Fit by the Fourth

Hot on the heels of the Sexy for Summer Challenge, I’ve decided to embrace the momentum I’ve got going and continue my own personal challenge through the Fourth of July.

I ran across a post by Alwyn Cosgrove that discusses keeping yourself accountable throughout the summer and how the major holidays (Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day) are natural times to set goals since most of us desire a certain look for the warm months.  Coincidentally, several of my favorite bloggers read Cosgrove’s stuff too and have started their own challenges – Jenn at Girl Heros calls hers “Fit(er) by the Fourth” and I wanna play!

With that said, here is what the next 4-5 weeks will look like:

Workouts:

I am continuing to work out at SGHP for kettlebell classes but need to really hit the RKC prep hard during this challenge.  Right now I am resting during off week so *hopefully* I come back injury free, feeling great, and ready to tackle these next five weeks.

To supplement my kettlebell bootcamp classes, I am following a training program from Pavel’s Enter the Kettlebell book called the Rite of Passage (think press ladders and a ton of kb snatches).  I’ll be sure to add some updates in a few weeks – I’m curious to see what happens with the additional training.

M-Kettlebell Class
T- ETK ROP
W- Kettlebell Class
T- Kettlebell Class
F- ETK ROP
S- ETK ROP/Kettlebell Class
S- Rest

Nutrition:

I really enjoy the principles of Precision Nutrition and carb timing really works for my body so I will probably stick with that.  In short, I plan to eat 5-6 small meals, each containing a full serving of vegetables.  I will save starchy carbs for post-workout and cut out all refined carbs, fried, and sugary stuff entirely.   I might play around with some other supplemental nutritional things, but the jury is still out on that one.  I’ve received some requests lately to post what I eat, so be on the lookout for that and a few book reviews soon!  Lots to talk about around here lately! 🙂

Challenge Goals:

1) Stay 90% compliant to my nutritional plan
2) Consistently lose body fat each week
3) Press 24kg for reps – can currently do singles on each side 🙂
4) Weekly snatch tests
5) Flexed-arm hang for as long as possible (goal: 15 sec+)
5) Finally drop below 200 lbs. for the first time in…3-4 years?

A Year of Awesomeness

Happy 1 year kettlebell anniversary to me! 🙂  One year ago today I walked in to SG Human Performance (SGHP) for their orientation class and what an awesome year it has been!  I am now an HKC instructor and I am teaching my first solo class tonight! 🙂

Discovering SGHP was a blind move on my part.  I Googled “omaha bootcamps” and they popped up in the search results and are located only a mile away from my home.  I did my kettlebell and FMS research before I agreed to the orientation, which I found to be very intriguing.  One of the things that sold me was the FMS screen- it sounded very neat and the more I thought about it, who wouldn’t want someone to take a look at you and the way you move before you get thrown into the workout?  They screened me for imbalances and I am 100% sure it prevented me from potential injuries!  Not only that, but they gave me exercises to work on to improve the way I move.  I quickly found that those exercises were a workout in themselves and make me burn calories like none other!  Awesome; I get to improve the way I move and break a sweat at the same time!

Another one of my biggest concerns when I started was whether or not I’d meet anybody at the workouts and click with them.  I’m not one of those girls who wants to stand around chatting instead of breaking a sweat,  but I do crave like-minded people to keep me motivated.  I want to surround myself with these people so we can inspire each other and push each other to new limits.  I’m happy to say I got all of this, plus more.  The people at SGHP are hands down, the most genuine, inspirational people you will ever meet.  They are cheerleaders and a swift kick in the butt when you need it most.  Mark, Nikki, and the clients at SGHP have turned into some of my greatest friends.

