DVD workouts!

I was so excited to receive my Tracy Anderson Metamorphosis workout DVDs in the mail today. www.tracyandersonmethod.com  I've never met Tracy or done her workouts before but several girlfriends last week were raving about them. I took it as a sign to order ;)

Actually, I was debating whether to get the DVDs and work out at home or renew my gym membership and continue to use a personal trainer. I like both methods and changing it up works for me. Since I need to sign a new gym contract, I figured this was a good time to wait on that, and try the DVDs for a few months.  If I love them, it will only save me money in the long run. And if I don't, I'll pass them along to friends and go back to the gym. So, sorry for the last minute changes from what I told you I was going to do last week. But this could actually be more fun to blog about since we can do it together! Is anyone already doing Tracy Anderson's Method?

My friend Clare at www.peak313.com is a fitness guru! She posted an awesome article at my online magazine Roo that gives you the low down on how to get a personal trainer workout in the comfort of your own home. She shares her favorite FREE sites as well as top DVDs. Check out the article here: http://www.roomag.com/how-to-get-a-personal-trainer-workout-in-the-comfort-of-your-home/

Hopefully, I'll start these today! I actually had to go to a physical therapist yesterday because I'm experiencing some problems in my neck and back- which we think is all muscle related and not nervous system related. So, I've really been taking it easy and that's why I haven't been blogging about my workouts. They've been non-existent really except walking. But, i'm missing them and hoping to get back into it without too much pain.

I'm off to take those starting measurements. If Tracy is right, I'll be toning muscles I never knew I had and getting leaner than I ever knew was possible. ;) hehe

I Want To Be An Olympian!

If you don't have the Olympics on your brain... well, I just don't know what to say. I LOVE the Olympics and it's been one of my favorite things to watch since I was a little girl. Not because I've aspired to be a professional athlete, but because these men and women competing are THE BEST OF THE BEST. How cool is that?! This is their shot at breaking a world record, an Olympic record and holding a title that no one else in the world can hold for a 4 year period.. and possibly more. The concept at being the best excites me, amazes me and sometimes leaves me speechless.

You can only imagine how excited I was when Val was asked to be on the Russian Hockey Team for the 1998 Nagano and 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. I'm telling you, I screamed louder and was more excited about it than he was! I felt like it was my shot at being there and his medals were my medals. Val won Silver in Japan and Bronze in U.S. (both of which I wore on the plane rides home because... 1.) I was SUPER beyond excited and proud to have in my possession a real Olympic medal. 2.) It was REALLY fun to have people think that I won the medal. 3.) Val wouldn't wear the medal because they weren't gold. Sigh... Always the competitor!  But we know that unless it's an actual race, coming in any other place other than 1st does NOT make you a "loser" despite my husband's competitive spirit. I think that being a participant is pretty awesome, regardless of the standings.

Here I am with Val and Maks (who was just 3 weeks old). Look closely for the bronze medal around Val's neck! 

We can't all be Olympians, but we can participate in the games of life. I watched our U.S. Women's Gymnastic team last night and was in awe of what they could do. And no, I didn't grow a sudden love for gymnastics because I was on show about it. I've always loved watching the sport and seeing their dedication, commitment, endurance, strength: both mentally and physically, and heart gives me chills. No, I can't walk and flip on a 4 inch beam or swing from 2 bars let alone kip up on one. But I can exhibit the same kind of dedication, endurance, strength and commitment in my life. Each one of us can be an Olympian in our own right. We can sacrifice and strengthen our resistant muscles to say "No" to junky foods and to get up and get out to work out every day.

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

Did you catch the interview with Gabby Douglas last night after she clinched her spot to compete in the All-Around Finals? They asked her how she mentally prepared and said she gives it to God and meditates on scripture!!!! This girl gave the glory to God boldly and I just about whooped and hollered on my couch! Gabby is a Christian and I was overjoyed at watching her share her testimony at her church days before London. Watch it here and be encouraged by this 15 year old! http://vimeo.com/45535275

So, how is your Olympic spirit doing? If you've got God on your side, you're in the games! Let's take a look at these athletes and learn from them that with perseverance, endurance and a willingness to learn and try new things, we can mold and shape our bodies into the one we would like to see it become.

