TA Meta and everything else - Fall/Winter 2020

[eventmom]

yesterday - ravi & ana warm ups from beginners & beyond; 30 m essentrics stretch, short meditation.
today - Karen Voight Sleek Essentials strength

well we are in deep freeze (below freezing) probably for 10 days which is super long for oklahoma. I taught in person yesterday - didn't get done in class until 10:45 this teaching schedule sucks. We are looking some cold (single digit) which makes horse chores crazy slow and tiresome. OU is remote work today and I think thursday as well. Of course our heat pump can't handle this cold and the back up heat system was defective but it is fixed just now.

buzzer - sorry your wall fell that's the sort of thing that happens in ok! glad the fire was put out quickly - hope you get some precipitation and reduce the fire risk.

ebianco - yes! that's the sequence I liked! sometimes it seems like Anna was working too hard to include the tall box but I don't have an actual tall box and use a crappy kitchen step maybe I'd like it more with the correct equipment.

stay warm!

[ebianco]

Hi everyone,

I continued my Jillian workouts today. I was very worried I would have major core/trunk DOMS so I took a bath last night, and I felt more tired this morning, but actually felt pretty rejuvenated by lunch when I worked out. I did 30 Day Shred Level 2 which was definitely easier than Level 3 (and as a huge bonus my DVD player didn't make me sit through the lengthy lecture beforehand that could not be skipped or forwarded that I had to sit through yesterday) but still was mostly focused on back, chest, core, with a little biceps, no triceps. I just added my own triceps. Then I did 10 Minute Transformation Second Edition, the Animal Moves and Lift chapters, plus cool down for an overall 50 minute workout. Animal Moves was legit fun! Bear crawls, donkey kicks, crab walks, horse walks and some new to me like gorilla jumps, monkey squats, alligator walks, duck walks. It was all very dynamic and fun and really worked the legs and core, but upper body too with a lot of time spent on all fours. Then the Lift was actually a pretty fun workout too. Her signature combo moves done at a slower pace for extra burn, not too many reps but a TON of exercises, and she really did hit every muscle body in this one unlike 30DS. I think 10 Minute Transformation Second Edition is better than her first.

Eventmom I totally forgot to get back to you and thank you for your stretch recommendations!! The Tamilee's stretch DVD is currently $3.99 with prime free shipping on Amazon so I ordered it last night. I also found Debbie's Cool it off/express DVDs for only about $8 shipped from Amazon so probably going to pick those up today! The youtube links didn't work for me, but I will search for them. I know there's tons of free stuff on YouTube. But I am thrilled about my Amazon finds, so thank you!

Buzzer waves!

[eventmom]

karen voight sweat - I'm finding this set challenging enough that i may keep at it for a week or two.

ebianco - the tamilee also has a 30 min stretch as well as the 3 10 min ones. I think I used links from my youtube playlist but maybe the one below will work for lastics. those are great deals! I've had tamilee for maybe close to 20 years and even though I don't use it much I won't give it up!

maybe this will work for 'lastics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fls8KyiR9c&t=13s

hi buzzer!

[Buzzer]

Body Beast Chest Bulk.... DONE!
Original Buns of Steel with Greg Smithy... DONE!
Body Beast Back, and Cruel and Unusual (Steve Maxwell) Get up and Go... DONE!
]
Chest I pushed myself and even now my chest is still a little sore! It was great. I watched the next workout in UFC Fit, which is a "pull" workout, and it was more weights and full body with weights. It looks good! I didn't go up in weights and as a matter of fact on one set went down (the pullovers... how did I ever do 2 30 pound weights 8 reps???) It was great though.

I did the BOS, and man, did it hurt my buns! The outside of my hips still aches. I haven't done a high rep workout in a long time, and it shows! It was great, but I couldn't keep up at all. I would get the exercise, then look away so I wouldn't try to go as fast as he did. I made it through though, and it hurt!!! I liked it! So I debated making this as my leg day, but he doesn't hit the quads that much, or really the hamstrings. It's all outer thigh (mostly) and inner. So I may add in some extensions and curls later in the week.