I am so grateful for everything that has happened over the course of the last year.  Outside of classes, I have been tested emotionally in some big ways.  However, I now feel like I have the tools and discipline to help me overcome.  I’m making tremendous strength gains and starting to teach classes, but I’m also learning lessons much more important than that.  I have learned about my worth and self confidence this year – I am a very strong girl who is capable of doing and lifting great things.  I am more accepting of myself and others; I make time to stop and celebrate myself and my accomplishments.  I am genuinely happy and loving ME.  That is a lesson that you can’t put a dollar amount on.  THANK YOU SGHP! 🙂

If you’d like to read more specifically about what I’ve accomplished over the past year as far as strength gains and fat loss, please see this post here.  Since then, I’ve lost about 25 lbs. in two months (not sure on actual fat loss amounts), rediscovered my cheekbones, and can knock out a 15 second hang with no assistance 🙂

Summer Challenge: Weeks 1 & 2

Hi everyone!  Welcome to my new home on the net 🙂  I was having formatting problems with my old blog as well as some other glitches that were super frustrating, so I finally made the move over here!  I moved over all of my old posts, but if you’d like to check out the old blog, it can be found here.

I promised updates on the summer challenge and I realize I am slacking a bit!  Week one went super well, I lost about 2-4 lbs. and was feeling great about myself in the days preceding the HKC.  After the HKC, I indulged in some alcohol on both Saturday and Sunday and this week hasn’t been as great as far as nutrition compliance goes.  I’ll update further below (updates are in blue)

Goal 1:  See positive change with all measurements

Goal 1A: 85%+ compliancy with Precision Nutrition (PN) Week one was great, I was about 93% compliant.  This week, I am not as compliant, but it definitely could be much worse.  With the exception of one meal at Chili’s last night, I have not made horrible food choices, they just aren’t compliant with Precision Nutrition.

Goal 1B: Stick with PN and let it work for me.  I need to remember this.  I tend to want to add other things I know work and follow a “hybrid” version of PN, and that’s not OK at this point.

Goal 2: Workout 5x/week

Goal 2A: Attend kettlebell classes 4x/week Doing well with this – I am working out 5-6x/week

Goal 2B: Workout 1/x week outdoors (stadium stairs, track workouts, and/or kettlebell work).  I need to train outdoors to prepare myself for RKC in August. Tomorrow is our outdoor workout! 🙂 I need to get on top of things today and plan what we’re actually going to be doing!

Goal 3: Only consume zero calorie drinks

Goal 3A: Choose water or green tea over diet soda – Doing very well.

Goal 4: Prepare food in advance

Goal 4A: Eat at home whenever possible (grocery shopping and cooking meals for the week on the weekends, if possible) – This area needs to improve for next week.  I have all kinds of ideas, but I haven’t taken the time to make the things I need.  I had a crazy and out of routine start to my week!

Goal 4B: If I have to eat out, only do so 1x/week Definitely room for improvement here

Goal 4C: Take my lunch to work daily Difficult this week with Monday/Tuesday spent at trainings – with some extra planning, I could’ve very well accomplished this goal

Reflections:

I am pretty happy with the way things are going, although I know I have lots of room to improve.  This weekend I am going to spend some time working on food prep, stocking my kitchen, and planning out my meals and workouts (outside of classes).  I am aiming for less non-compliant days and more eating at home – I think the two will go hand in hand! 

I feel better about myself this week!  I’m trying not to get on the scale so much and am instead gauging progress by the way my clothes fit.  I’m feeling great and am looking forward to my measurements on Wednesday 🙂

And so it begins! A summer challenge!

Crosspost from my old blog: April 25, 2011

Today marks week one of SG Human Performance’s Sexy for Summer Challenge!  The contest is five weeks in duration and awards points for adhering to the principles of Precision Nutrition (PN), working out, and seeing positive change in your measurements!  My plan is to blog about my experience – the ups/downs, setbacks, and successes!  I have to admit, I am super excited now that my husband has signed up and is on an opposing team.  You see, I might just be a little competitive…;)

With that said, here are my goals for the next five weeks:

Goal 1:  See positive change with all measurements
I am on a fat losing mission!  I have developed an unhealthy relationship with my scale and on many occasions, I have found myself letting the numbers dictate how I felt about myself.  I am NOT a number.  Also, the scale once had the power to turn a good day into a bad one, which is absurd, and will no longer be happening.  I might just hide the scale for the duration of the five weeks, we’ll see.

