Pilates Cross-Trainers SEPTEMBER 2020

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Gosh, I forgot to post yesterday. My DD and i resumed training at the horse rescue that we started late in 2019 and had to postpone due to COVID, so "barn chores" were my main workout. I also did CS 1224 - I think that is one that Linda did recently.

Oh - and i did take a walk outside, too. So I guess it was a pretty good workout day overall

Today i started The Balanced Life challenge and the ePilates barre challenge. I'm also considering doing the CS "Cardio" challenge that starts today w/ a free (as in no membership required) live stream at noon. I am really going to try to do it - and allow myself to take a 30 min break from work to make it happen.

Depending on how I feel about it, I may sign up for a month of CS streaming, but not sure b/c I really should be using stuff I already paid for more!

Anyway - I enjoyed both of these workouts this morning, I have worked out iw/ Robin before but this was my first time w/ Emma from ePilates and i enjoyed this intro to barre class.

Carol - that is great news about our bloodwork. I suspect you will continue to see improvements. That is amazing weight loss! Cholesterol is really strange, when I became a pseudo vegan (I cheated here and there and still consumed a few dairy products and some meat on occasion - but I was like 90% vegan) I ended up w/ my cholesterol ratios changing - and not for the better. LDL went up and HDL went down. I subsequently changed back to an omnivore and my last bloodwork should normal HDL and LDL and a good ratio and it wasn't even fasting bloodwork - I think my Dr. knows I will put it off so she just had me do it when I was there even though i had eaten.

re: Cable/ISP - we have Comcast here, it actually works pretty well for the most part, knock wood. I hope it keeps working b/c w/ all of us working at home we need it t be reliable.

Linda - amazing job w/ Tear it up! I think, back in the day, Tone it Up was my favorite.

Good work, Cheri - I hope your new job is better!

Waves, Brenda and Christine...

Donna

[Usia]

Good morning!

No workout yet.

Carol, thank you for sharing your bloodwork and weighloss results with us. I am so impressed with how much weight you've lost and that your blood work is better. Congratulations! You have totally inspired me to take my own weighloss seriously starting this morning.

I stopped logging on Lose It and I kind of lost focus, but that changes now. I haven't seen the doctor and haven't had bloodwork done in couple of years and I know it can't be good. I will be finally going to the doctor after December 1st and I need to lose some weight before that. I really appreciate your post and it was just what I needed to hear today.

I'll check back later. Off to log my breakfast.

[cherimac]

PBL SIS Core Plus More
PBL Just Five Minutes More Stretch

Carol-fantastic!

Donna-a vegetarian dirt did that to me, too.

[fanofladyvols]

Carol if your doctor doesn't brag on you, don't worry ..we are! CONGRATS!! I hope your doc shares some good ideas for your blood sugar goals.

Donna did you like that CS we both did? I loved it. If my streaming ability was viable I would probably talk myself into streaming CS.

Dana good luck on working towards your goals. I love how we inspire each other.

I have had to shift my SS rotation a bit to accommodate my DD wanting to workout but that's ok by me. So today we did the core segment on KV's Stretch and core conditioning DVD and then did Cardio Core express together. Then I did Taebo Live Basic #3 ( she hopped on the elliptical.)

Have a beautiful Monday everyone...waves to Cheri and Brenda!

[txhsmom]

Monday's workouts were:

Faithful Workouts - Pazaz & Power Stretch - 27 minutes & Advanced Upper Body - 10 minutes;
Walk - 30 minutes

I've done this particular Pazaz workout before and I enjoyed it - it's about maybe 15 minutes of Pazaz and the remainder is stretching. I enjoyed it even more this go round. As for the upper body workout, I suppose it was advanced because it moved quickly - Michelle and a friend had hiked somewhere and were on a rock with trees, etc. in the background. I didn't find it too difficult.