Yesterday I did my back workout, and ended it at the deadlifts because I was previewing the C&U get up and go workout and it had a lot of back work in it. So I finished right when he was starting the 100 KB swings, so I used an 8 pound weight and did the swings with him. Then I rewound to right after the warmup and did the workout with my 8 pound weight. I haven't done KB's in a long time, so it was good! Extra back rows, and some getups. I did skip the last set of getups, because my knees ached and it seemed a bit beyond what I am capable of right now. He would drop down, drop his knees to one side, lay down, drop his knees the other way, and get up. There was something about it that wasn't working with my knees that day.

So my heart rate was up and it was a great workout!

Today I don't know what I'm going to do. I might do a cardio, since my glutes hurt from Greg and Steve Maxwell, and my back is sore from Body Beast. The last workouts I have for the week are arms and shoulders, and since I have soreness in my back I don't want to hit arms becuase I won't be able to go as hard.

Today I am not looking forward to... I told my friend who had ACL surgery yesterday I'd watch her kids today. It's fine when they can go outside and play, however it's a very cold day today and they will have to be indoors the whole time. So I will go get them at about 9:30, and they will have to play inside our tiny house for about 7 hours. I have no idea what they will do. I am not looking forward to this! LB is. She totally is and is excited. I am not so much.

LB rode the horse yesterday, and honestly I felt like I couldn't breathe. The horse has bucked, and that one time when I was on her she rolled (I stepped off at the last second). She was a little "naughty" yesterday too before we got there and also while we were there, so I was apprehensive. LB did great, I couldn't breathe though until she got off the horse. I am so glad it went well. I do like the horse, but she isn't ridden much so it makes me nervous. I would rather LB rode a trail riding 20 something year old horse!!!

We spent almost 3 hours there grooming, training, riding, and talking. It was a good time.

Eugene had his stitches out, but the vet is concerned about how swollen his leg still is. She said he looks great though and seems to be recovering well, so we will see. She gave us some antibiotics just in case, and will recheck him next week. He took a step back in his recovery in the last few days... he was taking the one step up into our house just fine, now he needs help so I went back to taking him in and out the back door where we have just a little 3-4" step. He seems to be a little more tender than he was. Hopefully he just stepped wrong or something and will be back on the road to recovery soon.

We have been super busy, and I will be grateful for tomorrow when we have NOTHING planned!

Eventmom: We are finally getting the freezing weather!! This weekend we may actually get snow too. DH has stopped working on the garage, he did rent some scaffolding on Monday and now it just sits. It's been so windy. Now this weekend will be so cold, so I doubt we will get anything done again. I am grateful for the snow, but it does set us back on the garage. But I guess everything is anyhow, might as well have some snow.

Ebianco: I do love UFC Fit, but I did like the MMA stuff! I adored Tapout and Tapout 2 like crazy! George was OK, and I really loved kettlebells. I remember reading about animal workouts! I thought they sounded fun, but I have a tendency to not reach for bodyweight only workouts. They just never click with me, but sound fun. I have a few of the Lauren workouts from FidgetQueen, however I have never done them. I will probably preview them though while I do a body beast. I have to say I am loving doing BB because I can preview workouts! I don't do that in real life. I guess that's my "tour" of workouts, without actually doing them!

[eventmom]

karen voight strength - well this has been embarrassingly hard so I guess I'll keep doing it but today my low back is not happy but that's probably from all the sitting (I taught from home yesterday) but still, yikes.

Buzzer - we are looking at below freezing temps from monday of this week to Friday of next week. That is some sort of record for Oklahoma -and not a good one. And one of my water buckets for the barn that is heated seems to have broken. Of course, no one has heated water buckets and it took me this many days to sort out it's really broken just not operator error (like, maybe that plug is bad or maybe I didn't get it plugged in properly). I think you're wise to be careful around the horse, it's not clear how trained it is. and a 20 something year old been there done that is best for most kids. (Not my 23 year old been there done that because she still things jumping and running is awesome but the more normal ones).

hi ebianco!

