Strong People Are Harder to Kill..

"Strong People Are Harder To Kill Than Weak People And More Useful In General"...yep, that's what was painted on the wall of the USMC Recruit Station, Sacramento, gym (a quote by Mark Rippetoe). I found this hilarious as I was struggling (and I mean struuuggling) with my squats done with a medicine ball.  So typical of the Marines,those muscle-y meat heads!(gotta love them!) :)

 
Yea..they're pretty much hard core..

Lately, Matt has been helping me to get in the shape I would like to get in. It's hard for me to motivate myself to get to the gym because 1. The classes I really like are all right smack dab in the middle of dinner-time and 2. I started to feel like I was getting different results than I was aiming for.  So instead of hiring a trainer, who better to ask than a man who trains others and knows a good workout..my future hubby!

We are easing my way in with the level workout I get..apparently my workouts are the Marine's warm-ups (lol). As of now it goes as follows:
                                      10 pull ups
                                      15 second sampsun stretch
                                      10 sit ups
                                      10 dips
                                      10 wall balls (squating low with a 12lb medicine ball and extending your body, trying to throw the ball as high on the wall as possible, and at full extention you continue with a jump----let's just say by 7 I am wheezing and legs are jelly)
                                      10 box jumps (again..legs are jelly)
                                      10 back extentions
                                      10 squats with 12lb medicine ball held above the head

                               Okay...and do all this X3!
So that is my "warm up"...next was followed by (and me throwing profanity under my breath at Matt..):
                                     10 push ups
                                     5 burpees (because at this point I was literally mush)
                                     10 2-punch sets on a punching bag
                                Again...all X3
So there ya have it...I am complete jiggly jello by the time I am walking out of the gym...I feel like Bambi learning how to walk!! lol  And while I still sweat and sometimes out of breath..I don't FEEL as winded as I did in my classes at the gym...but the feel of my muscles the next day was 5x more intense! So...in time he will extend my workout sessions and up the anti. I'd hate to see what a REAL workout consists of..oy.

I'm going to stray a teensy bit off topic but I promise it does tie into this blog...Last week the future Mister and I went to Travis Air Force Base for a 2 day long family readiness "conference". Basically we attended talks on marriage, family, communication and goals. While it was all really important (and actually really interesting) I want to touch on the GOALS portion.

A retired Marine gave a talk on the business he started and how/why he focuses so much on goals and how he applies his knowledge of the Marine Corps to almost everything he does.  Making a long story short (rare for me, huh?!) he made some really good points as to why New Years Resolutions are hardly EVER kept. Main reason? Because it's so easy to say something you want to change or work on, but never give yourself the big "WHY". WHY is this resolution so important? And HOW do I plan on holding myself to it? What is the game plan? He says to TRACK your progress on your goals. One of his goals (among many many many of them..which he has fulfilled pretty much all of them minus one or two he is currently working on) was to lose the weight he gained while taking care of his wife who was going through chemo treatment. He said, "I weigh 230lbs..I used to be a buck 70 something. So I am going to shoot for losing 16 pounds in 90 days". He kept a track record of what exercises he did, what he ate, etc etc. 90 days were up and he lost 45 pounds!!  That motivated me to make a list of 3 goals I have.. I will only mention one right now and that is getting in shape. Not just for the wedding, but because it's healthier, I feel more motivated when I feel good about myself, and frankly I spent way too much money last year buying all new jeans (because SOMEHOW I lost 15lbs....and recently gained it back).  I don't want to lose a LOT..just enough to look what I consider good, and fit in my jeans! It's discouraging for me to say "I want to lose 1-2 sizes..or lose 10-15 lbs." Instead, I am giving myself shorter increments, and who knows, I may exceed my expectations! My goal is to lose 2lbs/week (Matt says that's the healthiest weightloss to go for..no more than 2/week). So I can keeping tabs on what I eat (not counting EVERY SINGLE calorie, but getting a general idea) and what exercises I do, and for how long, and what days, etc. Even though we do not believe in scales in this apt, I feel having one, and seeing even ONE pound lost, will add to the motivation. It will also let me know that I stretched out my "cheat day" for too long..like say maybe TWO cheat days in a row lol  (I'm a cheater, I'll admit...hey, I love my food!!)
So that's about it for tonight. I'll get the last name to this man, Erik, if anyone is interested in a little inspiration. He really is great with his words and has been through so much (wife has been diagnosed with 4 cancers to this date and she just turned 40...and all while they've been married) and has accomplished just about everything he has set his sights on. Really cool stuff.
Gonna go pass out now..anticipating my muscles to be screaming at me in the morning..ugh..nighty night!