water, eggs (made at home fried in a little olive oil), hash browns from a local Cafe, coffee with half&half (the coffee is not good at the cafe so black is not an option), water, Tomato Bisque soup (from Soulful Soups… YUM!), water, cabbage soup and brown rice, wine, popcorn (air popped at home with a little salt and melted not butter)

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Cycle 1 – Day 5

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

Sorry this is all being written a bit late.  I had a slight hiccup in my week… I may have eaten things that I shouldn’t have and drank a bit more wine that usual, but all in all I would say that I am much better today and NOT freaking out… ow back to the reason we are here.

Thursday: About the leg lifts. Do one leg at a time. Up, out, back and down. 20 altogether, ten per leg X3   Bridges,  push ups on your knees for now. 30 crunches should hurt a little if you are doing them right.


 10 push ups X3

30 crunches X3

20 Bridges X3

20 leg lifts X 3

I did 2 “sets” before rehearsal and one set after.  I should also tell you that no amount of pushing got me to 10 pushups in a row without a small rest after a couple of them.  The bridges I did on the edge of the couch since I still can’t rest weight on my knees (I can finally lay down on my stomach without them hurting, just NO kneeling).  That was interesting because first the couch was slipping, then the rug… Then I got the hang of it and did the second set of 20 all the way through without stopping to adjust the rug or the couch.  The leg lifts were a little awkward since I wasn’t sure if the “out” meant to move the leg forward or backward once it was up, but I tried a few ways and found one that I felt used the most of the leg and went with it.  If you could let me know a little more about what you want this exercise to look like that will be great… OY!  and even now my muscles in my stomach hurt when I laugh (I am guessing that means that I did the crunches right)

What I had to eat:  This is what I wrote down at work – Coffee, veggie jurquee, PB&A (peanuts, almonds, cane juice, dried strawberry, brown sugar, dried raspberry, vanilla extract, sea salt, strawberry juice concentrate, pure ground vanilla beans, natural raspberry flavor), raw almonds, coffee, water, Emergen-C, cheese enchiladas, I did take 2 bites of the spanish rice before I remembered “NO WHITE RICE” so I gave the rest away  — that is where work ends and I got laid off and told I could leave anytime – I had brown rice and spinach with sour cream and garlic for dinner with a small glass of wine, some veggie jurquee and a Panda Bar.  Then I woke up at around 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep so I had a rather large glass of wine and the last hidden stash of potato chips in the house (plain ruffles, and I hear by promise NOT TO REPLACE THEM so that I can’t have snack attacks in the middle of the night and eat them all), I may have also finished the rest of the Fritos… but don’t tell my mom *grin*

I know I ate more crap than usual…

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