[Buzzer]

Firm Core Cardio 2.. DONE!
RKS workout 1, which is just 16 rounds of 30 second swings.. DONE!
Body Beast bulk arms... DONE!

Yesterday I had three kids here. I picked them up at about 9:45am. We came up here, played, then we went to see if Urban Air had openings for us when they opened at 4. We drove all the way down, and they said nope. But we could come back at 6. We puppy eyed them a bit, then agreed that 6 would work. There's a barnes and nobles in the same parking lot, so we hung out there, split some cookies, and played. When we got to Urban air, there were some other people there we recognized from B&N, so they must be getting a lot of business from people waiting for Urban Air!

We ended up being at UA until they closed at 9. So LB and I didn't get back home until 10.

So I started the day with Firm Core Cardio 2. It was fun, but also kinda boring. Some of the segments went on too long doing the same four or so moves, over and over and over. I didn't go all out, because I am so crappy at cardio right now and I knew I needed energy for the day, but it was good. I felt ready for the day. I dreaded having all the kids here, since our house is so small and now that they are getting bigger, the house feels even smaller with other kids here. But it turned out OK. they were only here a few hours before we went into town to UA and B&N. It was a long day though!

So I got home, and got an email from my parents saying they changed their mind, they were not staying in Colorado but put in an offer on a house in Florida and it was accepted. So they are moving across the country again, at almost 80 years old. I was furious and sad. It was like a shock right before I went to bed. I brushed my teeth and went to bed. LB came in and we cried together. I am more upset for her, since I lost most of my grandparents by the time I was 10. I hated that people had grandparents that did all sorts of stuff for them and spoiled them and they could stay over at their house, and I never had that. I hated it. Now my kid is going to have the same thing. My parents say they will come back for "all the important things" however they hate flying, so you know that'll only last maybe one or two times. Plus my dad is going deaf, my mom has macular degeneration so she is going blind. They both have bad knees and have trouble getting up and down and sitting for long periods of time. They won't travel for long.

So I just have to get through the next month until they close on their houses, then when they move it'll be over. Just a stressful month of lots of good byes, lots of tears. Not looking forward to any of it at all. I might limit how much time we spend with them since it won't be enjoyable at this point.

Lots of layers to the story, but I'll leave it at that. So today DH took LB to town with him, and I worked out. I did the KB swings with RKS, got about 18 swings per 30 seconds, for a total of 288 swings. They probably weren't pretty, they probably weren't great form, and they probably weren't as effective as someone who is a kettlebell queen. But it was fun. Then I watched the second workout in Cruel and Unusual. It was more of a tutorial, which was impressive. He did pushups on his toes with his hands on the kettlebell balanced on the part you put your hands. Like, the KB was upside down balanced. It was crazy! Fun to watch though.

I cleaned up some of my workout room too while I was working out. I was alone at home, so I just took my time. I got some of my workouts put away and moved around so all my Firms are in one place. Plus I found all my kettlebell workouts and I think I will start adding those into my mix of Fitprimes and Body Beast. I liked the cardio of the first UFC fit, so I might start mixing things up again on my non-fitprime and body beast days.

It's finally cold cold cold here. It's below zero. Eugene woke me up at 4am to go out, and it was so cold we went out, pottied and went right back in. Even then, it took me about 1/2 hour to warm up!! DH texted at 6am that it was -10 so I can just imagine how cold it was at 4am!

I have a heated blanket on my lap because it's like the house is freezing. I know the heater just can't keep up on days like this.

the horse lady said "today is too cold. maybe tomorrow" but tomorrow is supposed to be MORE cold. We are supposed to get snow over night though, so we need that!! Tomorrow the "real feel" temperature will be -21 in the morning. I don't think we've had it this cold in a long, long time! Doggies are staying inside a lot today. Even Otis, who loves to be outside and run, is sleeping the day away inside. Too cold.

