Watulan Fierce Deities of 2021! All are welcome!!

[bee]

Hello All!

Sounds like we had lots of rockin' partiers for Fun Friday -- nice!!

Glad to hear Winston seems to be doing better -- it's wonderful when they start showing signs of getting back to themselves. I forgot to tell you guys that the first orange tabby I had swallowed a bunch of stuff when he was a kitten. Had to have surgery and they removed a rubber band, a paper clip, and I don't remember if there was anything else. This was my first cat and I felt at a loss for how to deal with him eating things. I asked the vet what I could do and he said (in all seriousness) "maybe vacuum more?" OMG!

Oh, and I still have a yoga block that my first dog, Gina, chewed on. She didn't eat any of it, and she is no longer with us, but every time I use that yoga block I think of her.

I feel for you guys in the cold and snow! Shovel max five times in 24 hours definitely counts as a workout!

Garrie, I did a P90X rotation early last year, I think it was? And I really enjoyed it for a change, and then I was so happy to be back with Cathe! Variety is such a good thing!!

Speaking of that..... it'll be fun to hear about the Katami workouts you guys are doing.

I did a Body Project cardio warm up this morning, followed by an Inner Dimension Ballet Yoga, I think it was called -- interesting. It was a fun change of pace. Really yoga but with some ballet inspired things. One thing he did was tree in plank. And followed by CleanMax. I'm ready for a movie or something now.

Stay warm, watulans!

[manleym]

Hi Freezing Friends! I hope there are at least some of you who have above freezing temps! BRRR!!! Hubby and I covered our plants this morning. Should have done it earlier in the week but didn't feel like it after work. We redid our beds years ago and do ya'll know how much plants costs?!? It's ridiculous!! I was mainly concerned with the daffodils and iris's that I took from my mom's yard before we sold her house. I can see them when I'm sitting in the sun room and would hate to lose them.

Kim I'm glad that you thought the same thing about Turbo Fire. They are more of a cardio workout with some kickbox moves and I think they're fast. Might be because I don't do Chalene's workouts that often. And I also like knowing I've done the same exact workouts as some of ya'll. Makes it more fun for me.

ChelePA my heart just broke reading about Winston's tragedy and seeing him in the lamp shade. Poor little guy! I know you were just terrified! I'm so glad your mama instincts kicked in and you followed through on them. You were right! Makes me happy that his little bark is back. That's a good sign.

Cataddict very true about there not being a fall season in Florida. It's like here - the Bradford Pears turn for a little while, but we don't really have a fall season. I do wish we would have more of a fall. Hubby would like to retire to Florida to be closer to his family, and because he LOVES to fish. I've told him in order for me to move I want a dedicated workout room (nice-like Horusosiris nice! What am I thinking? That's a DREAM!) and I also want to live within walking distance to the beach. But I hate the humidity, so we'll see where we end up. We're still several years from retirement though.

Kittybug you finished Poldark! What did you think??? I went to the library and checked out a couple of the Poldark books but haven't started reading them yet. They're different than I expected. Meaning book one is titled "Ross Poldark", book 2 is Demelza Poldark", etc. And they have the characters picture on the front. I thought that was different because the books were written in the 40's but there's a picture of the actors on the cover of the book. We just finished watching "All Creatures Great and Small" and we loved it! Looking forward to season 2! That is CRAZY how many times you and hubby are having to do Shovel Max!! Hope it calms down soon! Your chilli sounds FABULOUS! I LOVE curry! How did it turn out?
And I think Katami's 4x4 are classified as metabolic. I believe that's how 2Lazy described them since they're light weight/cardio.

Cataddict and Kittybug I like the idea of doing Change 1 and 2 week 1; Athlete 1 and 2 week 2; Warrior 1 and 2 week 3; and Hero week 4 with other workouts in between. I probably won't do the rope but will do the foam roller. And I just ordered Double Down and it should be there by the 18th. Would it be a good Fun Friday workout? I might also throw in Amy's Breathless Body 4 in there too. What days are ya'll planning on doing Change 1 and 2? Lemme know so I can do them on the same day as ya'll.

