Make it a priority

I often overbook myself. I start the week saying "I'm going to keep it simple." But it never fails ... tea with this friend, a meeting with that person, and an appointment with another important someone. Well today, I didn't make it to the gym. Why? Because I didn't make it a priority. I'm not sorry I met up with my friend after work. I'm just sorry I didn't book a different time ... like AFTER my workout. You see, I am more "in the zone" when I head to the gym immediately after work. And I KNOW that about myself. Most of the time I can get motivated enough to get my workout in, if I get sidetracked after work. But today was NOT one of those days. The meeting I had was GREAT! But when it was all done, I was tired, hungry, fighting traffic and I decided SCREW IT ... I'm going home to sit on the couch. And I did ... feeling a bit guilty ... but what I learned is I must remember that my workout is my first priority ... everything else can be scheduled around it. One thing I didn't ignore ... my eating .. I still had my clean meals! That took away some of my guilt!

Yesterday's Workout: Legs and shoulders circuit ... tough workout ... jelly-legs last night ... walking gingerly today!

Renaming Project 9X9. Any suggestions?

I had a sweet ass workout today after a week in sick bay. Oh endorphins! How I missed you!
Since I refuse to be a slave to my scale (for now*) I need to rename Project 9X9 (remember ... losing 9 pounds in 9 weeks). After my last post "Keepin' it Real" I discovered the stress associated with the scale wasn't helping me. There was something else I had to focus on ... like how I FEEL ... not necessarily how I LOOK. Well I got some great feedback from this post ... people who can relate to where I'm at. One person nailed it. A new friend Lisa Fayant LeJeune sent me a note that said what I was feeling so eloquently. Here is some of what she said:

"I think that sometimes we have a goal or idea set so firmly in our heads that we miss all the other great things that we've learn or experienced as a result of even attempting to reach a goal; those personal insights, the little learnings and lessons that we sometimes miss in the pursuit of the almighty (BIG) goal .... had you decided that your goal would be to inspire and reach out to people, then I would say that you have certainly achieved success."

I couldn't have said it better myself. And based on the feedback and comments I've received ... I think I've achieved my NEW goal of reaching out and inspiring people. So maybe we call it Project Inspiration? What do you think?

* I plan on training for a competition in the new year so I'll have to get over the scale issue. Oops! Now that it's in my blog, I guess I'm really going to have to do it!

Workout: chest and biceps circuit and some high intensity cardio on Stan the Stairmaster!!!

Keepin' it real ...

I'm striving to be my true authentic self, from head to toe. Just keepin' it real as best as I can ... from my hair (going natural) to my nails (removing these toxic talons this weekend) to what I put on my skin (buying more paraben-free products) ... from my heart to my words to the people I associate with. That also includes the people that read my blog ... I've got to be real to YOU too. I'm about halfway through my Project 9X9 and I've had many great updates. But I've also had many so-called "setbacks" (emotional stuff, fatigue, injuries, sickness ... call it LIFE) that have me wondering if this particular goal is the RIGHT goal for me. I love how I feel when I workout. I feel better when I eat clean ... but when that damn scale shows minimal change or no change I get frustrated ... which turns into comments to myself like "you're not working hard enough or eating clean enough" ... which turns into feeling bad about myself ... which turns into working even harder in the gym and cutting out certain foods ... which turns into physical and emotional stress ... which really defeats the purpose of living a healthy lifestyle. So I'm taking the stress out of it ... yes I'll continue to train hard but I'll also remember to have fun in the gym. And yes I'll continue to eat clean and make healthy food choices ... but I won't sacrifice my health by depriving myself or turn down a night out with good friends.

Now I just have to get over whether I've failed at my Project 9X9. That will be a tough one. Just keepin' it real.

Girls just wanna have fun ... maybe I had too much fun.

