What Am I Doing???

Hey Everyone

Many people have been asking about my amazing results I have been getting and what work out plan I am doing. While you ask and I answer!

I keep saying how amazed I have been with my results and I am being totally honest. I didn't really think I was going to see results or love this work out as much as I have. If you have questions please contact me. I am just so over joyed with having arm muscles and feeling fitter, more powerful and in control of my results. Here are the top ten questions people ask about Combat from Beachbody with my extra notes :).

10 Frequently Asked Questions About LES MILLS COMBAT

1. What could LES MILLS COMBAT do for my body?

LES MILLS COMBAT is a full-body training program that combines highly effective calorie-burning moves and sequences from 6 different martial arts disciplines with High-Intensity Interval Training to specifically target your fast twitch muscle fibers, proven to have the greatest capacity for transformation. In short, it’s designed to help make you very fit. Expect a lean, chiseled look, not a bodybuilder physique. AND do you! I can't believer the change in my arms alone. I also have to say I love love love interval training I get such an amazing work out and really feel like I am using my time wisely. I am very busy so the lengths and power of the work outs is great

2. Will I lose muscle tone if I switch from a program like P90X® or LES MILLS PUMP to LES MILLS COMBAT?

Not at all. In fact, you will maintain your results and continue to build lean muscle mass. That said, the workouts are not as focused on heavy weight training as either P90X or LES MILLS PUMP, and you don't focus on hypertrophy (muscle growth) as much as you would in P90X. In truth I haven't done P90X so can say personally anything on this point

3. If I have bad knees or ankles, will I be able to do LES MILLS COMBAT?

We always recommend that you check with your doctor first. Whether or not you are able to do these workouts depends on your situation and how injured you are. LES MILLS COMBAT is high-intensity training. There is always a modification option that makes it easier and less impactful, but you still need good coordination and movement abilities. If your doctor clears you to do martial arts, then you can do LES MILLS COMBAT. If not, we recommend you choose a lower-impact program. Some of you know that I have a funny hip issues (deals just with how my body grow and there isn't much that can be done for it.) However I haven't had any pain from this workout in that area...but you know your body then anyone else

4. What kind of music is featured in the program?

LES MILLS COMBAT's dynamic martial arts sequences, moves, and combinations were carefully choreographed to some of today's most popular music, as well as old-school rap, disco dance beats, and classic tunes. From "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" to "You Can't Touch This" to "YMCA," all of our scores were chosen for their ability to inspire, energize, and fuel your workouts—and they've all been amped up a notch to give you that extra adrenaline "kick" as you power your way through LES MILLS COMBAT's high-octane workouts. The MUSIC IS AWESOME!!!!!! I love love love music in work outs and it helps to motivate me and keep me going...I actually got a ton of the music and listen to it all the time now

5. What is the difference between LES MILLS COMBAT and LES MILLS PUMP?

The LES MILLS PUMP workout features light weights lifted for high reps, to help you achieve lean muscles and a toned look. LES MILLS COMBAT is a high-intensity and explosive aerobic endurance program designed to scorch calories, shred fat, and help you get that chiseled, fit body. I haven't done PUMP however through this program I have really fallen in love with how Les Mills does programs and would love to try it

6. I'm not very coordinated. Will I be able to do LES MILLS COMBAT?

Yes! In fact, doing LES MILLS COMBAT will help you become more coordinated. "The Basics" workout will teach you the techniques and various "guards" and "stances" that will be the foundation of later moves. Just go at your own pace. If you get lost, there's no harm in hitting the "pause" button, rewinding, and trying the movement again. I am a dancer by training so this one is hard for me to compare. I would say its easy to pick up and the basics dvd helps out alot

7. How much equipment do I need for LES MILLS COMBAT?

You will need your own dumbbells, within a certain weight range, for the POWER HIIT 1 workout and the Ultimate Warrior Kit's WARRIOR 1: UPPER BODY BLOW OUT to advance your fitness level and get serious definition! Dumbbells are optional for the SHOCK PLYO HIIT 2 workout and the Ultimate Warrior Kit's CORE ATTACK. You may also find that wearing the LES MILLS COMBAT Training Gloves when you're working out will amp up your intensity and help you deliver more accurate punches. Get the Gloves for sure and I keep having to move up weights its awesome! 

