Setting priorites

back by popular (aka Carol:)) demand!

I've been thinking about my priorities for a while, and have wanted to put my two cents in for trying to figure that out. While I would like to say my health is a priority, I don't think I can claim it as a top priority. As a full time employee, a part time grad student, furmama, future taekwando black belt (one can hope) and a bride to be, sometimes my priorities conflict.

The obvious first one for me is work. First off, they pay me, without which I would not be able to focus on my other priorities. I have a fantastic health care plan through my company, which offers me benefits towards weight loss and fitness. But part of my job description requires a week pager rotation every 5 or so weeks, which causes a lot of stress, missing gym classes, and sometimes sleep. But not carrying the pager is not an option unless I find a new position.

Dogs - as cute as Daisy was as a puppy, it is a huge difference being a puppy and a dog. The girls for the most part are good at doing things on our schedule, and the fiance helps a lot, as does having my parents living nearby. But sometimes I have to work late, or I get paged and I can't take them for a long walk. The benefit of the dogs though is that they do make it so you need to get out and walk, which is good for them and for you.

School I would consider a close third to the dogs, though fortunately for me this is about 3 months off, 1 month rotation, and I have 2 classes remaining. I'm about 1/3 through my second to last semester, but at a graduate level there can be a lot of work. This semesters class is online, which means I'm spending at least an hour a day working on class, either doing the reading, postings, or working on my term paper. If somethings comes up (like last Tuesdays birthday dinner), then more work may be spend on later days.

The next priority is a tough call, but I would say sleep. While sleep can be interrupted by work (though I do try not to stay up too late on school work), if I've had a late night or I'm just exhausted, at this point I feel that sleep trumps working out.

Eating well and working out - some days one or the other of these can slip, but I do try to keep in mind that when I'm eating well and working out, then I feel better, which helps my other priorities. While I do get exercise every day from walking the dogs, I have a goal to try to earn my black belt in taekwando, though this could take years. I try to see this as a holistic approach - I don't focus solely on taekwando practice, I try to incorporate other workouts such as yoga, spinning, pilates and step.

I like to move it, move it

I enjoy spin class, but sometimes you hear songs that give you a little extra umph. Tonights CD was a late 90's dance mix which is fun, but how can you not enjoy spinning when you imagine when you imagine dancing lemur thingys?

Doing the Wave

Today's class had a focus on upper body and some yoga - no running today! Since Taekwando is about 70% kicks/30% punches, I've managed to get away without too much damage to my knuckles. Tonight I'll be needing my moisturing gloves.


The focus of the class was on the "wave", where you use your use subtle (ideally) movements to give you more force. Try throwing a punch just with your arm, then try with using your core. It's tough to do, but it does make a difference. Practicing it is a little awkward - you're supposed to be able to do them from standing, using your arms to help guide you down, an arc roll from chest to legs into an up dog. The reverse is pretty much the the worm from breakdancing. We then used the idea from the wave to give more power to punches working with the bags. It was harder than I thought, it takes a lot of effort to figure out the coordination to get the power really needed.

And then we did some juggling with the weighted mini medicine balls - very hard for someone who doesn't know how to juggle, but that was tough on the arms too! Maybe I will have toned arms by the wedding!

Your Shape

Today the plan was to go to my Step BOSU class, which I've been the past few weeks (OK, month+). Unfortunately, the snow continued over night, so after walking the dogs I spent about an hour shoveling out the driveway, walkway, deck and puppy paths. Good workout, but by the time I finished, class had started 15 minutes before.

I decided to try out my Wii Your Shape game again, since we put the Christmas tree away last night, and the layout was a bit better for working out. This was my 3rd time trying the game (note, this game was a gift from my Fiance, not something I received to review). I had received the Wii My Fitness Coach game last Christmas, which is another game from UBI Soft. The games are quite similar, with what look to me to be many of the same moves. (There was also a computer based game in 2004 that was very similar, the January 2010 Game Informer magazine notes that the games are basically repackages from the original one).

The biggest difference with the Wii Your Shape versus the Wii My Fitness Coach is the introduction of the USB camera that plugs directly into the Wii. The camera follows your moves and gives you feedback on your workout, prompting you to adjust your form. With the Wii My Fitness Coach , there was no feedback, it was more like watching a DVD but with more personalized workouts.

The setup for the Wii Your Shape was very quick, pretty much just plugging the USB camera into the back of the Wii, and running a Wii update when prompted. Once the game started, the Jenny McCarthy character helps you setup the camera to make sure you are positioned correctly, and prompts you for information about gender, height and weight. An initial workout is run through to get more fitness information from you, but does not do the more extensive evaluation of the Wii My Fitness Coach with the cardio & agility tests.