In my Bure jersey, rooting on Team Russia in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics with Maks. I painted his little hat and the t-shirt underneath is jacket with a Russian flag and numbers 20 and 10 (for Val and his brother Pavel). 

Off For the Weekend

Hey there!

I'll be out of town for my dear friend's wedding. Not too much to blog about this morning.
I'm still waiting for my Tracy Anderson DVDs to arrive and am looking forward to toning up these arms of mine.=!

Eating... well, it's been good but I have 5 out to dinner evening in a row. Last night a made OK choices while at a birthday party (Mexican food, my favorite) and did eat the WHOLE piece of chocolate cake. That's fine, I just can't eat a WHOLE piece of cake at tonight's wedding or tomorrow's BBQ. Moderation is the key. I'll be keeping my portions small, because we know that everything is permissible, we just have to decide if it is beneficial for us.

Have a fantastic weekend! I know I will.

Excuses Are For Losers

The title of this post is my husband's favorite phrase. Seriously, he uses it all the time. It doesn't always go over so well with the other parents when Val's coaching the boys' hockey teams. Maybe it gives you some insight into the kind of man I'm married to. ;)

I'll just be straight up honest. I was going to post a super cute video of us working out as a family from yesterday morning. I have fun snippets from my camera phone of Val explaining the workout we were going to do for the day and the kids demonstrating the exercises. I guess I should tell you too that Val trains our 3 kids each summer starting in late July and all of August to get them back up to speed and ready for hockey and tennis. We've worked out as a family for years, and since coming back from our European vacation, workouts went into full force for Val and the kids last week too.

But only 5 minutes into our run, I got irritated at something Val said to me (which was a miscommunication) and I bailed. I knew I wouldn't work out to the best of my ability and well... excuses are for losers. So I decided to walk home. It took an hour and it was beautiful looking at the ocean and walking up and down the hills. I listened to one of my favorite groups Selah which totally cooled off my emotions. Once Val and the kids got home, we immediately talked it over and were all good. :) Needless to say... no cute video, but I did walk 3.8 miles and it was a good start to getting back into exercising.

I'm reading Hebrews and this popped off the page for me to share with you today: Heb. 3:7-8

 So, as the Holy Spirit says:

"Today, if you hear his voice, 

do not harden your hearts

as you did in the rebellion,

during the time of testing in the desert, "

You see, the Israelites weren't able to enter into His rest because they didn't heed God's voice  and disobeyed. They were stubborn and over time their hearts were hardened and they missed out!

What if we hear the voice of the holy spirit nudge us today and we push it aside? And again, and again, and again? That's most likely how we got in our cycle of weight gain in the first place. Casting off the little voice that says... "Put down the fork, you're satisfied. Grab an apple instead of the chips. Stop grabbing a piece of candy just cause it's sitting on someone's desk. You're going out to dinner with friends in 3 days, save your dessert night for then instead of having it every night" will eventually cause you to stop hearing it. And you'll never enter into a place of rest with your body. God has an abundance of promises and blessings waiting for you when you dive into his word and listen to his voice. It doesn't mean it will be easy or that changes won't have to be made. They will! Listen to his voice today because EXCUSES ARE FOR LOSERS.  And I say that in total love!! Can you feel it?!  :)


       

First week down!

Sorry I missed yesterday's blog. I had to work early in the am on a reshoot for a movie I filmed 4 years ago! I know, it's a crazy business and sometimes movies will sit on a shelf unfinished because something about it wasn't quite right. Filmmakers then get busy working on other projects and well... it can take 4 years to get everyone together again to rewrite and reshoot! I'll keep you updated on its release date once I know.