8. How long is the LES MILLS COMBAT program? How many workouts are there?

LES MILLS COMBAT is a 60-day workout program, and you can follow one of three calendars: the introductory Combat Warrior Calendar, the more intense Supreme Warrior Calendar, or the extreme Ultimate Warrior Calendar. The Combat Warrior and Supreme Warrior Calendars are built from the 7 workouts (30 to 60 minutes each) in the LES MILLS COMBAT Kit. The Ultimate Warrior Calendar uses these and integrates the additional workouts available in the Ultimate Warrior Kit. I am currently doing the Combat Warrior but plan on moving onto the Ultimate right before the pageant....It is easy to schedule into my day. You need to make your fitness a priority, its taking care of what you leave in...you need to take care of it.

9. I've been doing BODYCOMBAT® at my gym. Is LES MILLS COMBAT similar?

Yes. LES MILLS COMBAT is the at-home version of BODYCOMBAT, taught by LES MILLS COMBAT–certified trainers Dan Cohen and Rachael Newsham. I love Rach and Dan and they know their stuff for sure, I am going to start going to BODYCOMBAT also I love the program that much

10. Can I do a hybrid of this and LES MILLS PUMP?

Absolutely. You can incorporate a LES MILLS COMBAT workout into your LES MILLS PUMP routine by using one of the LES MILLS COMBAT workouts on your recommended "Walk" day in the LES MILLS PUMP workout calendar. However, it is not recommended that you supplement your LES MILLS COMBAT workouts with those from LES MILLS PUMP. Again I haven't done PUMP but will be adding it in soon so I will keep you up to date

If anyone wants to know more about being part of a Beach Body Challenge group please let me know. I highly recommend them because they help to keep to motivated and accountable. A new one will be starting with me on May 5th and I can send you all the details. Also for more on Beachbody check out my site here. 

Tune in next week as I review some of the newest supplements I have added into my life!

Suffering

Here is the last part of my 3 part blog looking at different values I have come to find important in my life, Happy Lent Everyone. Join me next week as I start looking at my newest workout program, trying to make time for myself. Also be prepared for some big stuff coming next month as I start looking towards my 27 birthday!!!!!

For me my understanding of suffering is closely tied to of our Lord’s embrace of suffering and death to redeem us from our sins. As God the Son, Jesus could have chosen any way to redeem us. So the fact that he chose to redeem us through his suffering and death necessarily gives meaning to every human beings experience with suffering and to my own also. Because we are joined to Christ, our suffering is joined with his, and participates in the redemption He accomplished. One way I have describe this idea to teens is that at times in our lives things breakdown however we wouldn’t have breakthrough in our personal life if those breakdowns didn’t happen. Because Christ would not have been able to give us Easter Sunday without first going through Good Friday.

Understanding this has helped me be able to offer up my suffering and embrace it as part of my human journey. We offer up our lives and our sufferings formally, in the Mass, by consciously offering ourselves up with our sufferings, along with Christ to God the Father during the offertory. Informally, we “offer it up” simply by asking God, in the midst of our suffering, to join our suffering to Christ’s, and to use our suffering. For me this is a helpful way to move through suffering as I wait on redemption. The relation between our present life and the life to come is the condition for the meaningfulness of our sufferings in this present life. The gospel shows us that suffering is an opportunity given to us to participate in our future blessedness by offering our present sufferings, in union with Christ’s sufferings, to God in self-giving sacrifice.

Suffering is part of the human condition however it is how we react to it that truly effects are perception of the suffering and how we get through it. Throughout my life I have not always chosen the most positive reactions to suffering however my reaction to suffering as changed as I have grown in my own understanding of how I am made in the image and likeness of God and how I have come to a deeper understanding of my own personal freedom. It is the integration and understanding of how God is acting in our lives that helps us come to a deeper meaning and understanding of faith. For me answering and understanding these parts of myself has been a part of my journey to come to deeper understanding of the movement of God within my life.

Freedom

Welcome to part two of my reflection on values that I hold. Hope that its making you think and come to some deeper understandings. 
While we are made I the image and likeness of God we also have human freedom to choice and make our own choices. It is part of what sets us apart from other creatures; as humans we are the ability to look at situations and problems internally. When I am dealing with an issues or a choice I have to make, I can use reason that is within me to make this decision. While animals’ base all choices in survival. They do not deliberate and then decide to turn away. By contrast, we are able to formulate the thought: I don’t want to be the kind of person who does such-and-such. We can be motivated by such thoughts. We not only make choices; we evaluate our choices regardless of whether our evaluations are themselves caused by forces behind our control or not.