As mentioned, the workouts in both games are similar. Prior to starting the workout, you note what equipment you have available (weights, step bench and/or stability ball), and those items will be integrated as the workout progresses. I use my old TransFIRMer step, and a set of 5 lb weights and have been fine. The program waits a few moments when prompting you to grab your equipment, as well as taking short breaks between reps once you are in the weight section, and a couple of stretches post workout. Workout durations can be in 15 minute increments, but always seem to have at least 5 minutes of warm up.

The main issue that I've had so far with the Wii Your Shape game is that the camera does not always seem to get all my movements. It's important to make sure you have a good contrast between your clothing and your background, and to minimize glare. I have tried to address these (closing shades, different workout clothes), and this does seem to have helped a bit. Arms seem to be the toughest read, probably since I have been wearing short sleeves and don't have as much contrast. A common phrase in the game from the Jenny McCarthy character is "watch your arms", which gets a bit grating at times. This has been the biggest issue for me on the V-steps, but the lunging pulses don't seem to be able to view my leg movements as well either.

Similar to the Wii My Fitness Coach , the game difficulty is adjusted based on your activity, in this case it's based on what the reading is from the camera (with the Wii My Fitness Coach , this was manually evaluated by the player). While I feel as though I'm still getting a good workout, the camera not picking up correctly on these movements does lower my score within the game, and I believe contribute towards the difficulty level chosen for future workouts.

Wii Your Shape does not let you play around with the backgrounds or music options as you were able to with the Wii My Fitness Coach , but I believe with the settings you may be able to turn off the music, and have your own in the background.

Overall I like the Wii Your Shape game, the feedback from the camera is useful, even if it's not working 100%. However, if price was an issue, I would recommend the Wii My Fitness Coach since the workouts are very similar. The video camera is nice to have, but not necessary.

New Year, same fear...

...of driving in the snow that is. I ended up doing a phone consultation with my Jenny Craig coach instead (and a quick WI on my scale at home shows that I'm maybe .2 down from the centers scale, not a bad start for the year - 10 lbs down since starting in August). This means that I wasn't able to pick up my meals for the week - I have about 3-4 days of lunches, dinners and snacks since I wasn't eating them with all the traveling, and I have cereal that I will measure out for my breakfasts in the meantime. I did feel a bit pushed though to make the trip up there sometime this week - the problem is that if I go to pick up the food, I will most likely miss my gym class for the evening since it's an hour+ round trip to get to my center, and probably longer with rush hour traffic. Plus, I was feeling more like a source of income instead of a client, my consultant was pushy with getting the food from their location instead of one that was closer to my office, which was a bit off putting. I may be reevaluating my commitment to Jenny Craig.

Activity wise, though between traveling, bad weather and illness I haven't been able to work out at my normal level, I have still been walking the dogs and doing lots of shoveling. Also got the Wii Your Shape game, which I've played with a couple of times. I'm having a bit of trouble with the camera which isn't unusual, but it's interesting so far. I'll write more once I've had more time to play with it. It's very similar to the YourSelf! Fitness game I already have, which I think I almost prefer since it's not yelling about my arm placement. Today was also my first day back to Taekwando for about a week and a half, we focused on grappling which gets the heart rate up! I'm looking forward to getting back into my routine.

I'm always unsure about making a New Years resolution, since I generally have the same ones every year - lose weight, get active, and floss. I have joined the twitter #10in10 challenge, to focus on 10 weeks of healthy living. I think this past year I've done well with sticking with my goals, but I've been working on them since well before the first of this year.

White Belt...

yellow stripe! I'm progressing, slowly, but the Master is focused on trying to make sure the white belts have the basics down before progress. I was tempted to skip tonight since I had another 11 hour day and got home late, but I'm glad I went. I won't be able to make at least the next Saturday, maybe 2, so I have to make this count.

Saju Makgi(four direction blocks) and Saju Jirugi (four direction punch) forms (AKA Patterns) are needed to progress from the white belt to the yellow stripe. I've been working on these since I started in July/August, though I've been a little slackerly lately and haven't practiced outside of the gym. One of the yellow belts was helping me to practice

My next form is Chon-Ji, which is the form I learn before moving up to a yellow belt. The trick for the forms is to learn patterns in the forms, hints to guide you to the next move. For Chon-Ji:

• 4-downward outer forearm blocks to start, 4 upper inner forearm blocks
• Turn towards the pinky edge of the punching hand (or front foot); right turn is 180, left turn is 90 degrees
• If the punch is followed by a block, it will be blocking with the same hand as the punch (after the turn)
• Punch always follows a block, but blocks don't always follow punches
• Punches and outer forearm blocks are forward stance. Opposite arm ends up in an elbow block
• Upper inner forearm blocks are L stance (I think; this is where I got a little fuzzy)
• End with 4 punches; 2 going forward, 2 going back

In general with forms you are supposed to end up where you started. The Master wants to see us engage our whole body as if we are fighting (envision an opponent), instead of just going through the motions. He had one of the black belts go though Chon-Ji with just upper body, then lower body, as a way to think of the patterns in a new way.