[manleym]

Now for the workouts this past week....

Thursday was Cathe Live #334 Candy Hearts Circuit + 10 Minute Stretch Routine (no equipment) with Kit Rich. Horusosiris I'm glad we were workout twins! I really liked this workout. Nice variety, good music. I liked the moves and the flow of the workout.

Fun Friday was Cathe's Party Rockin’Step 2 Step Mix with some of ya'll. I was kinda like Bee in that I struggled a little some of the choreography, especially the final product (or whatever Cathe called it) since we didn't do some of those combos in the premix. Agree with Cataddict that the cueing isn't the best. I think that was part of the problem in keeping up. I had to do a few rewinds since the cueing was late. But overall a fun workout and I do like both PRS workouts.

Today, Surprise Saturday, was Growing Aannanas 30 Min Leg Workout With Weights, Dumbbells | Low Impact | Glutes And Quads - No Jumping - No Repeat - no jumping - no repeat. It was a GREAT workout that had a cumulative effect. It got harder and harder as the workout went on, with the final exercise being 2 min of wall squats - BUR-NER!!! Then I did her 30 Min Total Body Blast Hiit - No Equipment, No Repeat, Full Body Home Workout. It was a great add-on but I didn’t really care for music. She called it cool music, but there was an obvious generational gap because what I think is cool (classic rock, 80's music - the really good stuff) is not what she thinks is cool. But it was a good workout, so I give her props for that. I finished with Mr&MrsMuscle Post Workout Stretch | Full Body | 15 Minutes of Stress Relief & Recovery. It was a GREAT and thorough stretch. There's no music or voice and lots of beeps to cue but the beeps were helpful. I would do this stretch again.

Waves and hugs to all! Hunker down and be safe and warm!

[bee]

Hey all!

Funny, manleym, my hubby also loves to fish! We have so much fish in our freezer -- wish I could share some with all of you! (non vegetarians, of course) And I'm familiar with that generation gap on music choices!

Today I did a Caroline leg workout -- I think it was Epic Day 47. Funny it started out with wall squats -- opposite of your workout, manleym. It was also quite a burner -- I think I like her leg workouts better than Cathe's. I think it's Chele who says the way she goes so deep it just feels like it's really working. My legs were jello at the end. I followed with a Mad Fitness "20" minute lower body stretch. It was really 26 minutes, but my lower body felt great after!!

I do hope you're staying warm!

[Mickey12]

Happy Sunday Watulans!

Bee that was quite a story about your kitten eating the rubber band and paperclip. I had to laugh, hard, at the vet's comment about vacuuming more. OMG! That's priceless.

Kittybug that's crazy shovel max stuff you've been dealing with. Wow. We're supposed to get more snow this week, but only between 3 and 5 inches. What you've been doing definitely counts as a workout in my book. I'm also extremely curious about your curry chili. Do you use ground beef with it? I don't want to break any rules, but I'm very curious about what goes in it. I love curry and cook with it a lot.

Did anybody have any Valentine's Day plans? We never do anything so it was just another day for us. I did buy a card for my step mom. The front cover photo was of a little girl with her finger up her nose. Inside it said "I picked this just for you". Hahaha! I don't know if it translates well, but it made me laugh out loud in the store when I saw it.

Manley I have Amy and Paul's Double Down so if that's our Fun Friday workout I will do it too. It's another toughie for me though and I'm usually so tired on Fridays, but I'll do my best.

Today I did Amy Bento's Cardio Pump Step. I have had this for YEARS and I don't think I ever did it after the first try. The step portion is only 16 minutes and I'm sure that's why I never did it again. The remaining portion is weight work and that has never been my favorite. The whole workout is only 49 minutes and I like that aspect. My opinion of the workout today was much different. I really liked the length, the music was good and the step portion was fun and not terribly tricky as Amy can be sometimes. The weights section was about 20 minutes, total body so nothing was worked too long. I enjoyed it.