I will say that I went back to bed this morning. I heard something in the room, and figured it was Eugene coming to lay next to me on the floor (he sleeps there a lot). I kept hearing noises, and then felt a pressure on the side of the bed. I turned my head and opened my eyes.. there's Otis. His butt planted on the floor, begged up with his front feet gently placed near me on the bed. He smiled when I opened my eyes so I pet him for a while! So cute. He is an adorable dog. We don't let them on the furniture, but when he did that I thought "totally allowed." because sometimes you have to because it's cute.

Eventmom; Murphy's law on that water heater for sure. This cold is insane! I don't mind cold if it comes with snow, but nope,. I think the air is freezing and falling to the ground though. There's like snow flakes flying in the air like gnats, never really falling. Just frozen air.

Ebianco: So I put in some DVD's for the Lauren Brooks site, thinking if it were a good enough deal I would get some for under $10 a piece. Shipping was insane!! Like, $26.00! I re-calculated, and the price per DVD would be about $14-$15 and I went "nope". I will get them cheaper on resale if I want them! I have enough KB DVD's so I don't need them at all. I think I just panic because there are less and less DVD's and I feel like if there's a good deal I should jump on it. New workout frenzy. However now, I don't frenzy buy anymore. I seem to have better self control

[ebianco]

Hi everyone! Happy Valentines Day and Presidents Day weekend!

Catching up on my workout week:

I was pretty winded from the two Jillian days so I went lighter on my recovery Friday, Youtube Zumba and a stretch workout I found on Blogilates Youtube page, for a 35 minute workout.

Saturday I did Cathe Fit Split 4-DVD set, the Pull and Push strength workout combination, for a 65 minute workout. The Pull and Push workouts were more slow and heavy than I usually go, so I tried to go heavier and did get a good workout, but I didn't really get my heart rate up. And there were no abs, but I added my own. It was really heavy on upper body (so much so I skipped upper body today) but pretty light on the lower body, although she did hit the hamstrings and quads pretty hard. I'm towards the end or maybe at the end of my Cathe DVDs, without repeats, and I really look forward to trying out all the DVDs all over again!!

Today I finished my workout week with another 2 mile run on the treadmill, plus Barlates Overload DVD, the Chilsel workout, skipped the Tonique-style warm up and arms, and went straight to barre legs, thigh dancing, and standing and seated pretzel, and tough ab sequence. Then I finished with Callanetics stretches for a 65 minute workout.

We had freezing rain the last couple of days, and it was legit scary to even attempt driving around, so I just stayed home. Today was better so I was able to make it to the grocery store at least.

Eventmom That Lastics workout link worked for me, thank you!

Buzzer My mom has macular degeneration too, and is also slowly going blind. Thankfully my dad is in really good health so far. They are in their mid-70s. At least my parents live in the immediate area with no intention on moving. I would be sad and shocked that they are moving to the other side of country too! I am currently enduring a falling out (I anticipate a real estrangement) with one of my family members, and I can completely relate with how stressful it is and lots of layers of the story

I have Core Cardio 2 as well and I can't remember how much I like it, I think I purchased it because it has a lot of the Maximum cardio (Carissa) tunes, and I really like hers. RKS is the best! That seems like an extremely high shipping for the Lauren workouts, jeez! So she's basically compensating with the sale prices and making it up on shipping. I don't think I would have paid that much, but I don't remember. I look forward to incorporating kettlebell workouts soon with Art of Strength and Atletica (the A workouts ) I have roughly 2.5 weeks left of number workouts to go before the A's (five workout days).

[Buzzer]

P90X Yoga.. DONE!

I didn't feel too energetic. I woke up with a dog in my face again, letting them both out on the deck at about 3am. This was after shooing him away three other times during the night. DH had me turn the heat up (floor heat), and the dogs don't like that. I slept like crap. After I let them out I needed to stay awake because it's -21 out and they can't stay out long. Just long enough to get the chill off.

