Jamie Danford

Insanity Fit Test #2 Results (And half-naked fat pics!)

Well well well... here we are, starting our third week of the Insanity workout program.  That means we've got a dozen sweat drenched, glute wrenched, heart pounding sessions with Shaun T under our ever tightening belts. 

Insanity's advertised as a fast paced, 'Dig Deeper!' kinda torture-fest that's supposed to 'have you in the best shape of your life in 60 days.'  So Mendy the Hottie Neighbor (who's already in stellar shape), Big Dave and myself are putting it to the test. 

I'm most excited about Big Dave's participation because if he can manage to drop some lbs, he can hopefully get off of the blood pressure and cholesterol meds.  He's always been athletic, but he's learning there's a difference in being a 45 year old man who can run bases and climb deer stands, and a 45 year old man who's physically fit in the cardio department.  He's jumped into the workout regimen with both of his Nike clad feet, and although it nearly killed him the first week, he started seeing an improvement in his reps by the end of the second week. Which leads us to the Fit Test we took last night.

Every two weeks, the schedule calls for a Fit Test: 8 excercises, one minute each. The goal is to see how many you can get done in that minute, record it and compare it to the last test to see if you've improved. 

Well the first night we did it, I think we were all completely traumatized by the level of exercise.  Big Dave was panting and dying, Mendy was threatening to vomit, and I dry heaved and laughed nervously as my arms and legs shook with my efforts.  So last night, we were all pleasantly relieved/amused to see that we totally dominated our first Fit Test's results.  Big Dave did over SEVENTY more reps than two weeks ago.  That's freakin' AWESOME! 

In addition to the two week Fit Test, I added a three mile run to my day just to see if the millions of 'butt kicks' and 'high knees' have paid off in the speed and stamina department. And they have!!  I cruised through what were probably the easiest, and nearly fastest three miles I've ever completed.  I've heard from my pal Lisa S. that it can help improve running speed, and I'm here to confirm it.  So my 3 miler came in at 31:08.  I wonder if it'll be faster next time?!?!?!

In addition to the workouts, we are definitely eating better and drinking less. As they say, abs are made in the kitchen.  So that's helping with our fat shrinkage as well.

Alrighty, let's talk measurements. Big Dave's not weighing in, so I don't have a weight to report, however he has lost a full inch off of his belly and 3/4" off his chest/back.  That's nearly two inches of FAT that are GONE!  Go Boonkie GO!

The pic on the left is his starting point, the right side is after two weeks of Insanity:

Can you tell a difference?  I sure can! Needless to say, after getting his measurements and Fit Test results, Big Dave is definitely 'in it.'

And me?  I'm down 3/4" of belly fat!  In just two weeks?  Yeeek!!  And my scale is beginning to have happy numbers on it again...

(I hate it when it's right at the cusp of a lower number, and I try to wiggle and lean to get it down to 144 but nope, ain't budgin'... oh you know you do it too! haha!)

I wish my pics showed more of a difference, Left is two weeks ago, right is current:

I'm seeing less and less of that little fat pouch thingy, which delights me greatly! 

So now we've got another two weeks until we measure again, and I sure hope we get good results again... it's SUCH a boost to our motivation and confidence that we're doing the right thing trying to get (and stay) healthy once and for all!

 

I loooooove a race!

With the exception of pre-race-poop-anxiety and finding a parking place, I love love LOVE to participate in races.  I kind of wish they were called something other than a 'race' though... like maybe a 'forward motion event' because I'm no racer.  I'm a finisher. 

I love the music at the start, and the announcer revving up the crowd.  And the comradaree... the jokes in the port a potty lines. The after-race beer (hopefully.) And of course the t-shirts.  I love pushing myself, and knowing that my efforts are paying off... and reaching a goal.  That's cool!

So I've been scouting around for something fun to do, and stumbled upon the Crimestoppers Azalea Run.  Scheduled for May 4th, the weekend of my 18th wedding anniversary, this race has three distances to choose from: 5K, 10K, and 15K (3.1 miles, 6.2 miles, and 9.3 miles, respectively.) 

And so in a Goldilocks sort of way, this one offers a Baby Bear of a distance that suits me to a tee.

I've pretty much stopped doing a lot of 5K's because 3.1 just isn't enough of a challenge anymore to motivate me to crawl my ass out of bed and haul it to a starting line at the crack of dawn on a Saturday. 

And the 10K sounds pretty cool, but the 15K sounds like an awesome challenge without the MAJOR challenge of a half marathon distance.  Nine point three... with pleasure!

However, there's a teensy problem.  I'm worried. 

