Day 564 - Close Enough

Today is it, folks.  Tomorrow I'm forty.  So last day to accomplish the goals.  Here's the list again.

goals abbreviated

20 push-ups

5 pull-ups

bar hang 90sec

right split

left split

center split

bridge

standing split

scorpion

press handstand

run 5k in 30 min

run 1 mile in 8 min

And here's how far I got:

goals accomplished

20 push-ups

5 pull-ups

bar hang 90sec

right split

left split

center split

bridge

standing split

scorpion

press handstand

run 5k 30 min

run 1 mile 8 min

To be honest, I totally forgot about the bar hang.  Never even tried to do it once.  Oops.  So let's just scratch that one, shall we?

The run a mile in 8 minutes business is the other achilles.  And I mean that literally.  I saved that goal for last because I knew it would be hard and I figured that maybe at the end here I could just suck it up and push through it.  But a few weeks ago, I injured my achilles.  A few days ago, feeling better, I headed out at 6 am to go for the 8 minute mile.  And I just couldn't do it.  Every time I have tried, I just can't seem to get the time below 8:30.  Probably because I haven't been running for quite awhile.  And also because my ankle hurt after running 10 feet.   I came in at 8:29.  So fail on that one.  But that's ok.

I figure that by the time you're 39.9999, you ought to have a good handle on the things that matter most in life.

health ü
happy, healthy family ü
good, funny friends ü
sun ü
food ü
water ü

Yep.  That's it.  See how running a mile in 8 minutes didn't make the list?  It doesn't even come close. So thank you to everyone who is part of this true list, friends and family alike.  You know who you are.  Thank you for loving the free-spirit that is me, even if I'm slow as dirt.  Thank you for giving me what you can and for being in my life.  And welcome to the next crazy part of it.




For the last bit of fun, here are today's pictures:

(close enough for me)

You know I like to keep it real - this is what it feels like to do these things when you're 40ish.  :)

Day 548 (T-17) - 21DFX review

Recently I've been crazy with my sons' baseball schedules, so I'm a little behind on this one.  But I finished 21DFX almost two weeks ago and wanted to share my thoughts.  First of all, I will start by saying that I did the "countdown to competition" version.  Which is nuts.  But when I commit, I commit.  So I did the hardest eating plan possible.  Every third day was a "normal" eating plan, but the two there in the middle were hard core.   No fruit, no fats, one good carb all day.  I made the mistake the first day of trying to eat the allotted 8 egg whites (1 protein serving)  in one sitting.  And then almost hurled.  So I had to break the meals into about 8 meals a day in order to eat all of the protein that I had to get in.  And I'm not going to lie, it was HARD.  The thing that I missed the most was fruit.  I never realized how much I depend on fruit as a huge part of my diet.  But I was only allowed to eat fruit every third day.  And on those mornings, I found myself literally hopping out of bed and doing a fruit dance.  Truth.  Ask Jay.  I also missed ice cream and butter, cheese and avocados.  But not nearly as much as fruit.

The workouts are great.   30 minutes.  Lots of sweat. Constant motion.   That's what I like in a workout.  So I definitely plan to continue to keep using them.

So... did it work?  I would say yes.  But I was actually happy with the results after 2 weeks and maybe shouldn't have kept going with the eating plan for the third.  Or if I ever do it again, maybe I will try the regular meal plan instead of the competition one.  I'm saying this because during the third week, I actually think that I dropped too much weight.  And I was on the plan to maintain my weight.  Not to lose.  But I lost.   The other reason that I'm skeptical is that the lost weight came right back after I stopped the crazy eating.  Which may be good for me, but not great for anyone who would like to use this as a weight loss option.  I guess it would give a great kick start to weight loss, but you would have to keep up with the regular eating plan afterwards if you wanted to continue to lose after 3 weeks.  Or even just to keep it off.  

