TA Meta and everything else - Spring / Summer 2022

[Buzzer]

Fitprime upper body burn... DONE!

That workout is interesting. The "cardio" is very weird... kinda like walking I suppose. The workout itself has a lot of pushups, which are hard for people, and then the rest of the workout is fairly easy. So it's weird to me that they put in an exercise that is so difficult for people in the midst of what is essentially a beginner workout. I did chest presses instead of the pushups, so it was nicer for me. No wrist pain!

Today I will probably do the Fitprime legs again. I pulled out all my split workouts.... Kelly Coffey Meyer, some Cathe, some Firms... and I think I will do each workout twice. That's my plan right now anyway. If I stick with this plan, it will take me about a year to get through all of them! Maybe a little less since I don't just workout twice a week, so maybe 6 or 7 months. I haven't gone through my whole collection either, I still have things like P90X, or STS, or even some of the kettlebell or martial arts type workouts I can add in if I want to. That would extend my rotation for years!

Doing fit prime made me want to do some Firms though. I might throw some of those in too at some point.

LB being in camp has been such a blessing for me. I am getting things done! I went through a bunch of bins in the new garage... consolidating, throwing things away, moving things around. We went from about 15 bins to about 4 or 5. Still too many in my opinion, but better. we have so many unmarked black bins that I need to go through. I also painted our front door. It was so weathered and ugly for so long. I bought some "hammered copper" spray paint, and have put two coats on already. It doesn't look hammered, but it does look copper. I like it. It's darker than I would want, however it's better than the faded, peeling, worn out door we had before. It at least looks nicer!

I plan on hopefully painting a wall today. LB's room is still torn apart. Dh wants to lay down the new floor before we paint, which I think is backwards. Then we get new paint on the new floor! Whatever. I am too tired to argue my point too hard.

LB and I are sleeping in the camper again, which is nice but also not. We don't use the bathroom in the camper since we have it winterized, so I have to walk out to the workout room in the dark to go to the bathroom. I learned from our last stint out here that I can't drink after 7pm, otherwise I have to go out in the middle of the night. I don't like to do that! It's way dark, and I don't want to run into bears or mountain lions!

So two more days of camp. I feel like our summer is almost gone, and she's doing camp. I keep having this "but we have to go do... (fill in the blank) and she's at camp!" but I have to remind myself that camp is good for both of us right now!

Eventmom: Nah, we won't really do concrete, but it sounds nice after all the fence wrecks! I put up 6 chairs, a trash bag full of trash, and a "watch for kids" type sign (plastic kid like he's running) to block off the destroyed area so the dogs don't get out. The fence isn't all the way down, we have chicken wire type fencing that is holding it up. About 3 sections are pushed down, the wood totally broken. Dh is dealing with it. We've been having weird days too. I'm kinda over it.

[ebianco]

Hi everyone!

I am back for my vacation and I did work out the whole time! The fast wifi and youtube came through for me, my first trip that I didn't even pack a DVD player and DVDs! Besides working out, I got in tons of steps each day, averaging about 10k and was great!

Last Wednesday: a Grow with Jo warm up (don't remember which) then Daniel PT Fitness slow bodyweight total body (this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG4G...RxhpiI&index=1) which was great! The slow pace really made it tough on the muscles.

Last Thursday: another Grow with Jo warm up (or maybe it was a Gina B?) then this fitness_kaykay total body band workout, I used Cathe's medium resistance band mostly, and a little of the heavy band, and it was great! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXO...RxhpiI&index=2)

Last Friday: I had a lot of DOMS from Thursday especially in my shoulders, and decided to take it down a notch and did more Grow with Jo, then this Daniel PT ab workout (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx24...RxhpiI&index=3), then a good portion of this Michele Briehler yoga workout (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx3i...RxhpiI&index=4) and ended up doing about a 90 minute workout, since I had time, and it was rejuvinating even though I felt tired beforehand!

Last Saturday: Another Grow with Jo then this Caroline bodyweight total body workout (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD90...RxhpiI&index=5). Of course, Caroline is tough even if it is just bodyweight!

Last Sunday: I took a redeye flight Saturday night/Sunday morning so I ended up sleeping all day Sunday. It was an unplanned rest day and that was just fine!