Worried that I'm not gonna make the distance?  Nope.  That I'm gonna poop my pants or have to squat behind a bush in Daffin Park? Nope.  That I'll get lost and end up under the Truman Pkwy playing the pan flute with a band of hoboes?  Nope.

I'm worried I'm gonna be LAST!

I know.  It's vain and greedy. I mean, somebody's gotta be last.  But to me, there's a lot of pressure (and embarrassment) when you're last.  Yes, it's true.  I can actually get embarrassed.  Even though I put photos like this on Facebook:

I was traumatized by an almost last place finish last year at the Wounded Warrior 5K when we totally misjudged the demographic of the racers.  We three chicks with a decent 12 minute mile pace got our asses dusted by a crowd of 300+ military people who left us crying in our fashionably cute knee high socks.  Ever since, I've refused to participate in any race that is small enough or demographically fast enough to have the sag wagon (usually an ambulance or police car) breathing down my ankles.  There's just too much damned pressure with that wagon right behind you. 

I need a race with some walkers in it.  Maybe some toddlers. 

So I'm not sure what kind of crowd this 15K is going to attract. I'm hoping it's going to draw people like me who are trying to maintain a steady distance running plan while keeping their eye on the Rock n Roll in November.  I think it's a perfect time for it with six months to go before the R&R, so I'm going to register for it and try not to worry that I'll be loping down Drayton all by my little lonesome while the fleet of foot are already relaxing in Forsyth. 

Anybody wanna join me? 

Anybody?

Bueller?

Can I become a mobile blogger?

Sooooo... this here's just a little experiment to see how easy or hard it is to blog from my phone.
Hmmmm. I don't see any icon for adding a photo.

Let's include 3 random bits for today:
#1) ~ I'm hungry. We will have Kanpai JAPANESE for din din. Veggie teriyaki, (no rice, double veggies) yes please!

#2) Tonight's Insanity workout is Playometric cardio. Therefore, I will most likely vomit my veggie teriyaki.

#3) I have to get one of our oak trees taken down and got estimates today. Holy tree surgeons! Who knew how expensive is this was going to be? It's crazy. The best estimate is a 1000 dollars??? eek!

#4) I'm into My second week of wheat-free eating, and it's not that hard at all. I'm not sure what I was scared of, but this is a piece of cake... well a gluten free, wheat flour free cake, that is! haha!!

St. Patty's Day 2013 ~ The Recap...

Once, when Lizzy was three, Big Dave and I packed a lunch, drinks, blankets, folding chairs, camera, and five hundred pounds of additional assorted hoopla and joined the hordes of green-clad revellers for the St. Patrick's Day parade. 

And hated it.

Never went back.

You want me to take a little kid downtown into that mess?  With no guaranteed clean potty? Or convenient parking? Or any idea of when or how we'll break through the traffic?  We were done.

However, time passed and Lizzy went to the parade a few times with her pals, and Big Dave and I even went last year as a childless couple.   But this year, we figured the kid was finally old enough, ie tolerable enough, for us to bring her with us.  And it was perfect!

Our friends' families have been setting up camp on the same square for a gozillion years, and they always invite us and make us feel included.  Love them.

Lizzy had plenty of pals to hang with, and we let them wander the streets like a band of teenage punks...

...while we drank copious amounts of green beer and mimosas (Big Dave the former, I the latter.) And hung out with interesting leprechaun-like fellas...

...and basically acted the fool like the pair of grown-ups we are...

I know St. Patty's Day means a whole lot of different things for a whole lot of different people. For me, it's all about fun and friends and getting out of my little Dhuland box for a few hours.  It was SUCH a beautiful day... even when Big Dave told the Girl Scout mom who was selling cookies from a shopping cart to show us her boobs and he'd buy a box... AND SHE DID!  Yep.  Beautiful {shudder}... Can't wait til next year!  ;)

Just the facts ma'am...

~Lottie the Kitten, aka 'Velosiraptor,' is camped twenty feet up in an oak tree in my backyard. She's been there for approximately six hours.  I used to worry when this crap happened. Now I just wait... and drink tequila.

~My current challenge... Insanity workouts. 

Big Dave, Lizzy, Teddy, Mendy the Hottie Neighbor and I have taken the plunge.  We started Monday with the Fit Test, which we all pretty much tanked on (well, at least the DHU Crew... I can't speak for Teddy.)  Then tonight's workout was the plyometric cardio circuit.  We all nearly died.  I'm feelin' pretty proud of myself for making it through, but I definitely couldn't have kept up as well a couple months ago, pre-plank-a-days and regular strength workouts.  Holy goodness, it was tough!  And oh yay, we get to do it SIX days a week for the next SIXTY days.  Fun!

