Exercise: Some motivation required?

Well I am back on my workout grind. I did 3 hours today. 1 hr with the Personal Trainer/ 30 minutes treadmill /30 minutes elliptical/1 hour abs & cardio class. Good stuff! I was tempted to stay for the Brickhouse class but I felt a slight pain in my upper left side of my back (again) when I was stretching so I kept it moving. I felt good but beat. I am totally in a Nike mode; Just do it! I can't say I am super motivated to get to the gym I am more so on autopilot. Motivation is overrated sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do!

Also I realized I need to get some new workout shirts! I was wearing a tshirt from law school that was tight back in 2002-2003 and it is falling off of me now! I was a bit impressed to see how roomy it was now! I need to work on getting rid of the old stuff; that's my next goal! I have a meeting @ my law school next week I will treat myself to a few new tshirts in a smaller size :-)

Zumba!!!!

Well I made my way back to the gym! My trainer missed me! Of course that was a good and a bad thing! Somehow today we ended up doing a 1 mile bike ride around the mall and I leg pressed 2 people. Yes! Me! I am She-Ra hear me roar!


As a special treat we had a Zumba class! Zumba® is fun... Celebrity fitness trainer, "Beto" Perez, stumbled upon the concept of Latin inspired fitness in his native country of Colombia (South America) in the mid 1990's. One day, he walked into his class and realized that he had forgotten his aerobics music, and his only option was to grab whatever tapes he had in his car. Beto's tapes were comprised of the songs that he loved, the traditional Latin salsa and merengue music with which he had been raised. But it was a challenge to improvise a whole class on the spot using non-traditional aerobics music. Beto rose to the challenge and from this last-minute improvisation was born a revolutionary fitness program – Zumba®! The class soon became the most popular class at his fitness facility.

I LOVED IT!

Its always good to mix it up! So between the bike riding, leg pressing, and

zumba-ing I had a great return!!

Injured :-(

Well I did something last Thursday in that Chizel-It class; and it wasn't good! I don't know what I did but it hurt like heck! The class is a combination of step, kickboxing, aerobics, and we also use weights. I was tired after Socabrobics and of course being at work all day and I think I was being too careless with the weights and over extended my upper back muscle.

It hurt to get in the car, to get out of the car, to brush my teeth, to brush my hair, to sit, to stand. I mean you really don't realize how much work your back has to do in a day. Forget trying to look over my shoulder while driving! It was so painful. I tried a few things including sleeping with a heating pad and nothing helped so I already had an appointment with my PCP (Primary Care Physician) and she gave me a Rx for Motrin :-/ whoomp whoomp whooomp (yeah, yeah, yeah I know!) oh well anyway it started to feel better that same day. She suggested I rest for 4-5 more days so I am off from my workouts until tomorrow.

While this may seem non-blog worthy; this is a biggie for me b/c I HATE to break a routine. Mostly because its a slippery slope for me one missed session can turn into 2 or 3 or 5 months. But I also know I have to be careful because I have overdone the exercise thing before and injured myself and took meds, wrapped it up, and kept it moving and that's not good either. I am 34 years old I aint no spring chicken!

I keep reminding myself that this leg of the journey is about balance. But the crazy part of me kept trying to fight back anytime anyone said "Yes you should rest" or "Don't kill yourself" I kept hearing "Yeah that's right don't exercise and stay just like you are" *insert evil laughter here* BUT I KNOW THE TRUTH so I suppressed that demon and rested.

Tonight I may go for a walk with my friend we are going to watch Part 2 of Whitney's interview on Oprah and of course tomorrow is Socarobics and Chizel It I may do the 3 lb weights and Saturday back to my trainer who was lurking on my facebook I think he misses me. :-/ Oh boy!

My Commute

I live in the Baltimore area and work in Washington, DC and yes that is as bad as it sounds. I love my job and I love my home so working out has suffered in the last year or so because of this commute. I made up my mind a few months ago that I have to push myself to workout in spite of the long commute. So far I have been doing well and there are days when all I really want to do is go home and go to bed but there are days like yesterday when I had a longer than usual drive (I ride a bus for part and drive another part of this commute) but I planned to meet my friends for Socarobics & the Chizel It class so I kept my focus and went right to the gym. As I was pulling up my friend Dawn arrived and we walked in together! So I was right on time. Socarobics is a GREAT class I know I have said that before but seriously its a great class and it lifts your spirits as well as your heart rate!

So lesson of the day: Good/Bad commutes come and go but sticking to you workout goals should always remain the same!

As an aside, I am all about positive reinforcement and accolades (getting and giving). I must say when Charles sees me in the gym when I am not training with him, he looks so proud of me! I eat that up! That is until he starts yelling at to get on the step and pick my legs up higher! He always gets on my good side then messes up (lol) But that goes back to the reason I hired him as a Personal trainer; he is very encouraging and I need that to keep going! Here's an article on How To Pick A Good Personal Trainer If you are debating making the investment (and it is an investment) read this over and do your research. I liked Charles because I saw him on TV & he had a great personality and was a innovative fitness expert! I also saw him working with clients in person and I thought he'd be a good fit.

