A thirty-something newlywed, born and raised in Birmingham, AL, Clemson alum, living and loving life in Charleston, SC. Follow this blog to read what it's like to be a girl living in Charleston.
Saw this in Fitness Magazine. I definitely need to work on getting more cardio into my schedule, and I thought this weekly cardio schedule was interesting. LSD = Long, Slow, Steady; HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training
Do you have a weekly cardio schedule you follow religiously?
Last month my membership to ESAC expired and so did my husband's membership - in order to renew, we would have to commit to an entire year. Since we are in the process of building our own home gym, and my employer is in the process of putting in a super nice (better than ESAC in my opinion) gym right here where I work, we decided it wasn't worth the money to renew our membership.
ESAC never asked why we were not renewing, never let me know my membership was even expiring, and all my husband got was a generic email telling him his membership was expiring.
If asked, here's what I would tell ESAC are areas they need to improve...
Gyms need some updating - and not just the equipment. The bathrooms are gross, and the only gym I would shower at was Johnnie Dodds. Coleman's shower is gross and has no privacy.
If I wanted to pay $100+ more a month for 45 min 'Crossfit' classes, in addition to my membership costs, then I'll just quit ESAC and pay that amount for a real Crossfit gym. I'm referencing a program they recently started called GoPerformance. My trainer took me in the GoPerfomance gym a few times to train and I loved it. I wanted to take classes, but...they were over $100 for unlimited monthly classes. No options like 10 class packages, punch cards, etc.
I've noticed this a lot with ESAC and think it could eventually be their downfall - with exception of the Les Mills classes, any extra classes cost extra money. In response, most members aren't willing to shell out more money for extra classes in addition to their memberships, so the classes end up going away - like their attempt at a Barre class. Since GoPerformance is also having trouble filling up classes, I'm wondering how much longer they'll keep it around.
They need a social media manager of some kind. Their Facebook page is worthless. And I'm not even sure if they are on Twitter. It would be great to have more updates, trainer/instructor interaction, etc. through Facebook. I think it would help them out if they could connect more with their members and build more of a community. Right now, I see ESAC as a faceless greedy company trying to swallow up every gym in Charleston - I'm sure I'm totally wrong, but it would be nice for ESAC to prove otherwise and social media is perfect for that.
One of the unfortunate things about quitting ESAC is losing the ability to work out with my trainer - she was AWESOME. I always looked forward to working out with her and I even upped my sessions at the end from two times a week to three because I enjoyed it so much. However, if I am not a member of ESAC, I can't work out with her at ESAC or my rate goes way up high... regardless, I had to end my sessions with her. :( However, ESAC could still be making money off of me if they would let me continue to train with her (she's not an independent trainer, but an ESAC trainer) at the same price rate -- they'd still be making money even if they're not making my membership money. But they never asked - or seem to care - that I didn't renew my membership, so good riddance ESAC.
So without ESAC, I've had to step up my self motivation and exercise work ethic and work out more on my own. In addition to running, elliptical at home, tennis and bike rides, I've been trying to keep up my strength training and HIIT with some free options:
Bodyrock.tv- If you haven't heard of it already, get out from under that rock! Almost daily they post 12 minute HIIT workout videos and sometimes include ab bonus workouts. Some workouts require equipment, but you can easily substitute for things at home or substitute for an exercise that works the same muscles but doesn't require the equipment. For example, the sandbag they use is over $100 - but I bought a $15 Old Navy gym bag and filled it with weighted bags of rice. I did break down and buy the 10 lb Ugi ball - and I love it because I use it for other workouts.
Zuzana Light - Zuzana used to work for Bodyrock.tv, but left to start her own site. She has weekly workouts that don't require any equipment. They are always challenging. I usually combine one of her workouts with one of the Bodyrock.tv workouts for a good 20 to 30 min HIIT workout.
Jenn-Fit- Jenn's fitness blog is full of great exercises you can do at home, like this UGI ball workout that I found and loved.
Blonde Ponytail - Another great fitness blog full of exercise routines, running tips and healthy eating tips. She posts her Crossfit workouts to her blog and variations on common exercises like burpees and push ups. I love her workouts because she always posts videos and/or step-by-step photos of each move so you know what to do.
Pinterest - This is a no brainer - there are TONS of workouts all over Pinterest. I've even found links to all of the Insanity workouts online. It's easy to pull up my Pinterest exercise board, pick a few pins, and have a complete workout. Love it.
In addition to these online workouts I've started using workout DVDs again (blast from the past) - however, I've had trouble in the past finding DVDs that gave me a hard enough work out. I definitely have found my match with these two DVDs I recently bought.
I've seen some of you blog about this one before, but I had no idea that Jillan Michaels 30 Day Shred could be so hard. I did her first workout and thought, "This isn't so bad". Then I tried the second one and I had to stop a few times in some of the intervals. I have yet to try the hardest one, #3, but if #2 is any indication, it will kick my butt. Her workouts are short, so they are great for days like Fridays when I just want to squeeze in a quick 20 minute workout. I bought this DVD on Amazon for like $7 - totally worth it. I'm pretty sure you can find the workouts on YouTube, but for only $7 it was nice to have my own copy to watch on my tv.