~Dill pickle snackers only have 5 calories each?  Heck yes.

~Big Dave and I are in love with 'The Following"... are you watching it?

It's super creepy in a serial killer kinda way.  I have to stare at the floor sometimes because I am a chicken wimp.

~Speaking of creepy... I'm reading The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbol.  It's terrible and intriguing. Much different from The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, which I just finished the other day. SO good.  Are you readin' anything good?

~This Saturday is the big St. Patty's day parade in Savannah. I'll be somewhere on the west corner of Johnson Square.  Come see me! :)

 

Frisky Fifteen!

This moment, fifteen years ago, I was in the first hour of mommyhood.  I was sufficiently freak out. 

This present moment isn't much different, with the minor exception that I am now the mom of a fresh new fifteen year old, I am still sufficiently freaked out.  But in a good way, for sure.

Happy birthday baby girl...

I took pizza to school so she could celebrate with her friends, and then we moseyed on over to the DMV for some quality time with a room full of strangers.  THREE AND A HALF HOURS of quality time. Oh yeah, and a learner's license exam. 

Lizzy, in her predictable procrastinatorliness, saved her studying until the very very last minute, and I hate to say it, but I totally doubted that she was going to pass her exam on the first try.   So as the minutes ticked by, and our hineys grew numb, I tried to prepare myself for the disappointment... and the inevitable second trip to the dreaded DMV.

However, as she usually does, my girl put on her game face and conquered that exam, missing only two out of forty questions.  She walked out of the testing room and I mouthed to her the fear filled words, "Did you pass?"  And my heart nearly burst with relief when a smile filled her face, and she nodded an enthusiastic, "YES!"

OMG!!!! And just like that, she was handed a temporary license, and we strutted out of there like two prize heffers at a county fair.

She asked, "So like this temporary license is for real? Like I could drive right now?  Not that I want to, because I don't."  And I was like, "Oh thank God you don't, because I'm not ready for you to tackle five o'clock traffic, but yes, you could drive right now. How 'bout you drive once we hit the neighborhood?"

So she did...

And with that, we headed home, climbed into our pajamas and ate leftover Japanese food. 

Oh, but wait... after Japanese food, she hit me up for another drive, so we headed back out onto the open road.  Drove all the way to our church and back.  Four traffic lights, entirely too many other cars, brake lights, headlights, bright lights, blinkers, accidental windshield wipers, brakes, brakes, BRAKES.

She only nearly killed us twice.  I'd say it was a pretty good first outing.  And maybe I'll be able to sleep without seeing that palm tree in my nightmares. 

That's my girl.  Frisky, fabulous, full on freaky and totally fifteen.  I love her!

 

What's the deal with this planking stuff?

Okay, so we all know by now that when I get into something new (scrapbooking, gardening, chickens, running), I kind of like to talk about it... nonstop.  I'm easily entertained.  Otherwise known as a big ol' dork. 

Well, my dorky self stumbled upon this Plank-A-Day challenge on Instagram, and for some reason it just resonated with me.  Why not give it a shot, right?  Like just for thirty days.  What could it hurt?

Planking's been around forever I guess... it's some sort of 'isometric' blah blah blah stuff.  Here are a couple of links for more information:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/500440-what-does-the-plank-exercise-benefit/

http://www.fudiet.com/plank-a-day-revolution/

Basically, you just get into a sort of push up position and hold it for a period of time.  Easy peasy right?  HA!  It sucks.  My arms burn, my back cries, my quads kill and let's not even THINK about what my abs are doing (imagine a shark attack... from the inside out.)

But it's super easy as far as just DOING it.  You don't need any special equipment, it takes just a few minutes, you can do it in your bare feet and pajamas, (NO BRA!!) and you can do it with a buddy (in my case Lizzy accepted the challenge and has been doing them with me... she's much better at it.)  All of these are excellent perks of this very basic excercise, so I figured, what the heck.

Here's me... in my pajamas... tonight, after washing the dishes... in my kitchen...

Check me out... STARING at the stopwatch on my phone, praying to get to the 2 minute mark.

When I first tried it, I managed to struggle to 1 minute.  Then I did four x 30 minutes.  Now, on day 27, I'm able to do one 2 minute plank followed by 1 x 1:30, 1 x 1:00, and 1 x 30secs for a grand total of five minutes.

Look how happy I am...

Ah... so refreshing. NOT.  It's seriously horrible.

(Thanks, Big Dave for the stellar Iphone photography.)

