paulapop’s BodyBlog

  Ok, not Goodbye forever, but Goodbye 2007! 

This final day of 2007 began exactly the same way the 1st day of 2007 began.  With a trip to the gym.  The difference, a year ago I struggled to do 20 mins of cardio because of the extra weight I carried, today I did 45 mins, no problem.  Last year, I thought I knew how to work out my abs even though I was getting absolutely no results.  Today I worked out my abs, I can still feel it in my obliques.  Last year I went to the gym 5 days a week.  Now I go the gym 5 to 6 days a week.  The difference is, last year at this time I went to the gym without a plan of any kind.  I just kinda went in, did about 15 mins of cardio, then wandered around the machines with no real aim or purpose, don’t get me wrong, I worked out, I sweat, just with no results.  This year I’ve taken the time to learn how to do each excercise properly, I’ve learned a whole repetoire of excercises for each body part.  I’ve learned the importance of setting up my workout in my mind before I even enter the gym.  This year I have goals, last year I had vague ideas.

With all that I’ve learned over the course of 2007, I am excited to see what I will learn in 2008, I am just beginning to understand how much  I don’t know.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Its hard to believe that the year is quickly comming to a close.  I’m sitting back reflecting on the goals I set back in Dec 2006.  I can’t believe I am saying this but, this year I actually kept most of my resolutions.  I kept going to the gym, increased my cardio, cleaned up my diet, and lost weight.

My goals for 2008 are an extention of last years resolutions.

I will keep going to the gym 5-6 days a week.

I will keep working on my running, increasing my endurance, working on my form, and decreasing my time.

I will keep kickboxing two nights a week.

I will do all the workouts my trainer gives me, even the ones I don’t like.

I will keep working on cleaning up the diet.

I will loose another 20lbs

I will keep lifting and working on my definition.

Most of all I will keep blogging so I can track my successes and failures, and I will keep reading my friends blogs and passing back some of the motivation they give to me.

2007 has ended with a bang, Daretosoar made it into the transformation competition, and Ninjabill is going to be strutting his stuff in an ad for the site, you guys are rock stars, lets keep on Rocking in the New Year!

For the past month or so, whenever i run into anyone that I know, inevitably they make a comment on my weight loss.  I generally get a comment like "Wow, you have lost a lot of weight" or "Wow you look great!"  I find it somewhat amusing that I am getting these comments and the tone of them seems to suggest that my weight loss is a recent thing.  It isn’t.  In fact, although most seem to think I’ve lost a great deal of weight in a short amount of time, the fact is, since the beginning of November, I’ve only lost approximately 5lbs.  However, since last November I have lost nearly 50lbs.

I’m sure you have heard the saying "First on, last off" as it applies to the way we gain/lose weight.  I am now going through the "last off stage" which means I am losing it from my face, and also from my thighs which have been a problem area since puberty.  This is what people are noticing. 

The 1st 30lbs that I lost, was from a fairly recent weight gain.  I really only had it on for about 2 years before I started losing it.  When it came off, it was less noticable because most people simply remembered the way I looked before I gained it, and since it was only on a relatively short amount of time, it is easy to forget that I had it on at all.  These last 20lbs are the ones I have been carrying since I gave birth to my kids.  This is what people see.

I am flattered and excited that people are noticing the fruits of my hard work in 2007.  For 2008 I want to loose another 20lbs, and I am joining a running group in February. By this time next year, I don’t want people to look at me and say "Wow, you’ve lost a lot of weight".  I want the weight loss to be a memory and the way I look now to become the norm.  What I do want is people to look at me and say "Wow, you are in really great shape"

Well I made it through the holiday without weight gain.  I managed to keep my eating under reasonable control, and even made it to the gym yesterday and today.

 Yesterday I did a kickbutt leg workout, and today was a cardio and ab blast.  I have finally figured out how to use the workout tracker on here, so If your interested in the seeing the "holiday no weight gain butt kick routine" that my trainer gave me, have a look   I will be posting them as the  week progresses.

Just stopping by to wish all of my friends the very best of the season.  I hope everyone is safe, happy and among family and friends for the holidays.

I have developed a cold, so I was at the gym on thursday for my training session and took yesterday off, today I will just do some light cardio and abs to allow my body to recover a bit.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

I spent some time this morning reading some of my friends blogs.  There seemed to be a common theme among many of them.  Everyone is feeling, as I am, the stresses of the season and they are affecting our workouts. 

 My motivation is down, I am working very long days, it is taking every ounce of patience I have to deal with the public. When I am finally finished work, I am faced with trying to squeeze in my own holiday errands.  I am still making it to the gym 5 days a week, but my heart is just not in it.  I am going through the motions when i am there, even during my kickboxing class I found myself struggling.

My diet has taken a serious nose dive, nothing like stress and exhaustion to straight to the Tim Hortons drive thru.  I was down to one coffee a day, now I am at about 3-4.  Cookies and chocolates are everywhere.

All of this was really getting me down this morning until I read the blog of a very special friend Daretosoar .  Just reading her resolve and her motivation gave me the boost I need.  The holidays don’t have to ruin me, I am sharing some of her motivation and moving forward.  Thanks Steph!

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Tonight was our last class for the year, and boy was it a killer…….

Let me put it this way…..

450 jumping jacks…..

nuff said.

I visited my doctor yesterday to have my blood pressure checked.  I’ve had hypertension for the past 4 years and have been on medication for it.  I told my doctor that I felt like I could sleep all the time, inspite of the fact that I eat right and excercise.  He checked my blood pressure, then checked it again…..then checked it a third time then declared that it was 68/90 and that I was lucky to be vertical and not asleep on my feet.  The good news is weight loss and a new and healthier diet seems to have cured my hypertension and I am stepping off the medications.  That was one of my prime goals when I embarked on my fitness journey.  Fingers crossed, I will be medication free within a week!

Today is my off day from the gym, I will be working 11 hrs (1pm till midnight) so it seemed like the natural day to take off.

On another note……

I had mentioned the ab exercises I learned in that strippercise class on wednesday night, and how I could really feel it the next day……well a simple sneeze this morning let me know that indeed they are still tender today….Gotta love it!

Today was my second last kickboxing class for the year.  We do ALOT of skipping in class, and one of the things we do is skip alternating feet and count how many times the right foot touches the floor in 30 seconds.  Tonight I beat my former record by 2, my foot touches the floor 48 times in 30 seconds, that beat my former record of 46! 

If any of you ever thought that being a stripper was as easy as taking your clothes off and dancing around a bit, let me tell you….you are WRONGO!

Ok, so I am not a stripper, but I did take that strippercise class the other night.  Basically the class is excercises based on the moves a stripper makes.  We used simple body bars as our poles.  Next time you are using a body bar, trying wrapping one leg around it and doing a back bend, it ain’t so easy!

You know that worm thing they do, where they kinda crawl along the floor, and then get up torso first?  Think of doing that but comming up into a tricep pushup.  OUCH!

Seriously we did ALOT of lower back and ab work.  It was a great workout because much of it was new to me, and boy do I feel it today.  I even my obliques today, and I rarely feel them the day after a workout.

So if any of you ever venture into a strip joint (because I hear they have wonderful food and that would be the only reason any of you would go, I’m sure), appreciate the kinda of physical work those ladies are doing on that stage.

disclaimer:  Any knowledge I have of strippers is based entirely on what I’ve seen on TV and in the movies.  However, I have to admit, now I am curious as to whether or not real strippers actually do these moves, and of course, as I stated above, I wouldn’t mind checking out the food. LOL