Additional examples of other forms shown at http://www.natkd.com/tkd_forms.htm under Chang Hon(Non-SineWave), ITF Tuls*(Sine Wave) seems to crash IE. I'm not even going to look at those until I get to the next belt. In my school we follow the International Taekwando Federation (ITF) for patterns; and follow the World Taekwando Federation (WTF - this makes me giggle), for grappling.

Be the Turtle

Slowly but surely the weight is coming off, thanks to Jenny Craig, lots of working out, and stress from work causing me to eat less. I've lost 11.6 pounds since starting Jenny the beginning of August, about 5 lbs of that in the last month (it's been a long and stressful month at work). I was down 3 lbs just this week, which is amazing for me - it's very rare for me to see such a large loss. Less than a pound until I'm back in the 150s, a number I haven't seen for over a year.

I also started meeting with a new Jenny consultant on Saturday mornings instead of Sundays, I think she's a better fit for me personality wise than my previous consultant who seemed more of an order taker. We talk about challenges as well as goals or mantras for the week. Last week it was trying to get in more exercise (which is tough with my workout schedule but I did it!) and this week with having 2 partys to attend tonight as well as our 8 year anniversary on Friday, I'll be eating out more than usual.

Part of the difference this week was that I shifted my lunch later (not always by choice) and working a little later so I don't have the opportunity or inclination to snack when I get home from work. Lunch also seems more satisfying now, I'm eating the same things as before, but I think my body is just adjusting to less food. And I didn't have dessert every night this week, only about 4 out of 7 days. Dessert isn't bad and has been planned into my menu, but I don't want to eat if I'm not really hungry.

My workouts were great this week - in the past 8 days I've done (in addition to 15-30 minute morning walks with the dogs every day)

Sat: Taekwando

Sun: Step BOSU, hour walk with dogs

Mon: Taekwando

Tues: Pilates reformer & spinning

Wed: Taekwando

Thurs: Pilates reformer & Yoga

Fri: Rest

Sat: Taekwando

Last weeks taekwando classes had a big focus on working on our breaking falls, which I could practice at home but haven't really been. Todays class was working on our patterns, I'm starting to feel like I'm getting Saju Makgi(four direction blocks) and Saju Jirugi (four direction punch), I was actually teaching them to a woman in class today when the higher belts went though their other patterns. These were patterns I had been practicing on my own, but haven't focused on as much recently. I need to practice in order to progress, but I think classes 3 days a week help! And I'll be able to continue through the winter and spring, since next semesters class will be online.

Working through the aches

My hamstrings had been sore since Taekwando on Wednesday night, but had for the most part recovered before class on Sat. The running warm up helps for that. I woke up pretty achy this morning however, my left quad and the left side of my neck feel pretty stiff, probably from getting dropped working on my breaking falls yesterday.

Since I'm trying to get back into my 5-7 day a week routine, I decided to work thorough it and go to step BOSU this morning. The quad is still sore, but warming up did help both my quad and neck, I just needed a less puffy BOSU so I felt a little steadier.

After a quick shower, I met up with my parents to talk the dogs out for a walk. New England weather is tough this time of year, and wind versus no wind makes a big difference. I went with a couple of fleece layers, which helped keep me warm (maybe a little too warm). And with all the rain I've needed to switch back over to my winter hiking boots instead of sneakers, there were some very large mud puddles on the trails today. It's not good when your yellow lab mix comes back in shades of brown.

New uniform, new start?

Since I'm finally done for the semester, and work is hopefully calming down after the last 2 brutal weeks, I'm attempting to go back to Taekwando 3 days a week (Mon, Wed & Sat), instead of just Wed & Sat. Though I started classes in July/Aug, I still hadn't got my uniform. I ended up taking most of August off due to an upper respiratory infection, then I went on vacation. Sept, Oct & Nov I was still aiming for 2 classes a week, but with work and school as my priority, Taekwando was something I tried to squeeze in when I had time. So maybe my intermittent disappearances made them cautious to give me a uniform, or maybe it was just that there were none available for a while. Either way, I now have a uniform and my white belt, it's a little too big, so I'm hoping I was able to shrink it a little bit with today's washing. And maybe that will tighten up the weave or something, why couldn't they have gone with black pants? No worried of VPL there.