This is something that we grow into as we get older, for me this was something that I have grown into over the past ten years. Once I moved away from home and started to be able to make all my own choices, I had grown into a lot more human freedom, however had to grow more into questions and looking at decisions, using reasoning that is also part of the human freedom took longer to develop and happened after making bad decisions that didn’t reflect the person I wanted to be.  Human freedom is the unique ability, to reflect on and evaluate our desires and to choose one course of action over another, at this part of human freedom is the one where we need to make sure we are connected and reflecting.

From this point being spiritually free means to allow the movement of the Spirit to work through my freedom to help guide me and help me see what path I am meant to take in my human journey. In our lives there are always a number of areas we want to stay in control off. However for me I can note a number where my control of the situation isn’t coming from a place of following what I know is true, it comes from a place of fear to let go.

Human freedom is an ability. It is the unique ability, made possible by reflecting on and evaluate our desires and to choose one course of action over another. Only once I was able to accept this, I was then ability connect this to being morally responsible for what I take part in. This is where being connected to our spiritual freedom is so important to me. I very involved in social justice and it comes from this place of realizing that my freedom gives me also the ability to see and help those in need and work on creating more justice systems around us. This for me is the importance of moral responsibility and spiritual freedom, in our lives as moral beings, in our social practices including what we do daily and what we ignore.

With freedom however also come the chance to make mistakes, which I have done throughout my life. Because we make our own choices we can choice to move in a bad direction and at times we fall and we suffer. While not all suffering is our own doing, how we react and look at suffering is also effected by our faith. Christian believes that no suffering is ultimately meaningless or pointless. God always has a good purpose in allowing suffering, even when that purpose is inscrutable to us. We always have a choice in our suffering, whether to trust God as our loving Father, and receive the good gift that He is giving us, or to rail against God in distrust and anger.

For me I have seen both sides of this, there were many times especially after the death of my mother that I was so anger with God I couldn’t see how anything good could coming into being through my suffering. I also couldn’t see where God was in what was happening. However after the suffering was over, I was able to come to a deeper understanding of where God was even in my darkest moments.

Made in the Image and Likeness

Welcome to my 3 part blog on looking deeper at some of the values I hold. This came out of a paper I wrote for a class I am currently taking at St Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry. Hope you find it inspiring and fulfilling. I thought it was great time since we are currently in Lent. 

All my life people have reminded me that I am "made in the image of God." It's a nice thought, and probably one that at times I used to try to remind myself of my own value as a human being. However at times it has been one that I have had a hard time accepting. In reality, "Made in the image of God" is an audacious claim and carries some responsibility with it. We all know we are not gods, and at times I can think that I felt very far from being even close to this claim. However while it is true that I am not God throughout my life I have come to see how I am godlike.

It very hard for us to ignore that fact that we are like God, when you look at Genesis it talks about how God created man and women in his image and likeness (126-27). So in many ways in being human we are meant to fully reflect God through everything we are and do, from our intelligence to the relationships. While this is a powerful statement it’s is one that I have had a hard time fully allowing myself to believe through my life.

So, what does it mean to be created in God's image to me now? I view it as that we each are almost a snapshot of God. I have found the more I embrace that God loves me and that he created me in his imagine I am more able to following my own path to  fulfillment and what God desires for me. I feel the greatest pleasure and wholeness when who God made me to be is fully developed and expressed.

But in what ways have I come to see how I am made in the image of God? I come back to how I see God in myself that If I could take a snapshot of God, what would we see and what would it reveal about humans created in God's image?

First way I found how I was in the imagine and likeness of God was through dancing. We know that God is creative, he created everything on earth and every one of us. As humans we make things. Artists make things with paint. Poets, writers, philosophers and lawyers make things with ideas and the compelling use of words. Every human has the capacity to make things, to create, because we are all made in the image of a creative God.

 So for me I came to see this through dancing. I danced from the time I was five through my undergraduate degree. I still dance to this day but not at the same level I once did. It was an outlet but also became a place I created. I can remember choreographing the “dream” part of the dance of the gym in West Side Story. In it I moved around the stage making Tony and Maria get closer to each other. It was creative but after a number of people told me how moving it was. Later I was able to choreograph a number of liturgical dances for youth masses that Diocese of Buffalo put on, I began to see how I could use my gift to glorify God but more and more realized that my ability to create was given to me by God.

