Video Fitness Forum  

Go Back   Video Fitness Forum > Video Fitness Reader Forum > Challenges and Check-ins

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 02-20-21, 02:55 PM  
Nuggie's Auntie
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: I love that dirty water...
Mbramer, so good to hear from you! I'm so so so sorry to hear all you're going through. What a stressful situation. Is your ex living near you? Does he have regular visitation with the kids? Is the real estate market doing well where you are? It's booming here. I can't believe what houses are going for! There is so little inventory right now, everything that lists gets snatched up right away. I hope you are able to sell quickly and easily, and that it puts you in a better position financially. I didn't realize you were still in school. Wow. Lots going on for sure. I'm glad you have that retired teacher to help.

Drop 2 Sizes strength workouts are long, if I recall. I have been doing the metabolic workouts by following the DVD, but I did the strength workouts from the book. I find Rachel rather grating in long doses!

Yesterday i was just in a funk, so I did Firm vol. 1. A good classic workout!

This morning my friend who is staying with us and I decided to walk the dogs into town to get a coffee. There is a former railroad track that's been turned into a paved walking path. The weather seemed nice when we set out, but it was bitter cold, windy, and the path was icy. It was positively treacherous! So not quite the relaxing, pleasant pastoral excursion we had planned! But we made it to the coffee place and called DH to come pick us up!

Then I got home and rec'd a call from DS2's physical therapist. Apparently we had an appointment this morning that I had forgotten about. There's a charge if you miss, so I put him in the car in his pajamas and brought him to PT. She found that very funny. I really need to get my sh*t together, so I'm spending this afternoon tidying up and updating the calendar, cleaning out my email inbox, etc.

I'm plugging away at my interior design course. I'm 65% through and I'm hoping I can finish before DS2's 10th birthday in April. I know, it's it amazing how old all our kids are?! It's astounding!

Pratima, glad you're feeling better, and I hope your DS feels better soon! Kids seem to bounce back quickly from these things. I'm glad he's at least in school. I can't wait for my kids to go back. They are so lonely. I want to think of something fun for DS2's birthday...There is just so little that is open...

Hang in there, friends. Big hugs to all!
Nuggie's Auntie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-21, 09:20 PM  
mbramer
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Midwest
Stephanie, Ex has the kids two days a week. He does live close, though he moved over the state line. I think our housing market is doing fairly well. I'm in a pretty desirable neighborhood, so that should help. I'm more back in school (again) than still in school. The K-12 Licensing Board doesn't think that a PhD and 13 years of college teaching counts for anything in terms of K-12, so I have to take all the classes for licensing. I found a place where I can take them as graduate courses, and they'd count toward a MA in Teaching if I could finish it within 7 years of last fall.

For my current program, if I could go 3/4 time, it would be around 2 years. I'm not sure how long it will take me--I tried 3 classes last semester, and that was too much. This semester I'm taking one class, but I'm also taking a class that's an advanced certification for online teaching through the Online Learning Consortium. It's more manageable. So we'll see.

I've been doing the January Jump Start rotation from Jessica Smith. I'm on Day 20. I did sign up for Chris Freytag Get Healthy U TV with Gold again because they had an offer for $12 for both for a year. I like being able to just click on a workout that's part of a pre-planned rotation. It'll also allow me to pack up most of my DVDs now.

Have you all mostly switched to streaming/online workouts, or do you still use mostly DVDs? Maybe it's a mix of both?
__________________
Disclosure: I have received free product from a fitness instructor.
mbramer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-21, 01:28 PM  
Pratima
Exchange Moderator
 
Pratima's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
mbramer, I am glad you posted! I was just about to email you. It sounds like you are stuck between several rocks and hard places. Is moving away from that area/state an option? Is that something you might want to do? I say that mostly because there might be more job options elsewhere, and it sounds like being around your family and ex isn't a positive thing. I realize of course that would make it tough for them to see their dad.

Here's a position here in AZ...just in case. ASU faculty

How is that OLC course? I took one class through them and I did enjoy it.

If it makes you feel any better, my FIL has been like your mom the entire 20 years I've known DH and his health is generally fine! I guess it really is largely mental. How far away do they live?

Stephanie, I haven't been able to get myself outside on the dark, cold mornings. Yesterday it was 37 with the icky wind until about 9 AM. No snow of course, but just ewwww. I'm impressed you walked!

