Couch to 5K

I need to work on being more consistent with my blogging. Last night when I was out running I had time to think and blogging is one of the thoughts that went through my head. I was thinking that I need to share with others the experience that I am having with the Couch to 5K running program. Four weeks ago my daughter, Alicia asked me if I wanted to try the Couch to 5K running program. I had heard of it before but really had no idea what it involved. She shared the Cool Running web site with me and I thought, why not. I remember saying to her in the past, while watching a 5K race, that I needed to start running because there were no fat runners.

So four weeks ago I put on my Nike cross trainers, downloaded a C25K app on my Android phone and started the program. The first week wasn't bad at all. Heck, anyone can jog for 60 seconds followed by 90 seconds of walking. Together, Alicia and I completed the first week of the program. We started to involve others and created a private group on Facebook for friends that expressed an interest in the Couch to 5K program. We have been using the group to encourage and motivate each other. Most of us agree that the first two weeks were not bad, but when we reached week three it got a little more difficult. Some people opted to repeat week two because they didn't feel they were ready to tackle week three. I however was determined to keep going. Week three involves three minutes straight of jogging. At first I wasn't sure if I would be able to go three minutes straight without walking but I was determined and made it happen. I felt so proud of myself, after all I am 52 years old and have never been a runner. I am proud to say that I survived week three and I'm almost done with week four which involves three minutes AND five minutes of straight jogging.

Each time I complete a workout I feel stronger. I am determined to complete the 9 week program. My friend Rachel and I have signed up for the Grand Rapids Urban Adventure Race on October 6th. I am training for this race by running and riding my bike. I haven't decided what 5K Race I will run in the fall, but plan to complete the Couch to 5K program and run in at least one 5K Race.

INSANITY: THE ASYLUM™

This week I started a new 30 day workout program called INSANITY: THE ASYLUM. This program is recommended for people that have completed THE INSANITY program. I completed INSANITY several months ago and have since been doing ChaLEAN Extreme. So when my daughter, Alicia purchased INSANITY: THE ASYLUM and asked if I wanted to start it with her after we returned for the Beachbody Summit I said sure. We both started on Sunday by doing the Fit Test. The Fit Test is about 25 minutes of Agility Heisman's, In and Outs, Pull ups/Push ups, Mountain Climbers, Agility should taps, X jumps, moving pushups, agility lateral shuffle and agility bear crawl. The program comes with a plastic/strapped ladder that you lay on the floor and use to jump and crawl between the rungs of the ladder. We completed the fit test and I thought if this is a preview of what's to come, I'm in trouble.

DAY 1 - Speed and Agility. I thought I was going to die! I have not worked up a sweat like that in a very long time. I have this love/hate relationship with Shaun T. He pushes you to dig deeper and not give up. I gave the workout 100% although I was not able to keep up. But being 52 years old, I felt very proud of myself when the workout was over.

DAY 2 - Strength. I liked this workout because it involved weights and strength training. I was able to keep up with most of the workout until the end where the pushups started to get the best of me. I ended up doing pushups on my knees but again stuck with it and did my very best.

DAY 3 - Back to Core. I was so sore in the morning that I could hardly move. I put the workout off until later in the day when my body had time to loosen up some. My shoulders were so sore from all of the pushups in Day 2. This workout works your back and would not be bad if my shoulders weren't already so sore.

DAY 4 - Vertical Plyo. OMG! Another hard workout. I'm going to be honest, I could not keep up with this workout. There is a lot of jumping moves and my heart was beating hard. I again worked up a sweat like never before.

So far I would have to say this is the hardest workout I have ever done.The program is advertised as, "With INSANITY you focused on improving your cardiovascular endurance and on total body conditioning. So, what's left? How about improving your balance, agility, power, strength, and coordination? Jump higher. Run faster. If you want to become an elite athlete or just improve your game, THE ASYLUM is your winning strategy." It definitely stands up to its advertisements. I haven't given up yet, it's only a 30 day program so I will stick with it and give it my best.

Western Caribbean Cruise

A week ago I returned from a 7 day Western Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Legend. It was the most relaxing vacation I have taken in a very long time. My husband and I married on 1-1-11 and decided to take the cruise for our honeymoon. We flew to Tampa Florida and cruised to Cozumel Mexico, Belize, Roatan Honduras and Caymen Islands. We spent one day at each of the ports and had two days at sea. If you have never been on a cruise before you really should try it. This was my sixth cruise and most certainly not my last.

