WHEW What is that Funk???

I admit, I am not a good fitness blogger. When Lithe introduced its Passport I thought for sure I would blog my progress but I haven’t. Though the good news is I have just 6 classes left to go, with this week being the most intense. 6 classes in 6 days, with 3 down and they are all the ones I’ve been avoiding. Monday it was Fat Free, Tuesday Pom, Wednesday Twiggy, tonight its Hot Legs, tomorrow its Higher Power and finally on Saturday its Walk Star, after that I am hitting the beach and AC and boy will I deserve it.

So what is that funk? When you sweat, hard in the more intense cardio classes, its not uncommon to have to wipe your brow constantly because you can’t see and your expensive, gorgeous, technical clothes from Lululemon begin to stink and HARD.

I care for my clothes as instructed, always hand washing cold and hanging dry to keep the wicking and stretching properties of the clothes lasting. But it doesn’t really wash away the stink, well for me it’s especially in the gusset of the pants (gross, I know.) I walked into Lululemon to ask them what’s up with this, they have a new line of running shirts that have silverescent fiber that fight bacteria but unfortunatly, they don’t have it in pants yet and yes, if you sweat a lot the clothes will stink, even when washed. So what do I do to take out the smell? If you peruse internet forums there are a host of methods athletes use, baking soda rinse, vinegar in the wash, specialty detergents but all have mixed reviews. I’ve decided to wash my pants in hot water once and rub some baking soda on the inside of the gusset, let’s see if it works.

What methods do you use to clean your technical, athletic clothing?

The Pits!

So Lauren linked my blog on their facebook page, so i guess this means I should write more often than every 3 months.

This post is about the pits, arm pits to be exact! I think I’ve mentioned before, my arms have always been the part of my body that I am most aware of. When I was young and thin, I would look at my arms and cringe at huge I thought they were. When I was at my largest, I refused to wear tank tops or dresses with thin straps, sans cardigan. And after losing weight,my arms sort of just hang there. I’ve lifted weights on and off, always liking the immediate results of being able to flex and feel muscle but like all things fitness, I usually drop it in no time. My arms are something that I will forever want to work and I am trying my hardest to do 1 arm class a week. That usually means Arm-istice, which is a super fun workout and my favorite mid-day class because you really don’t need to shower afterwards. I tried Wings, for the second time this week. Wings is intense but its also super hard to get into, its a staple Monday PM at Northern Liberties and always seems to be on the schedule BUT the same ladies show up every week so fighting for a spot is almost as hard as the workout. Well my thigh arms, they are still jiggly but I noticed something different this week. The arm pit, its pulling in at that point. Overall my arms are about an inch smaller and becoming more toned, so by the time I lose the fat they are going to be killer!

On Losing Inches, Not Pounds

Well, I’ve been hard at it at Lithe Method.  Yesterday, I did a bright and early Skinny Jeans (my first) and my instructor, Cori, asked if I was in her 101 a few weeks ago.  She commented that it looked like I am getting stronger and by month 2 and should really have it down, that felt great.  What also felt great was wearing a pair of jeans the fit me snugly a few months back that are now hanging off me.  And not just looser in the waist and still tight in the thighs.  All over loose.  I have been admiring myself in the mirror and even made my buff little bro feel my muscles yesterday, he told me I am doing great.

So I decided to do it today, finally weigh myself.  Granted, yesterday was a holiday and I did go to a big family dinner, with tons of rich foods and I did have pizza and wings on Saturday night but I am looking thinner so I must have lost weight.  Well I’ve lost nada, zilch, not a single pound. I stepped on and off a few times  to make sure I was getting a good read.  Yup, its true, I haven’t lost any weight.  Now part of it could be water weight from crappy foods for 36 hours, another part could be I am gaining muscle but either way, I wasn’t ecstatic to see the number.  I am still proud of myself, going to class 4 times a week.  Trying to stick it out as much as possible and seeing physical results are great.  Hopefully I will see the actual pounds drop soon.

Punching My L Card

The L Card, have you never heard of it? Lululemon, it’s basically a cult of over-priced, well constructed athletic wear and I just had my L Card punched.  I gave in, all the cool girls wear em, so why shouldn’t I?  I am pretty excited, they are comfy and are apparently great at wicking sweat from you.  Not to mention I tend to get tiny holes in my seat. So if these pants are anything like I read they are, that shouldn’t happen.  They have tons of cute colors and styles. I went with the Wunder Under Crop.

Wunder Under Crop-exact color/style

I tried on a size 10 and 8, to my surprise I fit a snug size 8, which gives me some time to fit into them before they get too big!  And according to sales on eBay, these clothes have amazing resell value, so I should be able to get back most of my investment.

