Week 12 Day 2

I started off the day in such a great way! I was motivated, working hard, accomplishing a ton of little things left and right. I felt amazing!

As usual, the kids got a little out of hand, but it was nothing too serious. I even took them outside for both recesses regardless of the fact that it was -20 C and -19 C respectively. It was nice and refreshing the first time, but by the second recess, I wish we had stayed inside.

At the end of school, we had an IT meeting which took awhile. I also learned I had to very quickly clean my room and basically throw my stuff into the hallway because they were using my room for another meeting I didn’t know about. With the results of being late and frazzled, I went out to my car to finally get it ready to come home. I let it warm up for quite awhile, and scraped and brushed it off so it didn’t quite look so much like an abandoned car in the arctic. Although my engine light is on, my car made it home and drove incredibly well. I love my car.

Tonight at the gym, I really wasn’t feeling my workout. I just wasn’t in the right mental state for a couple reasons, one being that I was home from work late again, and I also was still physically worn out from that crazy leg workout the day before. Not to mention tonight’s workout and every workout this week is now 4 sets instead of 3. My body just wasn’t feeling it today. But I did manage to finish the chest/triceps/abs workout including 12 minutes of HIIT afterwards.

I’m tired and worn out, but I’m about to go to sleep and hoping for the deepest sleep so my body can recover better for tomorrow’s back workout.

Week 12 Day 1: Squat Victory and Tips!

I can’t believe this is the last week of the challenge. Oh man. And you know, I started this challenge with the mindset of: I have to win! I’m proud to say I’m finishing this challenge with the mindset of: I don’t care if I win, I’ve come so far in my mentality and strength. I’m happy!

Today was another low-key day. It’s warmer outside, (-25 C) but still not something you want to go take a walk in.

More household chores got done (I’m so productive in the morning!), and we went out for groceries. We also stopped by the school to see if my car would start. Now, keep in mind that car has been sitting in deep snow, not plugged in, for 3 days. Absolutely frozen. Yet, what did that car do when my husband turned the key? Started as if it were a warm, summer day outside. Man, I love that car! I can understand its initial shock to the temperature and storm on Friday. I can sympathize about that. But it got used to the fact the weather is here, and it amazed me by starting and running without a problem! What a car!

We went home after our errands to eat before the gym. My husband just happened to fall asleep and took a nap. And it just so happened that a girl posted a couple squatting videos that were about 45 minutes in total. The videos reviewed everything that you should do right and everything that you could do wrong when it comes to squats. It literally broke the whole process down step by tiny step. It was so convenient these videos were posted today because I had to do squats today. I took many mental notes, and looked forward to trying this out. After all, squats have been a 3-year frustration for me.

When we got to the gym, I did my quick 5-minute warm-up on the treadmill. I then got ready and headed straight for the squat rack. I did my first set of 15 with much lower weight than normal (65 lbs) focussing on all the tips for my squats. I felt really good about them, but of course it’s always easier for someone to watch you and critique. So I went and got my husband. I simply did one rep, and my husband freaked out that I did it perfectly! I then explained to him what I had watched, the step-by-step of what I did, and just was so happy. 3 years of frustration, finally, finally fixed.

It took a long time for me to finish my 4 sets of squats. I was so focused on making sure my squat was in proper form, and adding weight each time. I was so tired and sore by the time I was done, and yet I had 8 more exercises to do. All of them were 4 sets today of 12-15 reps. I fought crying so many times. I could barely walk. But somehow, I managed to get through the workout, and went home without an ounce of energy to spare. It was killer. Cardio wasn’t even a thought today. I was dead.

We did go home, and we ate and got ready for bed. My poor body was used and needed the rest. What an awesome, awesome workout.

**If you are interested in watching these videos as well, here are the links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPNmkTIQTpM&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtPN-ftmxG8&feature=youtu.be

Week 11 Day 7

What a cold, cold day: -41 C with a low of -43. My husband and I both decided we weren’t going anywhere today, and were instead going to stay home and try to stay warm. The only times we went outside all day were to walk the dogs. And the poor things could barely stand the temperature to even use the washroom. It’s just too cold.

The doors in my house are actually somehow letting some snow in. I knew they didn’t fit the doorways quite right, but hey. The place is old. I understand. Are there things the landlady could do? Probably. But I think we’re going to go get some plastic and maybe those things that block under the door. It’s not freezing in the house, but stand by the doors or windows and you’ll get cold. Pleasures of being in a old and cold place.

A lot of household chores and napping got done. I was actually happy because I was way behind on laundry. So it was nice to have a chance to get caught up again!

We both decided that we had to go to the gym this evening, regardless how cold it was. So we eventually got ready and went on our way. I had a killer back workout, felt solid the whole time, pushing all my limits, and killing my abs and biceps. I even had time for a 12 minutes HIIT cardio session! I can’t remember the last time I was excited about cardio. Absolutely loved it!

We had a quiet night at home, watching a movie together and continuing to upkeep on laundry. It was a more quiet day, but a lovely one.

Week 11 Day 6

I didn’t want to let my husband go to work this morning. The storm continued over night and the snow is well over a foot and a half deep. It’s almost -40 C and I know the road conditions are going to be terrible. But my husband still got up and went off to work.