One of the fitness blogs I follow mentioned a DVD called Cathe's CrossFire. It's a long workout that covers all the bases and since the blogger mentioned it was super challenging, I thought I'd give it a try. I bought the DVD and bands to go with it on Amazon. I just tried this workout last night and oh.my.god. It was hard. I had to stop several times to lie on the ground, panting, before moving on to the next section. I loved it though - I felt challenged and today I'm sore all over in a good way. I did the entire workout plus the bonus abs included on the DVD. It has plyometrics, intervals, weights, cardio...It also has 'premixes' that mix up the different sections of the workout - so if you don't have the full hour, you can choose a 30 minute version. I went on Amazon today and checked out a few of her other DVDs (I've never heard of her until recently) and all of the reviews for each DVD says they are challenging even for advanced fitness folks. I'm thinking of getting some of her strength training DVDs so I can make sure I am still incorporating heavy weights into my workouts. I highly recommend this DVD - I'm already looking forward to trying it again because I want to get better.
I'm also taking advantage of Living Social deals as I find them. I mentioned Perfectly Fit Wellness classes in my last post - and even though the Living Social deal is over, I think they are still letting folks get the three class trials for only $25, so if you're interested, give them a call.
I also snagged a recent Living Social deal for three private Pilates apparatus classes at a local Pilates studio that I've taken classes at before.
So who needs to shell out a ton of money for a gym these days when there are so many affordable ways to workout at home or with special deals?!? :)
Are you incorporating home workouts in your exercise routines? What other resources have you found online? Do you have a favorite go-to workout DVD you use? Please share!!
Recently, I got a Living Social deal to try out three classes for only $25 at a new fitness studio right off of Ben Sawyer Blvd. (right before the Sullivan's Island bridge) called Perfectly Fit Wellness.
I tried out my first class on Monday called Beam Fit. You do Pilates-like moves and stretches, but on a beam. It's not a solid beam, but 'squishy' so it forces you to work your muscles harder to balance.
We didn't do a whole lot of different or difficult moves in this class, but there was a lot of focus on positions and form. Also, because the class is really, really small (4 people max, only 2 people including me in my class), you get a lot of one-on-one instruction.
The teacher spent at least 5 minutes with me working on my plank form. Evidently, unbeknownst to me, I put a lot of pressure on my lower back with my plank. So she worked with me to show me how to relax my lower body and use my stomach more when holding my form.
Needless to say, I wasn't doing a lot of movement, but I was sweating my arse off and today my abs are super sore.
Tomorrow I'm trying another one of their classes, TRX. It's a suspended cable strength class. I've always wanted to try one of these classes, but I'm nervous because I've heard they are super hard.
Have you tried TRX? Any advice for my first class?
This weekend I'm throwing my older sister a Sprinkle for her and my future nephew! Yup, a Sprinkle...not a shower. It's the new thing for mommies-to-be having their second or third baby...and typically if the new baby is a different gender from their first. It's an informal get together for her close friends where they can 'sprinkle' her with small gifts like diapers, wipes, onesies and boy-specific baby stuff she doesn't have.
I'll try to do a post on all the details next week - but the theme is MONKEYS. :) We're going to try and make these for the Sprinkle... this might end up being a Pinterest fail...we shall see!
Is it really only Tuesday? Hope everyone is having a great week so far.
When it came to what the heck I was going to do with my hair for my wedding, I was super anxious about it. I have really, really baby fine, thin hair that doesn't grow past my shoulders (unless I have extensions in - which I love to do!)
I also knew that I didn't want to worry about brushing my hair having it in my face, it getting stringy when I sweat from dancing, etc. So I definitely knew I wanted to wear my hair up, secured, and sprayed with a gallon of hair spray.
But.....with my baby fine hair, there wasn't much to pull up, so I knew some kind of hair piece or extensions would be needed.
My initial inspiration was from my fave person in the world ever, ever, ever...Gwen Stefani. When I saw this photo of her from fashion week back in 2010 I think, I knew I wanted some variation of this. Love her.
But I wasn't sure I wanted the 'bun' part to be that big or boxy - it could come off as a hat. I really had no idea what I was going to do and spent hours doing Google searches until Pinterest came around about six months before my wedding - whoo hoo.
I also decided I didn't want a slicked back look in the front. I have a really big, round head... lol..and I knew head on in pictures it would look awful if I had all my hair pulled back -- so I knew I wanted to do something with the shorter hair in the front. I found this pin that I was drawn too of Reese Witherspoon...
The girl who did my hair really pulled through for me. I didn't have extensions or anything for my trial, so we did a "this is kind of what it will look like" look. I had to trust her for the real thing.
