The Burg'

"The Burg" is a group of amazing people from my gym that has grown into a support system over the years. All of us have different fitness goals and passions and ages ranging from 26 to 65+. We all inspire each other to be the best we can be and to live healthy and fit lives. This group name really formed when we all signed up for The Rugged Maniac race this upcoming May 5th. Lynn, who works with me at the gym and teaches everything from spin to in-gym bootcamps, has set up a bi-monthy training course for everyone to prepare for this race (in addition to her regular classes that the majority of the group go to as a part of their routine). The training course is held at a local high school and consists of everything from hanging pullups, full on sprints, flipping tires and crawling on the ground. It is just awesome. Lynn is a body builder and has selflessly volunteered herself to be our coach and fearless leader by giving us advice and encouragement and coming up with amazing classes to keep things fresh and our bodies guessing. We all stay in touch through the classes at the gym and on Facebook. I could not ask for a better group of people to be around. Period.

In my post yesterday, I proudly displayed some battle scars from this past weekends training and I figured I could share some pictures of the pain fun we all had!

The whole group! Rear Row from Left to Right: Greg, Shay, Me, Jamel, Kevin, Melinda, Tony and Tracy. Front Row from Left to Right: Robin, Lynn and Kristin. * This is not the whole team. Just the ones who made it out this past weekend*



xoxo
Pearl

Roadblock & Battle Scars

I have hit a huge road block in my workout routines. My energy is drained. This past 3-day weekend I managed to squeeze in one Brazil Butt Lift video (ONE!) and my bootcamp workout on Saturday. Skipped my planned bike ride on Easter Sunday due to the aforementioned bootcamp because it straight up whooped me and I was SORE. (We do these hanging pull ups on the football goal post...oh. em. gee.) Meanwhile, I decided that jumping over a fence several times to avoid walking around was a smart idea. It was until I then decided to face plant and completely loose my balance that I got these bad boys.....

(Just know I didn't mean for my leg to be ashy in that last picture. It happens. At least I shaved, so bonus for you.)

So PITY PARTY for ME! Well, not really. I bruise so easy that this is nothing. I did man up and go to bootcamp this morning and stepped it up a bit. My arms were sore going into it but I think it loosened them up a bit. I am not sure that it is possible to do that but I am rationalizing it that way. So there ;)

Cheers to hoping I actually get back into my routine tomorrow morning! WHOOP!


xoxo
Pearl

Brazil Butt Lift Half-Point Review and Ab-tastic April!

Today marks the half way point of my Brazil Butt Lift (BBL) challenge through my coach at Beachbody and the start of the April "Ab-tastic"Challenge where the goal is to do 6,000 (!!!) ab moves the entire month. It adds up to be 200 moves a day so that seems more doable :) I am just adding it into my routine and we will see what difference it makes. This also marks 45 days of using Shakeology and I am confident saying it has made a HUGE difference!

Ok now my review so far of BBL. This is my third program through Beachbody (Insanity and Turbofire were the others) and to say I am hooked is an understatement. The different with the others is I really just incorporated it into my existing routine so I didn't do the suggested program outline. With the other two programs I lost 15 pounds and several inches over the course of about 7 months. Now on my frame that is alot of weight. It was great to get rid of my "happy weight" as I lovingly call it now because it all started creeping on when I started dating Jason and going out to dinners and fishing with a cooler of Bud Light and cold fried chicken. These were taking priority over my workouts. No regrets there! Haha!

Now a few of my "before" pics. I looked at these and just was in shock.

I look prego in that Christmas photo fo' real. Ugh. Spanx did not help at all. (How adorable is Mousse in this picture btw?! Secret? Put a tennis ball on the couch beside the camera. Like a charm.)

SO. Just to give you a little idea what got me really motivated. Keep in mind I was still working out pretty regularly. My diet was 100% what was wrong.

Oh and. Yes. I know I change my hair a lot. It is just what I do. It has changed like 6 times in two years.

I digress. Back to BBL and the purpose of this post. Ahem.