On the way to work, he took me over to get my car from the school. He shovelled (for as long as the cold would allow him before freezing) to get my car out of the snow, and let it run for a few minutes. I told him to go on ahead to work, but he refused until he saw me drive the car out. Well, let’s just say, my husband is smart. For the first time ever, my car would run for a second and shut off. I would start it again, and it would shut off. My car was absolutely refusing to run in the cold. The poor thing. So, my husband took me back home before going to work, and I rescheduled all of my appointments again. Taxis are not required to have winter tires, and I refuse to either get in an accident or be stuck on the road in a taxi. Everything will have to wait for another day.

My husband ended up coming home early. If they dared to stop, the work van would have been stuck. So they basically did a loop from home to the shop to the site, kept on driving back home. It was so nice to know he wasn’t on the road and he could be home safe and sound.

We only went two places: GNC for some things I needed. Black Friday sales were on and we got an awesome deal on lots of goodies!

We also went to the gym. I did an excellent shoulder workout. My shoulders burned so badly. I didn’t take the time to do cardio though, because even though I had the day off tomorrow, my husband didn’t, at least not yet that we knew of. So I left with a satisfied shoulder burn!

I’m ready to go home and sleep well in a warm house tonight!

Week 11 Day 5

Winter is truly here, and it’s here to stay. We woke up to a snowfall that would later turn into a huge snow storm. We still had school, and school itself went fairly well, but it was definitely inside recess due to the cold and miserable conditions.

Due to the amount of snowfall we received, my husband came and picked me up from work. His truck handled the snow so well. But it did get to the point that emergency crews were overwhelmed and advising people to stay off the highways. It was a mess.

What did my husband and I decide to do on this blizzard night? Go out to eat and watch a movie of course! Nothing like being spontaneous when you have a large truck that can handle the snow fall.

We went to see the new Dumb and Dumber To in honour of the Dumb and Dumber movies I watched as a kid. We laughed and laughed, It had a couple disgusting parts that I don’t understand why they were even put in the movie. I hate when directors do that.

We didn’t actually make it to the gym tonight. After the movie, fighting the storm and the cold, we stayed in and got a little bit of extra sleep. Staying warm and cozy was important!

Week 8 Day 6

I’m hungry. In fact, my body feels like it’s starving. I can’t say that I’ve been hitting my macros the past few days as I’ve been happy just to ingest any liquid anything, which has been mainly fruit, veggies, and some protein powder. I have been trying to get some BoltHouse smoothies from the grocery store to drink (I know they aren’t the cleanest), and so in that way have been getting in some extra nutrition, and I’ve also been keeping up with my multivitamins and supplements. But I still can’t chew. My teeth are too tender. I tried chewing a Breton mini cracker today, the super soft, melt in your mouth type of cracker, and I could only chew one before my teeth were very sore. Still on that liquid diet today!

Definitely got some of this because “Tis’ the Season!”

I had a chiropractor appointment this morning that went well. I planned on going to the gym to split up my workout with my husband again but instead ended up going to sleep and quickly found out that I just wasn’t getting rest. I’d wake up, and wake up, and wake up, and wake up, all the while sleeping in between but never feeling any different when I woke up. I don’t get it. I’m really not sure what’s going on.

When my husband came home from work, he was too tired to go to the gym right away. So he stayed home and took a nap while I went to the gym because I knew my workout would take a long time tonight. I came back and woke him up about half way through my workout, drank a protein shake in order to help my starving body continue, and went back to finish my workout.

It was a long workout, finishing the ab exercises from yesterday, combined with legs today (90 squats!!), and of course the cardio I had to catch up on. We also had to do dropset to burnout leg extensions. I swear my quads were about to break apart. I definitely wasn’t able to walk the greatest after!

I tried something new today: Sweet Sweat! I had been given product samples of it a long time ago, but had never tried it because I always worry about chemical reactions ruining my clothing. Thankfully, my wonderful hubby picked up a Sweet Sweat belt under which you apply the Sweet Sweat so that it doesn’t touch your clothing! Boo yah! Let me just say, the results shocked me. I never knew I could sweat that much, seriously. And yet I didn’t feel overly warm like I thought I would. It obviously worked though. So I’m going to wear it for a few weeks to see if it makes a true difference and I’ll keep you updated!

Sweet Sweat! Try it out!

Week 2 Day 3

Talk about sick. I honestly thought it wouldn’t get any worse. But this morning, I knew better than to go to work. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle the day feeling this awful, so I called in for a sub and stayed home.

I didn’t sleep much, and I definitely didn’t eat much. Sticking to my diet plan, for the challenge I’m working so hard for, just was not foremost on my brain today. I needed to shift into the mindset of healing my body and getting better quickly. I drank fresh fruit smoothies to up my vitamin and antioxidant content in my body. I drank kombucha tea which I have found to be a good tea for any health situation. I ate soup to benefit from vegetables and the comfort of a warm broth. And I ate a small amount of bread to help me feel fuller while still being gentle on my stomach.

Simple foods.

The funny part about the whole day is I couldn’t sleep. Normally when I am sick, I sleep most of the day away. But today was different. I could barely sleep. So I instead worked on my yearly plans and professional growth plan and conquered a fair amount of teacher work.

When evening came, I battled with my brain. I wanted to go to the gym so badly. I miss the gym. It’s a way of life for me. Plus I have my challenge pushing me. I was so tempted to just “suck it up” and go to the gym regardless of how I felt.

It probably took about an hour for me to mentally battle myself into realizing that if I did go to the gym, I’d probably make myself worse. If I at least waited one more day, I could still make up my workouts this week and provide myself with more time to get better. So when my husband went to the gym, I went to bed.