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Well, kettleviewers… so far, I’m starting 2010 off with a clean  slate. Like many, the new year brings a sense of “I can do it!” to everything I’m taking on.

I think 2010 is going to teach me discipline. My health and overall fitness goals are just part of the whole picture. In every aspect, I’m learning to tackle a little bit each and every day, consistently.

I could focus on nutrition, exercise, saving money, connecting with friends, or even my business goals, and keep myself motivated by doing something — even just a little — every single day.

It’s like the adage of saving for a rainy day. If I put aside a dollar for every day this year, I’d have $365 on December 31st that I wouldn’t have otherwise.

I know, some of you would like to put aside TEN dollars a day — and if you have it, by all means, do it — however, for me, taking bite-sized pieces really works.

I find that setting my sights on a realistic goal, like “get some physical activity in,” or “no sugary sweets today,” allows me to focus on a small choice or activity that will pay off over time. Check it out:

I think that my scale(s) are a little off, so let’s not get excited about losing 5.5 pounds in one week, people. I didn’t starve myself, and I haven’t started my cleanse yet.

What I am really tracking here are the inches on my body. Last week, I dragged myself into training, pretty upset. My clothes weren’t fitting the way they were, even a month ago.

My trainer challenged me and my partner again — lose a pound a week, or pay up! Jerk!

I mean, here’s a picture of him teaching us how to do “the jerk.”

So my workout partner, Ty, and I decided to keep eachother accountable over e-mail/text/harrassing phone calls:

“Eat healthy today?”
“What did you do to workout?” ”
“Put that mini Reeses’ Peanut Butter cup down! Two pounds a week!”

Jerk!

Just kidding! Every little bit helps, really.

I’m keeping my eye on my one  year goal– to have lost 80 pounds, and over 12 inches in my waistline — through discipline, consistency, and a sense of humor.

Not to mention, I have an even bigger goal; that is, to be a healthy mom.

Happy New Year, everybody! Leave me a comment!

P.S.  I’ll be tracking my progress starting from January 2010. Feel free to look at past blogs under the category “Measurements” to see how I’ve fared since May 2009.

Hey, kettlepeeps!

Have you ever looked back at small pieces of your life and felt pretty good about it? I find that I usually don’t give myself kudos for small accomplishments, but today, I am.

I’m happy that I haven’t given up on myself in my quest to lose weight and gain healthy habits. I moved my goal date from October 30,2009 (with a 55lb loss) to June 30, 2010 (with a 70 pound loss) and I believe I will do it.

I’ve always lacked a sense of confidence (if you couldn’t tell) when it came to physical activity. I avoided competitive sports, even bowling, until I was well out of college.

I’ve always held at least two jobs, or a job and a side-job, which kept me perpetually running around. I “worked out,” but usually that meant a group class, like high impact aerobics, or my own mix of cardio and body weight training. I’ve only felt comfortable in my own skin with dance, or more specifically (non-competitive) hula.

I started and stopped Weight Watchers after moderate success. I really gave up on working out and meal planning when I was pregnant with my son.

Not surprisingly, these things took a toll on my overall health and well-being.

As of May 2009, I decided to take on something new, set a goal, and strive for it publicly.

I don’t have to be perfect, in fact, who is? But I can hold myself accountable and have some fun while I’m at it. Enter kettlebells.

I started training at FitPro Hawaii, and made some solid gains (or losses) over the past 8 months. It’s been a bumpy ride, and I’m back in the 190s, but I’m still progressing:

My new workout partner, Ty, and I have decided that we are going “ballistic.” To him, this means being able to hike up a mountain wearing a weight vest. For me, this means getting off my tush and making sure I do something, even a little thing, each and every day.

And, there’s friendly competition there. No, I’m not aiming to do as many push ups as he does. But I am working hard to be consistent and show up where I need to be, no complaints.

In 2010, I’m tackling my eating habits. It will be a challenge, Lord help me. But it can be done.

And you-- I’m really curious-- what are you leaving behind, and what are you looking forward to?

Leave me a comment! And thanks for joining me on this journey. Aloha!

Aloha, Kettlepeeps!

I fell a bit behind on my video-making. So, I decided to put up an old clip because it was FUN!
Here Liz and I progress our way up from deadlifting a 20kg kettlebell all the way up to “the beast,” or the 106 pound Warrior Hardware kettlebomb! We finish with a set of 10 swings with the 1 pood:

This was taken at the end of September… I can’t believe Liz and I have both lost at least 5 pounds each since then, and for me, an inch on my bust, hips and waist! Yay!

Don’t forget-- you can sign up for mini-notifications by sending an e-mail to me! Aloha!

Hey, kettlepeeps!

I’m excited that an article about the free kettlebell workshop sponsored by Warrior Hardware and led by Bill Maeda of FitPro Hawaii was published by our Hawaii newspaper.  Here’s the link:

www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090926/GETPUBLISHED/909260350/Kettlebell+craze+fuels+fitness

I tried to make a screenshot into a full article to  post here, but alas, I only have the “paint” program that came with my netbook. Here’s three separate pics of the article (eventually, it will be archived and the link will no longer work):

There’s not a lot of fancy titles on this video, since Liz and I went to FitPro Hawaii to get one thing done. Work out!

We started out jumping on the plyometric boxes- alternating 10 jumps. This was the first time we had done this kind of a warm up before, and three sets was quite enough for me!

Next, we did a series of static exercises with the 12kg kettlebells, followed by swings. Our circuit went like this:

15 curls
10 tricep curls
20 swings

To finish, we got to beat  up our trainer. I didn’t put that on the video, though. Take a look:

At the end, we both had raw knuckles. It wasn’t pretty.

Leave a comment! Thanks!