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Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Kenpo Cardio Plus and My Memorial Day Weekend

Good morning! I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. I had a very restful weekend - got a lot of reading time in, and also got to visit with some friends. Unfortunately, exercise and healthy eating was non-existent, so I'm getting back to it today - I got up and did Kenpo Cardio Plus this morning, which felt great after three days with basically no exercise.

As I mentioned above, I did quite a bit of reading this weekend - I finished one book I had started, "The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO," and I also read another book called "All You Need is Less," and I also started a book called "Tox-Sick" by Suzanne Summers. I have already started implementing some of the things I've learned from these books, and I'll be starting to talk about them in the next few days and even weeks.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day, I'll post again tomorrow.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Gained 2 1/2 pounds and Ready for the Weekend

Good morning! This morning I got on the scale and found that I gained back the 2 1/2 pounds that I lost last week.   Not sure why, don't think I ate much differently. I could be getting ready to start my time of the month though. This morning I didn't workout because I had a bunch of stuff to do to get ready for our weekend up in Michigan. I'm looking forward to it, it will be nice to get away for a few days. Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and Ab Ripper X

Good morning! This morning's workout was Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and Ab Ripper X. I'm definitely getting better at doing some of those exercises with 10 pound weights, but some of them I still need to use 8 pound and even 5 pound weights on.

Just two more days and Kevin and I will be heading up to Michigan for Memorial Day weekend - I'm looking forward to it, I haven't been up there since the holidays, and now that it's spring time it should be a lot less cold up there. Hope everyone has a great day!

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Kenpo Cardio

Good morning! This morning's workout was Kenpo Cardio - felt like doing that workout today instead of Plyometrics. Not sure if I'll get to do any kind of cardio workout on Friday, it depends on how much packing I'm able to get done on Thursday night.

Yesterday ended up being a very busy day at work - it was a great start to the new pay period, but I'm hoping today is just a little less busy. Hope everyone has a great day!

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X, and More Medical Tests

Good morning! Sorry I never posted yesterday, but I ended up having a busy day - yesterday I went to see my cardiologist to see if I could find out what caused the gasping for breath episode I had on Friday night. First I had a hard time getting an appointment because they couldn't find me in the system - then when I got to the appointment I found out they didn't have me in the system, they had to re-add me, so I would actually have to see a doctor, not the nurse practitioner I'd made an appointment to see - I explained to the person that I had to see someone that day though, or I wouldn't be able to get in to see anyone for a while, so they made sure I could see the nurse practitioner yesterday - she did an EKG on me which came back normal, so she set me up to have a stress test with an echocardiogram done on June 13, and I'll follow up with the cardiologist 2 weeks later. I did check the records that my insurance company (or the insurance company that our medical insurance went through up until the end of last year) kept though, and the last time I saw the cardiologist was in 2009 - almost 7 years ago - so that might explain why they didn't have any record of me in the system.

Other than that, this morning I did Back and Biceps and Ab Ripper X, which was a great workout as usual. Hoping to have a great rest of my day, and hope everyone reading this has a great day!

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Yoga and My Workout Plan for this Coming Week

Good morning! This morning I changed things up and decided to do a yoga workout, because I was feeling kind of stiff and sore from yesterday's Legs and Back workout.  I felt great after doing the  yoga workout though, may have to start making yoga part of my weekly routine - just not the P90x yoga workout because it's way too long.

My workout plan for the coming week is goign to change a bit because on Friday after I finish work, we're going to start heading up to Michigan for Memorial Day weekend. So my workout plan will be as follows:

Tomorrow - Rest
Tuesday - Back and Biceps and ARX
Wednesday - Plyometrics
Thursday - Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and ARX
Friday - Kenpo Cardio (if I can fit it in - not sure if I'll have time to do it, depends on how much packing I still have to do in the morning)
Saturday - (if I have time to do it) Yoga or maybe a cardio workout, if I don't get to do one on Friday.
Sunday - ?? Maybe try to do the no-equipment strength workout I printed out and put in my suitcase a while back.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Legs and Back and Shortness of Breath While Sleeping

Good morning! This morning I did Legs and Back - I used my 10 pound weights for most of the exercises, except for alternating side lunges. I decided not to do Ab Ripper X - I tried to find another ab workout that was available on Amazon Prime, but I couldn't find any. I guess I'll have to do some searching on my computer.