Goal 1A: 85%+ compliancy with Precision Nutrition (PN)

Goal 1B: Stick with PN and let it work for me.  I have had a problem in the past with abandoning programs before they had a chance to work.  I get impatient or am not seeing results “quick enough” or somehow convince myself that “I’m doing everything it takes”, when in reality, I’m not even coming close.  I will follow PN by the book for the entire five weeks.  If I need to re-evaluate then, I will do so, but not a day before.

Goal 2: Workout 5x/week

Goal 2A: Attend kettlebell classes 4x/week

Goal 2B: Workout 1/x week outdoors (stadium stairs, track workouts, and/or kettlebell work).  I need to train outdoors to prepare myself for RKC in August.

Goal 3: Only consume zero calorie drinks

Goal 3A: Choose water or green tea over diet soda

Goal 4: Prepare food in advance

Goal 4A: Eat at home whenever possible (grocery shopping and cooking meals for the week on the weekends, if possible)

Goal 4B: If I have to eat out, only do so 1x/week

Goal 4C: Take my lunch to work daily

What you can expect to see on Mondays: (hopefully!!!)

• A post about my week and how I did adhering to my above goals
• Progress in measurements – I will complete the tape measure girth measurements weekly, but I need assistance with the skin fold calipers, so those will only be every other week.
• Possibly some pictures.  I took my pictures this past weekend in a pretty hot bathing suit – the same one that I have pictures of myself in from September and January.  When comparing, I’m pretty happy with the changes, but I know that tightening up my nutrition will allow me to see more rapid results as far as body composition goes.  My body responds VERY well to carb timing, and I’m excited to get back to PN.  I’m still a little nervous to post pictures of myself here – especially with the number of blog hits I’ve been getting lately, but I’m sure they’ll make their debut sometime in the near future

I’m off to get some groceries and do some food-prep before kettlebell class tonight!  So nice to be on spring break!  Hope you all had a great Easter and thanks to all of you who have been stopping by lately!  I really appreciate all of the love

-KM

Dear Trainer

Crosspost from my old blog: April 19, 2011

Dear arrogant lead-trainer at my local big box gym,

I haven’t thanked you for reaffirming the fact that I hate cookie cutter gyms and trainers.  When I sat down with you ten months ago, you tore me apart.  Instead of asking me about my goals and building my capacity, you drilled me with all of the negative things that I already knew.  You called me dangerously out of shape and you picked apart my kettlebell workouts that I was proud of and told me (without seeing them!) that they weren’t “dynamic” enough – that I had to supplement extra cardio.

I am the one who got in your face today when you told me I couldn’t wear my vibrams.  Heaven forbid I drop a kettlebell on my foot and be a liability for you.  Give a girl some credit.  I just would like to point out how horribly difficult it is to swing a kettlebell in cushy tennis shoes.  I’d much rather drop a bell on my foot than damage my back during swings.  Of course you should know this, you claimed that yourself and your entire staff are certified to teach kettlebells.  Glad i could be vocal enough for you to let it slide “this time”.  Guess the squeaky wheel really does get the grease.

It’s kind of odd for a gym that’s kettlebell certified to only have four kettlebells.  Not to mention, four bells that are so rough and thick that they tore up my hands – hands with a year’s worth of kettlebell experience.  Also funny that three of your trainers came over to me and asked me what I was doing during the turkish get-up and asked ME to walk THEM through it!!!  For the future, no I do not need a spotter, thank you very much.

I have to admit, I wasn’t planning on doing any snatching today, but when I had your (and half of the training staff’s) undivded attention, I just couldn’t resist showing you just what a dynamic workout looks like.  The look on your face at the end of the ten minutes told me everything I needed to know.  I hope my kettlebell workout that you and your fellow trainers couldn’t keep your eyes off of was “dynamic” enough for you!