What options are you looking at for DS2's birthday? For DD last year, all we were able to do was an Easter egg hunt at home (which I'd bought eggs and fillers for weeks in advance) and a Zoom call with friends and family to sing happy birthday while she blew out her candles. For DS we had a couple of his friends over and the two neighbor boys.

DS has been reading up a storm. He read 4 of the 5 Percy Jackson books in 2 weeks. He should finish the fifth here in a few days at most. A friend of mine has a couple of books from another of that author's series so he can work on those next! I did also buy some board games when Amazon had a sale. He's already mastered Rubik's Cage and Labyrinth. I keep playing him in the hopes I'll win!

I just made an appointment with another ortho for DD. Her wrist bugs her on and off and I don't want to take any chances. I'm creating a lot of work and driving for myself but maybe this will end it once and for while.

I had a job interview with a nearby town for an IT Trainer position. It's new and sounds perfect on paper. It would be remote at least for now, mostly creating training videos for town employees on various types of software. The pay range is huge though, and I'd want near the top of it to leave my current job. The second interview is Tuesday, via Zoom of course.

Today I did the 4th rowing workout in the series. Yesterday's was all rowing, today's had bodyweight exercises on the floor. Tomorrow I'll probably do Les Mills spin or BodyAttack to give my body a break from the rower. It's low impact but I do feel like it works upper and lower body quite a bit so a break is probably needed.

Feel kind of weird, in this not-yet-normal place. I realized it's been a year of COVID, a year of not doing things on weekends other than ordering in, watching movies, and playing games. Seems like we should be at a different point now, doesn't it?
__________________
Don't care what people say, just follow your own way. -- Enigma, Return to Innocence


DISCLOSURE: I have professional relationships with several producers of fitness videos and related products; please see my profile for details.
Pratima is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-03-21, 11:57 AM  
TonyaK
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Colorado
Hi all!

My knee feels pretty good now, and I can walk and go up stairs without concentrating on every step, so that's great. I cannot do any side-to-side step without being very, very careful or I will be in great pain. I can jump straight up and down, carefully, but not to the sides or with any twisting. So it's getting better, but still not normal. Thanks to all for sharing that you get similar pains sometimes! I am trying to do pilates or physical therapy-type moves every other day, and stretch a lot. I think both are helping.

I've been doing the upper body workouts from Cathe's Slow and Heavy, which is nice. It's easy to do one body part for 30 minutes, or two in an hour. I did the Legs segment the other day, which was fine except for the side lunges, which I learned the hard way

I keep getting songs in my head from step workouts, so I know I am missing cardio on some level!

Pratima, I hope DD's wrist can be "fixed" completely so she doesn't have it bugging her forever. Poor DS must be so tired of his cast. That is such a bummer to have recess with a broken arm.
Fingers crossed for the new job prospect! I think you're kind of bored at your current job, so it would be great to start something more engaging.
Oh no, not The Cough! Glad you got some help and started feeling better quickly! We have had many fewer colds this winter, which has been nice. We've still gotten some (where? how?) but they seemed a lot less intense and shorter.

Stephanie, that's fun that you have a friend visiting! You were brave to go on your treacherous walk. I loved it when I read that you had DH pick you up!!
I also recently realized that I needed to go through my inbox and update the calendar - it makes a big difference. We don't have a ton going on right now, but we do still have doctor and dentist appointments, teacher conferences, etc... It feels good to be on top of that stuff.

mbramer, it's so great to hear from you! I'm so sorry that this is such a tough time for you - my gosh, it just keeps piling on!! I don't know how you are doing it, but you are amazing.
I mostly still use DVDs and have only dabbled in streaming. I do like that a lot of them seem to offer month-to-month subscriptions and that they are pretty cheap. I used to have the sense that you had to commit to a year at a time, and they were expensive, and it was difficult to cancel. I'm a lot more likely to try different ones if I can cancel online whenever I want! I don't ever want to do the same thing for a year. I can imagine keeping Cathe or Beach Body for a year, maybe.
I hope things will get better soon. Where are you willing to move? Should I try to get you to Colorado, or let Pratima lure you to AZ?

