Lucky Star

Monday, August 30, 2010

Thursday's Gym Classes

I know it is Monday but I wrote this Thursday and for some reason it went into drafts and didn't post so I'm posting it now.  :)

I am really proud of how sweaty my shirt is right now. I busted my butt at the gym tonight.  To me, sweat is a beautiful thing. When I first started my workout journey, I was embarrassed to sweat, even at the gym. Now…I proudly display my sweat as if it were an award I just received.

I started tonight with a S.E.T. class which is a strength and endurance training class.  I'd never taken it before but I really liked it.  I then thought it would be smart to take the Hustle hip hop dance class which by the way I absolutely love.  I love the teacher Mackenzie because she is amazing!!!  I'm so bummed they are cancelling it due to not enough turn out.  I gotta get more people there because its the only exercise class I can truly say I love. 

If you have a membership to 24 Hour Fitness the Hustle class is on Thursdays nights at 6:30pm it is just a hour class.  Now if you are not a member to 24 Hour Fitness you can either use my name and get a discount membership or even better print off a 7 day trial period FREE membership online and come join me.  The S.E.T. class is at 5:30pm if you would like to do both. Also, the gym has a special place in the same building for kids so you can take the classes and have someone else watch them.  Also, if we were just working out and not in a class they have a TV channel so you can look in on your children while they are being watched and we workout.  How cool is that?  By the way I workout at the Jordan Landing 24 Hour Fitness.

I am rethinking my choice of apparel for my bottom half. I wore red shorts that have a liner in them and all I can say is YUCK!!!. Hmmmm, those things don’t hide the sweat that well, and the sweat making the liner of the shorts stick to my legs just isn’t as impressive as the sweat on a t-shirt.

I don’t know why I needed to get that out there. I haven’t blogged in forever and I just thought I’d jump right into sweaty crotch syndrome or better known as SWASS. 

Speaking of sweating, the summer is slipping away. Nooooooo! I haven’t been blogging because I’ve been far too busy having a happy summer with my friends and working my tail end off at the gym! 


Now if the gym isn't where you would like to meet up I'd love to still get together with ya so give me a call so we can plan something for real soon.  There are so many people I'd like to get together with and do something fun.  I'm game for hanging with the kids or without the kids.  I love both so don't feel like you have to have a babysitter, just bring them along and we'll go somewhere kid friendly!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

BUGGIN'

What's Bugging Helping You?
I do not own the rights 2 these pictures!

I put the bodybugg to the test and, instead, it tested me. Here’s how one little device changed my diet, my calorie burn, and—hopefully—my fitness.


Maybe you’ve seen gym members or Biggest Loser contestants wearing bodybuggs and thought it was overkill. But if my first month of being bugged has taught me anything, the bodybugg is a tool that helps you change your body and be truly honest with yourself, maybe for the first time in your life.


It’s 1:00 PM, and I just finished my training session.  I really thought I'd done so much today. The good news: it says I’ve burned 1,585 so far today—only 1,315 more to go before the day is over. The bad news: I'm beat and what I want 2 eat will not help take down the 1,315 left 2 burn.  But, the best news today is that all my measurements went down since my last measurements, my neck, legs, arms, hips, chest etc.  I also gained 9lbs of lean body mass/muscle weight(I didn't actually gain 9lbs on the scale but its actually a really good thing).  I also lost another 6.25 inches of fat off my whole body.  I'm so excited!!!

But the bodybugg is, by its nature, a good news/bad news thing—you cannot dodge reality unless you take it off, which basically amounts to quitting. And now that the new bodybugg is half the size and thickness of the old one, you can just about keep it strapped on all day. In conjunction with your specific body parameters (age, gender, height, weight), the bodybugg’s four sensors measure your motion, skin temperature, the rate at which heat is dissipating from your body, and skin impedance (sweat rate), which tracks your calorie expenditure with 95 percent accuracy.

The concept behind the bodybugg is simple—you must burn more calories than you consume if you want to lose weight. It automatically tracks what you burn, then the user enters what they eat. And this is easy, too, because the tracking system has a huge database of food built in. This morning, I entered “Luna power bar,” and it found my exact flavor and everything right away. The hardest part, really, is remembering what you ate and being honest about how much. “Most people underestimate how much they eat and they overestimate how much they burn,” says JK, Trainer of fitness education for 24 Hour Fitness.  My Trainer JK says that I on the other hand enter everything I eat (& I do mean everything) but, my problem is that I do not eat enough protein ever. 

I'm not a fan of meat...not that I care bout the animals but I just don't like the taste or texture.  I also am trying really hard to meet my quota for everyday.  With my brain injury I NEVER feel hungry!  Which most of you may think is a blessing in disguise but it's not.

 “People eat for many different reasons: emotional issues, boredom, or, sometimes you don’t remember putting the food in your mouth if you are pre-occupied.”

Those who actually log their food accurately, it’s shocking for them how many calories they consume. “They go to Starbucks and think they are getting coffee and a bagel, but they actually get a caramel macchiato, which is half their calories for the day. Because people really don’t know how many calories are in things.”

I’m in the midst of training for my marathon called life. And I eat healthy foods, so perhaps I thought I could eat more of it. But JK tells me this is typical, too. “You see people who want to train for a marathon and they gain weight. They think they are training and running every day so they eat a lot more food,” he says. “But the bodybugg holds you accountable. If you keep yourself accountable to bodybugg, you can’t help but be successful. If you’re using it properly you have to go out of your way not get results.”

The third thing I discovered in my first month of bodybugging is that I burn plenty of calories when I’m working out, but while I’m working on the computer, I might as well be sleeping. In fact, I burn just over 1.5 calories a minute.

I had a similar experience with my bodybugg when I first started using it. “I burn about 1.1 calories sleeping. When I’m at my just using my computer I burn about 1.1-1.3 calories. So I realized I had to change it up while I’m working. I had to move around, sit on a ball, jump up and down once in a while.

This season’s Biggest Loser contestants, who all used the bodybugg, learned a similar lessons early in their training.  I love this show.

At least for the moment, the bodybugg has done its job, and I guess that’s the whole point. :)

Monday, August 2, 2010

New Favorite quote!

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.... it's about learning to dance in the rain.

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