How I communicate I believe is another way I see how God has created me in his likeness, because God communicates. The human ability to think and reason, to use language, symbols and art, far surpasses the abilities of any animals. This gift was bestowed when the communicative God's image was imprinted on us.

One of the clearest examples of this in my life I can remember is when I was a sophomore in college I worked on a program called Young Christians at Work. The program took place during Holy Week and because I went to a state university I didn’t have time off from classes, but really felt called to working on the program. I worked with my teachers and got all my work done before hand to go and have to really talk my boss at work into letting me go. At the time I was working full time and didn’t have vacation time to use, so I worked two twelve hours days before leaving for the program. I really thought I was just going because I loved and enjoyed the program as a teen and wanted to still help out. However once I started to work at the program I realized I was there for a greater purpose. That year there was a very quiet girl that year who really broke down during an activity and as I tried to calm her down, I realized she recently lost her cousin during the war and felt so alone. I shared with her about losing my brother and how I knew they were still watching out for us and there when we needed them. I was able to connect and communicate with her on a level that helped her start healing. Later that year I received a letter from her thanking me again, something as simple as communicating help someone more through a very difficult situation.

The last way I found that I am made in the image and likeness of God is in my relationships. The phrase, "Let us make man in our image" reveals an "us-ness" in the very nature of God. The very essence of God is relational, and that essential quality has been imprinted on humans. This capacity for a relationship with God extends to humans, which is why the Genesis story declares that God created Eve for Adam because "it is not good for man to be alone." I have come to a deeper understanding of how I am made in the image of God through my relationship with others. Many times they have been the ones to see God in me when I am not able to. During the hardest and darkest parts of my depression and eating disorder, I didn’t see at all how I was made in the image and likeness of God. However is was those I was in relationship with, my friends and family who saw amazing qualities in me that God had been given me, even when I couldn’t. It was through relationship that I was first able to again see God in my life and in myself. 

Hitting the hard part of transformation

When I started this great idea of personal growth and started to map out what I was going to do and when, I felt excited, energized and in control. However one thing I forgot is that personal growth is messy and doesn’t always go the way we plan.

I forgot that I have things to work through and many times it takes longer than my timeline would allow. One area for me is with my eating. I been really enjoying my new lifestyle of eating healthy and trying to focus on how food reacts to my body. However I also must admit that I also effect what food I put in my body. I am an emotional eater, and it goes way back to my childhood. I guess that I could try to come up with a number of reasons why I eat the way I do however in truth most of them are just excuses and half-truths.

So here I am about a month into this whole transformation and we are at the point where I need to take a look at the work I have done and figure out what to do next. So what have I done?

While first I have some much needed personal time and time to celebrate my amazing friends and their personal successes. I have been getting workouts in and reconnecting with my body. However I have also fallen off my eating and not listen to my food voice like I should be. So the scale is back where it was when I started however I am not giving up.

One thing about me is that I am a survivor in truth all humans are. We are meant to change, grow and deal with challenges.  Sometimes they can get overwhelming and we can end up in Pity City (this is where I go and eat really bad!) but we need to drive out of Pity City and enter the land of our creation.

What do you want to create? I am sick of living life the way people tell me to and want to start living a life of my design. That can be scary, I love rules and following them so making my own seems crazy. But how do you ever get to the next level without challenge what is and how things are done?

So where am I: tired, overworked and trying to find a new way. What I know is that getting past how I am feeling and to a new reality is going to take work, saying no to some stuff and saying yes to new stuff.  What I keep telling myself is that its ok to put myself first and to focus on me a little bit. If I am not whole, then I have nothing to give but junk. 

We are 11 days in!

Wow it’s hard to believe how much life has changed over the past couple weeks. A quote I love is that in life you are either finishing a crisis, in the middle of one or about to start crisis. That is very true for me, a couple weeks ago I never would have thought I would be moving and rearranging my life. However sometimes there are bigger plans then the ones we have for ourselves.

 I knew with my move that I wanted to live in a healthy way of my own design. I wanted to use this time to dedicate to myself, my health, my happiness and to my future. Finding balance is something I have always struggled with in my life. I say Yes more than No, even when I want to say no.  And while I know I have unlimited potential, sometimes I over esteem what I can all do at one time.