Mon-Tues planned rest days

Yesterday: I was still really tired "losing" three hours and getting used to east coast time again, so I didn't work out, but that's okay.

Today: Got back into it with what was planned for yesterday, legs with Caroline (this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dZZ...i4uVpN&index=3) and it was great! I didn't work out until noon because I couldn't get up early, too sleepy, thank goodness my sleep study is tomorrow night because I am feeling the fatigue again! But it was a lot of bodyweight work and went fast today.

Tomorrow will be the upper body that I should have done today, then total body Saturday and barre on Sunday.

Eventmom I've heard Classical Stretch for athletes is a really good one! And I still love Gina B workouts, I still think of you every time I do one of her workouts!

Buzzer I love the Fitprime workouts but I am also lukewarm about the upper body workout, even though I love Keli's Strong Bear, like you said the pushups seem hard then everything else seems easy, and it just doesn't feel like it flows well. I didn't like the Fitprime lower body workout at all. I think I did it all the way through once and said never again! That was years ago, but I still don't want to do it LOL!

I too still have so many DVDs I haven't done in YEARS, or at ALL, but it's tough to tear myself away from youtube workouts that are so polished and constantly have new content! I am still keeping them all though in case for whatever reason the great youtube workouts go away! I never forget that I don't "own" them or would have access to them if they were pulled for any reason. I should take the best Caroline workouts and download them, but my youtube downloader doesn't work anymore, I need to research it.

That is crazy about all your fence accidents!!! What a headache

[eventmom]

monday I tested positive for covid - dh brought it home from his trip, he's positive too.
Nothing Tuesday, an 8 min easy yoga yesterday. tired and achy but so far no symptoms that are long term worrying.

buzzer - 15 bins to 5 sounds amazing, great job! I get it on the fence, super annoying and also work to get it repaired.

ebianco - the number of great youtube workouts makes it so much easier to workout when traveling. I used to pack a smallish box of dvd when we came to NM, then just a dvd holder, this trip I brought 2 dvds - TAs so I could keep up my rotation. Between youtube and my AJ app that's all I need.

[ebianco]

Hi everyone,

Today was Caroline upper body with EPIC Endgame (this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2U5...i4uVpN&index=4) which is a real toughie. besides the work being 60 seconds on (instead of maybe 45), the staple exercise is decline pushups with your feet elevated. My arms are so tired already!

Tomorrow apparently I have to stay at the sleep clinic until noon, so they can do additional testing for hypersomnia, so I am not sure how that will translate to me exercising which is always in the morning. I'll just have to play it by ear. If nothing else, maybe I'll go for an extra long walk and do stretching then return Sunday for barre. I'm glad I'm finally getting the study and my insurance is covering it.

Eventmom I'm sorry you tested positive for covid! I really hope the symptoms remain minimal and you get better soon!

Yes the youtube workouts are just amazing! I think people think exercise videos are so outdated, but what do they think youtube workouts are? LOL. I called someone out on that once haha.

Buzzer waves!

[eventmom]

Jacquelyn app - yoga for when you're sick.

lol

covid isn't bothering me too much but my ibs flared. ugh.

ebianco - that's funny about people thinking videos are too old school then using youtube!

hi buzzer!

[Buzzer]

Fitprime lower body burn... DONE!

I decided to give it one more go around. I squeezed my lower body so much during the whole thing! I really did it good. I ended up with some glute soreness, but that was about it. Other than that, it is a really low key workout. I guess it was good for how exhausted I have felt!

I was working out about 6am while LB was at camp. That way, I could get my workout in, then go in and make her lunch, get stuff organized for the day, start laundry, empty the dishwasher, and get her out the door and in the car at 8am. So I needed lower key workouts! I am so glad we don't have to do that every day for school. We did discuss that we need to wake up earlier and get started earlier this year though. She isn't happy, but I think once her schedule is adjusted she'll get used to it.

Last night DH wanted to do a firepit, and luckily only three couples showed up. That was good enough for me! It was small, but friendly. I enjoyed it. I don't need a big party all the time like we've been having and attending!

