Month: May 2013

Emotions of a Workout

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 1 Comment

Last night I had planned on doing Ripped in 30 Level 3 again but have to admit I really, REALLY wasn’t looking forward to it after my first attempt. I’ve also been battling this head cold that is just lingering and think I ate something that didn’t agree with me. I’ve felt pretty lethargic and lazy, even though I’ve been trying to eat normal and drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated. We’re not getting lots of sleep these days with Hilary up for 2 hours to play in the middle of the night, so I know that isn’t helping me recover from this cold.

After watching “Rookie Blue” I had planned on working out. {Side note: my cousin’s band – The MEDS (from Prince Edward Island) had two of their songs on Rookie Blue last night – check it out here. Very excited for them! You can hear their songs here}

Anyway, I put on my workout shorts before the show so that I couldn’t back out. Once it was over I change my top and put my sneakers on…..then my emotions changed.

I actually felt hatred towards working out. I simply didn’t want to workout anymore. I was wanting to head off to bed.

BUT, I didn’t. I put the DVD in and hit play….level 3 please and thank you. (Yeah, right).

“I hated the thought of working out” – that was weird since I’ve been loving it so much lately.

I slowly got into…literally. I did the warm up but not with any enthusiasm.

Round 1 was okay.

Round 2 I was royally pissed off because it was hard. Why was it so hard I kept thinking. Then after a little pity party I figured it was only my second time at level 3 and I should lighten up.

Round 3 came fast and I was finally feeling good about the workout. Almost happy.

All of a sudden it was time to cool down and stretch and I felt ….. GREAT! Just like that, I had gone from hating the workout to loving it and thankful I put in the 20 minutes (yeah, I know only 20 minutes but it was a hard intense 20 minute workout).

Afterwards I thought about how I felt during the workout and how doing it changed my state of mind, how I was feeling about myself and gave me the light towards the end of the tunnel I needed.

So, why did I write this………? Because there will be days when I (you) don’t want to workout and could easily give up but pushing through it when you really don’t want to can make you feel so much better. I’ve committed to working out, getting fit, losing the last of the baby weight (6 months postpartum) and I can only blame myself if I don’t workout.

It’s Apple Blossom weekend here in the Valley; lots of parades, concerts and fun events to attend with the kiddies…..plus we have our first “3 year’s” birthday party of many.

Have a great weekend,

Piper.

The MEDS Website.

 

30 Day Arm Challenge – Are You Up For It ?

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 19 Comments

Last month I shared Jodi Higgs Abs Challenge and it seemed to be a big hit. Did you give it a go? It looked really hard. I’ll be honest, I gave up and kept to my Ripped in 30 “Get Fit” challenge that I am working on. I found that Ripped in 30 had lots of ab work in the level 2 and on the first few days of this challenge it was just too much to do both together. Don’t get me wrong, I want to get fit, shed some of the last baby weight but I also don’t want to get injured.

Jodi has shared another challenge……this time it’s all ARMS!!!!

Jodi Higgs Arm Challenge

Arm Challenge By Jodi Higgs

You can follow Jodi Higgs on Facebook here. Just look next to the friend request for “follow”.

Are you going to try this?

What exercise will be the hardest for you?

Do you think you can make it the full 30 days?

Moving up to Level 3….what was I thinking?

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 4 Comments

Oh my goodness, I moved up to Level 3 in the Jillian Michael’s Ripped in 30 DVD last night. Last week was my second week at level 2 and I was starting to not love it anymore and some of the moves that where hard in the beginning were not as hard but getting easier. Since I took 2 days rest last week due to a head cold I thought I would jump back in at Level 3 and never look back.

What was I thinking?

Oh dear lord that was hard.

At one point I felt like I was walking like a chicken – I had no coordination during that new move and my legs were killing me.

I can’t drop back a level now, that just wouldn’t be cool.

I can’t not workout since I am seeing some great results. i have lost 6 pounds and 7.5 inches in 4 weeks of my Operation Get Fit plan. Yeah me! And the dress is getting closer to zipping up all the way.