I hope everyone has a great night.

[ChelePA]

No workout for me today. I think the week has caught up with me so I took a rest day. We ordered from our favorite pizza place and we always exchange little tokens of love. The special cards are always my favorite. To this day, my daughter always puts her heart and soul into each card. I have them all saved. I love to go back and read what she has written to me through the years. However, she is torturing me for no sugar February since she bought me a huge bag of peanut M&Ms—my absolute favorite! I literally could eat a whole bag in one day. I’m going to have to keep them out of sight. My husband always gets me flowers. I used to freak out because he would order them from the florist and they were so expensive. He knows to go to the grocery store now. I don’t need hundred dollar flowers. It’s the thought that counts.

Winston says thanks for the well wishes and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hope to catch up more tomorrow. I’m actually headed for a nap before I take over on the night shift.

[kittybug]

Happy Valentine's Day, my Watulan loves!!

Today I realized who am I kidding, I can't leave Cathe behind totally, even while doing other instructors, and given that I want to make this a 'metabolic month' I pulled out To the Max Extreme. It's been so long since I last did it, it was like a new workout, but I don't think it was quite as hard as I remember...it was hard but doable.

Manleym, I'm kinda thinking my rotation will be something like this (at least this week but maybe similar for the month, I don't know!):
S: To the Max Extreme
M: I am Change 1 plus either the roller or stretch or my own stretch
T: A full yoga from YouTube (Lauren, Travis, Five Parks, other?)
W: Crossfire Extreme
Th: I am Change 2 plus either the roller or stretch or my own stretch
F: A full yoga from YouTube (same options as above)

And as the Katami workouts get more challenging, I'll adjust my other metabolic workouts accordingly. But I reserve the right to change my mind because I might start craving weights splits or to try some of these Caroline workouts, like the one Bee just mentioned, hah! Oh, and I also have all these Patrick workouts, some more Amy Dixon I haven't done....Bob...and more. Yikes!! So many workouts...so little time!

Anyway, I always poo-poo V Day as just a cheesy Hallmark holiday, but we usually at least exchange silly cards. Kim, I LOVE the one you chose! Right up my alley and something I would have 'picked' too! And ChelePA, I'm the SAME way about flowers. Thankfully, we have too many flower-eating cats now so I don't get flowers anymore! Glad to hear Winston is doing better, little peanut! And glad YOU took a rest day, too! You need it.

Oh, Manleym, I absolutely LOVED Poldark but felt like the end left me kind of...well, expecting? I definitely felt the difference in the last season compared to the others, but I still loved it. So well done! Let me know when you start reading the books!

Kim (and Manleym), the curried chili recipe I based my creation on had ground beef but I didn't want it...just too greasy for me, so I subbed a whole bunch of stuff instead, including yellow and sweet potatoes and other veggies. And I used a whole ton of spices, including curry, cumin, coriander, cayenne, turmeric, and fresh jalapeno and ginger. Served it up with plain Greek yogurt, lime, and fresh cilantro, and it was spicy but SO YUM (and still is, we have leftovers, come on over!).

Aaaand we're supposed to get more snow overnight. ARG!!! Make is stop! Crossing my fingers it turns into rain, which is possible but unlikely, sigh. All right, enough complaining. I have to get going on the dreaded Tax Max.

Stay fierce, Watulans!

[cataddict]

Happy Valentine's Day, Watulans!

DH had to work but left me with a box of locally made chocolates! We always share them. I made us a dinner of pierogies and chilled a bottle of rose wine with the appropriate name of Villa Passion. I texted DH telling him that "nothing is more romantic than pierogies on Valentine's Day." I did Cathe Live #334. I liked it---a few different moves, a few of the same, and slightly under an hour.