T0 be honest that was over a year ago, I didn't research going to him again until I saw him do the warm up for President Obama's whistle stop tour in Baltimore. I said if he can keep a Baltimore city crowd warmed up for the President then that's my man! True story.

I am definitely going without some of the other things I like, like shopping, getting my nails done more often, eating out, & other things I love to do BUT since I have a goal in mind I told myself I need to arm myself with the best team possible and of course do my part. I would recommend a good personal trainer to anyone considering it. Now twice a week may not be for you but maybe once a week, once every 2 weeks, and most personal trainers offer small group personal training options as well so look into it! You won't regret it! My only regret is that I did not start working with him sooner. If you are in the Baltimore area visit Chizel It! Owings Mills Mall (park near Macy's) 10300 Mill Run Cir, Owings Mills, MD‎ - (410) 356-9099‎

PS I don't get any perks to say this stuff just trying to share the fitness loveeeee :-)

Pushing Myself

I so didn't want to workout yesterday. I was tired and miserable thanks to dear ole TOM. I told myself I would not let that time of the month get me off track which it tends to do b/c of how bad I feel. I went in and told my trainer I did not feel well I don't think he heard me the workout was as hard as ever. We did some boxing and he was "kind" enough to allow me to sit on the base of the punching bag and push him from one side of the room to the other *insert gas face here* it was a hard workout.

Anyway there was a class going on as I was being tortured I mean trained and the teacher started saying "Watch out there's Laila Ali!" I was swinging kinda hard I think Charles got a little scared I'd stop aiming for the gloves. I was tempted....lol

I have a new respect for boxers my back, shoulders, arms, are screaming at me right now! Whew!

Friends & Fitness

Well one sure fire way to keep your fitness routine going is to enlist the help & support of your friends! I did just that with my friends Danielle & Nicole! I invited them to attend the Socarobics class last weekend. Danielle came and enjoyed it she only said I should have warned her she'd need a shot of patron before class lol Mid week workouts are tough for me because of my commute but I figured if I invited them again on Thursday I would be more likely than not to go...and I was! Both came to the class (Nicole of course was late!) but we had a good time! I somehow convinced them to stay for the Chizel It class with my personal trainer Charles and that's when the dirty looks started. Charles is intense and he is non stop in the Chizel It class. I will be honest; I really didn't warn them sufficiently or at all about that darn Chizel It class. Its hard as hell. It is a combination of Step, weights, & kickboxing. Very intense! Its an excellent workout! So this is our new Thursday evening Happy Hour routine! So instead of mijotos & crab dip @ Little Havana's we'll meet up to work-it-out! The take away message: Collaborate with friends for fitness!

Here are nice articles on How to Find A Workout Partner & one on How to Be A Good Workout Buddy Give these suggestions a try! I have always been most successful when I had a workout partner; you just have to find the right one for you! Its a great way to reconnect or create new bonds of friendship all in the name of living a healthier life!

Out-of-town Guest & YOUR workout!

I have house guest this Labor Day weekend! My good friend (for...hummm...34 years now (lol) we grew up around the corner from each other and our's Moms were pregnant at the same time and we were born only 3 weeks apart) Heather & her daughter are visiting me. We are having a good and active time! My workouts thus far Saturday I had my trainer @ 9am and picked them up @ 11am and we spent Saturday in Baltimore catching the sights and sounds our the city! We did a bit of walking and that was great. Now on Sunday we spent almost 7..count them 7 hours touring Washington, DC!!! Talk about walking...I swear my pants got loose by the time we reached home lol. It was a fun day and I really didn't get tired or winded like I maybe would have if I wasn't back into my workouts and doing the personal training. Touring is an active activity! We did Lincoln, Jefferson, & Washington monuments and memorials. We also did the White House and we did The Air & Space museum as well as the Museum of Natural History. WORK-OUT...

Today is Labor Day and Chizel It had 3 classes today. I went to two classes the Socarobics & the Chizel It class, WOW what a workout my tshirt was SOAKED!

All in all it was a great weekend for seeing a good friend as well as keeping up with my workout. Its so easy to drop your healthy habit when you are around other people or your routine has a change so this is a gold star moment for me!

Tomorrow my personal trainer @ 9am. I told Charles I need to be int he gym EVERY day this week. My official weigh-in is at my Doctor's appointment is a week away on Monday, September 14th. The goal is 50 pounds. I a, about 10 pounds away based on my scale which is 4 pounds more than the Doctor's so I want to really keep it tight this week so I can get as close to my goal as possible!

Where does the time go?

Well its already Friday night! How in the world did this happen? My last work out was Monday the 4 hour workout. I am back to the grind tomorrow with my trainer and Sunday I need to get in at least 1 class and Monday there are 3 classes for the holiday. I have a good friend coming to town tomorrow so I will plan around the tourist activities to be sure that I get it in!