She showed up on my wedding day with clip in hair extensions that matched my hair and a round sponge, bun thing (that I still use - it's awesome). Somehow she pulled my hair up, clipped in extensions, put in the 'sponge' and teased my hair to a giant top knot perfection.
And here's the final product!
My veil comb went right in the front and I loved the way it looked.
And for the reception, I bought a beautiful ivory flower clip that I attached on the side.
I loved it! It was messy, but suited me well I think. I looked like I had WAY more hair than I do and it stayed put!
It stayed put so well, it just about looked the same the next morning! Ha!
This week, both Megan and Megan Charleston bloggesses (yup, two Megans!) posted about trying on their mom's wedding dresses and were both contemplating on how to use the dress in their weddings. I felt like joining the party (even though my name isn't Megan) and decided to post my "trying on my mom's dress" photo and share with you how her dress was a special part of my wedding day.
Here is my mom's dress in all of it's 1975 glory...this is her and my grandfather before she walked down the aisle.
Here's her and my Dad... Ruffle tuxes and big bow ties were the trend at the time apparently. :)
I have been in love with my mom's dress since I can remember, and I always said I would wear her dress on my wedding day. Yet, as I got older, I knew I wouldn't be able to because I'm taller (and wider) than my mom was on her wedding day. No amount of alterations would get that dress to fit me. She was all of 5' and weighed barely 100 pounds on her wedding day. Me? Not so much.
The Thanksgiving after I got engaged, my mom pulled out her sealed dress box and we opened it. And here I am, in all my glory, trying on her dress - definitely not zipped in the back.
So, since the dress was not going to work as my wedding dress, I decided to wear my mom's veil on my wedding. However, it had a cap like crown that didn't quite match the wedding dress I ended up choosing. So we took the cathedral length bottom layer off and Jodi, owner of White where I got my dress, sewed it on a comb for me for free!
I wore the top half with the lace crown for my rehearsal, which was fun.
Then the cathedral veil was my veil on my wedding day and it was gorgeous! I almost didn't take it off for my reception, but it would have made dancing (especially our first dance) very difficult.
The rest of my mom's dress was recreated into special elements on my big day.
My mom's friend, who is an amazing seamstress, made our ring bearer's pillow out of the dress, a cover for the flower girl's bell, and the lace cuff (complete with buttons!) for my bouquet!
The rest of the dress was then made into a beautiful christening gown for my niece's baptism. The dress will be passed along to each of my mom's grandchildren for their baptisms. I think this is so special!
Even though I didn't get to wear her dress, I'm glad we were able to include her dress in different ways in my wedding.
Did you wear your mother's wedding dress and/or veil on your wedding day? Did you incorporate her dress in your wedding?
I finished 50 Shades of Grey last week, and while some of the book was cringe worthy, I did get attached to the characters and the "plot". I'm already a few chapters into the second book now.
One of my favorite things is reading a book and then seeing how it's adapted into a movie. Of course with all the popularity and buzz, it was only a matter of time before somebody bought the movie rights: It was reported that Mark Wahlberg's production company was in the middle of buying the film rights to the trilogy until several studios, including Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount, and Universal Pictures entered bids for the film rights, with reports stating that James was requesting to retain some control during the movie's creative process. On March 26, 2012 it was announced the rights had been secured by Universal Pictures and Focus Features. Actors Ian Somerhalder and Ashley Benson have expressed interest in acting in the film. In June 2012, it was reported that Angelina Jolie was interested in directing the film and was currently in talks to direct the adaptation. American Psycho writer Bret Easton Ellis publicly expressed his desire to write the screenplay for the film stating, "I'm putting myself out there to write the movie adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey..." -Source: Wikipedia
Wow! Screenplay by Bret Easton Ellis and directed by Angelina Jolie... I love the idea of that! They are both crazy in real life, so the book would be interpreted well I think. And while I like Ian Somerhalder and Ashley Benson, I find them more suitable for supporting roles.
Here is my casting for 50 Shades... there is no doubt in my mind that Ryan Gosling is Christian Grey. I think he's perfect for the part - young and intense. He's only like 29 in the book, right? So he has to look the part. I'm not sure I'll be able to watch the movie if someone else gets cast - I only picture Ryan.
If you haven't watched the new show 'Girls' on HBO, get your On Demand working and check out Season 1. It's like Sex & the City, but the realistic version. It's hilarious! Allison Williams would be a perfect Ana -- and I kind of like the idea that she's somewhat of an unknown. And I like that she looks more like a girl next door - everyone keeps trying to cast someone too sexy in the role and we forget that in the book Ana is a virgin. Besides, Allison already does nudity in 'Girls', so she won't have a problem with the role.
I also didn't want to cast someone too sexy as Jose - because Ana isn't attracted to him, so he can't be Wilmer Valderama or someone too attractive. He too needs to be a boy next door, best friend type.
I was torn between Michelle Pfieffer and Julianne Moore for Mrs. Robinson. But I like the idea of Michelle Pfieffer -- but part of me thinks she might be too old for the part.
So, what do you think? Who do you picture for each role?
