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

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

When Opportunity Knocks…

Crossposted from my old blog: August 30, 2010

Can I just say how much I love my bootcamp?  Seriously, one of the best things I’ve done for myself in a long, long time.  If you haven’t yet…please go check Mark and Nikki out HERE.

With that said, I was approached by Mark last week and he asked me to fill out some type of marketing survey.  Basically, my answers and those of others will help them develop new marketing strategies to attract new, rockstar clients.  It was actually kind of a fun survey to fill out. Just hit a little too close to home when it came to the questions that asked about my support from my family and friends.  It’s so pathetic how much of a yo-yo dieter I’ve been in the past.  It’s so bad that my own family doesn’t expect to see me succeed – they very much have adopted the “I’ll believe it when I see it” attitude.  Anyways, I feel pathetic because I am great at getting fired up with new diets and such, but then I never carry through.  Do I know I’m capable of it? Yeah…  I just don’t. I’m a bit of a self-sabotager.  Anyways…

Nikki approached me today with an interesting proposition.  She and Mark want to start following the Precision Nutrition program closely again (they saw amazing results when they did it last time) and they want me to jump on board as well.  Nikki kept talking about how she wanted to take my measurements and take photos, have me fill out food logs to makesure I was staying compliant and whatnot.  Basically…she’s offering me tremendous accountability, which is just what I need!

My thoughts since this conversation have bounced between “oh wow, that would be awesome, what a great opportunity” to “I don’t want to be a charity case” and back.  I’m too proud sometimes, I think.  Regardless, I’m really excited to hear more about this opportunity – Nikki wants to show all of my future progress on her blog, so I’m hoping to do the same thing here, but with MY thoughts/feelings about the whole thing. Sounds like a fun experiment, right?  Haha…looks like they want to start after Labor Day which gives me about a week.  The more I think about this…the more excited Ibecome.  It’s very nice that they are taking an interest in the one area that I’m seriously struggling in.  I’m terribly competitive (even though I’m not going to be competing against anyone!) and I can’t wait to see how this turns out.  So excited!

Oh, and as a side note – I got my hubby to sign up for a month of kettlebell bootcamp, too!  So very excited for him to experience what I’ve been up to for the past three-four months!

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!

One More for the List!

Crosspost from my old blog: June 6, 2010

The list of PRs that is!  I ran 5 miles this morning – my longest run!  Granted, it was not fast and I took plenty of walk breaks throughout, but I am so super proud of myself.

I began with a 5 minute walking warm-up.  About 30 minutes into the run, I set a timed goal for myself of 65 minutes.  At 41 minutes into the run, I completed a 5k (3.1 miles).  I finished the 5 miles in 64 minutes, just 1 minute shy of my goal  I’m really looking forward to bootcamp this week!  I think I forgot to mention, I upped weight on both my kettlebell swings, getups, and leg lowers yesterday, pretty excited!

That’s all for now. More exciting stuff to come this week, I’m sure…maybe some results when I weigh-in tomorrow?!  I added a goal page to the navigation bar up top – I set a pretty ambitious goal to lose 10 lbs by the Fourth of July.  Looking forward to busting my butt to get there!

-KM