I Live at the Gym Now

So a month or so ago, I remembered UFC*. Some of the Gracies live in my hometown and I remember my dad watching UFC when it first started. I’ve watched a few fights since then, but never made any real effort to follow it until recently. And then I decided I wanted to start kickboxing, so I looked up local gyms.

I went to check out one, which was both hella intimidating and awesome at the same time. Intimidating in that it’s an MMA gym where people are actually training to be fighters. It’s completely no frills – there’s an area with mats for sparring, a ring for boxing, and an area with a bunch of punching bags and free weights. That’s it. And while I was touring and getting my free intro lesson, they decided to throw a little physical assessment at me – 1 minute of sit ups, 1 minute of push ups, 1 minute of burpees. Yuck. We won’t talk about the overall results – though I will say that I did 37 real push ups!

Since then, I’ve been at the gym almost constantly (hence my lack of posting). I’m taking beginner’s boxing, beginner’s kickboxing, yoga, and a class called cardio kickboxing that incorporates circuit training with kickboxing (it is HARDCORE. So hardcore that I may have thrown up halfway through the first workout… but I still finished the workout!). I’m also considering taking the beginner’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class, but I haven’t worked up the nerve for that yet. Plus, have you seen people do BJJ? They frequently end up with their heads near the crotch of their opponent. And that’s just awkward (especially since guys usually significantly outnumber the girls in the classes I go to).

Anyway, I haven’t lost any more pounds, but after only two weeks, I can see muscle definition in my arms and legs that wasn’t there before and I’ve lost half an inch off my waist. Unfortunately, we’re leaving Georgia in about 6 weeks, so I don’t have much time left to take classes here, but I’m interested to see how much more progress I can make before we leave here! And I’m hoping I can find a similar gym in DC and make a seamless transition.

Probably a stretch… but anyone out there have recs for a good MMA gym in the DC area?

*This, like so many things in my life, may have been linked to the reading of a romance novel.

25 Pounds!

I hit a goal this week:

Thanks My Fitness Pal for tracking my calories and workouts for me! In other news, I bought my first pair of jeans with a size in the single digits… ever. That was a very good feeling.

And for more good feelings, let’s check out some pictures.

Me, last December:

Me, in August, after a run (running in Georgia in the summer is gross):

Me, two weeks ago:

I’m a happy Sespi right now

Just 15 more pounds to my goal weight!

I Grew a Muscle!

A while ago I won a giveaway that Jessica from Deployment Divas was hosting and scored a free Bravo Tango Tees shirt.

I picked the Rosie the Riveter shirt and it got here yesterday.

I’m in love. Isn’t it cute?

Anyway, today I was getting lots of compliments on it, so I was going to take a picture and post it to Twitter (yes, I realize I may have a Twitter addiction…), and then I looked at the picture:

Holy muscle definition, Batman! I don’t know where that came from, but I think I like it. Steve*, I take back 99% of the negative things I said about you. (And yes, I was flexing a la Rosie the Riveter but that part didn’t make it into the picture.)

* Steve is better and more accurately known as Tony Horton, the creator of P90X. Why I call him Steve is a long story. Just go with it.

Running Motivation

Sitting at dinner, talking about running.

Me: I think I’m going to try to run three miles without stopping on Saturday.
Chris: Do you want to know what I do when I want to stop running? I say, “Hey, stop being a wuss.”
Me: Do you know what the difference between you and me is?
Chris: You’ll admit that you’re a wuss?

Oh, it is so on. I’m running three miles without stopping on Saturday, even if it kills me. I have enough stubbornness in me to propel my dead body to the end of the three mile loop. I’ll watch an episode of Alias, set my iPod to Navy SEAL cadences (yes, I really do run to those when I want to feel hardcore… what is wrong with me?), put on my OCS PT shirt (inside out) to remind myself that I’m capable of more than I think I am*, and finish that 3 mile loop. In 18 minutes. Ok, probably more like 36 minutes, but I’ll finish it!

[If you're wondering, the difference between Chris and me is that the way I feel after running 2 miles is the way he feels after running about 9 miles... and he normally only does between 3 and 6, so I'm already pushing myself harder than he pushes himself. I am not a wuss. Q.E.D.]

* I didn’t stay at OCS very long, but I lasted long enough to pass the PRT… after only a couple hours of sleep, running up and down stairs all day, and being blind because I didn’t have contacts or glasses. See, more proof of my hardcoreness.

P90x: Day 1

So, as I mentioned before, I’m starting P90x. For reals. And I’ll blog about the workouts to keep me accountable and track my progress. Or at least until I get bored of blogging about them.

P90x is hardcore. And I’ve been told that Day 1 is the most hardcore. I am not hardcore. Yet. So keep in mind when reading these numbers that I’m using bands to simulate chin ups/pull ups and half of those push ups (ok, 80% of them) were on my knees. Still… I didn’t do too shabbily!

So totals for Day 1… aka Chest and Back (and abs) day… aka “Muscles I Didn’t Know I Had” day:

Exercise: Total (First Set, Second Set)

Standard Push Ups: 34 (20, 14)
Wide Pull Ups: 35 (22, 13)
Military Push Ups: 18 (12, 6)
Reverse Grip Chin Ups: 43 (19, 24)
Wide Push Ups: 29 (13, 16)
Close Grip Chin Ups: 42 (26, 16)
Decline Push Ups: 9 (5, 4)
Heavy Pants: 21 (10, 11)
Diamond Push Ups: 22 (12, 10)
Lawn Mowers: 28 (16, 12)
Dive Bombers (MY PERSONAL HELL!): 6 (4, 2)
Back Flys: 31 (10, 21) <– The difference there is due to me figuring how to do them correctly.

At least this workout doesn't come up on the schedule again for another week…