Stretching and Coffee

I am not a morning person. I've tried to be. I've tried to get up and sing songs as a bird fluttered to my aide and deer helped me wash the dishes. No, seriously. I've tried to get up at a reasonable hour, eat breakfast, exercise, and be productive right out the gate. Here's the problem: I am not coordinated in the morning. I feel incredibly off as I try to go through the TurboFire moves with Chalene. I end up not giving it my all and feeling exhausted instead of invigorated when I'm done. I'm not cheery. I mostly grunt my way through morning conversations and on the days when I have to work in the morning, it isn't pretty. My vacant stare does nothing to entice customers to buy more (I work at an art supply store) and I have gotten a comment or two of said customers telling me to smile. I would be pissed, if I cared enough to. No, most days I stumble out of bed at 10:30-11:00AM and wonder if I should have coffee now or later. I also stretch a lot without even thinking about it.

Why have I told you about all this? Because, as a person that helps others with their fitness, and working on mine as well, I have heard from many people that working out in the morning is best. It helps with mood, stress, giving a person energy to get through the day, and many other things that I can't think of. I have also learned that the best time to "work the business" is first thing in the morning. I have friends that get up at 4 and 5 AM to do all their business/exercise related tasks before continuing on with other things like their 9-5 job. That's great that this habit works for them. However, for someone that doesn't function on nearly the same level in the morning, it does not make sense to do those tasks so early. I exercise around 3-5 PM, sometimes later. I get my business tasks done anywhere from 1 PM to well ... now. I say as long as you are doing your best at those times, don't let anyone tell you when to do your work. So long as it is possible - like telling your dentist you will see him at 7PM. You must do things when you can do them well. However, I do not believe that a person should put off their To-Do-List items until the next day. That kind of procrastination is not good. That leads to not doing things at all. Have a schedule for when you will do things (yes, I admit I am guilty of not following my own advice here - I don't have a schedule) and stick to it. Don't let others tell you that those things must be done at a certain time though. Night owls function best at night. Hoot hoot.

Back in the Game!

It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've finished P90X, done a bunch of Turbo Jam workouts and am now on my second day of TurboFire. You may not know what those are. P90X is 12 intense workout DVDs that use muscle confusion so the person exercising never plateaus with their weight loss/muscle gain. Turbo Jam is about 6 cardio and strength training workouts that are based on the Turbo Kick class - kind of dancey, punches, kicking..lots of fun. TurboFire? To use their words it is "Intense Cardio Conditioning." The TurboFire HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts are short, but powerful! You continue burning calories even after the workout is over! Hells yeah! The good thing is those workouts are not done two days in a row. Chalene (the trainer) knows what she is doing and knows the body needs a day to rest - sure you still workout, and it is still hard, but not fall over dead hard like the HIIT workouts are.

I've also still been working on coaching people - helping other people to keep accountable to their Beachbody workouts (the company that makes P90X, Turbo Jam, etc.) and cheering them on along the way and getting other people to join me in my coaching quest. Not an easy thing to do since people are afraid that I'm trying to trick them into something they a) can't back out of and b) will end up losing a ton of time on money on it. The thing is, that can't happen! When somebody buys a workout program I recommend, they can return it within 30 days for a full refund. When somebody decides to become a coach, it doesn't cost that much and whoever it is can back out so easily. Coaching doesn't take that much time either. Okay, I'm probably boring the heck out of you.

Here's my short term goal: I will lose 10 lbs this month. Just you wait and see - it'll happen. I've lost 21 so far. I've also kept to another one of my goals - or I will soon enough. I have stayed with this company for an entire year. I think I've found my workout! I love TurboFire.

Right now though, I'm watching Castle and trying to figure out SocialOomph. Wish me luck on the latter!

Katie.

P90X Phase 3

I wish I could say that I have kept up with the exercising. I haven't. I stopped working out for a while, and then tried working out with Turbo Jam. I really like Turbo Jam, but several of the other coaches made the comment that I should finish P90X and THEN move on to Turbo Jam. They said I must finish what I started. So, I am finishing out the final phase of P90X. However, I think that I will do another round when I am finished so that I can get better results. I am not happy with how I look yet. Don't get me wrong, I am liking what has occurred so far, but I want to look better.

That's all for now.

Katie.