I'm so sorry about all the Watulan peeps facing killer cold temps and snow! We've escaped it for the most part---no snow, and temps above freezing so all the rain we've been having has stayed rain. It's not the case just 25 miles inland, so being on the coast definitely makes a difference. manley, I was watching the Weather Channel showing the weather in the Dallas area---crazy and dangerous!!

I'm up for doing Double Down on Friday, but I don't think it's exactly "fun"---it's tough! manley, I was thinking of doing the 4 x 4 workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays and filling in the other days with other things. FN1, are you in??

manleym, I'm interested in trying Growing Annanas. I did preview the Total Body one you did and I actually like the music. I don't really subscribe to what is "cool" since I like what I like and don't really care about "cool" but it did seem to go with the workout. Honestly I am tired of all the usage of old music and am happy to hear something different. I didn't actually do the workout as I ran out of time, but I like that most of the workouts seem to be pretty short and may try one tomorrow.

Chele, when DH and I were "courting" he would send me flowers every week without fail. After 2 months I told him he needed to stop. Not only was he spending a ton of money, but the other women in the office started to hate me. Now we can't really have flowers at home since one or more of the cats would eat them. It's great that Winston is doing better.

bee, love your story about the vet comment! Obviously the vet has dealt with many animals who swallow "inappropriate" items! Unbeknownst to us our Watula actually ate some red ribbon from a balloon and DH nearer had a heart attack when he found it in her poop later in the day! The vet said we were lucky she passed it since it could have been a real problem.

Kim, the card you described sounds like one we sent as Christmas cards last year (to specific people who would think it was funny). It is a good one!

Garrie and horusosiris, I agree that taking a Cathe break can make one appreciate her more. I noticed that when I did a Michelle Dozois rotation several years ago. So the 4 x 4 adventure and interspersing some other instructors (like the Cardio Karate workouts, some Turbo Fires, etc.) is my plan for the next month. I may "cheat" depending on what the Thursday Live is, but that's my plan for now.

Waves to all! I still am feeling a bit of the funk so I hope next week is better for us all!

[manleym]

Hi Fierce Watulans! I hope you all had a nice Valentine's day or weekend!

Bee we have fish in our freezer too! We eat fish at least once a week. And hubby will always say, "You know, if we lived in Florida we could eat fresh fish everyday." And I would love that because fish is my meat of choice. Hubby has an identical twin who lives near the family in Florida and he is always sending hubby pictures of the fish he's caught. Like, really nice big fish. Makes hubby jealous. Obviously he can only do lake fishing since we're inland. For about 3-4 years in a row we spent a week in Canada catching Walleye. They were so much fun catching! And eating! Nothing's better than just pulling them out of the water and eating them then and there. And yes, I'd love some of your fish! How fun and tasty would that be!!

Kim we don't really do anything for Valentine's Day either. Hubby used to buy flowers, but like ChelePA, Cataddict, and Kittybug I thought it was ridiculously expensive and not worth it, so he stopped. I'd rather have a new dvd than flowers, so I ordered "Double Down" for myself. We would occasionally go out to dinner it would be crowded and the food iffy (might be good, might not be.) Sometimes we'll exchange cards, but mostly we'll have a really nice meal with a nice red and tasty dessert. Last night we pan seared halibut then put it in the oven to finish baking. We roasted asparagus and made a white wine lemon garlic sauce with dill. And leeme tell ya - it was DE-LISH!! I told hubby that meal was better than any we would have eaten out. We opened a nice bottle of red wine and had hot fudge sundae cake with Tillamook ice cream.

ChelePA good for you for staying strong and resisting the M&M temptation. I also love peanut M&Ms and can plow through them quickly. March is coming and you'll be able to dive into that bag! And I know your daughter's cards are just priceless. What a gift and treasure. Hugs to Winston! Hope you're getting rested!

Kittybug your chili recipe sounds DIVINE!! It has all the spices I love! I'm on my way with spoon in hand! I bet it's one of those dishes that gets better and all the flavors meld. I love spicy and flavorful! I'm one of those "more is better" people, so I'm always dousing on spices. Hubby is going to do Tax Max this week since we are stuck indoors. Yuck. No fun at all. Good luck!