If you ever decide that the stability balls, crunches, and pink dumbbell flys aren’t working for you, I know a few great kettlebell trainers that could teach you and your staff a thing of two.

Love,
The “Dangerously Out of Shape” girl

Crosspost from my old blog: January 3, 2011

I think it sometimes gets difficult and frustrating when you’re doing everything right and still fail to see the results of all your hard work, especially in the mirror.  You workout numerous times a week, dripping sweat, eat the right things at the right time, maybe even lose some weight…  even with all of that, you still analyze every angle in the mirror wondering if anyone can tell a difference.  It’s times like these that I’m reminded of something I saw on Alwyn Cosgrove’s blog – I believe this one was back from 2008.

“This is a pretty good explanation of the visual representation of fat loss that was emailed to me recently (And attributed originally to a “Bob White”;). Hope you enjoy it..

Let’s assume you go out and buy two rolls of paper towels, each with 112 paper towels on it. You put one aside, and keep it for future reference (your “before” picture). The other one represents you (I’ll call your paper towel “Ed”. The core represents the lean Ed. The towels represent the fat that is covering the lean Ed.

For sake of argument, let’s say that Ed wants to lose 28 pounds of fat, so (112/28) each sheet represents a quarter-pound of fat lost.

Let’s also assume that Ed loses his fat equally during each day of the program.  Each day during the first week, you tear a sheet off of Ed, representing the fat he has lost for the day.

Next, you put Ed next to the full roll (“Big Ed”) for comparison.  No noticeable difference! Even at the end of the week!

“This can’t be working for me! This program sucks! “

But, you continue to follow your fat loss program. At the end of weeks two and three, you continue to compare Ed to Big Ed, and still notice very little difference.

But Ed is determined! He continues to work hard!

Three more weeks go by, the sheets peeling off day after day, before Ed gets up the courage to stand next to Big Ed again.

Now there’s a big difference!

By the end of the program (112 days), Ed is down to his lean dream, or somewhere near it. Big Ed is still – well, big.

The lesson to be learned is that fat, like paper towels, comes off in sheets. When you are heavy, you are big around. And when you are big around, that fat is spread over a MUCH larger area – just like that outside towel sheet. The closer you get to the lean you, the more each lost pound of fat shows, because it is spread over a smaller area.

While the outside sheet may only cover one layer of the roll, the inside sheet may go around 4 times. That last sheet looks like it gives you four times the results of the first sheet, but in reality, the results are the same – your perception is just different!  And you’ll never see the inside, if you aren’t patient while the outside is coming off!”

If you don’t think this is motivating, I’m not sure what is!  Patience!

Love me some Kettlebells!

Crosspost from my old blog: December 11, 2010

I love me some kettlebells.  I have really seemed to find a niche with the workouts and I am happy and so very proud to say that I was featured yesterday on Mark and Nikki’s blogs/websites.  The following is copied from Mark’s blog.  He says it better than I ever could. Attached is also a copy of my testimonial.  If anyone is reading this from the Omaha metro area, you need to get in touch with Mark and Nikki at SG Human Performance!  Ask me for more details!

“Hello everyone!  I hope all of you are doing well in your lives. Make sure you take time to tell others how much they mean to you.

Today’s blogpost is on a personal note.  Below is a testimonial given by a very strong young woman.  When she first began her program she showed much promise.  She has now been with us for 7 months and here is what our girl has blossomed into.

• She went from deadlifting the 16kg to now the 48kg
• She began her kb swing with a 12kg and now can perform reps with the 32kg
• She has improved on her push up
• She went from a turkish get up with an 8kg to a 20kg!
• She went from snatching the 8kg to now being able to do the 20kg for reps!
• She just performed a snatch test (14kg) today for the first time and got 99 reps!
• More importantly to us is to see the confidence that began to build and continues to grow in this young woman who is an inspiration to others.