I've NEVER EVER EVER been 'strong.'  So now that I've hit this 40 year old  midlife crisis where I am trying my best to become a strong, healthy, fit person, I can't believe how good it feels to notice my 'core' engaging as I run.    

But of course, as much as I like to feel strong, I'm vain enough to crave an aesthetic improvement,  (ie, my goal to look as good as I can when bikini season rolls around.)  Alas, I would be lying if I said that this wasn't my primary motivation.

However, I've learned that good lookin' tummies are not made by simple crunches or planks or any sort of excercise... they come from losing body fat.  You can have strong abs, but if you want to see a flat tummy, you have to lose the blubber that covers those strong abs.  That's where eating right comes in.  Okie dokey.  Hello Weight Watchers.

So, all that being said, I've got some pretty fun pics to share.  I'm in my 6th week of Weight Watchers, I'm on day #27 of the plank-a-days.  And I'm kind of stoked at the results so far.   Ready?  Here goes... 
Admittedly, I am lacking in my 'before' and 'after' photography skills, but check it out.

Giggle... I am stoked! If this is where I am 6 weeks and 27 PAD's in, I can't wait to see what's going to happen in the next 6 weeks. 

So, not that I'm telling you planking and Weight Watchers is the best thing for you, what I would recommend is that if you decide to do some sort of fitness/weight loss plan,  PLEASE do yourself a favor and take some 'before' pics.  Talk about some serious MOTIVATION.  The scale and the measuring tape are good reinforcers, but actually seeing the difference in my body is SO freakin' cool. 

I'm a dork. Yes. Forgive me for my giddiness.  :)

Yeek!

Time flies...

Whoa...

Sometimes life just smacks you right in the face with the reality of how fast time passes.  Today I had one of those moments, and it made me cry. (Well, duh... I cry at dog food commercials for goodness sake.)

I was flipping through a scrapbook from 2006/2007, and ran into the photos of Lizzy's first time playing softball.  She was 8.  And Big Dave was at his post as 3rd base coach...

She was just a little bobble-head back then.  SO freakin' cute, and scared to death out there. 

And now...

Every season she's played softball, he's been there.  She's grown used to looking for him just past the 3rd base bag, telling her to hold up, slide, or go for home. 

I love this. 

I sure hope she'll continue to listen to his advice... both on and OFF the field!

She's turning 15 this week.

Yep.  Time sure flies.

:)

The Highs and Lows of My Nipply Nine:

I laced up the Asics for a chilly nine miler this morning.  With gusty winds and temps in the 40's, I wisely chose a pair of shorts and long sleeve tech tee in which to scamper.  I'm pretty sure one of my nipples froze off and fell by the wayside around mile three. It'll grow back, right?

As usual, the run had it's oh so good moments, along with it's not so good moments.  They went something like this:

Low:  Damn, my nipple just froze off and fell out of my shirt. (This, of course is a fictionalization and my nipples are actually both still intact, but very angry.)

High: Yes! My Ipod and Garmin are fully charged.  Van Halen's belting out "Jump" and I'm feelin' like a gazelle.  (Which, I am not.)

High:  Mile two, a lovely brown horse lies in a patch of sun warming himself.  How cute is that?

Low:  Fu@# seriously?  I thought I was at mile three and it's only mile two?  Who gives a shit about the horse.  I want it to be mile THREE!

High: Hey look! There's Faye and Christine out for their morning run.  They're so cool.

Low: As I caught up with Faye who was lagging behind Christine, I say, "Hey I'm sneakin' up on you" (so that I don't startle her as I go by) and pretty much scare the ever loving shitcakes out of her.  Oops. My bad. 

Low: Body hair management is a running necessity that I never even considered before tackling longer distances.  It's something to be taken seriously.  Two words, MAJOR CHAFING.  I will not elaborate further.

High: Once upon a time, I remember Mendy the Hottie Neighbor and I using the words, "Dig deep" to get through our first 8 mile run.  Today, my eighth mile was my best, and I felt strong.  (Despite the chafing.)

High: The plank a days are working.  My core is strengthening. I might even be holding myself up a little straighter and not looking like I'm about to dry heave and fall over.  This is a good thing.

High: Somewhere around mile five, I found (cognitively speaking) the 'villain' I'd been working on for my book.  This is HUGE.  I've been stuck trying to work out the kinks of the last quarter chunk of the story, and all of a sudden, WHAM... the thought hit me!  I can't wait to sit down and sketch out this new character.  Eek!

High: I'm tired... that good kind of tired you get from working hard.  I'm in my pj's, and Sid's coming over to scrapdrink for ten hours or so.  This is an excellent day.

;)