1 Week to the Challenge

That is right ... next Sunday I start the 24 Day Advo.care Challenge to lose 10# and 10 inches between Nov 29th and Dec 22nd. I don't think it will be too hard to stick with the nutritional part of the challenge since it is not too far from what I eat today. The first 10 days though will be more challenging with no dairy, gluten, sugar, and no booze; the last 14 days will be easier being I can have those missing things. I will also be working out 4 days a week with Kettlebells and maybe add in a day of cardio at the gym or go over to Fawn's KB class for a 5th day. The kickoff meeting is tomorrow night so I will pickup my product then and get the real details from Brad on how this whole thing works.

I feel like I might have a bit of an advantage from others being I also have a Body.Bugg to track my food and calories burned on a daily basis.

I have also been getting ready to head to my parents for Thanksgiving. I am bringing up lots of snack food and a couple of other things to go with dinner.

I have most of it ready and will finish preparing the rest on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Today I tried something new, for me, to help my sinus issues... a neti pot. It feels very weird but it seems to help I can breathe out of my nose for the first time in weeks. I will try it again tomorrow to see if my breathing improves any more.

Yesterday at KB I talked with a person who is trainer and also teaches yogo to see when she has yoga classes so I could see if that helped with hip issues. She gave me a couple of things to try out on my own to help strengthen my core more and to get my glute to fire because right now it is not firing like it should when I want it to for movements. I can tell you my glute and hip were sore from doing just a few moves she showed me.

I need to keep up the exercises and check in with Laura if I see her in the skyway during the day.

That is it for now... until the Challenge starts ...

Happy Thanksgiving

Peace Out

Farmers Market and Weekend Training

So my Saturday plans did not go quite as expected… I did not ride the new Northstar train I had won tickets for the Grand Opening.
My neighbor who I invited to join me with her two boys discovered on Friday at 4PM that they had a birthday party to attend at noon and the train would not be back to the station until 1230 so that 30 minutes overlap was too much for them to manage in their schedule. It was too late to find 3 others to go with me so I went with a different plan for the day.

I went to the Farmer’s Market and got lots of yummy things to eat for the week. I was so surprised by the variety of vegetables I could still get there. I got lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, leeks, onions, sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes), carrots, celery, brussel sprouts and some chicken for me and stock and pork chops. I am thinking some potato leek soup is in store for me this week.

The sunchokes are new to me so I am learning how to cook them. I have only used them in salads right now but I have read that they are very good sautéed with some olive oil because they get really sweet and earthy tasting. I am also going to clean and chop up the celery I have so that I can freeze it and have it for the winter to make sauces and soups.

After I was done gathering all the yumyums at the market I went to kettlebell class and did lots of snatches for an hour. We did the SSST (Secret Service Snatch Test) which is 200 snatches in 10 minutes. We did 10 every 30 seconds; the gals were to use a 16k (35#) bell and the guys a 20k(44#) bell. I started with a 16 but after 4 sets (40 snatches) I dropped to the 12k (26#) bell and did the rest with that one. My arms were sore Sunday from all those snatches. Because of that event in class I decided that doing the Max Vo2 was not a good choice on Sunday. So I need to find another weekend (maybe Thanksgiving) to do that on my own. I will have to get an 8k (18#) bell from Michael that weekend if I plan to do the Max.

I have also been fighting this stupid sinus thing since before Halloween and I am so tired of it. It makes it so hard to breathe at times and yesterday I had such a horrible headache I thought I was going to die. I thought it might be from wearing my new glasses and my eyes not used to having them on all the time that caused it but once I took some sinus meds at home the headache went away and ad.vil did not cut it when I took that at work. I ended up going to bed at 830 and not working out because I felt so horrible. If it that headache comes back again today I will call the doctor and get an appt to see if this is an infection or not. I just can’t shake it and have had head congestion for over a year now that doesn’t go away.

After I was done Saturday wearing out my arms with snatches I ran out to Woodbury and got some more Advo.care from Brad. I just got the MNS.-E supplements to get me through until I start the 24 Day Challenge. I also stated my concern to Brad about no coffee the first 10 days of the challenge. He said as long as I don’t do milk based coffee drinks (latte types) I can still do my morning coffee. Yeah! I have emailed Casey to see if she could do the measurements for me this weekend when I go up to see Ruby for her 2^nd birthday on Saturday. I emailed Brad to get the measurements that I need to get done so I will have what he is looking for regarding this.

