Destination Lincoln, Nebraska

Ashley and I drove 8 hours to attend the Beachbody Game Plan Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska. We had a great time and learned a lot of new information about Beachbody products. My main motivation to drive all that way was to try the new Shakeology replacement shake. They have two flavors: Greenberry and Chocolate. I was torn on which flavor I would like. After sampling both, Ashley and I both agreed on the Chocolate. We ordered our first months supply today! Ashley is going to use it to replace dinner on her long workdays and I am going to use it to replace lunch at work. If you have never heard of Shakeology, check out my website and see what all the hype is about!

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While we were in town for the conference we were able to enjoy the quirky town of Lincoln. 1. Keno is everywhere! This is Ashley's winning ticket. She won 50¢ (or lost $5.50 depending on how you look at it)! My Keno tickets. Ashley's Keno tickets. 2. People read novels... at the bars! 3. The bars close at 1AM and there is no bar time. 4. The legendary Zoo Bar is in Lincoln, Nebraska. Ashley in front of the bar. 5. Ashley ate a lot of fake food on this trip. This is hard to see, but Ashely ordered a chicken sandwich and we couldn't tell if it was chicken or fish. It was the fakest chicken we have ever seen!! 6. Rich. We met a man, who owned a mountain, who's mountain had uranium in it which upped the value of his mountain to $35 million. The mountain is in Colorado Springs! The mountain is Broadmoor Bluffs! Ashley and I had a good laugh at this for most of the night. 7. The University of Nebraska. Eat More Corn!! 8. Ashley found her Big Hunk in Nebraska! The "Big Hunk" gas station.

I Do Declare

Michael: Well, well, well, what is this contraption, I do declare?! Oscar: It's my Blackberry, Michael. I'm trying to get updates on the company. Michael: Who's Michael? I'm Caleb Crawdad, I do declare! Ryan: You don't have to keep saying 'I do declare.' Every time you say something, it means you're declaring it.

I am getting up at 6AM and going to the gym, I do declare!

The Odd Little Duck

My legs HURT! I feel like that is all I have been working lately. Ashley and I ran on the treadmill yesterday. I am happy to report that neither of us had the urge to puke nor did we fall (but the girl next to Ashley did). I ran/sprinted 3 miles in 29 minutes 20 seconds. I am pretty happy with this, but I have a long ways to go. I started mile one jogging at a 5.5 speed. I don't know why I put the speed in my posts, it's not like any of you know how fast or slow this is. In the second mile I sprinted 1/4 mile and jogged 1/4 mile and so on. I am pretty proud of myself. Ashley reminded me that 1/4 miles is one time around the track. This means that I sprinted a 400... twice! When I was on the track team my Freshman and Sophomore years I didn't have the stamina to sprint one lap around the track. Let's be honest, I had a hard time sprinting an entire 200. I was SSLLOOOOWW but more importantly I didn't know how to push myself past my comfort level. When I felt pain I pulled back instead of pushing through it. Instead of kicking as fast as I could at the end of the race I let up. The McCoins had me run a couple of different races to see where I fit in, but the truth is I was BAD. This time, I want to push myself past my limit and past the pain. I want to compete! The last mile I started out sprinting every other 18th of a mile, but in the end to keep from falling I switched to every 10th. All in all, a good, hard, mentally challenging workout. Sprinting 1/4 of a mile, without letting up, is a good accomplishment for me! I had big plans on getting up this morning and swimming. When my alarm went off at 6AM I knew there was no way in hell I was getting out of bed. Believe it or not, I made myself go to the gym after work. I should have done a round of P90X, but I guess I still have high hopes of Preston getting back into it with me and I don't want to move on without him. P90X would be cake if it weren't for the commitment (like everything else in life, right?). I had been wanting to try a group class, they always look full and full means a good class. So tonight I tried Body Sculpt or something like that. Boy was I out of place. Have you ever walked into something where everyone knew what was going on and what they were supposed to do, but you? People were getting steps and weights and mats and bars and more weights out of the closet. So what do you do when you have no idea what to do... you fake it! I grabbed anything and everything I could get my hands on. Luckily, the lady next to me was an expert and nice enough to help me. She asked if I lifted weights and I said yes, I mean I do do P90X. She asked if I lifted often and I said yes. Well technically the last P90X workout I did was probably two weeks ago, but still. So she told me how much weight to put on my bar and when to add and take off weight. Let me tell you this, she gave me too much credit!! At times the weight was too much, but to save face and my youthful persona I grunted through it. The class was interesting. We did legs, tricepts, bicepts, shoulders and some abs. I know I will go back at least once since I now have a handle on how the class is run, but something was off. I can't quite but my finger on it. I think what got me is the instructor said okay push up time. I LOVE push ups. In kickboxing Deb would kick our butts with push ups and in P90X Toney kicks your butt in push ups. But this lady didn't. She didn't push us. We might have done maybe 10 and the ladies and two men in the room were groaning like this was a lot. Deb if you are reading this I MISS YOUR PUSH UPS! With me I want the instructor to yell and threaten that I and anyone else in the class better not quit. This lady was too mellow for me. So I guess it wasn't the class, but the personality of the instructor. Not to mention that she sounded like she smoked. You can't smoke if your are going to teach others how to be fit!!! My opinion.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