Yesterday my DS turned 8! DD turned 10 in December. We have a few families that we've seen throughout the last year, all with similar levels of isolation, everyone working from home, etc... One family came over yesterday to celebrate with DS, which was fantastic. We all enjoyed seeing our friends. Another kid is going to spend the night this weekend. (We did something very similar for DD's birthday.) They are both sad that they couldn't have parties, but I feel really glad that they could at least see a few friends.
TonyaK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-03-21, 05:13 PM  
mbramer
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Midwest
Pratima, for now, I think I want to stay in the state. My parents are the only grandparents they have, so I would like the boys to be able to see them. They just need my mom in hour-long doses instead of 24 hour period doses. My dad is really good with the boys, though. He's 80, and I'd like them to get more time with him, too. Right now, they are about 4 hours away. But if things don't start happening soon, I'll have to start looking other places. I do enjoy the idea of not having to own a snow blower if I moved to AZ! I'm liking my OLC course. I didn't realize that "Explain" is no longer considered a measurable verb for learning objectives. That confuses me, but at least I'm learning!

Tonya, happy belated birthday to your DS! I am that he and your DD were able to have some celebration with others, even though it was small. We just had one family over for my DS1's birthday. They have 2 boys who are the same age as my boys. I am pretty sure the whole birthday party industry is going to see a boom when people can congregate safely again! I'm glad your knee is improving. I hope it's back to normal soon. Your routine sounds like it's helping you. I empathize with you about learning how healed you really are through the trial and error method of doing too much. It's frustrating. f

Hi, Stephanie! I hope you are doing well!

I am happy to say that I finished my Jessica Smith rotation! It took me longer than 28 days, but who cares??? I'm just happy I did it. I was in the last week of a Chris Freytag workout calendar when my subscription ended, so I think I will finish that up, just for the feeling of completing it. I like having the calendars that just tell me what to do every day, and I click on a link. I can handle that.
__________________
Disclosure: I have received free product from a fitness instructor.
mbramer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-21, 03:06 PM  
Pratima
Exchange Moderator
 
Pratima's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
mbramer, huh, I didn't know that about "explain!" Although now (and right at the end with my previous job) we work a lot with terminal performance and enabling objectives. I'd say explain might be an EO that led to a broader TPO--like explaining a specific concept within a presentation that a student designs?

Have you look at remote job options? One thing that comes to mind for you is working for schools that develop K-12 curriculum. Is that something you'd be interested in? The curriculum is sometimes used in-class but of course right now a lot of it is for online or hybrid use. I get wanting to stay near your parents. I wish we had even one set of grandparents nearby!

TonyaK, happy birthday to DS! DD has been talking about her birthday (4/12) and seems to want to do a sleepover with a few of her teammates. I think that's doable this year. Your knee sounds pretty bad! Do you think you need to have it looked at? I've had hip issues 3 times and each time it turned out to be something different.

Waves to Stephanie!

I spent most of yesterday driving to and from and sitting at DD's appointment. The ortho we saw is a former college gymnast. She was very thorough in her exam and very specific with what she said. Basically DD is still growing, and her wrist is vulnerable until she's finished. She gave her specific limits on activity (basically don't do a ton of reps and don't try anything new that requires impact on her wrist). She also told us to get some wrist supports, which arrived today. I think she'll be fine, and despite it being quite a pain, do think it was worth the effort to see this doctor.

My job is so weird. The pace is nothing like before but the pay is pretty close. I had a 2nd interview this week for a position with a nearby town as an IT Trainer. It's a new position and sounds very interesting. I'm supposed to hear their final decision this week.

My kids have one week of school and then spring break. We were thinking of heading up north but DS told me he's tired of feeling carsick, so we will stay here and do some little local outings. I don't have much vacation time but might take a day or two off.

My workout schedule for now is 4 days a week of rowing + strength workouts (doing a 4 week series), one day hiking, one day run or spin, and then adding in short strength whenever I have time. Seems to be working--I think I look much slimmer and leaner than with Body Beast!

Glad to "see" everyone here!
__________________
Don't care what people say, just follow your own way. -- Enigma, Return to Innocence


DISCLOSURE: I have professional relationships with several producers of fitness videos and related products; please see my profile for details.
Pratima is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-21, 05:56 PM  
TonyaK
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Colorado
Hi all,

Today I did a short kettlebell workout. It's Lauren Brooks's Shut Up and Train. I think there are 6 workouts, each around 15 minutes. I did the first one earlier this week and the second one today. It feels good to do something different and use different equipment.

mbramer, I bet you're right that the birthday party business, and all party businesses will go nuts when it's safe to be together again! My kids can't wait to go to Defy, which is a big warehouse full of ziplines, ball pits, foam pits, trampolines, etc... I wonder if any of those will still be in business when this is all over! They are such germ breeding grounds under normal circumstances, I can't imagine going any time soon.
Congratulations on completing your rotation! I find it really hard to stay focused on one thing these days, so I am very impressed.