I also painted my dining area!! So there used to be cabinets in that space that we took out about 5 or 6 years ago. There was still stain, dirt, pencil marks, just grub on the walls. I didn't want to deal with it, I hate painting. So I lived with it. Well, LB and I found a really pretty sky blue on the "oops" markdowns at Home Depot, so I got it. Only $9! I painted over the last 2 days, and I love it! It looks so different. My plan was to paint one wall, but I ended up painting the other wall, and that wall extends over the walkway and into the kitchen. So I ended up painted the dining room and one wall of the kitchen. It looks really, really nice! I like it. Added to that is I had painted the back door and the trim around it white, and that back door is on one of the dining room walls too. So suddenly that whole area is so bright and fresh and I love it! I am adding things back to the walls... we have a shelf of games and homeschool stuff, plus we do school at the table there so we hung the whiteboard back up... it's looking really nice. The rest of the house sure looks dingy!!

Today we take LB's old bed to someone who wants it for her grandchildren, so LB will officially have an empty bedroom. Then we start on paint and flooring for her! So exciting!

So I guess I did some low key workouts, however I got in workouts in other ways too.

So I found 15 KCM's on eBay for $28. I couldn't resist. I was eyeing some of them for $9 or $10, so to get 15 for so cheap was hard to pass up. About 7 of them are duplicates, however it was worth it for the 8 that aren't! I figured I would have spent that much at LEAST at goodwill getting all 8. Plus I am a sucker for having a backup copy, even though I haven't needed one for anything yet. I even have backups for the Firm Volumes. The ones I have are the ones from Thailand, where they were DVDr, however now, almost 15 years after I bought them, they are still going strong. I was so afraid they would degenerate like people said they would. Nope, they are fine. I have backups just in case though!

Ebianco: Welcome back! I hope they find some solutions through your sleep study. I am interested in how they do it, and what they find! I have this image of trying to sleep in a glass room with people looking at you in white lab coats from the windows while you sleep. Plus having little sticky sensors all over you. I would not sleep for sure. you'll have to let me know if my image fits reality! HA!

Eventmom: sorry you have covid. Seems like everyone is getting it now! Luckily it has morphed into something more like a cold from what I hear. Much more mild for sure. I hope it stays mild and you recover fast!
I used to take 7 or 8 dvd's with me on vacations, now I usually take 2 or 3. I am learning that as much as I want to workout on vacations, sometimes it's a good break not to also. So I bring them just in case. I have big plans, but usually not so good at following through. Hope you are enjoying your stay in NM otherwise!

[ebianco]

Hi everyone,

Well I had my sleep study! I would have taken a sleep aid but was told don't do that. So, I didn't sleep very well. It took me probably 45 minutes to fall asleep around 10 pm, then I woke up around 1:30 am to use the restroom, then it probably took me another hour to get to sleep the second time, and then they woke me up at about 4:30 am! Then from 4:30 am through about 12:30 pm, they had me be up for an hour (awake but I could read or watch TV in bed, didn't need to be literally up out of bed) then I was told to nap for 30 minutes, then repeat, and repeat. I wasn't able to sleep the first nap, but I was able to nod off and sleep at least some for the remaining three naps! I was also told to sleep on my back as much as possible for the overnight study, so hopefully they could determine if I have sleep apnea. Then the "day" study that started at 4:30 am was to check for narcolepsy, the doctor explained it like they monitor my brain waves to see if they really wake up, or if I can easily fall back asleep. I think it was easier to nap because I really didn't sleep well during the overnight study, so I don't know what to think! I may hear my diagnosis(es) as soon as Monday. Buzzer yes there were sticky electrodes all over my scalp which I had to wash out of my hair when I got home, along with about 6 all over my face around my eyes and mouth, then on my neck, shoulders, arms, and legs. Along with that I had a kind of tight band around my chest I guess to monitor my heart, and a second one around my waist. So there were about 20 or more cords that were attached to a single plug in thing that I had to carry with me when I went to the restroom. It was an ordeal! Also for the overnight study I had a tightly placed nose sensor thing that went up my nostrils, but that came off for the day study, thank goodness. The cords were all cumbersome to sleep with and also the room was too hot, there was a fan which I used, but I prefer a cold room without the fan motion on me. So wow what an experience. Also Buzzer there was a camera in the ceiling but otherwise it was set up like a bedroom with a closing door (and a pretty full wall mural behind the bed and a fairly comfortable queen size bed) and the technician monitored from another room entirely, only coming in to prompt me to nap or to get up. So it wasn't totally a feeling of being monitored, even though I know I was! This facility had about 5 or 6 bedrooms in it! And there was one other person getting a sleep study last night (I was told) but I never ran into him.

