Love is a battlefield

Ahhhh…the things we do for love! Am I right ladies? Isn’t it crazy the hoops we jump through for men? Highlights, manicures, pedicures, gym memberships…the list goes on and on and on. Oh sure, we justify these things by saying we “do them for ourselves”, but in reality, who are we kidding? We do these things to be “prettier” for the men we hope to attract. Sure I like a good manicure and pedicure, but do I really “NEED” one every other week? No, but I get one every other week for fear of running into someone cute at, let’s say, the grocery store…wearing a pair of flip flops. Men notice these things…trust me, they may tell you they don’t but they do.

I like to try new things to spice up my appearance. For example, this past week at my monthly spa appointment I tried something called a “derma plane”. This is a process of removing the peach fuzz from a woman’s face. I know it sounds kind of corny, but don’t knock it until you have tried it…Thanks Amy for the recommendation!

Another thing I have done to try to keep myself up is join a Boot Camp class. This spring I got a call from my friend Josh, who I used to work with. He owns a gym now and was starting a boot camp class and asked if I wanted to join. I am always up for the challenge so I said, “Hell yes”! Five months in and I am still loving it! I have only lost a few pounds but I have gone down two dress sizes and am currently concentrating on dwindling down my body fat percentage.

I do this class three mornings a week from 6am-7am. Most mornings it is a huge challenge to get up and get to class…I am not a morning person! But once I am done I feel awesome. And if I end up not going to class I really do feel fat all day. There was one day when I struggled to get up and get dressed for class, drug my ass out of the house, drove for almost 20 minutes and then turned around, drove home and went back to bed. That’s right people…I was five minutes away from the gym and turned around and came home…that was a tough day! The reason I love this class is because it is such a challenge, physically and mentally! I have been a couple of times when people have been wearing watches that track the number of calories they are burning during the 1 hour workout. Their numbers are anywhere from 900 calories to 1400 calories…in one hour! When I leave the gym I literally look like I have taken a shower I am so sweaty and usually my legs and arms are still shaky by the time I get to work.

The reason I am telling you this is because this weekend marks the end of the Summer Pound Down that we have been participating in for three months. And how do we reward ourselves? Me? Well, I reward myself with a day to sleep in and a huge pancake breakfast upon waking! The other, more motivated people than me? They reward themselves with a three hour challenge. Hold onto your hats people…here is what is involved in the challenge that these dedicated gym goers will be doing tomorrow morning as I am stuffing myself with pancakes…keep in mind all of these things are timed as well as counted…

1. 3 mile run…I know, sounds easy! But this, my friend, is just the warm up.

2. 24 hill runs…this is just what it says…running up and down a huge hill 24 times. And if you are lucky, running is the only thing you are doing. Sometimes, if Josh is in a grumpy mood, we have to do things like lunges and side shuffles up and down the hill…SUCKS!

3. Push ups…Men have to do 400 and women have to do 200 if they are done normally or 400 if they are done on the knees. I was talking to Josh today and he is allotting 30 minutes for this portion of the challenge. He can do 400 pushups in under 5 minutes, I’m just saying! The dude has a kick as body and his strength is AMAZING!

4. Farmers walk…this may sound easy, but it sucks too. You have to walk back and forth on a flat surface carrying 50% of your body weight if you are a man and 35% of your body weight if you are a woman. In Josh’s explanation of this particular event, you have to walk 10 “small” laps. Well, I got news for you…there is no such thing as a “small” lap when you feel like you are going to throw up!

5. And last but not least…everyone has to do 500 burpees. What is a burpee you might ask? Well, in short it is PURE HELL! For those of you that don't know what a burpee is here is a link to see one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Dq_NCzj8M). Sucks, doesn’t it? I can maybe do 25 in a row before feeling like I have to throw up…I don’t know how these people are going to do 500 of them.

So, to my buddies at Survival Fitness who are challenging themselves this weekend…I say Good Luck and Kudos to you. I will definitely be thinking about you as I am stuffing myself full of pancakes laden with fresh blueberries, homemade maple syrup and a couple of strips of lean bacon.