The last time I worked out was Thursday. (It was a great workout too!!!) Then I woke up the next day with a brutal cold. What a drag! Just when I was getting into my new workouts! I guess that's my body telling me to rest. And rest I did. But this just happened to be the weekend I had a couple friends from Edmonton come to visit me. And you know ... girls just wanna have fun ... but fun at 40-ish ... is not the same as fun at 20-ish or even 30-ish. We may have avoided the clubs, bars and drinks. But we didn't avoid the "not so good" food. I ate lots of "not good" stuff this weekend. It was like a comfort thing for me ... I had a bad cold, couldn't go out, couldn't go to the gym, got bored ... so I ate, I ate what my girlfriends ate. You want to know what I ate? Here goes: pizza, mini Crave cupcakes, Tim Horton's breakfast sandwich, Jugo Juice wrap with cheese, french toast with bacon and eggs ... and 1 glass of wine. That was between Friday night and Sunday morning. Okay ... so it's out there! I'm not making excuses ... just telling it like it is. And I'm about to throw my scale out the window. More on that, on my next post. Until then ... I will rest.

Cardio without music is like ...

Have you ever had one of those days where you head to the gym, pick your favorite cardio machine, plug in your iPod and there's silence? Well, that's what happened to me. I forgot to charge my little iPod shuffle overnight. Music is usually what gets me going if I'm dragging my butt. And I needed a kick in the butt today. Cardio without music is like a Crave cupcake without icing, french fries without ketchup, pizza without cheese, a great dinner without a glass of red wine. You enjoy it ... sort of ... but you can't help but feel like something is missing. Sort of like sex with no orgasm ... the foreplay is fun, the moans are mesmerizing, the groans are great, you're working up to something wonderful and ... it's over. Sigh. Oh well. I still did it. That's what counts!!!

Workout: legs and shoulders circuit courtesy of my BFF Afae Sonnenberg
Cardio: Simon the Stairmaster!!!

Flexing and Flopping in the Gym

We all do it. Admit it! We all check ourselves out in the mirror at the gym. We all flex and sometimes flop in front of the mirror. All too often I pick out my flaws. But today I decided ... forget it ... I'm going to focus on my HOT parts! :) So as I did my biceps curls I ooo'd and ahh'd at how round and developed they are. Nice! I did some burpees (which I hate by the way ... yes I said hate ... hate) and couldn't help but notice as I jumped in the air how defined my quads were looking. Sweet! I headed downstairs and glanced at my legs in the mirror as I took each step. There were some sexy striations on my hamstrings. Lovely! I slipped those sexy legs on Tommy the Treadmill and the way the mirrors were set up ... I could see myself at several angles ... and no one could tell that I was checking myself out. Heehee! Damn ... my deltoids look divine as I took strong strides. But ... wait a minute ... what's that flash of green? That bright apple green flash is a little distracting. What ... IS ... that? Well, I was wearing a nice apple green tank top ... and the "flash" was actually a flop. Man ... I need to get a decent sports bra. I'm flopping waaaaay too much! Ha! Thanks goodness I was in a good mood. I actually laughed at myself. By the way, can anyone recommend a GOOD sports bra?

Workout: chest and biceps circuit courtesy of my BFF Afae Sonnenberg,
Cardio: spurts of cardio between weight sets plus 15 minutes of sprint intervals on Tommy the treadmill

I didn't weigh in because ...

Things were going so well. It's been another one of those "life gets in the way" weeks. I was inspired by my workouts with my BFF Afae so I changed things up in the gym. I'm doing more of a circuit thing with spurts of cardio in between weights and I'm loving it! It was good ... for a couple days. Then I hurt my back and had to take a couple days off. Crap! But that's not why I didn't get on the scale. I didn't weigh in because it's that time of the month. I know. Yuck. So not only do us women have to deal with the bloating, water retention, and cramps ... we also see the number on the scale go up a few pounds. And instead of adding fuel to my PMS fire ... I decided not to. (Okay I actually got on the scale but I'm not counting this week ... I was 140 ... so ... BLAH to that!)

I stayed away from weights since Wednesday .. took 2 full rest days ... and continued with cardio on Friday. I hope to be back to circuits by Tuesday. I must make sure my back is better before going at it again. At 40+, the recovery is just not like it used to be. So instead of "playing through the pain" I'd rather adjust my workout until my back is healed. Remember, I took my cape off a while ago ... no need to be superwoman.