Also I bought a sea-foam green, non-slip headband.  I have bangs that tend to flop in my face during my workouts, headbands ALWAYS slip off, so hopefully it works (plus sea-foam green brings out my eyes.)

Sometimes the Enemy is at the Grocery, Sometimes She’s in the Mirror.

I’ve been back at Lithe Method for the past few weeks.  Although sometimes I feel my stamina growing, other times I feel like I could run out and collapse at any moment.  Then I step up to the barre, here it comes, liberties, lunges, sumos and curtsies.  My quads and calves cramp up in a second.  My breathing gets hard, sweat pours into my eyes.  I look at the image in front of me, in the mirror.  There she is, chubby, doughy, my arms are like meat shanks.  I cringe, then I look around as I stop for a second.  More often than not, I see plenty of women with sculpted arms, flat stomaches.  I doubt I will ever look like that.  I don’t have faith in myself and more importantly the environment I am currently in is not exactly conducive to eating healthy.  Every day trays of soul food are brought into the office I spend 10+ hours, 7 days a week in.  If it’s not soul food it junk food, bagged salty snack, COOKIES, and yes people bake us cakes.  It’s so hard to say no, especially when you are stressed and tired.

I was at Whole Foods the other day, buying a cup of coffee.  I walk up to the register, there she is, my worst nightmare.  The beautiful, statuesque blonde, with the tulip skirt on that emphasizes her tiny waist.  I want to die, she represents everything I’ve never been.  I want to believe in myself, readers, but sometimes it’s so hard.  I am going to keep on going, every day is a struggle and perhaps I will succeed.

Lenting Meat

As a lax/former Catholic, there are many things that my years in Catholic school have ingrained in me.  One is giving up something for Lent.  When I was young it would be something like potato chips or chocolate, then it became buying clothes and as I get older it’s about really improving the body/mind God gave me.  This year I am going to Lent meat.

Now this is not a first for me, about 5 years ago I gave up meat for about 6 months, I didn’t like, I love meat.  Now I am trying to improve my body, so, meat is out the window.  I am looking for some delicious/healthy vegetarian recipes and since so many of my readers are vegetarian by religion/marriage/life choice I know you can hook a sister up.

But for now, I will be celebrating Fat Tuesday properly, with a cheesesteak.

Hellllloooooooo Jeans!

Well a small victory today.  I was feeling pretty decent about myself and I decided to try on a pair of jeans that fit 2 years ago, which haven’t.  Well guess what THEY FIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Not like sucking in fit, like comfortable fit and they are a SIZE 8!

One Hundred Push Ups

As we already know, I ❤ Push Ups.  As someone who couldn’t even do one, I can do them and I see the difference.  I found a great website:

The who goal, to be able to do 100 consecutive push ups.  It’s a 6 week program, 3 days a week.  I did my initial exhaustion test tonight.  I can do 15 push ups before falling over, which according to the chart puts me at level 3, which I totally can’t believe!

I will be posting my weekly progress and maybe take a pic of my sick arms in 6 weeks!

Related Articles

• Do You Do Push-Ups Regularly? (fitsugar.com)

Diesel

according to UrbanDictionary.com Diesel means:

 

Awesome or strong, as in physical power. Also – great, cool, or sexy.

“He’s diesel.”
“She’s diesel.”
“Its diesel.”

Diesel Arms

 

My arms are flabby but soon to be DIESEL.  I’ve always used weights (well on and off) so my muscles are able to come back pretty quick.  I do small weights, 3lbs but I am starting to notice way more definition (under the flab) not just in the bicep but the shoulders too.  I think its gotta be push-ups.

3 months ago, in my first 101 class we had to do three sets of 10 push-ups, either in full plank or girl-style, on the knees.  I couldn’t make it to 10 on my knees.  Now I can do 3 sets in full plank easily.  I can’t make it all the way down but I am working on it.  I think about push-ups, like I can’t wait to do my daily push-ups.  I can’t wait to lose the fat because my arms will be sick!

 

My A.M. Green Smoothie

So for about 6 weeks, I’ve been replacing my eggs or Frosted Mini Wheats in the morning with a green smoothie.  It’s really yummy, healthy, filling and “cleansing.”  It’s also a great way to get a couple servings of fruits and veggies (raw=full of vitamins and minerals your body needs).  So I figured I’d share the recipe:

8oz Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

1 Banana

1 cup raw Kale or Spinach

1 tsp Honey

1 tbsp low-fat Peanut Butter (I like Better’n Peanut Butter found at Trader Joe’s)

1 tsp Flax Seed Oil (great for the skin!)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.