Have you Done your Burpees today?

One of my least favorite exercises are burpees (known by some as football "up downs"). I am well aware that the reason I don't like them is becasue I suck at them, so what better way to improve then to do them EVERYDAY?!?! One of the trainers at BodyLab challenged me to a "100 Day Burpee Challenge". Here's the deal:

Day 1 - Do one burpee
Day 2 - Two burpees
Day 3 - Three burpees
etc.
Until I reach day 100. And my final day will be 100 timed burpees to see how well I've progressed. This is a grand total of 5,050 burpees!!

I've decided to make a slight twist to the deal. I'm going to try to get all 5,050 burpees done as fast as possible. So if I feel good one day I might do 80 burpees, and if I feel tired I may only do 20. But I will attempt to do at least some burpees everyday, in addition to my daily workout. My goal is to complete them by October 1st. Woohoo!!

HERE GOES!!

New Opportunities!

I feel like I've taken a big step in the right direction this past week! I contacted someone at a local gym about an "internship" opportunity. This gym is more than just a local fitness center though! This place is all about CroffFit. (If you don't know what this is, go to crossfit.com). This stuff is so amazing.

Each time I go to this place I learn so much, and I love it more and more every day. First, I am working to reach my peak fitness level, so I can be practicing what I'm preaching. Already I can do more than I ever thought possible. I can do all kinds of Olymic lifts and I can climb a rope! And soon I'll be able to do handstands and pullups. But wait, this is only the beginning.

Also, I'm learning so much! I get to pick their brains about nutrition, physiology, anatomy, body function, lifting techniques...the list goes on. These people are so knowledgable and passionate about CrossFit that they'll spend countless hours with me just feeding me knowledge!

I feel so lucky that this opportunity is available to me in a small town like Bryan, TX. God keeps showing me on a daily basis that this move to Texas was the right choice!

A lot on my mind!

I've been through a lot of changes in my recent past; lots of peaks and valleys, failures and dissapointments. Because of all these failures, I have set my standards extremely high this time around. I feel that I can't give myself another chance to fail, since I've let so many years of my life pass already. Because of these extreme standards I've set for myself, I have become very successful and involved in multiple things. I am a full-time student with a very demanding degree program, am a manager at my full-time job and have lots of people looking to me for directions and advice (very stressfull), I am involved in several clubs on campus, AND I'm helping my best friend/cousin plan a wedding and bachelorette party. I'm proud of myself for all of my accomplishments, but I have no life! This lifestyle doesn't allow for any social life. I don't have time to watch movies with friends, grab a beer and watch the game, hang out and chat over a cup of coffee....I barely even have time to sleep. This has caused me to develop some resentment towards the people that do have time for friends and relaxing. I need some direction. I pray for wisdom in making the right choices. I pray for patience and strength in following the right path. I pray for peace.

Do you ever?

Do you ever find....when you're driving home from work, you're so spaced out, or focused on other things, that you don't even realize that you're driving? By the time you make it into your driveway, you think back and don't even remember the drive home?
Just think, most other people on the road are just as spaced out as you are. Kinda scary huh?

CROSSFIT!

I have fallen in love with CrossFit! What is CrossFit you ask? It's the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide. All workouts are based on the basic physics equation for "power", which is force times distance divided by time. So, the theory is, if you lessen the time it takes you to complete an exercise, you are increasing the power exerted, which coincides with calories burned. In otherwords, it will kick your butt! After about 15 minutes you will be sweating profusely, breathing harder, and hurting more than you ever have before! And for the next few days you will wonder what you did to yourself. I love it! Care to join me? Check it out at crossfit.com This is what I'm gonna look like. ;)

New Year's Resolutions

I've always thought New Years Resolutions were too cliche. Why the heck would I want to set the same goal as millions of other Americans, on the same day as all of those people, and most likely fail with all of them too? Why not set those goals in July? Whats so cool about Jan 1st?

Well, this year, I realized why everyone sets those goals on Jan 1st. It's a chance to wipe your slate clean after the crazy holiday months. During November and December no one ever eats right, no one keeps a constant workout regimen, and no one makes time for themselves! We are all too busy eating chocolate and toffee, fighting the Christmas Shopping crowds, and planning family events that interfere with our normal lives. That explains why when the New Year rolls around everyone wants to lose weight, eat healthy, and get more organized. Aren't those the top three resolutions made?

I decided to be cliche this year. I was one of those average people who ate too much toffee over the holidays, didn't keep up with my standard of workouts, and definitely didn't make time for myself. So, I'm making some resolutions this year! Some are very cliche, I will admit, but a few of them are actually pretty good.

• Workout 5 days each week. Train for KINE 121 standards.
• Eat healthy! (This seems broad, but I don't want to write out what plan I'm following).
• Cut down on work hours so I can focus on other things I enjoy (church, bible study, club events at school).
• Keep in touch/get back in touch with friends and family.

So if you see me doing anything that interferes with these goals, I give you permission to call me out on it. I'm determined to make these things happen!

Happy Thanksgiving

Some of the best parts about my thanksgiving:

• Working with a great crew at Miramont. I never knew that hard work could be so much fun!
• Hanging out with friends after work, eating a homecooked meal we all made together, and sitting outside by the fire enjoying the beautiful weather.
• Being silly with friends. Somehow the evening turned into a wrestling match!
• Talking with the whole family on the phone. It made me cry, cause I wish so much that I was there with them!
• Watching the video that my awesome brother-in-law made for me. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=35804125&ref=profile
• Eating leftover Pumpkin Pie for breakfast the next day. Just because I can!
• Making turkey soup with the leftovers, and making the whole house smell fantastic.
• Eating leftover turkey soup, turkey sandwiches, turkey everything!

I hope your Thanksgiving was as great as mine. Happy Holidays!