Anyway, I think I am in for it for the next two weeks and can only dread whats to come in level 4. The thought of it getting harder makes me want to crawl into a hole. Well, maybe not but it doesn’t seem appealing right now. Let’s hope  after 2 weeks at level 3 I will be ready to move on….

Wish me luck….I’m going to need it.

Operation Get Fit Week 4 Workouts 5/19/13 – 5/25/13

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 8 Comments

Last week’s workouts and many challenges went a little something like this:

Sunday

  • Inner Thighs Workout from Blogilates. 
  • I really wasn’t feeling like working out after a rough few nights with Hilary. I decided to watch TV with my husband and try this “Drive By Inner Thighs” workout which left me feeling exhausted. It was way harder than I thought it was going to be. I can totally see how it can be effective and leaving your legs feeling weak!

Monday: Ripped in 30 Level 2.

  • It was a good workout and was tired afterwards.

Tuesday: Ripped in 30 Level 2. 

  • I finally felt like I nailed Level 2. I managed to finally accomplish a “knee to below and push up” together without much struggle. It was great.
  • I’m starting to not like some of the moves – this might be a sign to move on to Level 3 – oh dear lord!

Wednesday – unplanned rest day

  • My husband and I went to the basement after we put the girls to bed and watched “Chicago Fire” – it started at 8pm. I brought my workout gear down with me so I could change right after the show and get to my workout. I had the best intentions of working out after the show but around 8:55 pm I decided not to workout but to head straight to bed. Failed to work out!

Thursday: Ripped in 30 Level 2

  • I worked out after watching “Rookie Blue” – this is the most TV I have watched in months…two night’s in a row! Woah! Anyway, after the show I managed to get off the couch, get my gear on and pumped out a great workout.
  • Afterwards I laid on the floor like a starfish to recover 😉  Note: my head cold started earlier today.

Friday: Rest Day

  • I was feeling pretty terrible and decided to call it a night at 9:30 and went to bed…. yes we watched another TV show but it was “on demand” from earlier in the week – Law and Order SVU – can’t wait for next week’s show. My head cold was getting worse.

Saturday – Rest Day

  • Rest Day again 😦 Today I was feeling like a bag of poop. I was really wanting to workout  and even put my workout gear on my bed in the morning so I couldn’t hide away from it. After a 2 hour afternoon nap with Hilary snuggled beside me I woke up feeling worse than terrible. So, we (my husband) decide I should not workout and get some much-needed sleep. Sleep was more important  than working out he said. I agreed. At 8 pm I crawled into bed!
  • Hilary had other plans for us that night. She was up from 11 pm – 2 pm crying. Poor girl didn’t know what she wanted and either did we. Nothing from our bag of tricks worked on her.

Well, it’s been 4 weeks since I started this “Get Fit” challenge for myself. It’s been challenging, fun, tiring and exhausting. I’ve pushed myself to workout during the day, with Hilary in her stroller, during the girls nap times or late at night once the girls have gone to bed. I’ve worked out on Friday nights, missed some of my favourite TV shows and made my husband watch the NHL playoffs on our computer until I was done working out.

I only had myself to blame when I missed a workout but only missed a few mainly due to having a head cold.

I am feeling a whole lot better about myself, a stronger running, seeing some changes in my body, losing weight and inches and on my way to getting fit and healthy post baby.

I still have 4 more weeks until my friend’s wedding and needing to fit into the bridesmaid dress, which I’ll try on soon again to see how I am doing. As I write this I am realising that I am not only doing this for myself but for my girls and my husband – to be a healthy mom and wife and a positive role model for them. I have also realised some of my readers, followers, friends on Facebook are encouraged by my commitment to being active, by them getting active too. Hats off to you too!

Here’s to Week 5 and cancelling our TV service! Seriously, we cancelled it and have 30 days left to enjoy it. We very rarely have time to watch a show during its prime time and end up watching only our few favourites on the computer … when we can find time for that. I’m sure I’ll blog about that one day.

If you missed the first three weeks, you can find them here:

Why Operation Get Fit

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3 

Cheers, Piper.