I also had a strange episode happen to me last night when I was falling asleep. It's happened to me a few times before, and I still have yet to find out what's causing it. As I was falling asleep last night, I had a feeling like something was blocking my windpipe, and I woke up gasping for breath - I had to cough really hard and then I was able to get rid of it, but I'm not sure what caused it. I've had a few sleep studies done and none of them show that I have sleep apnea. I've also had a sleep-deprived EEG done which showed that I have more seizure activity when I'm asleep, so my neurologist raised the dosage of one of my medications. However I'm still getting these shortness of breath bouts every so often, so my next step will be to call my cardiologist on Monday to see if it could be heart related.

That's it for now, hope everyone has a great Saturday!

Friday, May 20, 2016

Plyometrics and Lost 2 1/2 pounds!

Good afternoon! I'm pleased to say I was back down to 121.5 this morning when I stepped on the scale, which means I lost 2 1/2 pounds this week. This morning I did Plyometrics - I love that workout because of the variety in it - if you can get past the first two sections, it gets kind of fun (to me anyway). I used my Garmin with my heart rate monitor strap (had to take a few minutes to add the heart rate monitor strap in my Garmin Connect app on my phone) and it worked great.

Not sure what I'll do this weekend, but I hope you all have a great weekend!

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Back and Biceps and Ab Ripper X. and my new Garmin Vivosmart

Good morning! This morning's workout was Back and Biceps and Ab Ripper X - was able to use 10 pound weights for most of the bicep exercises, but had to do a minimum number of reps on some of them. I'm sure that will change over time as my biceps get stronger. I also got my new Garmin Vivosmart yesterday, and it works great - had to charge it for a few hours last night, then had a hard time pairing it to my mobile device, until I figured out that I had to pair it through the Garmin app and not directly through the phone. The display on this one looks much nicer than on the other one - no missing pixels! Looking forward to continuing to use it to track my exercise, sleep and nutrition.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Kenpo Cardio Plus

Good morning! This morning's workout was supposed to Plyometrics, but because I was feeling a bit stressed about some things, I decided to do Kenpo Cardio instead. Got a good workout from it, as usual. Yesterday ended up being pretty good at work, even though it was a bit slower. Hoping that today is a little bit busier. Hope everyone has a great day!

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and Ab Ripper X and Eat Dirt

Good morning! This morning's workout was supposed to be Back and Biceps, but I forgot to have Kevin put my chin-up bar up, so I did Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and Ab Ripper X instead. It went pretty well, I was able to use heavier weights on most of the exercises. I think using heavier weights is really going to help me take my workouts up to another level - I'm also finding it easier to put my weights back where they go with fewer problems after my workouts are over.

I also started reading a sample of a book this morning called "Eat Dirt" by Josh Axe - it's about why leaky gut may be the cause of many health problems, and how to cure it. He starts off by talking about how his mother had a recurrence of breast cancer, and had to go through chemo and radiation to get rid of it - he started her on a diet that included a lot of plant-based foods, and encouraged her to get outside more and do things like riding horses and going to the farmers market - things where she would get a little bit dirty.  Because of these changes in diet and lifestyle, her tumors ended up shrinking, and today she lives a healthy, active life. That's about all I've read so far, but I do still have more to read, so I'll let you know more of what I find out as I read it.

That's it for now, I hope everyone has a great day!

Monday, May 16, 2016

My Permanent Crown, My Plans for this Week, and Ameri-Geddon.