Since I didn't get home until after 1 pm and I really didn't sleep well, even though LOL I guess I was in bed and napping all day (but being woken up at the end of the half hour was jolting and I'm sure it was low quality sleep), I decided not to push myself for a big workout today. Also, while my legs are feeling looser, my arms are extremely sore, especially my biceps even though that was the least worked muscle in my workout yesterday!

So, I am walking on the treadmill and going to do some stretching after. Then tomorrow, hopefully I'll feel pretty revitalized to do a tough cardio and barre workout. Maybe Barlates or else Pure Barre for sure.

My toe/foot problem that was really bothering me prior to vacation is nearly healed!! I am so glad I got special inserts in my sneakers before the trip, since I walked so much. Also, I was very meticulous to wear sneakers all week when I would have worn sandals or something and I think that also has helped me heal. I am like 98% healed and can walk around barefoot without any pain! However, I am trying not to push my luck so careful not to mostly. Also, tomorrow will be a test of whether I can do any high impact cardio which was leery to do before my vacation.

Eventmom I'm sorry your IBS is acting up! That is tough (((HUGS)))

Buzzer That's interesting about Fitprime lower body! I guess maybe it was just easy but I also wasn't into the instructor, at least that's what I remembered at the time probably well over 10 years ago

The sky blue paint sounds absolutely lovely and I bet it really refreshed the entire area!!!

[Buzzer]

KCM 30MTF Body Shop, workout 1... DONE!

This was a full body workout. I'm always skeptical of full body workouts done in 30 minutes, I just don't think they can do a good job of fitting it all in. Well, she did! It was excellent! I was done at the end. I think what makes these workouts different is that she doesn't mess around at ALL. She goes from one to the next, and you have no time to rest. Cathe might stretch, catch her breath, or give you some tips, however KCM just keeps on going. Catch up or fall behind. I did pause a few times to get weights, but for the most part she doesn't even waste time changing weights. I started with 15's, and used those for most of the workout. I grabbed 12's when she went down in weights, then I grabbed 15's again when she went to the floor. I really like how non-stop these workouts are!

Yesterday I also weed whacked for about an hour, hauled steel stakes from one place to another trying to clean up a section of our yard. I would carry the stakes 4 stakes per hand, and they weigh about 3 or 4 pounds each. I took them about 50 feet, and did that trip probably about 20 times. So I don't know how much that "workout" contributes, however today I woke up with sore biceps, delts, and some leg soreness. Could be one, could be the other, could be both! Who knows.

Yesterday DH had an interview at 4pm. He didn't come home until about 8:30pm. I'm sure he talked to him forever, then ran errands or went to the shop or whatever. So anyhow, he came home and sat in his car for a bit. LB and I played scrabble, then got ready for bed and went to the camper. At like, 9:15, as we are relaxing and getting ready for bed, he comes into the camper and starts showing me video of this employee who has turned into a total jerk and is poisoning everyone else. She's talking crap about him, she's spreading hate to everyone, she's just being a really bad and toxic person. Then he starts talking about what he should do, and when I make suggestions, coming back at me with his own frustration and anger. I finally tell him that these are his options (write her up and put her on notice, or just fire her) and he is annoyed with my options, I am annoyed that he is ticking me off right before bed and he just continues to show me videos of her, like it is going to do anything but make me more irritated. I already made up my mind.

So of course I snap at LB when she asks me to see how she decorated her bed in the camper, and DH storms out. Poor LB. I couldn't sleep well last night because I was so irritated. Why right before bed, DH? This morning I am still annoyed. I did not sleep well. Luckily that KCM was pretty good, today I will probably just do yard work and call it my workout. It's supposed to be chilly and rainy today, so it's a good day to get out there and do things! It won't be too hot!