My Husband Memories Augusta Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan Picture Cricut P90X FitFlops Arbonne RE9 Face Products Lady Foot Locker Jacket Celestial Decaf Green Tea P90X Recovery Drink Farmers State Bank Reusable Bags iPhone Apple MacBook Purse Key Finder BodyBugg Doggy Door

Rants from this Past Week

• Preston and I decided to trade in our Jeep (while it was still worth something) and get a new SUV. This means that we are no longer debt free. Kinda sad. This also means that our social life will not be as active as we would like. But the SUV is awesome. Talk about a bitter sweet feeling.
• I had a hard time with the diet. I sneaked M&M's at work (Yes you read this right. Does anyone else do this? Is this normal?), made organic chocolate chip cookies almost every night (which I am now addicted to), ate out a couple of times and ignored the healthy food that I bought at Sunflower. I was completely out of control, which for me is the most depressing feeling ever.
• The house was a disaster! I am not over-exaggerating. There was dog hair and dirt everywhere. Laundry was piling up and we still had our suite cases out and filled with stuff from Las Vegas. I spent today cleaning the house. A clean house makes me feel in control and will also allow me to focus on exercising and eating healthy this week instead of stressing over the filth.
• My bones are aching. I am being serious. My legs have been achy the entire weekend. I have no idea why? I haven't worked outed since Wednesday so I am not sure what is going on.
• I have not worked out since Wednesday. A couple days of rest is okay, but when I am "training" for a triathlon it is imperative that I get to the gym at least 5 time a week. I really want to compete in the triathlon, not just finish the triathlon.
• Preston and I have made it a priority to take Augusta on a walk every day. We decided that it is not fair for us to get our exercise in and not her. She absolutely loves the walks.

Being Your Own Cheerleader

Today I found out that if you push yourself past your comfort level and literally become your own cheerleader, you can do anything. This evening, Ashley and I did an hour long spinning class at the gym. We decided to try a different instructor. The class was surprisingly packed. About half way into the workout we realized why. This instructor took a lot of breaks; more than our British gal allowed. The workout was different and had some new elements like climbs, but it was not as intense as we were used to. After the class we decided to see what if felt like to run a mile on the treadmill. Our legs and calves felt so tight and sore that at 1/5 of a mile into it I really, really wanted to quit. 1) I knew I couldn't quit before Ashley. Have I told you how competitive we are? We both look at each others speed to make sure we are not being out worked. 2) I am going to have to swim 1/2 mile then bike 11 miles then run 3 miles so I CAN'T QUIT, QUITTING IS NOT AN OPTION 3) Really, I can't make it just one little mile? All of these thoughts were going through my head. I kept telling myself over and over, you're almost there, just hang in, you can do it, it doesn't hurt that bad, keep it up. I was my own cheerleader cheering me along. Before I knew it I was at 3/4 mile. I upped the speed to 6.8, not because my legs loosened up but because I wanted to get the mile over with! At .80 of a mile I upped my speed to 6.9 and the last 1/10 of a mile I was sprinting at a 7. Much to our amazement we ran the mile in 9 minutes and 20 seconds! Remember the goal I set awhile back? I decided I wanted to run the three miles each in eight minutes. I picked this number out of thin air, not realizing how hard of a goal I just set for myself. But you know what, I just might be able to reach it!! It is amazing what you can accomplish when you are your own cheerleader. You can't rely on outside factors to motivate you or push you along. YOU have to be the one who believes in yourself and cheers you along as you reach the milestones that you have set out in your life. Tomorrow, Preston and I are going car shopping in Denver so I think I am going to take a day off from working out. Hopefully we can find an SUV at the right price and come home with a new vehicle!! I'll post a picture if we find one.