I'm excited to say that I got my permanent crown this morning. It looks great, you can't even tell the difference between it and my other teeth. I just have to wait 24 hours before eating anything sticky, which is fine. Other than that, I can go back to brushing and flossing normally on that tooth.

This week it's time to change things up a bit with my P90x routine. For the next three weeks this will be my workout routine:

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Back and Biceps/ARX
Wednesday - Plyometrics
Thursday - Chest, Shoulders and Triceps/ARX
Friday - Yoga or X Stretch
Saturday - Legs and Back/ARX
Sunday - Kenpo Cardio Plus

The only time this will be difficult is next week, because we'll be going out of town for Memorial Day weekend. Not sure what I'll do yet about that, I'll figure it out when I get closer to that  week - probably next weekend.

As I said in my post on Saturday, Kevin and I drove to Charlotte, NC on Saturday to see a movie called Ameri-Geddon. It was an interesting movie - no big-name stars in it, so the acting was a bit dry, but it did a good job of showing what might happen when/if the power grid is brought down. It was about a politician who was trying to let Congress know that the power grid needed to be strengthened - then an EMP is launched from a satellite (I think) and it brings the power grid down world-wide. At first, of course, people thought that the power had just gone out locally - they didn't realize that it had gone out worldwide until later. There was a small group of people that were determined to survive however - they ended up living on a plantation in Texas, where the politician I mentioned earlier was growing food, generating power and even getting his own water. That's the Cliff Notes version of the story of course, to find out more of it, you can check out the link I posted in my post on Saturday. If you need it again, here it is:

http://amerigeddonthemovie.com/

It's only being shown in 12 places, so I hope those of you that are within reasonable driving distance of one of those places are able to go see it.

There's also another good movie that's going to be coming out this summer called Hillary's America. You can check out the trailer for that movie here:

http://hillarysamericathemovie.com/

That's it for this post, I will return to my regular posts tomorrow.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Kickboxing Workout and My Plans for Today

Good morning! This morning I decided to do a kickboxing workout I found on Amazon Prime - it was pretty good, but I think I need to try the basic workout next time. I'm enjoying my Amazon Prime trial so far, I think I may have to see if there's a way I can find the money to keep it going at the end of the trial.

Today is going to be an interesting day - today Kevin and I are heading to Charlotte, NC to see a movie called Amerigeddon - it's a movie about what will happen (or what might happen) if the power grid is brought down. It's only playing in 12 cities in the US, and Charlotte is one of them. You can find out more about it here: http://www.infowars.com/amerigeddon-are-you-ready-for-the-chaos-that-will-ensue-when-the-power-grid-is-brought-down/. So we're driving there (about a 2 1/2 hour drive from where we live) watching the movie, and staying the night and driving back home tomorrow.

That's it for today, hope everyone has a great weekend!


Friday, May 13, 2016

Pilates, Gained Half a Pound, Started Amazon Prime Trial, and My Measurements

Good morning! This morning I weighed myself and found I was back up to 124 - so I gained the half a pound back that I lost last week.  However, I did take my measurements again (took them about a month ago) and was pleased to see some of them went down slightly - others stayed the same, and one went up half an inch. Here are my measurements:




Date
4/12/16
5/13/16
Change
Chest
30
30
0
Waist
29
28.5
-.5
Hips
35.25
35
-.25
Upper Arm (right)
10
10.5
+.5
Thigh (right)
20.5
20.5
0
Calf (right)
13
13
0

So not a huge change, but I also only just started using my new weights. I'll take my measurements again probably about the middle of June and see if there's more of a change.

Yesterday I started an Amazon Prime trial - I've had Amazon Prime before, but I let my subscription expire because I couldn't afford to renew it. I'll probably end up cancelling the trial at the end of the 30 days (6/12) but I'm going to see if there's any way I can keep it going, because Amazon has added some great benefits since I let my other Prime membership expire. One of the things that they have that I love, is you can stream certain movies and tv shows.  This morning for my workout I decided to do a Pilates workout that is part of Amazon Prime - it's from a company called Gym Box - not as hard as some of the Pilates workouts I'm used to doing, but it was a nice change. 