Ebianco: OK, that sleep study sounds kinda like my nightmare scenario! HA! I don't know how you slept. Plus having to drag all that to the bathroom, that would wake me right up and make me unable to fall back to sleep! I'd suddenly be a full on insomniac. I hope they help you out though!

I never really thought about my shoes. I wore what was comfortable. Then one day, I sprung for a good pair of shoes that fit. It was like the light shone brighter and suddenly I understood!! HA! I think I ran further than I ever had that day. I probably still own those shoes somewhere because they were so amazing. Ever since then, I try to be careful with what shoes I wear. I did fall into a "oh! $3 shoes on clearance!" phase last year, where I wore $3 shoes from Walmart. They were OK, but recently I bought better shoes and the light turned back on. Now I remember why I like good shoes! My feet don't feel tired and sore. I can walk for hours! So anyhow, shoes really do matter! I'm glad they helped heal you!

Eventmom: I hope you are feeling well. I have heard Covid seems to bring out your aches, pains and problems to the surface. Sucks. Luckily it seems to be temporarily though!

[ebianco]

Hi everyone,

Last night I slept for over 12 hours! I was so tired and out of sorts from the sleep study And I still feel kinda fatigued, thank goodness I went through the sleep study, I just hope it is conclusive and that they can give me a remedy to try. However, I was definitely awake enough to get in a really good workout. I started with Simone Rebounder for a warm up/initial cardio, then I did Pure Barre Resistance Series #3 warm up through arms, then I did a youtube zumba cardio, then went back to Pure Barre for the leg work, then another youtube zumba, then finished the Pure Barre seat and abs and stretch. Overall I got a 70 minute workout! I was able to do all my cardio barefoot and it didn't bother my foot which was awesome, but intuitively I think if I had pushed harder I was right up on the edge, so it's good it was just perfect.

Tomorrow and Tuesday are planned rest days. Then I have about three more weeks of regular workouts before I am having a cyst removed from my back on August 31. I was told I probably won't be able to work out until it's healed and stitches removed which is like 3-4 weeks after. So I'm going to try to make the most out of that time by focusing on nutrition and relaxing activities, and hopefully should still be allowed to get my steps in as long as I don't get sweaty. But then at the end of September, I already have been planning out doing my first full length structured system with Caroline, I'm going to do EPIC Heat. The only workouts I'm going to sub are some of her HIIT workouts which simply have way more burpees than I want to do (but am still going to try do do HIIT workouts), and a couple of her strength workouts where she ONLY works shoulders, for these I will sub another Caroline that just works all upper body. Otherwise I'm going to stick to her system and just really focus on the weight training. I am hoping I will be really refreshed and ready to work after basically a 3-4 week active deload period.

Eventmom waves!

Buzzer I meant to say in my last post WOW what an amazing find for those KCM workouts for only $28 that is amazing!!! I have maybe 1-2 KCM workouts and STILL have never even tried them, its outrageous! So I don't know if I even like her workouts or not. I love the idea of no downtime though for a 30 minute strength workout!

Ugh it always sucks to get worked up and angry right before bed, so bad for sleeping!!! I'm sure I wouldn't have slept well either after that conversation.

The shoes really do make a huge difference. I already had nice shoes (Asics) but when my toe bed started hurting, I looked online and kept coming back to these particular inserts, plus the little U-shaped cushion stickers you could put so you wren't putting pressure where it hurt. Between the inserts and the carefully placed stickers, it seems to have really restored my foot. I never ever wear heels anymore, and I'm also kind of leery of shoes with absolutely zero support. I'm definitely kinder to my feet as I've gotten older! The only time I'll wear nice looking shoes that are really not at all comfortable is on a rare occasion when I'm going to a fancy dinner and I know I'll literally just be sitting the whole time, and only walking to and from the car and there's no there activities planned. But that's it!

[eventmom]

20 min practice off yoga for back care

getting better actually rode my horse today.

buzzer - it doesn't always work to exercise on vacation but youtube makes it easier in general. I agree, covid seemed to bring on muscle soreness etc.

ebianco - glad they sprang for a full sleep study my insurance company only had me wear a device a home who knows how good it was.