Focusing on me seems really selfish at times to me still but I am working on that as much as I can. I was lucky to have a holiday weekend to start up with transformation and allow me to settle into my new place, do touches to make it feel like home and figure out what a perfect day for me looked like.

So what does it look like? It starts with breakfast in the morning follow by weight training and getting ready for the day. Lunch is usually still a busy time but making sure I have good options that fill me and I enjoy finally nighttime is when I do a little yoga, journaling and reading. I am trying to keep work at work and home at home. Living alone at times has been hard; it’s hard not having someone to come home to or to talk about my day with. I have found the journaling is really helping me process my feelings and move through this change in my life.

I can’t really totally tell the changes in my body so far, I know that I feel better eating the way I have been, with very limited meat protein, no dairy or gluten.  I have been really focused on my water intake and trying to get 8-10 glasses in every day.

Helping in all of this has been an amazing book by Bethenny Frankel called Naturally Thin. Bethenny wrote the book awhile back, I believe it’s her first book she released. In the book she talks about not dieting but instead using common sense rules that will help you move through life being in touch with what she calls your “food voice”. Your food voice helps to tap into what you want to eat, when you want to eat it, and how much of it you want to eat. The book then goes into more details on these rules.

 So how have I used the book? First the idea that your diet is your bank account and they you have to treat it that way, you want to end every day feeling like you have a balance bank account…and if you don’t then you have to adjust the next day. It’s about your overall picture not the calories.

Something else that I have been trying to do as much as possible is not doing anything else while eating, trying not to be doing homework, watching TV, checking emails while eating. That way I can really focus, taking my time and listen for when my body is telling me it’s had enough. How many times do we eat and don’t remember what the food tasted like?

These have been big shifts in my thinking and I continue to make naturally thin changes as I am going along, did I magically drop 10 pounds?  Well, no (duh) but I feel more in touch with my body then I have in the past for sure.

So what is next? This weekend I am off to cheer on an amazing young woman as she competes for the title of Miss America. I will get to spend time with some of my favorite pageant people, see Atlantic City and recharge my batteries a bit. Biggest challenge will be that I won’t be on my perfect schedule or be cooking my meals. I am really going to have to put some of Bethenny’s ideas to the test and I will let you know how I do.

My updated workout pictures can be found on the Facebookpage!

Day Four

While I survived the move, which was all done over the course of a week in 89-90 degree temperatures and trying to guess when it might rain. It was defiantly hard and at times so exhausting I just wanted to throw my hands up and give up. However I am so blessed to have some many people encouraging me and helping along with it that every time I felt like giving up, I got right back up and keep on moving.  One of my very good friends sent me an amazing message right after the break up happen, reminding me that I am one of the strongest people she knows and that if anyone can get through this I can. If that doesn’t keep you moving I don’t know what will.

I am official moved into my first place where I am leaving completely by myself, it’s a studio apartment that is five minutes away where I work and central located to get pretty much anywhere in Rochester. I have crazy about finding creative storage ideas online and also figuring out what I want this new space to look like (colors will be blue and yellow with gray, cream and dark wood to accent).  I am planning on changing it around as I start to discover the new me.

I started back working out and I been really focus on being good to my body and taking care of me. It’s just a refreshing change. How often do we pour into others without pouring into ourselves? It happens so much and I feel very liberated for allowing myself time to myself.

I start every morning with weight training or cardio. I am currently using the Supreme 90 Day system and I will keep you updated on my progress as I go along. I haven’t found a review of the system where the person is completely at the end of the 90 day period. So we will see how I look after. I finish every night with yoga and journaling. It really has helped to get me on a better sleep schedule. I am trying to keep to getting eight hours of sleep whenever possible and also am very big on getting my 8-10 glasses of water in a day.

I am currently reading Naturally Thin by Bethenny Frankel and I can tell you I am loving it! It’s really changing the way I look at food and how I feed myself. Look for my full review of it coming early next week

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How do you treat yourself during a stressful time? Through this process I am really learning to love myself through the process and try to keep a positive attitude on life and on what is coming next.  That doesn’t mean that at times I haven’t felt like a failure or so distort I am not sure what to feel  but I try to move out of “pity city” as I like to call it quickly and focus on all the amazing things that I can do now to get ready for what is next.

I know that true happiness comes from taking care of and knowing yourself first so that is where I am at. Remember to like our page on Facebook to get pictures, ideas, inspirations and check my progress!