I tried to go back to bed, but honestly I kept thinking of my parents moving and it was working me up so I just got up.

So, I did P90X yoga. Even that I wasn't crazy about. I did the vinyasas, but after about Warrior 3 I started slacking, started working on opening up my chest more, stretching muscles I wanted to stretch, and finished out about 20 minutes early (according to the P90X timer) after doing my own thing for about 20ish minutes. It was good, not great.

Last night I slept better. I turned down the heat, and DH closed the door when he went to bed. That helps too.

We spent the weekend watching movies (Ironman 1 and 2), watching season 1 of this series called "Home Free" where people would build houses with the assumption they would win a home at the end, but it ended up that as each person was eliminated, they got the house they were all working on at the time. It was so good! Season 2 wasn't as good, and way more drama, so we only watched the first episode. It was the laziest weekend I can remember having... really since we've been married. It was so nice!

I really needed it.

So anyhow, P90X yoga was OK, today I will finish up my body beast week with shoulders. Then do my fit prime week, apparently mixed in with whatever I feel like doing.
Ebianco: I have a sister I haven't talked to in probably 5 or 6 years. It was really hard at first, like my other sisters would be joking about her craziness and I would be about in tears. I missed her. But, I did not miss her games and manipulation. It took me about 2 years to finally stop wanting to pick up the phone and talk to her. I knew she was bad for me and my family, but she is my sister. However, now I know how toxic she was, how destructive it would have been to have her in my life this whole time, and how manipulative she was.

There were a few times she really did something hurtful and destructive to me and my marriage, and I had to keep those instances at the forefront of my memory and remind myself of them whenever I felt myself softening to "she isn't that bad". It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I'm glad I did it. I sometimes even forget she's a sister. "Blood is thicker than water" is only a catch phrase, if a friend was as toxic as some family members are, you'd find a way to walk away from them. We seem to think toxic family is OK, but toxic friends are not. Nope. Toxic family is much worse because it's harder to walk away and they can get deeper into your brain since they are "family"! I don't know the situation with you, but hopefully that helps you in some way.

Like getting rid of bad boyfriends, it does get easier as time goes by.

I was looking at my AOS workouts yesterday and thinking "I am not at that level yet!" I am jealous of your treadmill. I sometimes wish I could go for a slow jog or run, but we have nothing but hills here and that's what killed my love of running. I ran so much before I moved here. I tried going back once, but having to drive to town to run was a big pain. Plus most of the paths are concrete and I can't do that to my body. So I think unless I get a treadmill at some point... actually have room for it too... I won't do it. By the time we have room though, I will be at the age where I don't want to do that to my knees. So I guess my running days are over!

OK, I am feeling like a downer, so I will just say "Hi Eventmom!" and go away. I am trying not to be depressed about my parents, trying not to think about a month of saying good bye, trying not to be sad about my lost fitness level. Trying not to think about the effect of the move on LB. Then there's my Mom, texting to ask if we want her pie pans or whatever, which feels like when someone dies and their stuff is divvied up. It's just a lot for me.

[eventmom]

so cold weather, snow drifts and a bad back is not a good combination

Sat -I did essentrics full body training skipping the ab work and thought I was doing ok until she said sit up and cross your legs. When I crossed my legs I was screaming cuss words.
Sun - a cs episode standing stretch and maybe a little cardio
Today - some easy cardio (Gina B, tried cocolimefitness and it's just not for me, gina has way better music), 10 TA arms and a CS episdode.

so I feel ok if I move around but if I sit when I get up my hip is locked. So I have a riser so I can put my laptop on it and stand but really bad timing. We have snow drifts, the heat strip in my barn can't keep the hydrant working so I'm hauling water from a frost free hydrant near the barn. extra no fun with my back. It's 2 degrees right now wind chill -12. It may go above freezing friday. OU still hasn't said if we are open, closed, or remote tomorrow. NO way can I drive in.

buzzer - as luck would have it I was on a zoom call with my horse riding club saturday and at the end said anyone got an extra heated bucket? Sure enough a friend that lives only 20 minutes away had lots of extras - she used to board horses but doesn't anymore. so I borrowed two! saved me for sure. I'm sorry about your parents, I honestly couldn't wait to get away from mine, I definitely needed to be on my own but I hear you about LB. At least you will have an excuse to go to florida and be warm next winter!

ebianco - glad it worked!