Cardio Covered

Ashley and I have been working hard these last couple of days. Here is a quick recap. We met a new friend in the pool the other night who helped us with our flip turns and form. Turns out our strokes were not quite right. Something about our arms going too high in the air and not leading with the shoulders. Ashley caught on real fast and has since then gained confidence in the water. I still feel like I am fretting over the form especially since my left arm seems to be doing whatever it wants. Today in the pool we decided to focus less on arms and more on putting it all together. It is so hard to kick, stroke and breath all at the same time. I had Ashley time me in a 100 sprint. The goal was to swim 100 yards in 1 minute and 30 seconds. We got the idea from a workout that was left on the whiteboard. I ended up swimming it in 1 minute and 45 seconds. Ashley said on the first 25 I was above pace at 20 seconds but from there my time slowly declined. We came to the conclusion that the workout on the board was probably for a more advanced swimmer! On Monday we decided to really push ourselves on the treadmill. We ran the first mile at an eleven minute pace. At mile two we upped the pace to a sprint sprinting 1/5 of a mile at a speed of somewhere between 7-8 and then jogging the next 1/5 of a mile and so forth. We did this for one mile. The last mile I took the speed up to a 9 and sprinted 1/10 of a mile, jogged 1/10 of a mile and so on. I didn't last the entire mile because a couple of times I had to jump off because I thought I was going to puke! At one point I looked over at the trash can and decided it was too small, not to mention potentially embarrassing, to puke in! Ashley had a little mishap on the treadmill as well, but that is her story to tell. All in all, I ended up walking, jogging and sprinting 4 miles. Tomorrow is spinning class. This time it is with a different trainer. I am a little sore from the past two workouts so we will see how it goes!

5 Decisions that Led Me to New Strengths

I was pleasantly surprised the other day, when I was doing the P90X Plyometrics workout, at how much more in shape I felt than just 3 short months ago. I was actually keeping up with the workout and I wasn't gasping for breath. The next day Preston talked me into doing the dreaded Yoga X. When I first tried this workout a couple of months ago I immediately said forget it. And I never did it again. This time I actually completed the entire 1 hour and 30 minute workout! Not only did I finish it, but I was able to hold most of the positions for the entire time. These last couple of days I have been reflecting on how I got to this new stage of fitness that seemed to have happened overnight. What I did along the way to get to here and where I want this fitness journey to take me and what that end result should look like. (Can you tell that I am very goal orientated. I credit this to my boss who has taught me a lot about defining goals.) Looking back, I believe that I have made 5 instrumental decisions that has lead me to find this new strength. 1. Buying P90X: this workout program literally got me off of the couch and back into a workout regimen. The great thing about P90X is it kicks my butt, but for whatever reason I do not dread the workouts. 2. Becoming a Beachbody Coach: by taking on the Coach status I have become more accountable to my workout schedule and eating habits. Plus I have been able to help others find their drive again, including my husband. 3. Agreeing to Compete in a Triathlon August 1, 2010: because of this commitment I have trained and pushed myself like never before. I am actually running on a treadmill. Before, I never imagined I could run 3 miles without stopping. Now I am running, doing spinning classes and swimming half miles with stopping! It feels great to have that competitive drive again, something that was certainly missing in my life before. 4. Dedication to Cardio: I joined a gym in January so I could do more cardio and train for the triathlon. Don't get me wrong, P90X is assisting me in my training but I still need to get in swimming, biking and running. The gym has allowed me to focus on these three areas. I believe that the extra cardio has helped me immensely in the P90X workouts. 5. Working out in the Mornings: never before did I believe I could get up before the sun was out and go to the gym. This has been by far the best butt kicking decision I have ever made. My workouts in the morning are focused, I don't have to be worry about not having enough time in the evenings and I have a lot more energy at work and throughout the day. The mornings that I do not go to the gym, I become tired around 1 or 2pm and the day just drags by. I am enjoying this fitness journey and it is truly a passion and hobby of mine. Preston has billiards and I am happy to say that I have fitness. The end result, or rather objective as end result implies that I will be working towards and then stopping completely with something, is this. Mind you I am still working on defining these. - to be as strong, healthy and fit as I am able - motivate others to find their drive again If you would like more information on workouts such as P90X please feel free to email me at lori.a.hollis@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook. You can also view my Beachbody website at: www.beachbodycoach.com/lhollis.

"Terrible, Horible, No Good, Very Bad Day"

So this evening did not go as planned. I had a mental breakdown...I felt weak...I lost all motivation and perspective...I let the little voice in my head overpower my determination...I let excuses drive my decisions.