Peace Out

The Challenge and Max Vo2

Well I am ready to take the next step in my weight loss journey.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving I will be starting a 24-Day Challenge to lose 10 pounds and 10 inches in 24 days.

This will be run thought Kin.etic Edge Perform.ance in Woodbury that is owned by B.Rad Nelson using Advo.care products.

He helped me get started a couple of weeks ago with Advo.care so this should not be too difficult to add a couple of new products and really dial in the nutrition with only lean protein and lots of veggies.

I am ready to totally rock this whole challenge out and hopefully do more than 10# loss.

I would love to leave Thanksgiving one size and then return home at Christmas two or more sizes smaller.

The biggest hurdle will be the no coffee in the morning for the first 10 days then again, dialing in the food and making sure I have plenty of stuff I like in the house to eat and to bring for lunch.

I will be getting another box of meal replacement shakes this time I am going to get vanilla but I will see if anyone at our kick off meeting gets chocolate and might want to swap 7 vanilla for 7 chocolate. I have berry at home already and those are not too bad I add some frozen fruit to add a serving of fruit to what I am getting in the morning.

I will also have to get measurements so I will see if Casey can help out with those and if not I will see if Laura would help me out at C.E.S. I am not sure what I will need to get measured but I am sure BF% will be part of it, if not I will do it myself so I can add it to my BodyBugg program. There is also a weekly meeting to attend; it is really a conference call, so those in the challenge can talk about things that are working for them and the moral support that will be needed.

For me the hardest thing will be the holiday baking and stuff. I never really made a lot of stuff but, my girl’s winter party will be a new thing… I am going to do a homestyle healthy dinner, with roasted chicken and roasted veggies and then have everyone bring something to share. I might even do some mashed potatoes so I will know what is in them and if I can eat them.

I am planning on getting up early and going to the farmer’s market to get some chicken and veggies to have in the house for the week. I am not sure what to expect for veggies but I am guessing root veggies will be the big thing. After the market I will head over to kettlebell class and get in a good workout for an hour. I will then leave and head towards Woodbury and pick up some MNS.E supplements to have in the house. I only have 2 days left and I do not want to go a week with them before the big challenge starts. I might have to look at becoming a distributor of the product so I can get 20% discount on my purchases. I can also then sell to other people and make some extra $$ that might cover my monthly Advo.care bill, now that would be great!

The last big thing this weekend will be me giving the Max VO2 workout a go with the 8k (18#) bell. I want to do the full 80 sets in 40 minutes. I am hoping it is nice out so I can do this outside and not worry about the hardwood floors if I drop a bell. Being I am going to class Saturday I am going to do this when I get home from church on Sunday so I have that stake in the ground with what I am able to do regarding this protocol. I am excited to try it out.

That is all for now..

Peace Out

Back on Track with Training

After taking a couple of weeks off of training because of a head cold/sinus congestion made it a challenge to breathe, kind of a good thing when training.

I am happy to say even with the break I was able to keep moving forward with my weight loss journey. I don't have exact numbers to share but my clothes are getting bigger and my stomach is getting flatter. I am still wearing my bodybugg every day and it makes it so easy to be accountable to how active I am or might not be on a daily basis to make sure I am able to keep moving forward on my journey. I am still taking Advo.care supplements and have the meal shakes for those days when I need to make something quick or while running errands and need something to eat that I can control.

I have also added a thyroid med to my morning routine being my thyroid is not working and this replacement could make losing weight easier for me. The Endocrinologist, suggested that I try the med to see if I can feel any different so I compromised, being I did not want to even try it, and agreed to try it for 3 months to see if going down my weight lose journey is any easier.

I also found a program at Kinetic Edge Performance in Woodbury a 24 Day Challenge to lose 10# over the holidays! The challenge starts the Sunday after Thanksgiving and ends on December 22. I emailed to see if I can be included but, I have not heard back yet if I am accepted into the challenge. I would LOVE to lose 10# over a month especially over the holidays.

I missed the Max VO2 session at the studio a couple of weeks ago so I want to get an 8k bell from the studio to do the Max on my own at home. I am going to see if I can take one on Friday this week and try it out on Saturday afternoon since I have to miss class in the morning.

I am missing class so I can go ride the new commuter train in Minneapolis, the North Star. I am taking Beck and the boys. It should be fun to give it try before it opens to the public.

That is it for now...

Peace