[ebianco]

Hi all,

I started my workout week today with some more Alphabet workouts. I started with Jessica Smith 10 Pounds Down - Better Body Blast. I was planning to do the whole thing (20 minutes each of upper, lower, and abs) and I was really lukewarm on this DVD the last time I did it...9 years ago because it just seemed boring, albeit challenging, and the cardio infusions were boring and minimal. And 9 years later, I still feel the same way! So I only committed myself to the 20 minute arm chapter, yes it was challenging but it was boring. Then I put in Brett Hoebel 20 Minute Body Trilogy 1 (the only DVD that came out) and did the Primal Moves chapter, which was a metabolic strength workout. It had squats with overhead press, explosive pushups, back rows with deadlift, elbow plank, side lunge with a clean and press, and woodchops. Same six exercises repeated over 3 circuits. I liked this workout better, it was more dynamic and got my heart rate up more, but still wasn't thrilled about it. I've never been a huge fan of Brett to be honest. There's nothing wrong with him to be fair, but I don't click with him. I think I got this DVD on major discount a few years ago or probably wouldn't have bothered. Finally I put in 10 Minute Solution Knockout Body with Jessica, and did the abs, which was fairly enjoyable, then my own stretch. So two kind of duds but at least now I know and have marked some more workouts off my list!

Tomorrow I plan to do Beachbody's 10 Minute Trainer or Denise Austin's 3 Week Bootcamp, I've been trying to do a harder workout on Wednesdays and easier on Thursdays, and I doubt either of these will be that hard.

We are expecting major snow tomorrow, but probably not nearly as much as you guys. Only 3-5 inches here (that's major for us LOL).

Eventmom I kind of went crazy on stretch DVDs, I got Tamilee's and Gaiam Total Body Stretch with Madeline Lewis in the mail today, and have Cool it Off en route. So hopefully I'll find a winner (or several) starting this Friday!

Buzzer Thank you so much for sharing your estrangement story, and my experience is actually VERY similar to yours down to it being a sister and a lot of similar experiences. I was also thinking of a bad boyfriend breakup, and it did take me about a year of being angry about it, and then a second year that I wasn't angry anymore but it was still on my mind, before I was totally over it. So two years sounds about right, unfortunately. I know it will be more complicated with family than a bad boyfriend, and she isn't estranged from the rest of my family, but they are sympathetic to me. I've always been easygoing in the family so it's very difficult to be right in the middle of a family feud. I don't want the family to be divided by "sides" but she does.

I'm really sorry you're depressed about your parents I'm glad you had a better night of sleep. I'll give you the same advice I'm giving myself, which is to worry about your own well being first. It's hard to do when you're in the midst of it, but you can't control their actions or decisions. It's really all you can do, to focus on your own healing, at least I think so.

I look forward to getting into my AOS workouts but I'm certain to go lighter on my kettlebell poundage than used to. I have been doing great with my exercise but marginal at best on my eating, and definitely feel bloated and puffy again. I'm just in a junk food vortex. And the family stress is NOT helping.

I am really glad that DH and I invested in our treadmill a couple of years ago. I'm surprised I've been able to get away with even a little running with my knees. I'm thinking the heavier lifting with Cathe has helped my knees. Yes running on hills is so unpleasant! It's too hard to go up a hill, and my knees hate running downhill. And if it's not paved, it's a serious tripping hazard.