Today, week 1 is finished! I'm definitely feeling a whole lot better than I did 7 days ago and I'm down 5 pounds. :) I expected that since the first 5 days I was on a juice cleanse. Of course I'd lose weight not eating solids and giving my body a detox. It was the jumpstart I was looking for and helped me eat clean meals the last two days without wanting junky foods. I also know a few of those pounds may creep back on, but praying that I'll continue to make good and healthy choices, not allowing my "cravings" to get the best of me. I must exercise my resistance muscle to saying "no".  Especially since it's that wonderful time of the month! :) Chocolate...can you hear me calling your name?!

Yesterday I drank a 12 oz fruit smoothy for breakfast, had a small turkey salad with tomato, cucumbers and peppers created out of 4 subway sandwiches (which they provided on set for lunch). I basically scrapped the bread and cheese, snacked on 2 apples, a banana, a handful of almonds and dinner... well, time got the best of me. I know, not very healthy to skip it, I didn't intend to, but worked until 7pm, had to pick up Natasha an hour away at 8 and got home at 9. We stopped for frozen yogurt on the way home and I got a small with almonds on top. I munched on a handful of strawberries Val cut up and stored in the fridge and I hit my pillow by 9:30.

I haven't really worked out this week, but it starts this morning. I'm off with Val and the kids to run on the beach and do some exercises. I'll fill you in tomorrow. Also, after talking to several girlfriends, I was convinced to order Tracy Anderson's Metamorphosis workout videos. I can't wait to get them this week! Maybe you want to start them together with me?

Have an awesome day! Stay strong, stay in the word of God and make good choices!

Cleansing or Fasting? What's the difference?

My last day of the juice cleanse. Whoo HOO! Actually, not really because I enjoyed it! It was kind of nice not having to think about food all day long and what my next meal was going to be. I'm not super excited to dive into regular foods, only because I feel so clean! My body is rid of most refined sugars (which is my biggest challenge) that I ate over vacation. I'm kind of in the zone, and that's exactly what I was hoping a juice cleanse would do. It not only helped me clean out my system and remove my sugar cravings, but gave me a jump start into a desire to continue on my normal healthy living routine and eat clean foods and smaller portions.

I wanted to mention, because it came up on the comments in yesterday's post, that what I'm doing as a juice cleanse, is not the same as fasting. Yes, the dietary restrictions may look the same, but fasting goes along with continuous prayer for a specific need. While I'm spending time with the Lord every morning, praying and reading my bible, I want to be clear that I'm not fasting about losing weight. In fact, after doing Beth Moore's study on Daniel several years ago, I've understood that fasting should never be about weightless. Please don't get the two confused or put one in place of the other.

If I'm fasting, which my husband and I prayerfully have done together at times, we are seeking God's counsel for a very specific need. While fasts can be done in a variety of ways like fasting just one meal a day or just fasting specific foods and drinks, our fasts have eliminated everything but water. Again, this should NEVER have anything to do with weightless or be done for that reason. Biblical fasting is to seek God's face, to hear His voice clearly and to use the hunger cries as a reminder to continually pray. We've fasted over parenting issues, we've fasted over our son's health when he was 4 years old and had multiple surgeries and I've fasted as a wife when I've needed extra counsel from the Lord.

My juice cleanse this week, was not fasting. I was not in prayerful attention over a specific need even though I've sought the Lord each day. And I wasn't fasting about losing weight. The juice cleanse was just that- a cleanse to rid my body of all the junk I put in it over vacation. But I will tell you, that while I wasn't consumed with the thoughts of food this week, it did allow me to reflect more on the bigger things in life and hear God's voice more clearly on those subjects.

OK, I'm off to tape a segment on Marie Osmand's new talk show, coming to Hallmark Channel very soon! I'll let you know the details when I get them. I'll say HI to her from you. hehe ;) I'm looking forward to seeing Bugsy- the shaggy dog I worked with on my latest movie called "Puppy Love". He'll be doing the interview with me! I'll take a pic and share tomorrow or share on my Twitter feed.

Have a fabulous day- and remember to do what is good! Keep making healthy decisions, one choice at a time. Oh- and don't forget about working out or get walking!!  Now that my cleanse is over, I'll be sharing my exercise plan. :)