Tomorrow Kevin and I are going to Charlotte, North Carolina to see this movie he wants to see called Amerigeddon - at least I think that's what it's called. You can check out the trailer for it here: 

http://www.infowars.com/amerigeddon-are-you-ready-for-the-chaos-that-will-ensue-when-the-power-grid-is-brought-down/'

That's it for now, I hope everyone has a great Friday! 

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Kenpo Cardio and New Dandruff Shampoo

Good morning - this morning's workout of choice was Kenpo Cardio - I love the variety in that workout, and the fact that it's got more of a cardio component to it than Kenpo X in the original P90x workout, but I did notice this morning that my joints (well my ankles anyway) are beginning to ache a little bit, so I may have to switch up to something else, at least for a little while.

I also tried a new dandruff control/scalp health shampoo this morning - Pura D'Or Scalp and Dandruff Therapy Shampoo with Argan Oil and Tea Tree. Seems to work well (can't really tell from one use) but one thing I will say about it is it has a very strong smell. Even my husband commented about how strong the smell was. It's not a bad smell - it has tea tree oil and Argan Oil in it - but it is strong. Hopefully it will be worth it.

Hoping for another good day at work - everyone have a great day!

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Pilates

Good morning! This morning I was supposed to do a yoga workout, but I decided to do a Pilates workout instead, because I got started working out a little late (was finishing up a freelance project) and because I like Pilates better anyway.

I've also been working on coming up with ideas for this blog and for my other websites...expect to see more information on those in the near future...

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Core Synergistics

Good morning! This week is my recovery week, so this morning's workout was Core Synergistics. I love that workout because it covers a little bit of everything - didn't get to do all of it though because of time limitations, I could only do the first two sections of it. And unfortunately I still have to use my lighter weights on that workout, I didn't even try using my adjustable dumbbells. I did try going up in weight on some of the exercises though - I used 8 pound weights on some of the exercises that I'd been using 5 pound weights on, and it definitely made it more challenging. Getting ready to go to work, hope everyone has a great day!

Monday, May 9, 2016

My Plans for the Coming Week

Good morning! I decided to make today a rest day from working out - this week is going to be a recovery week, so my workout schedule is going to be a bit different - mostly Core Synergistics, cardio and stretching.

This past week I also started doing some transcription again on Fiverr - I unpaused my Fiverr transcription gig, and actually got some work from two of my old clients. I think I'm going to pause it during the week and just try to do work on the weekends, at least until I can get some freelance writing work going again. If you're interested in writing or transcription work, feel free to check out my profile on Fiverr: https://www.fiverr.com/emartin74.

That's it for now, I will write again tomorrow. Everyone have a great day!

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Walking Workout and Reflecting on the Things My Mother Taught Me

Good morning! This morning for a little change of pace, I decided to do an indoor walking workout. I enjoy those because they're a little bit lower impact. I like the more intense workouts like Plyometrics, they can be hard on the knees. Indoor walking workouts provide a good workout and they're not as hard on the knees and other joints. Not that I have joint problems (yet) but I don't want to end up with them.

Also, since today is Mother's Day, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on the things that my mother taught me, either directly or indirectly.  Probably the biggest thing my mother taught me, both directly and indirectly, is how important it is to take care of your body. My mother was diagnosed with diabetes at a young age (in her 30's) - I watched her take different oral medications to control it, and then later she had to start monitoring her blood sugar and take insulin to control it. I don't want to end up in that same boat, and so far I've been able to avoid it. I did watch her make attempts to get her weight down - I even joined Weight Watchers with her when I was a teenager because I needed to lose a few pounds too - I did well at it, but she never could stick with it. In addition, for those of you who don't know, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 46, when I was a senior in high school. She ended up dying less than two years later - about six weeks before my 20th birthday.  Because of that, I also try to be proactive about getting my yearly mammograms and doing BSE's (breast self exams). I even had a diagnostic mammogram done one time when the gynecologist I was seeing at that time thought she felt something - turned out to be just a benign cyst. I think it's because of her that I'm in as good of health as I'm in. Sure, I still have to deal with my epilepsy on a daily basis, and make sure I take my medication to control that, but I've been able to avoid diabetes and breast cancer, as well as some of the other health problems that people I talk to every day have, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol, so far. And I hope to be able to avoid them for the rest of my life.