The only thing I changed out with this program is replacing the Tuesday workouts with bootcamp at my gym and the cardio segments with Turbofires HIIT sessions (High Intensity Interval Training). The cardio dvd's through BBL were silly and a little less intense that what I like from cardio sessions. I love pouring sweat and being gross so when I was done with the BBL 45 minute cardio DVD and still had energy to go outside and run a mile, I knew I had to up it up a bit! The "Sculpt" and "High and Tight" sessions are my favorite so far and I will definitely keep those exercises up after the challenge is done.

Now as far as progress, it has only been 30 days so not much. My weight hasn't changed (I am not really trying to loose weight, just tone up) but I have lost an inch and a half in my thighs, an inch in my arms and an inch in my waist. Nothing in my hips. Boo. I think I will change up my diet a bit little more and see if that helps.

 Before : March 1, 2012.................................................Half-way : April 1, 2012

I did not see ANY change when I first looked at these photos so of course I stared at them not believing there was absolutely NO change after losing a mere inch or so. I can actually see the "crease" less defined where my hamstring meets the butt cheek. You like my technical terms? :) This means my butt is going in the right direction! High and tight means NO crease. I will also remember to keep my posing consistent with my arms.

Sidenote: Me posting pictures is a huge step for me. Not that I am ashamed or anything but I am a very modest person. Why post them then? I have seen so many inspirational people blog on their struggles/achievements/goals that I thought if I can motivate one person, then I am happy. So thank you to all those that inspire me everyday. You know who you are.

Need to get my rest tonight! Gonna need it in the morning!

xoxo
Pearl

Can I be lazy AND motivating? Hmm.

I struggled like woah this morning when I heard my alarm go off to get up and start my day. It went a little something like this:

5:25 am - Iphone alarm goes off.
5:25 am and three seconds - Alarm disabled.
5:27 am - My eyes are closed for just a few more minutes.
6:06 am - Just happen to wake up to the sounds of Al Bundy coming from our t.v. and realized how late I was running. Rolled over.
6:15 am - Ok seriously have to get up now.

Once I was up and semi-functioning, I realized I had enough time to pop in my Turbo Fire HIIT 25 dvd and my Brazil Butt Lift High and Tight...so I can look like this right?

YESSSSSSSS. You know it :)

I also have super exciting plans of grocery shopping after work today to end with equally exciting plans of being lazy with J later on tonight and catching up on DVR episodes of South Park. Yes. We do that. Judge away.

Happy Hump Day!
xoxo
Pearl

{Workout Diary} Insanity - Plyometric Cardio

Whew. Well, Insanity is hard. I won't sugar coat that one. Ill be honest though I am loving it so far. It is very focused on endurance and it reminds me of athletic training which gets that competitive side of me super motivated. I did't do a workout today bc I had to sleep in after this crazy weekend but I will be at it tomorrow, bright and EARLY!!! (PS if you have old shoes or you workout in running shoes...invest in cross-trainers before you start this. It will be worth every penny, trust me. I refused to replace my trusty New Balance shoes and my feet and calves were making me pay for it...they are now in the garbage)

{Workout Diary} Insanity - Fit Test

So if you are like me and like to watch fitness commercials and infomercials from the comfort of your couch/bed then you know about the new Insanity program, right? Well. My good ole' buddy Gwen decided to get me roped into it. I've done workouts from its sister workout, P90X, and I loved them but never did the enter program bc I do other stuff at the gym too. What I liked about Insanity is you don't need weights or resistance bands, it is just full-blown cardio and it uses your own weight to do the toning. Since cardio has always been my down-fall, I was intrigued. So Gwen and I are doing it. The whole program. Just for fun? Maybe. To fit in our clothes a little better? Most Likely. Maybe a little wedding motivation going on? More me than her BUT I always am up for trying something new at the gym so she didn't have to do much convincing...

I did the fit test this morning (gotta love Ironbound Gym) and decided to keep more of a video blog in addition to tracking it on here. (Also an excuse to play more with my macbook pro...there is still so much I haven't used on this freaking thing!) DISCLAIMER: These videos will not be pretty so Im just warning you...haha!