Thanks, everyone, for the encouragement! I appreciate it a lot. I'm not going to change anything I'm doing and just see where my weight settles. The funny thing about my weight loss is that even though I've lost about 12% of my original body weight, I don't have many clothes that feel like they are too big now - except for my bras. It figures the most expensive piece of clothing I have would be the one I'd need to replace the soonest (I'm a big believer in wearing bras that don't even feel like you have one on, and those cost $$.)

Linda - Love those Taebo Basic Lives! They were so fun!

Cheri - Nice job! That is my all favorite stretch routine of any instructor, any length. It checks all the boxes for me.

Dana - I have these drill sergeant doctors that will fire me as a patient if I don't do blood work, etc., and with all of the family history I have of heart attack and stroke, they take it seriously and I'm trying to as well. Of course, I have a lifetime of eating poorly that I'm trying to overcome. At least I have always exercised.

Donna - Glad you and DD are getting to go back to working with the horses. Things are beginning to feel a touch like pre-CoVid, and that's a good thing. It's hard to justify streaming when you have tons of their DVDs. I'm kind of that way with Michelle - I have collected many of the DVDs that Michelle has released over the years, but there's tons of additional stuff on her website for me to enjoy. Could I make do with what I already have? Yes. Do I want to? No.

Waves to Brenda!

Carol

[Usia]

Good morning!

Leslie's Fast Walking in 30 min. It's a youtube compilation of her fast walks off MM set. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enYITYwvPAQ
TBL Day 1 Challenge - Core Strength - 16min
ePilates Day 1 Barre Challenge - Intro - 19min

Robin's core workout was OK but not much of anything. I didn't particularly care of it. Kind of meh. I may or may not continue with her 5-Day Strength Challenge.

I've done Emma's Barre Challenge before and I forgot how much I enjoyed it. This intro class starts out easy but packs a punch, even with the puny 2lbs hand weights. I will continue with it and I'm looking forward to Day 2 with Barre Core for a proper core workout.

Day 1 of food tracking yesterday - completed!

Have to run to the office today. Waves to all!

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I actually did schedule a "meeting" for myself from 12 - 12:30 and i did the CS Live Stream workout w/ Sasha (who is a male, BTW - I believe it is a nickname for Alexander). It was a good routine. While Miranda was certainly innovative in developing her system, she is not always the best person to teach it and I find the other instructors to teach it in a better way - Miranda is just very chatty and as a result she sometimes loses her focus - maybe it is b/c of her doing mainly TV for so long?

Anyway.....

Today, so far, has been:

CS 1128 - Weight Loss - I'm still on the fence about signing up for streaming for a month - on the one hand, I have done it consistently since last Friday and my back and hips feel 100% better - and I know I'd be more motivated to use it if i paid for it - but I do own a lot of content, so there is no reason that I can't use what I have at home. However, the instructors on the streaming site are very good.....Oh and in Season 11 there are two workouts called "weight loss" so I picked the one that was all standing. One of them was supposed to be Day #2 of the cardio challenge.

The Balanced Life - Pilates Strong -Day 2 - nothing unusual in this one - I do like Robin and if her site wasn't so expensive I would probably sign up for a month here and there.

Later today I may do the ePilates Barre challenge which is all floorwork abs today. Or I may do something from Jessica Valent.

Carol - I know exactly what you mean! I subscribe to Ellen's site even though I own virtually all of her DVDs, but she does put something new out once a month and it isn't expensive. Truth be told, I will probably subscribe to CS for a month and maybe do that 30 day challenge from April - being consistent w/ CS makes a big difference in my back and hips. And, BTW, I think I flared things up by doing that Pilates routine w/ the foam roller - I don't think it was Pahla at all. I think it was laying on the foam roller that irritated my SI joints. So, no more of that. All that being said, I saw that Pahla's workout yesterday was 3 minutes of heavy weights w/ 45 seconds of rest. I may go back and do that body shaping challenge at some point, but not right now.