To the mothers that are reading this, I hope you have a great Mother's day, and to the children that are reading this, I hope you treat your mothers today, because after all, they are the reason you're here.

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Legs and Back and My Plans for the Day

Good morning! This morning I got up and did Legs and Back, but not Ab Ripper X. Used my adjustable dumbbells at 10 pounds for most of the leg exercises, except for a few where I didn't feel comfortable using them just yet. After that, I showered and got ready for the day.

Today I have some transcription I plan to work on a bit, and I hope to also spend some time with Kevin. Hope everyone has a great day!

Friday, May 6, 2016

X Stretch and Lost Half a Pound

Good morning! This morning I got on the scale and was pleased to see that I lost half a pound - down to 123.5. I'm surprised it was only that little, but this coming week I plan to keep doing what I'm doing - eating right during the day, and at night trying to eat smaller portions of the stuff that Kevin makes. Last night he made macaroni and cheese with the dinner that he made and only gave me a small portion of it, so that was good. Not sure what I'll be doing this weekend, except that I know I'll have some transcription to work on. I hope everyone has a great week!

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Kenpo Cardio

Good morning - this morning's workout was Kenpo Cardio - I love that workout because of all the kickboxing moves in it, and the fact that it's more of a cardio workout than Kenpo X, from the original P90x workout. Wanted to use my heart rate monitor strap this morning, then I remembered that I sent my Vivosmart back to Wal-Mart so they could replace it, or send me a gift card to get a new one (hopefully the Vivosmart HR).

Have to start work soon, hoping today is like yesterday - busy but not too crazy, at least not until the last hour or so...

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Chest and Back and Ab Ripper X

Good morning - this morning's workout was Chest and Back and Ab Ripper X - was able to do all the weight exercises (all three of them) with 10 pound weights - even the back flies, although I ended up doing a few less of them. This morning I was also able to figure out what was preventing me from being able to run a Zapier zap on one of my websites - I've been corresponding with one of the support people at Zapier and I think I have it figured out.  For those who don't know what I'm talking about, check out zapier.com - it's a site like IFTTT that allows you to automate a lot of the things you do online and on your phone.

That's it for today, hope everyone has a great day!

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Plyometrics

Good morning! This morning's workout was Plyometrics. Got a good workout from it, as  usual. I also got my Garmin Vivosmart ready to send back to the manufacturer because the display is starting to get messed up on it - but I have a two year protection plan on it, so they should fix it or replace it at no charge. I'm hoping the send me the newest Vivosmart - that would be great. Today I've also gotten a few other things done - ordered a few things I needed, and done some work on my websites. Hope everyone has a great day!

Monday, May 2, 2016

Shoulders and Arms - Used adjustable weights!

Good morning! Today would have normally been a rest day from my workout, but I decided to do Shoulders and Arms this morning so I could try out my new adjustable weights. First of all I want to clear up one thing - I had previously said they were Bowflex Selectech dumbbells - they are NOT Bowflex Selectech dumbbells, they're from a different company. They still work well though - the one thing I don't like about them though, is that they're kind of hard to put back in their little stands or holders, whatever you want to call them. I did figure out how to do it though. I'm pleased to say I was able to do 15 reps 10 pounds on all of the exercises except for the two shoulder fly exercises.

Today, other than that I plan to do some stuff around my apartment, as well as work on my websites a little bit, then I have to work at Apptical from 2-7 this afternoon. Hope everyone has a great day!