I have still been able to pick up a lot of stuff, some practices are a little easier to me than others. What I like about the class is that there is a wide array of skill levels and ages, though Wed nights I am sometimes the only one over the age of 18. With the teacher working on his 4th don (which he passed yesterday, now making him a Master. I'm still having trouble calling him Sir, seeing as he's only a year older than I am.), the past couple of weeks we had been working on some pretty advanced one-steps, which involved some breaking falls, some somersaults etc. I'm still not a fan of things where I might fall on my head, I like to consider that a healthy fear.

Today's class was focused on breaking falls, a refresher class for almost everyone else, but new to me other than what little I practiced in the one-steps. The main focus is that you want to spread out the force with which you hit the ground, as a way to protect yourself. You don't want to land on your arm and break it or dislocate your shoulder. And landing on your hip or you ribs (which I managed a few times today), also smarts a bit. The aim was to land on your side pretty much at once, with your bottom leg bent slightly, your bottom arm parallel to the leg (that was tough for me), top leg landing with your foot flat on the floor, and top hand up protecting your face. It takes a lot of trust in yourself to fall, and that's why, more often than not, I think I ended up landing hip or ribs (ouch) first. And occasionally landing on my arm trying to stop myself from landing on my ribs.

I've managed not to get any major bruises like I did in the first few weeks, though we've done all sorts of different exercises since then. But with a wedding in 11 months, I do have to be somewhat conscientious about not doing too much damage.

Taekwando - fighting stances and Jenny Craig

I was proud of myself for actually getting up and out the door in time to take my first Saturday Taekwando class, which starts at 8:30. With getting ready, walking the dogs and eating breakfast, sometimes Saturday morning classes (aka Spinning) don't happen as planned. Since next semesters classes will be on Mondays, I'm looking to take classes on Saturdays so I can still go a few days a week.

Unfortunately my other classmate was also on call for work, he had to head out halfway through class. So I got a semi-private class, where we worked a bit on stances and my side kicks.

So for the stances, there are 2 main fighting stances I need to be concerned with at this point, and another stance which is mainly used for training:

• L stance - front foot facing forward, backfoot facing to the side, about a shoulders width apart. weight is about 70% on the back foot, 30% on the front, this is mainly a defensive stance. Want to make sure that the front foot is not blocking the rear, so that when I need to shift into a kick, I don't have to go around my front leg and lose momentum. Shoulders are facing over the front facing foot.
• Forward stance - I'm a little fuzzy on this one, but legs/feet are similar to the L stance, but about a shoulders width and a half apart. It felt a little awkward, it doesn't feel like a very ladylike position. Weight is more forward, and facing is almost at an angle.
• Horse stance is not a fighting stance - feet are parallel, about shoulders width and a half apart. Balance is more on the outside of the foot, knees above ankles. It's like a squat. This pose is mainly used for training, since you don't have much stability front to back. It works the legs, which should eventually help with the kicks.

We also worked a bit on my side kicks, since they were feeling a bit like my roundhouse kicks. Leg swings up to a table position (flat with knee bent, facing back), and then knee extends to hit the target. Important with the side kick (and front kicks for that matter), is that you are kicking down a line, to strike the target straight on, where the roundhouse comes a bit from the side. Another point we worked on was the counter balance. Similar to the punches we worked on earlier in the week, the reaction to my kick is a slight twist of the torso. It sounds awkward, but going through it a few times it made sense, and I felt like a had a little more power behind me. I also need to work on power, not neccessarily height which I have a good grasp on. Targets will not always be on the same level, it's good to have a variety of methods to choose from.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sunday was also my first WI for Jenny Craig, and I was down .8 lbs. I have to admit I was a bit dissapointed, but with my history of weight loss I know that's decent for me. Since I was struggling towards the end of the week with being very hungry, I've temporarily been bumped up from 1500 calories to 1700 calories. So far so good, but tonight will be the first test. I have also found that hot tea helps me get through the afternoon a bit better, so I have be substituting tea in for my afternoon hot chocolate. I do have to admit though that I miss the milky way hot chocolate, but I'm trying to keep my potential wedding dress in mind.

The food on JC has been suprisingly good, with a few exceptions with the shelf stable lunches. My councelor said that other people have had similar comments, and was more than happy to swap the similar lunches. I've been quite happy with the breakfasts, dinners, snacks and the majority of the lunches, though the anytime bars could use some work. Though I always felt that I ate a lot of fruits, veggies and dairy, I'm making more of a concentrated effort now to get these in. And I'm learning to substitute - I don't drink milk except in my coffee, so I'm eating a lot more yogurt. I'm keeping a variety of fruits & veggies in the house as well so I don't get bored.