Will I do it again?  Not as I did it this time.  But I would definitely consider a modified version - especially for an event or at the start of bathing suit season each year.  ;)

Results:

proof to my future self that I once had abs

these are the pics of too much weight loss - but that's the reality of the situation - and don't worry, it's back on.  :)

Day 520: CLX results

The latest program that I've completed is Chalean Extreme.  It was totally different for me, because it was a weight lifting program instead of a crazy jumping bean program like I know and love.  But I also loved this one.  There is quite a bit of cardio in there as well so I don't feel like I was missing out on the jumping.  The only issue that I had with this program is that several of the workouts are longer than 30 minutes.  And my workout ADD sets in right around that 30 minute mark.  After that, I'm just bored and done.  But I had a great time with what my husband called "lifting heavy things up and putting them back down".  And I will definitely mix pieces of this program into my workouts in the future.

So here are the results.  Keeping in mind that I was in pretty good shape before this program, there are not any HUGE visible changes.  But where I saw the most progress was leg definition (hard to see in the pictures, really), shoulders, biceps, and forearms (it takes a lot of grip strength to keep holding onto the heavy things).   I've also really leaned up in the ab department, which is perfect for bikini season.  :)

It is also clear that some other things have changed since I started this program.  Duh, I obviously got highlights.  :)

Day 443: Check another one off! (almost...)

It's really been awhile since I updated, eh?  But rest assured, I have not given up.  I've been working very hard over here and I'm just slacking on the blogging end of things.  :)

On my original list of goals, I listed a press handstand.  This is where you bring your feet up to a handstand without jumping them up there or kicking one up at a time.  Huge amounts of core and shoulder strength go into this.  Well, on day one, I looked like this:

All sorts of bent leg jumping going on there.  

And now:

No jumping.  Not at all.  There might have been a few outtake videos and a lot of groaning though.

Now I just need to get 'er done a few times without the couch there as a back-up plan.  But I'm still a little afraid.  Your weight has to be sooooo far over your shoulders to do this, and I'm just getting over a shoulder injury from around xmas time.  So I'm going to practice a few more with the couch.  For now.  But I'm calling this one a huge accomplishment.  I've really never been able to do this with absolutely no leg-jump.  So if this is as far as it gets on this one, I say it's still a win.

Day 305: Flexi Friday

Reporting on the splits.  Keeping myself accountable.  I stretch these (quickly) almost every day.  And I do see some improvement.  A teenager's body would've nailed these already, but my old achy hips are slow to stretch.  That's ok.  Progress is progress, people. Don't mind the crazy workout hair...

RIGHT

almost 3 weeks ago

today - lower, better!

LEFT

almost 3 weeks ago

today - back leg straighter!

CENTER

almost 3 weeks ago

today - slightly lower, chest up higher

Day 290: Getting a baseline

The second of my running goals, if you remember, was to run a mile in 8 minutes.  Honestly, the last time I did such a thing was probably in 1993.  But nonetheless.  Since I have been working on the 5k time for awhile, I haven't really run one single mile to test out where I currently stand.  So today I thought I would give it a go.  I learned a few things.

1)  next time pick a route with no uphills
2)  also pick a route where there is no crossing the street wildly in front of traffic so as to not mess up your time
3)  it's too cold for me.  I'm still thawing.
4)  I'm still not as fast as I was when I was 10 or 16

But I did it.  I think I probably could have gone a smidge faster, but for a baseline run, I did ok.  8 minutes and 35 seconds.  Maybe I'll try once or twice more if the weather warms up again, but I have a feeling that we are mostly on pause with this until spring.  Now, who can tell me how to shave 35 seconds off of a mile?

Day 287: Back to the Splits

Latest update.  I decided not to run in the 5k that I had mentioned.  My goal was never to do a race.  My goal was to run a 5k in under 30 minutes.  And I have now proven that to myself multiple times.  And that's good enough for me.  I don't need the t-shirt.  Thank you anyway.  My boys had their last soccer game and we took a lovely family day trip to Cooperstown instead.

So now that the weather is beginning to turn (again- no one will get me to run in the cold...), I feel like I can get off of running for a bit and onto another goal that I still haven't accomplished.  The splits.  I have not been stretching my splits for months so I though that I would see where that left me today.  There is lots of stretching in my Piyo workouts, so I knew I wouldn't be back to square one, but I definitely have regressed and have some serious work to do.  I would like to be able to check these off by the winter, so... may the stretching re-commence!
 

Where I last left off:

And today:

right

left

center