Cataddict, yes the weather has been horrible here. We haven't gotten above freezing in about a week and are getting snow and ice. Our wind chills are below zero and will just keep dropping. Hubby and I will open the front door just to see what sub zero temps feel like. We look at each other wide-eyed and say, "THAT'S COLD!!" and quickly close the door. This morning he said, "not a great day to be a squirrel." I said, 'Nope." HA!
It does get below freezing but it usually warms up during the day or doesn't last this long. We're not going to get above freezing until the weekend. I know for ya'll up north this is the norm, but for we southern folks, it isn't. It's been almost 7 years since we've had a winter storm this bad. And speaking of bad, there was a MASSIVE 133 vehicle pile-up last week stretching a little over a mile. 18 wheelers, pickup trucks, cars, delivery trucks - all just a mangled mess. 6 people died and dozens injured. It happened around 6 in the morning with temps in the 20's. It took forever cleaning it all up and responders were worried about people trapped in their vehicles suffering from hypothermia. It was the worst wreck I've seen around here. One survivor said the roads were fine, until the were not. My guess is black ice. There have been lots of other bad wrecks all over the metroplex too, but that one is the only on the news is showing since it was so massive. So very tragic.

And yes, you definitely need to try Growingannanas's workouts. I'm still feeling the 30 Min Leg Workout With Weights, Dumbbells Low Impact Glutes And Quads workout I did on Saturday! It is worth doing if you want a great lower body workout. I agree that the music fit the workout, just not my thing. I think it was some of the words and one of the songs toward the end seemed so repetitive. But it did work with the workout and agree about wanting something new - for workouts and music. I don't care about cool either. Love being out of that stage of life!

And like Bee and ChelePA, Caroline, Heather, and Annanas workouts seem slower - going deeper into the move, isometric holds, etc. so they don't always feel that hard...until later. Boy do they really catch up! So for me they're creeper workouts that creep up on you later. I'm liking the change of pace - new workouts, having DOMS, different music (even though I may not like the music it usually fits the workout). I'm going to keep them in my rotation. Speaking of a rotation...

Cataddict and Kittybug thanks for your rotation ideas. I think this will be mine.

*Metabolic Monday- Katami 4x4 + yoga (this week - I Am Change 1)
*TwoFer Tuesday -Caroline, Heather, Growing Annanas combo
*Wednesday - Katami 4x4 (this week - I Am Change 2)
*Thursday - Cathe Live
*Fun Friday - whatever the group is doing
*Surprise Saturday - probably weights since most of the week is metabolic; or maybe cardio -step, etc. Who knows? It will be a surprise!
*Slow Sunday - yoga

So looks like Cataddict, Kim and I (if my dvd arrives on time) will be doing Double Down for Fun Friday, even though it might not be so much fun. Anyone's welcome to join us!

Hugs and waves to everyone! Garrie, Horusosiris, FOLV, KateTT, Nathalie, hope you are all doing well!

[Mickey12]

Kittybug and ManleyM those meals sound fabulous! Yum, yum, yum I'm getting tired of cooking. I remember my aunt used to say she was tired of cooking. Now I know what she means. I feel like I always make the same things and since my husband had cardiac stents placed, I am cooking a lot more vegan and that's pretty limiting. I know he gets tired of it too, but he's such a trooper, he doesn't complain.

ChelePA your Valentine's traditions are so sweet. I would also have a tough time with the peanut M&Ms. They're one of my favorites too. Thanks for posting the picture of Winston. Were you still in puppy training classes with him before his surgery? How is/was he doing with them?

Cataddict I agree, there is nothing more romantic than pierogies on Valentine's Day. My husband's friend and his wife have a silly tradition that they go to Burger King every year on Valentine's Day. It's their little joke because they eat out frequently and often at really nice places.

Not sure what my workout will be today. I'm posting from my lunch break.