Before I went on the cruise one of the things I worried about was my diet. Having been on several cruises before I knew that you spent a lot of time eating things you would normally not eat at home. When we cruise, every night we go to the formal dining room and have the appetizer, main entree and dessert.  To the left are pictures of the Maine Lobster and Prime Rib, followed by the Chocolate Melting Cake, just an example of one nights dinner. I never eat that much when at home.

I had been working so hard to lose weight for my wedding in January and had been doing a good job of keeping the weight off. What was going to happen the week of the cruise? I tried really hard to limit the amount of food I ate but I did splurge and try new things like the Chocolate Melting Cake. Oh my, is that ever the best dessert and I don't even really care for chocolate.

I had ever intention of working out while on the cruise. I took my workout clothes with me and on the first day made a point of finding out where the gym was on the boat. Well guess what? I NEVER worked out in the gym all week long. I was so busy doing other activities, and spent a lot of time walking each day that we were at a port that I just never made it to the gym. When I got home I was afraid to step on the scale for two days. When I finally got up the courage to step on the scale I had put on ONE pound! I was happy with that one pound because I knew it wouldn't take much to get rid of it.

Now that I'm back home I'm back to my normal routine. While I was gone the new BowFlex SelectTech weights arrived so I started doing the ChaLEAN Extreme 90 day program. Chalene says that because I'm getting older, it's not my metabolism that is slowing down. It's that I've lost muscle and muscle burns fat. I've been busy building muscle this past week. I'll talk more about my progress in a future blog.

I want everyone to know that there will be times when you are tempted to eat the wrong things and will not be able to follow your strict diet. Enjoy those moments and then get back on track to eating healthy and regular exercise. You can do it!

Who is Sally Vrooman?

This is my first official Blog. Who would have ever guessed I would be blogging? I've always said I want to write a book, but I could never figure out what to write about. Maybe blogging will inspire me. I plan to use this blog as a personal journal to track my fitness journey. I should have started blogging over a year ago because that is when I started my fitness journey.

Let me start by telling you a little bit about who I am. I am a 52 year old woman that has had three children. With each child I gained 10 pounds that I never lost. I remember when I was 19 years old and in college, I weighed 99 pounds. This memory stays with me because I was on a college swim team and each morning we would weigh in. I was always under 100 pounds and so proud of it. Being on a swim team and working out four hours a day, it was easy to stay slender and physically fit. After college I got married and started to raise my family. I was a stay at home mom for many years, doing child care in my home. Being at home I wore sweat pants and t-shirts every day. I never really worried about my weight, just accepted that gaining weight was a fact of life. Over the years I gradually went from a size 3 to a size 14.

I tried to work on my weight but never put my heart in to it. I purchased all types of workout equipment; Gazelle, BlowFlex, AbCruncher, Wii Fit, and more. I guess I thought if I bought the equipment the weight would magically come off. It became a joke in the family, what had Mom bought now? In January 2010 I decided to sign up to be a Beachbody Coach so I could receive a 25% discount on workout DVD programs. As a Coach I had the opportunity to buy a starter kit that included several workout programs. A friend and coworker had been talking about Beachbody and Shakeology on her Facebook for months and she was losing weight and looking good. I finally asked her to tell me more about Shakeology and the next thing you know I'm signing up. I thought if she can look that good, so can I.

I have to be honest, at first my heart wasn't really in it. I had the workout DVDs and I would put a DVD in, try a couple of workouts but never stuck to any program. Do you see a pattern in my life? I was drinking the Shakeology and enjoying how it made me feel. My daughter had started the P90X program and was pushing play everyday. I kept making excuses and she finally made me feel guilty, so I decided to do it with her. Together we did P90X and both of us were losing weight. Imagine that! After P90X we both did the Insanity 60 Day program. We thought P90X was crazy hard, but Insanity is Insane! We were both officially addicted to working out and well on our way to reaching our fitness goals.

I will continue to blog and share about my fitness journey. Hopefully you will follow me and come back for more. I would love to hear from my readers. Have you struggled to lose weight? Have you fell victim to the exercise equipment gadgets over the years like me? Have you tried exercise DVD's? Gym memberships? What has worked for you?