Workouts: Friday - 45 minutes on Bronson the Bike, Saturday - 30 minutes Sprint intervals on Tyson the Treadmill, Sunday - mixed it up for 45 minutes - Sonny the Spin Bike, Sanchez the Skipping Rope, Ted the Treadmill, and Travis the Track (did some explosive sprints!!) Playing with all those boys makes me tired ... ;)

Joy, Pain, and Cravings

Sometimes you have to feel a little pain ... to feel the joy. And I really needed to remember that today. That's a no brainer in the gym. How will you make any progress if you don't feel some "discomfort" when you're working out? Well I'm feeling a little "discomfort" in my personal life and man do I ever want to lash out, swear, get mad, throw insults, have a tantrum ... but I decided to take that energy and use it in the gym. I'm not going to lie. It was hard to do. I'm still fighting it. I still want to get pissed off and yell and scream. But I'm not going to go there. Wasted energy. I'll sleep on it and feel better in the morning. To add insult to injury, I'm having PMS cravings! Help!

Workout: Legs (which included walking lunges ... haven't done those in a while ... joy and pain!), skipped the cardio due to a bleeding nose ... that pissed me off too ... grrrrrr!

Deviating from my Diet

I know what you're saying. "What do you mean deviating from your diet? Are you abandoning your clean eating regime? Did you overload on halloween candy?" No ... I'm not eating ham and pineapple pizza and Crave cupcakes and drinking red wine as part of my "new" diet ... although wouldn't that be nice? Mmmm ... oops! Ok ... where was I? Oh yeah. :) I'm trying something new. It's kind of based on the Warrior diet ... basically you eat clean throughout the day but very light meals ... more like balanced snacks ... workout ... then eat your big meal as your last meal. I know ... it goes against everything we as fitness buffs have followed over the years. But the little bits I've read about it and have been told about it (my girlfriend Afae and her hubby are trying it with great results) ... it seems to make a lot of sense. I ordered the book and will read more details. But I thought I'd try it because I was having these energy crashes at about noon ... a couple hours after I ate my biggest meal. So how did I feel at noon today? Well, I had no energy crash. I didn't feel like I was starving myself. And my workout was great! Lots of energy! So far so good!

I'd also like to thank my good friend Maria Ellis (www.fitmumz.com) for reminding me to have fun with my workouts! We both got a little too carried away with the number on the scale and put too much pressure on ourselves. After all, we're not training for a competition ... YET!

Workout: Shoulder and back plus cardio circuit ... thanks to Simon the skipping rope, Tommy the treadmill, Benson the bike, and Steve the stepper ... and of course Winston the weight room ... gotta keep those muscles guessing what's next!

Learning to say NO

First of all I'd like to thank all those people who left very supportive messages regarding my "superwoman" blog entry. It brought tears to my eyes. You see, I'm a pleaser. I want everyone to be happy. I don't want to let anyone down. So it was difficult to write that. Something just as difficult? Learning to say NO. Sometimes I overbook myself. Tea with this friend, dinner with my girls, a walk with a BFF, a party with some pals ... you know how it is. It gets busy. I'm sooooo fortunate to have a lot of AWESOME friends. But it's not always easy to get together. In fact, I bailed on a few of them in the last couple of weeks. And I feel bad. If I would have just said NO in the first place instead of trying to please everyone. So why am I bailing? I'm trying to stay focused on my goal. I don't want to deviate from my fitness schedule. Also, I schedule my "treat" days and it doesn't always work with my friends' schedule. Now don't get me wrong. My friendships are more important to me than if I have six-pack abs. And I do want to spend time with them. However there is something that takes priority over everything. ME! I received strong messages from the universe this week that I need to honor CARA ... and be CARA's TRUE AUTHENTIC SELF. So I'm taking the time to get to know CARA again. And a lot of that happens in the gym. I love it! Yes, I will schedule time with my friends. It just may be a few weeks in advance.

Saturday's workout: My BFF Afae Sonnenberg put me through the paces in her basement gym. Cardio circuit for 30 minutes. Weights and cardio circuit for another 30 minutes. She rocks! (and is also a new personal trainer with a BIG heart and an amazing future!!!)

Sunday's workout: Cardio and abs! Tony the Tiger Treadmill worked me over this morning ... grrrrr!

Results of this week's weigh-in: 139 lbs. WOW!