Here is her testimonial:

“I am a teacher.  Therefore, it’s been a running joke between Mark, Nikki and I that I know how to do my homework.  After investing alot of money and sampling several of the boot camps that Omaha has to offer, I was left very disappointed.  My strong support group disappeared after ten weeks with one program and the other didn’t care if I showed up or not.  Of all of the boot camps I attended, they had one thing in common – no one consistently cared about the correct way to perform exercises and this left me injured!  I needed a place that knew my name, which took an interest in my personal goals and would listen to me to help me achieve them.  I needed to find someone who knew what they were talking about and who would believe me when I said my knees hurt when I did squats!

Due to my previous injuries and high expectations, I researched SG Human Performance extensively before I made the first contact.  I went in for orientation where I received a Functional Movement Screen. Mark and Nikki, who both have a long list of credentials including being certified Russian Kettlebell Instructors and Certified Kettlebell-Functional Movement Specialists, took a whole hour to figure out how my body moved!  They could tell me which exercises I would excel at and which ones would be difficult for me based upon my movement patterns.  After the screen, they broke down the basics of kettlebells and taught each exercise to me step by step.

The first week was hard, I felt like my sore muscles had sore muscles but each day of working them out helped ease the soreness. You just have to commit to the program and yourself.  Even after the first week you’ll notice you are stronger and you have more energy.  What really did itfor me was when my “skinny” jeans became my too big jeans!  I was hooked! No matter what level you are at, this program is worthwhile.You have the ability to control your own workout and push yourself within or out of your comfort zone at every session.

After working with Mark and Nikki as my built in support system, it became easier and easier each day to stay on track and keep energized. I must admit, it is not just about working out, it is a combination of both eating correctly and exercising, which they help you achieve with all of their knowledge!  I’m finally feeling like myself again, strong and energetic, and when I get compliments from people that notice the weight loss, I just smile and say….SG Human Performance!  Thanks Mark and Nikki!“

We are just so darn proud of her as we are with all of our members. This is why we call our members ROCK STARS! Cause when they start to believe and truly see what they are accomplishing it is inspiring to them.  Not only in fitness but inother aspects of their lives.”

Here is a link to a video of me performing part of the elusive RKC snatch test

Healthy Eating or Social Life?

Crosspost from my old blog: December 4, 2010

I have made some great changes this week to my eating and in return, I’ve lost 7 lbs!  It’s fantastic!  I feel so great about myself and I’m getting a lot of complements from acquaintances, especially those who I workout with!

With that said, I will say that my old favorite foods have been haunting me this week. It hasn’t been easy, but I have turned down a plethora of goodies in our staff lounge including reeses peanut butter cups, fudge, doughnuts, popcorn, cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, AND MORE! Ridiculous!

I have stuck to my packed lunches instead of going out to eat habitually like I used to. My good friend who I haven’t seen in months invited my husband and I over last night to order pizza and hang out, and I got them to go to Ruby Tuesday instead, where I could have the soup and salad bar. Yay, that’s great. However, tonight there is a different kind of situation to resist. Social drinking.

Tonight there is a huge football party that we are invited to and I can’t get out of it. As history has shown, this group of friends will be eating fried foods/pizza and drinking large quantities of alcohol. This is the kind of group where everyone is drinking – if you don’t, you’re either made fun of or pregnant. I am prepared food wise – I am eating my dinner NOW, before we go. I am packing some snacks. But when it comes time to drink…and be pressured to drink. What do you say? I’m probably WAY more worried about this than I should be, but I want to be prepared.

Why is it so difficult to have a social life while trying to eat healthy?  I find myself almost embarrassed and not wanting to tell anyone that I’m dieting.  In fact, I blamed not wanting pizza last night on my stomach ulcers (which is actually true, the tomato sauce on the pizza aggrevates them…but in the past, I would just compensate by popping some antacids!).  It’s very funny that I’d rather blame my new eating habits and my not wanting to drink on my health issues than actually own up to wanting to change my body.  So weird!

Does anyone else struggle to keep an active social life while watching what you eat?  Any tips or suggestions?