Cheri - that is interesting about how a vegetarian diet affected you - I think Pahla talks about it in one of her workouts about how nutrition science is so new and we are all so individual so there is no one size fits all. I suspect my DH would do well on Carol's Keto plan, but I would not - I tried doing low carb a few years ago w/ DH and I felt terrible. So, how we metabolize things is so unique to each of us. My DH drops weight as soon as he stops eating bread, starch and sugar.

Linda - it is nice that your DD works out w/ you! I'm glad that mine will walk with me - and I go up to the barn w/ her whenever I can to watch her ride.

Dana - good job on day # 1 of tracking! I agree about yesterday's barre session! I will probably do the abs later today - maybe i'll schedule another meeting for myself -

Waves Brenda and Christine,

Donna

[cherimac]

PBL SIS Back, Butt, and Triceps
PBL Adore Your Core Lower Abdominal Strength

Donna~I don't do well on low carb, either. I need a very balanced diet.

Carol~yes, a favorite stretch of mine as well.

Waves to all.

[fanofladyvols]

Carol so far Basic #3 has been my favorite..so lively!

Donna anytime my DD is willing to hang with her mama .. I'll take it! I love how you and your daughter work with the horses together. I like to read your thoughts on the CS series. I sometimes talk myself into purchasing season 11...then season 12 based on an episode I do on PBS. So far season 12 is winning

Dana food tracking is harder to me than workout documenting. I like to figure out what I'm having for my meals in a week and stick to that so I know it's what I need. Supper is always tricky trying to include for everyone. My breakfast and lunch are pretty boring but easy.

Today was Tone it up and the floorwork kicked my booty... literally. I think I still like Tear it up best...I like the cardio intervals. They feel like a rest in the toning, lol! But Tone it up has her sister which I think is so cool.

I'm already trying to decide where to go after this is over soon. I will have to see how my body feels. I really have enjoyed doing this series. I'm not weary of it like I usually am as I near the end. Whodda thunk?

Cheri I don't operate well omitting food categories. I find it easier to watch my intake if I keep things routine and simple though.

Waves to Brenda!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

[txhsmom]

Tuesday's workouts were

Cathe - LITE PHA #2, Timesaver #3 - 26 minutes;
Pilates Nest - Reset Retreat Day, 2 Legs - 10 minutes

I am not sure what possessed me to pull out my Cathe's, but I can sure tell this morning that I stepped up the pace. Hmmm, sore? Check. Stiff? Check...

I like Cathe's PHA workouts, but then I like most any strength workout she does, even if I have to modify it. This intermediate level workout required no modifications (other than doing a shortened version with a single set of every exercise). Cathe alternates between upper body work and lower body work, without any rest to speak of in between. Transitions to the floor and back up were a little quick for me, so I didn't always catch the first rep or two, but I don't consider that a problem. Don't know if I can continue with any type of Cathe schedule, but I'm thinking about it. Meanwhile, the music from Michelle's workouts is running through my head.

Smriti's leg workout is part of a new 5 day series and primarily used different workout than her other short leg workouts, which is nice. What is it with new pilates' series this week?

Linda - I've never enjoyed tracking food, ever. The closest I came to "enjoying" that task was using the LoseIt app. You are doing so good with the Slim Series workouts. I just remember hearing all the horror stories about how hard, no, brutal, those workouts were.

Cheri - Nice job!

Donna - Good idea to schedule a "meeting" with yourself for exercise time. I'm sure that's really the only way to make the workout at 12:30 actually happen. I never thought I could do Keto or low carb until I had to. I'm probably doing dirty, lazy, Keto or low carb more than true Keto - I'm not counting macros, I'm just very aware of the net carb counts in my food. Knowing how Type 2 Diabetes and being overweight elevates your CoVid 19 risks to the top of the list was a huge motivator for me. By the way, the symptoms that you described when you tried low carb/keto are very common and are known as the "keto flu". They don't last.

Dana - Nice job! I don't care for Robin's pilates workouts either - they just bore me to tears. She does seem really nice though. Good job on tracking!

Waves to Brenda and Christine!

Carol