Today was a "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!" Work drug by, I was sleepy by 1:00 and my to do list was only getting longer with nothing being checked off. I knew that a client was coming in around 4:30 or 5:00 and that I would have to stay late to get signatures from him. I usually leave work at 4:30 so the possibility of having to stay an extra half hour weighed on me from the moment I got out of bed. Okay in all reality 30 minutes is not that big of a deal, but it being Friday I let myself believe it was. As a result, I let this lead to bad decision after bad decision after bad decision. I couldn't stop watching the clock to see if it was time to eat my next meal. After I ate my AM snack I wanted more. I ate a healthy lunch, but I ate too much and I knew it but I kept eating anyway. I ate my snake at 3:00 even though I was still full from lunch. When I got home I convinced myself, and Preston, that yes today was in fact the longest day ever and therefore working out should be put on hold. Since I was on a roll I decided to eat bad as well. Preston and I went to Panera Bread and I ordered a Broccoli Cheddar Bread Bowl and half Chicken Chipotle sandwich. The upside is instead of a pop I had water and I declined a Crown and Coke. To make up for the good decisions, however, I bought chocolate chip cookies. At least they were from Whole Foods and Organic...right? So I came home and even though I was full to the brim I turned on the oven and baked the cookies. I poured a glass of 2% milk (YUCK) and ate 5 freakin cookies! UHHGGGG!!!!! Seriously, what more could have gone wrong? Why did I go on this huge binge? I am really, really hoping that when Sunday comes around I can eat clean and can count today as my cheat meal. I can tell you this, the meal that I ate was overrated. I tried to chew slowly so I could savor the taste. But before long I was inhaling it and I kept eating after I was undoubtedly full. Afterward I had the worst gas ever. Seriously ask Preston! I think it might be from the dairy that I ate. I haven't eaten dairy in a little over a week. The cookies didn't taste that great, it might have been the organic part but still. It is almost 10pm and I STILL feel full, I still have gas, I have had 4 more cookies and I feel dehydrated! CAN TODAY PLEASE BE OVER WITH SO I CAN MOVE ON! The two "good" things that I did tonight was clean my house (well the main level) and Preston and I took Augusta on a long walk. This is August after the walk ready for bed. She LOVES blankets! Anyways, between cleaning and walking I burned 480 calories which is pretty darn good and took 5,461 steps which almost accounts for half of the steps I took today. My overall numbers so far for today is 1927 calories burned and 10,419 steps taken. The goal for tomorrow is to track the calories I take in and compare it to the calories I burn, do Kenpo P90X, go to the gym and either swim, bike or run or maybe a combination of two and then hit up Sunflower to get healthy food (fruit) for the Super Bowl.

I am hanging onto emerson's words to give me hope for a new tomorrow.

finish each day and be done with it. you have done what you could. some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget then as soon as you can. tomorrow is a new day. you shall begin it serenely and with too high of spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. -emerson

20-Day Challenge Update: Day 3

I am 3 days into my 20-Day Eat Clean Challenge and P90X. I have already lost 4.4 pounds (I put on some pounds in Vegas). As of this morning I weigh 130. I would love to be able to tell you that eating clean is a breeze. That I no longer crave pop or chocolate or brownies or calzones. The truth is I crave most of these things and more everyday. I am not sure what is different this time, but so far I am able to fend off temptation. Right now I think the motivating factor for me is the weigh loss and a sense of control. I feel like I do not have enough free time at nights or weekends to catch up on laundry, vacuum up the dog hair, pick up the nar nar festering dog poo in the backyard, take down the Christmas lights and get organized. Not to mention that my Jeep is STILL leaking fluid after we just got it fixed last week. So the ability to control what I eat and how often I workout is very satisfying. I do get one cheat meal per week. I am already thinking about what I am going to prepare. My goal is to save the meal for Supper Bowl Sunday. I just hope I can last that long! Right now coming in at number one on my list is a homemade calzone!! Coming in at a close second is a deli turkey sandwich with guacamole and chips. Okay enough about the bad food and more about the good food. According to the challenge I am only allowed to eat from the top two tiers of Michi's Ladder. Click HERE to view Michi's Ladder. Here is what I have eaten these last couple of days: Breakfast Options Banana Protein Shake 1 Cup Decaf Green Tea Oatmeal Snack 2 Brown Rick Cakes with 2 Tbl of Almond Butter, Raw Decaf Green Tea Water Lunch Options Salad with Veggies, Avocado, unsalted Sunflower Seeds, Chicken and a little Raspberry Vinaigrette. Sometimes I have some fruite (grapes, strawberries, apples, pears). Water Snack Celery, baby carrots, 2 Tbl hummus, Protein Shake Water Dinner Options Chicken Salad (same as lunch) Chicken with onions and avacado Fruit Taco Salad (salad, black beans, avacado, onions, tomato, salsa and chicken) Non-fat Refried Beans Stir Fry (have yet to make this) Brown Rice, Veggies and Chicken (have yet to make this) Water or Decaf Iced Tea I am thinking about ordering Shakeology to supplement either breakfast, lunch or a snack. Click HERE to see info on Shakeology. What do you think? P90X is going great! Preston and I are very sore. We took our rest day tonight, just not enough time to workout before Preston has to leave for pool league. The goal for tomorrow is to go to the gym in the morning to get my swimming in and then to do Shoulders, Arms and Ab Ripper X after work with Preston.