Pratima, it sounds like it was a helpful appointment for DD! That's good that she knows what sort of limits to place on new moves and why.
I hope you will hear about the possible new job this week - how exciting!
I have thought about going to a doctor about my knee, but my symptoms are so vague and changeable that I don't think they could do anything. Sometimes it feels tight in one spot, and sometimes in another. Sometimes it hurts inside my knee, but usually it is a muscle or tendon or something that's attached to my knee. I just don't know if they could do anything with that information. Plus I keep thinking it will be fine in a few days...
I'm glad you found a workout combo that you like! I would love to feel leaner and slimmer

I don't know what we will do for Spring Break, but DH took the week off work. Maybe we can figure out something fun to do, or at least do different things around home. We could go to playgrounds, go hiking, have a game day -- I don't know. It's such a bummer of a year. My family is extremely lucky, and I'm grateful that we have it so easy, and it still sucks.
TonyaK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-21, 06:15 PM  
Pratima
Exchange Moderator
 
Pratima's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyaK View Post

I have thought about going to a doctor about my knee, but my symptoms are so vague and changeable that I don't think they could do anything. Sometimes it feels tight in one spot, and sometimes in another. Sometimes it hurts inside my knee, but usually it is a muscle or tendon or something that's attached to my knee. I just don't know if they could do anything with that information. Plus I keep thinking it will be fine in a few days...

Tonya, a doctor definitely could tell what's going on! The orthos I've seen always start with an xray, and then do range of motion testing and poke and prod to see what's tender or tight. As I said, it often turns out to be something other than what I think. Once when hip/hamstring was bugging me, and I thought it was tendinitis. I did exercises to try and strengthen my hip and stretch my hamstring. Turned out to be a weird hemangioma that went away on its own and couldn't be helped by anything I was doing.

Not saying you HAVE to go or anything, but if it isn't getting better and limits your activity, an ortho or PT (if you can see a PT without a referral) probably could figure out what it is.

This place just opened up near us and I'm thinking of taking DD. Someday, like everything else! Right now it seems like a bad idea...how do they clean those?
__________________
Don't care what people say, just follow your own way. -- Enigma, Return to Innocence


DISCLOSURE: I have professional relationships with several producers of fitness videos and related products; please see my profile for details.
Pratima is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-21, 06:28 PM  
TonyaK
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Colorado
Thank you, Pratima! I will try to convince myself to go if it stops getting slowly better. I appreciate the encouragement!! I have a lot of reluctance about doctors; not really sure why.

That place you linked looks fun! My kids, especially DS, love parkour and hanging from bars, climbing things, etc... I think DS would love men's gymnastics, like rings and uneven bars. Hopefully someday soon we can go back to places with germs. I don't think they can adequately (for my comfort) clean any type of pit - ball or foam. They can spray the top layer, but how do they get to the deeper stuff? Did anyone work at a place like that and know the inside scoop? My kids LOVE jumping into foam pits.
TonyaK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-15-21, 03:44 PM  
Nuggie's Auntie
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: I love that dirty water...
Hi Friends! Glad to 'see' you all!

Pratima, what's the scoop on your job prospects? That's so great that you've even had interviews in this economy! What a bummer that DD's wrist is still bothering her. But great to have a gymnast doctor. She really 'gets' it, I bet. How is your DS doing? That's great that he's such a reader! I've been trying to wean my boys off screens. We let them watch FAR too much over the past year, especially after my accident last summer. It's been painful, but they're getting better. I've been bringing home STACKS of books from the library.

Tonya, so sorry to hear about your knee! How is it holding up? I know, we haven't been sick at all over the past year! I guess physical distancing and masks really do work. (DUH haha)

Mbramer, I hope you find a job soon! I know what you mean about wanting the kids to see their grandparents... after my mom died, I realized how they can be gone in an instant! We're going to take the risk and go see my in-laws at the end of the month. They and DH have been vaccinated. Congrats on finishing your rotation!! WOO HOO!

I have been jumping around doing different things. To answer your question, Mbramer, I have a streaming subscription to barre3 that I got cheap, but other than that, I just do DVDs. I've just been doing whatever I feel like lately for workouts. I can't seem to stick to anything, but I figure if I do something--anything--most days, that's good enough.

So I have some very good news--TOMMORROW BOTH MY CHILDREN WILL GO TO SCHOOL!!!! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A YEAR!!! I can't believe it. I am so happy. I'm praying nothing happens to upset this magical thing!
Nuggie's Auntie is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:26 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
© 2009 Video Fitness