Well that was unexpected…

The Workout

Yesterday was my 6^th Kickboxing session, and it was awesome. I can’t even describe it any other way. It’s amazing that I started taking these classes 3 weeks ago and I was embarrassed at how little I was able to accomplish then and how much stronger I’ve become since.

Initially I thought the “warm-ups” were just meant as a way for the instructors to have a little fun with us as we struggled to breathe and stand, but last night, I felt empowered. Yes, I was exhausted and covered in sweat, but I powered through and was able to accomplish the majority of the warm ups with only a couple of breaks in between during those 25 minutes. Just to give you an idea of what we covered during that time (from what I can remember anyway, I was too busy trying to remember to breathe throughout lol):

• Burpees
• 8 count burpees
• Squats
• Frog Squats
• Push Ups
• Modified Push Ups (all the way down to the floor, hands off the mat, and then raise yourself up again)
• Mountain Climbers
• Plank
• Leg Raises
• V-Ups
• Bicycle Crunches
• Jumping Lunges

I know that there were definitely a few more things included in there but I can’t remember them for the life of me right now.

This was the first night that I truly felt like my body was changing. I still have issues when it comes to the push-ups, but overall, I was able to power through every one of those other exercises and it was just a thrilling experience.

Ch-Ch-Changes…TBD?

Seeing as this is only week 3, I don’t feel like there are any obvious changes to my physical appearance yet. I feel like my body may be getting tighter, but I don’t quite see it yet. The most I can say is that I don’t feel or see as much bloating around my midsection so that’s good at least. My husband claims that I’m looking better overall but I’ve written that off as him just trying to be nice. I don’t think I’ll really see a change in myself until there are significant changes to my measurements and my clothing starts to feel much looser.

On a side note, we are going to be going down to Florida in the next 15 days for 9 days (Yay!!! – I could definitely use the break from work) and I do plan to go to the beach every day. It would be nice to at least see a bit of a decrease in my measurements by then so I just feel more comfortable walking around the beach and boardwalk. Here’s hoping that the rest of my sessions and my healthy eating are enough to warrant a bit more of a change by then!

Meals of the Week

Speaking of healthy eating, I’m also posting some of the meals we’ve had so far this week. The first was Roasted Pork Loin (on a bed of apples, onions, and carrots) with a side of roasted vegetables (potatoes, cauliflower, carrots) that we made for dinner on Monday. We proceeded to eat it for lunch as well on Tuesday and we still have about a quarter of the pork left at this point so we’ll re-purpose it as a stir fry probably tonight.

Tuesday I met up with a couple of friends after work that I hadn’t seen in a while and we ended up going out to get something to eat, but I didn’t do too badly. We ended up at a panini place and I got a roast pork, ham, cheese, and pickle sandwich on a whole wheat tortilla. They did also order some Belgian fries for the table for the three us to share, and I’ll be honest, I did have a few, but again, what are you going to do? This was a special occasion and as long as it’s not part of my everyday diet I don’t see why I can’t splurge here and there.

Last night though, after my kickboxing class I came home to find that MF (husband’s initials so I don’t keep referring to him as just the husband) had made a Kielbasa and Spinach Soup as seen below. So delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 link of Kielbasa, sliced
• 1 frozen package of Spinach
• 1 can Chick Peas
• 2 Carrots, sliced
• 1/2 medium Onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 medium potato, diced
• Low Sodium Chicken Stock

Directions:

1. Slice and sauté the kielbasa for a few minutes until it starts to get a little color.
2. Add carrots, garlic, and onion into the same pot and sauté for a couple of minutes until vegetables begin to soften.
3. Rinse chick peas and add to pan. Cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Add in chicken stock with bay leaves and diced potato until everything is covered.
5. Add 1 cup of water. Bring to a simmer for 45 minutes.
6. Add spinach once the soup is nearly finished (if you use frozen spinach this will cool down your soup) and bring to a boil.
7. Enjoy!

Note: This recipe came straight from my husband, a previous culinary school student.  Thank goodness he likes to play around with his food and come up with recipes!

So my 7^th session is scheduled for Saturday at 10am and I’ll be measuring up before I get to the class, so here’s hoping that some noticeable progress has occurred this week!

Oh- and a quick thank you to all of you that provided me with advice and polled on my last blog post. Looks like we’re going to be looking into Spinning next!