Soccer Update

Julia made the soccer team! The coach is training her in all the skills, including goalie. He isn't sure where he is going to put her, but my guess is that she'll be defense and backup goalie this year, and probably take over as goalie next year.

I'm really proud of her. I guess that's obvious, though!

Proud Parent

Today, Julia demonstrated to me that she is a stronger and more determined person than I ever was. She is awesome. After finding out that she didn't make the school volleyball team, she was understandably disappointed; but, rather than just be all discouraged all day and dwell on what didn't happen, she decided to get up, dust herself off, and try something else! She's going out for soccer in the morning!

I am so proud that I could burst. She is not letting the fear of another disappointment keep her from trying for another sport. I will admit, I would have been crippled by the fear of another failure when I was her age. She is showing that she is stronger and more confident than I was at 12, and that makes me so happy! I'm just so glad that she has such determination and perseverence. She is awesome.

I hope so much that she makes the soccer team. She will gain a lot of footwork skills and physical training from soccer, and if she decides that she still wants to do basketball later this year, soccer will be a great help.

*wiping tear*

One of Those Difficult Parenting Times

Well, Julia didn't make the volleyball team at school. We were so sure she was going to make it. She's tall, she had practiced, she was enthusiastic - but she didn't make the cut. She is so sad and disappointed, and my heart is breaking for her.

The hardest part is that I have to be here at work all day while she is at school. I just want to be with her to comfort her and let her know that I am proud of her no matter what.

I'm also really afraid that she is going to let this affect her self confidence for other sports. She was really looking forward to playing volleyball, and I'm afraid this has really deflated her. I really hope she bounces back and doesn't let this stop her from continuing to try.

It's probably bothering me more than it is bothering her at this point. I can't even concentrate on work. I hope so much that when I pick her up from school this afternoon that she will be in a good mood and ready to jump in and try something else (soccer, maybe).

Another Day, Another Workout.

Today was 30 minutes of shoulders and arms with Brittnee. Oy, the weights got heavy, but I survived and felt great afterward. I did 3 sets of planks for abs at the end, and I held each of them for 30 seconds instead of 20. That was quite an improvement, and Brittnee commented on how strong my core was getting. That made me feel good.

Out of my 32 minutes on the treadmill, I jogged for TWENTY MINUTES!!! That is unheard of for me. I can't even believe I did it. I started with 5 minutes of walking to warm up, then jogged for seven, then walked for three to recover, jogged for EIGHT, walked for two, then finished up with five minutes of jogging. I walked at a slow pace for two minutes to bring my heart rate back down, and I was done. I'm still reeling over jogging 2/3 of the time I was on the dreadmill. I can't believe I did it. I think I'll be ready to take it outside to the greenway by the time the weather cools down.

Right now, I'm enjoying a nice Guinness Extra Stout. I think I earned it. :-)

Upping the Running

This afternoon I did my regular cardio of 30 minutes on the treadmill. What's so special about that? Well, FIFTEEN MINUTES of that was jogging! That is a super lot for me, and for four of the last five minutes, I upped my speed to a 12:00 minute mile. That's a slow jog to most, but it's a quicker pace than I usually do. I did three 5-minute jogging intervals. I will become a runner yet.

Cardio was all I did today. I did chest and back strength training yesterday, and I'm starting to feel it today. Tomorrow I do legs with Brittney. Woo-hoo!

If I can just get my eating under control, I will be well on my way to a fit and trim Nena.

Feeling Good

So, tonight Brittnee (I told you I can never remember how she spells her name; it will keep changing until I remember) didn't do much of a workout with us. She mainly showed us some new exercises, and went over our circuits that she put together for us to do on days that we work out without her. She introduced me to an exercise she calls "Pikes," and they are true torture. If the prisoners at Gitmo were forced to do these, I may say it is too much and the interrogators should lay off. Seriously, they hurt.

On the up side, I asked her when these torture sessions, I mean workouts, should start showing me some results. She said in about a month I should start seeing a difference. That freaks me out. It seems really fast. I was thinking more like 12 weeks or something. So, I'm really excited about my one month weigh & measure.

On the running, I did the treadmill for my cardio tonight, and out of a 30 minute session (plus a 5 minute cool down), 10 minutes were jogging. That is so huge for me! I did five two-minute jogging intervals, and I felt great! I'll be doing 20 minutes before I know it. I can't wait until I can jog three miles. I'm going to do a 5k, and even though my time will be laughable, I will be able to say that I didn't stop to walk at all. I think that will be so freaking cool!

The bad thing is, I didn't wear my HRM (I've got to just stick that thing in my gym bag so I'll remember it), so I don't know how many calories I burned, or how long I was in the target heart rate zone. But, I felt really good during the whole session, so I think I stayed under max.

I'm supposed to go to the gym on my own tomorrow and do legs strength training and cardio. I'm actually excited about it! This motivation rocks!

No Pain, No Gain.

...whatever. Anyway, what I can't figure out is why am I so looking forward to tonight's workout when every muscle in my upper body is screaming with pain? I mean, it hurts to breathe; but still, I am really looking forward to working out tonight.

Before Image

Okay. So, I promised to add a before image. This is after my workout with Brittney, so I look quite haggard, but the worst part is how horrifically huge I am. I could cry.

So, I guess I shouldn't let it get me down because I'm working really, really hard on it. I thought I was going to die halfway through my second circuit with Brittney, but I plugged on and made it through the workout. I really, really hope this gets easier.

I have to admit, though, I feel really good after the session. It's like once my body realizes that the workout didn't kill me, it says "hey, that wasn't so bad. We should do this thing again!"

I think the hardest thing she had me do were the planks on the stability ball. Planks are hard enough on their own; add having to balance your upper body on a big, wobbly ball to it, and holycow, that's hard! She also makes me use the stability ball for my push ups, with my feet propped on it. That adds a whole new level of difficulty to those, too. My entire upper body is going to be screaming for the next couple of days.

But I shall persevere. It will all be worth it when I'm all buff and healthy!

Quickie Post

I just wanted to post to share that I am so psyched for my meeting with Brittnee tonight. I know that if I didn't have an appointment with her, I would probably say I was too tired to exercise and skip my workout. I'm so glad to have someone to hold me accountable.

I left the house without my HRM again. That is so frustrating! I'm not letting it discourage me, though. I'm just going to work hard and burn as many calories as I can.

Also, I realized that I should probably take a "before" pic to post here. I'll have Julia snap a quick one of me tonight at the gym and I'll post it tonight.

Sticking With It

Yesterday (Sunday) I did Zumba and Yoga again. I love the Zumba; it's my favorite workout ever. Yoga I don't enjoy so much; but I can tell that it is good for me and will really enhance my strengh training, so I'll stick with it. It's just once a week (for now; I may add another later on).

I'm also making a change to my eating plan. I'm going to switch to the Weight Watchers Core plan today, and do that in conjunction with what my trainer has laid out for me. That will force me to make really nutritious, healthy choices, which is what I need with all the activity I'm adding lately. I'm really hoping to see some weight start dropping off soon.

Something not quite so happy that I noticed during yoga was just how freaking big I am. The group fitness room at UA is surrounded with mirrored walls, so I can see myself at every angle, and it really depressed me. I know that it's a long, slow process to lose weight, but I so wish that it could just go away immediately. I know that I'll be seeing results soon; but for right now, I'm very, very unhappy with how I look.