A Harsh Dose of Reality

Kettlebell boot camp went well today!  I was pretty proud of myself, my form was dead on and I managed to last through EVERY SINGLE PLANK that we did ( 8 )!  Which is pretty amazing in my book, I hate planks!  Anyways, in other news…

Marcus and I joined a gym last night – Urban Active.  Pretty nice gym and got a fantastic rate of only $20 a month!  I’m super excited that they have a lap pool because I was born to swim and love it so so much.  Today we had our initial assessment with the head of the training department and it was a very humbling experience, to say the least.

I weigh too much; my body fat is dangerously high.  Yes, I knew this already, it shouldn’t have been such a big shock, but with all of the amazing people in my life who tell me how beautiful I am, with all of the people who turn heads when I’m looking good, it HURT – what a wake up call.  I’m 5’10” and I carry weight well…too well.

The head trainer and I had a very serious “come to Jesus” talk (in front of my husband) about my self-sabotaging, all or nothing attitude and WHYnothing I’ve been doing has been working.  He told me how scary my bodyfat percentage was, but how great it was that I am only 25 and can change it.  We talked about my goals for fat loss and how I should be focusing on that, instead of weight loss…and that it’d take me 14-16 MONTHS to get myself at 20% body fat.  If that isn’t depressing, I’m not sure what is. I’m not looking for a quick fix, but 16 months is quite the mountain to climb.  He ended this little chat with the typical “it didn’t take you 6 months to put on the weight, don’t expect it to take you 6 months to take it off”.

After this “awesome” conversation, we were sent upstairs to warm up for ten minutes.  Marcus and I were walking around the track and I couldn’t help but air my frustrations.  “Marcus…am I really that fat?  I feel like the fattest person ever with the way he was talking to me.  Look at all of these people.  I am in better shape than her, her, her, and her.  I have muscle, I get attention from the opposite sex, I don’t always hate what I see in the mirror…. I’m eating better, I’m losing weight, am I really in such dangerous shape as he says?”

After our warm-up, we go back downstairs and begin our workout.  Apparently kettlebells “aren’t dynamic enough of a workout” and are too “muscle building” and not enough cardio.  Ok, I know enough about exercise toknow that this guy is just talking out of his ass.  Maybe he should come join me for a kettlebell workout…not dynamic enough, yeah, RIGHT.  Let me mention that I am SORE at this point from my previous workout with Mark and Nikki and the guy asks me what exercises we did so that he can tailor this one to hit muscles that aren’t already fatigued.  Buddy, you don’t understand – my kettlebell workout isn’t muscle specific – I feel like every area of my body gets a workout during that class!!!  Much to my dismay, we end up doing LOTS of exercises targeting muscles that were already fatigued.  I am exhausted and weak and feel like this dude thinks I can’t handle these exercises, when in reality, I could have!  My legs gave out on me several times and I almost busted into tears.

Anyways,we DID end up signing up for training.  Which surprises me a bit (the trainer was an arrogant jerk), but my hubby needs someone to design a program and he can do it just fine on his own.  So anyways, I suppose it wasn’t a total bust of an evening.  Nobody has ever been that honest with me and he lit a fire within – I WILL NOT give up on this.  I deserve good health, I deserve to make the changes I want to make and even if it takes me 16 months to get there, I will keep plugging away. I am resilient, I will overcome.

-KM

Success!

Crosspost from my old blog: June 28, 2010

Here is the usual weekly pattern for me – Monday comes, weigh in at usual high weight.  Have an “ok” week, successfully drop 2-4 pounds and then the weekend free-for-all comes and I eat everything in sight with no holds barred!  Monday comes again and I’m at my high weight (again!).  I’ve lost the same 2-4 lbs. continually for the past FOUR MONTHS!!!

Today….I hop on the scale and I’m down 6 lbs.  On a MONDAY!!!  I am so incredibly psyched because I set a 10 lb. goal by the 4th of July and since thats Sunday…I think I can get there!  This weekend I was more active and I didn’t eat as poorly.  Weird how that works, huh?

Here’s to a rockstar of a week and four pounds lost!