Genetics? No, Just Hard Work.

In honor of Transformation Tuesday, I'd thought I'd share what happened yesterday during my UFX Burn class.

It is a small group and all of us early gym goers are friendly with one another. I am usually the youngest in the class so I guess I am the one to be teased, I don't mind I know they mean no harm and in a way it's kind of flattering.

One woman stated how in her next life she'd like to come back in my body. They continued to make comments about my physique which, again was very flattering. It wasn't until one person stated "It must be a genetic thing right?" To which I replied "No, it is just called hard work." 

Although there are days where I feel "fat" (like most people that have bad days), I would like to think I am pretty fit, and I take pride in physically and sometimes grueling activities. I didn't just "get" a fit body. I work hard for it. I wake up at 5am and work through the highs and lows to make it happen. No one forces me to do it, I do it because I want the benefits. I fit my workouts in and make them the most effective. 

I wasn't always as fit I as am now. I have gotten slimmer within the past 3 years as I really started paying attention to what I put into my body and changing up my workouts.

After saying that it was hard work, one woman said "good for you!" Which made me feel really good. Especially because the majority of people do not understand just how hard I really try especially having T1D. If I can do it, you can do it... You just have to WANT to do it. 

Other than that this was my post workout  burn:

Not bad for a Monday morning! 

Practice Makes Progress

Well yesterday was the much anticipated day of the semester. I taught my first mini lesson in methods and it went well I'd say! After multiple practices throughout the week and one more an hour before teaching the practice paid off. The first run through earlier in the week was a little choppy, but I think it helped to get all of the kinks, stutters and stumbles out. Except for walking RIGHT into the podium as soon as I started (lol), I am happy with my first of many lessons to come. Once I was up there and getting into the lesson it was actually fun! 

I wound up scoring a 36/40. The professor gave some great comments and feedback so hopefully I can improve based on the comments. Without practicing I doubt I would have felt as comfortable as I did come time to perform.

This past week consisted of a few more lows than I would have liked (remember that 45, yikes). I am still figuring out the right mix of Symlin and Humalog, but there is always an element of unexpectedness with T1D. Over the past month I began recording my numbers again. When I was first diagnosed with T1D I was really diligent about writing everything down. Over the years I strayed away from it just because it is a lot to record everything and it becomes really overwhelming. It is helpful to see patterns, but at the same time it is discouraging to see numbers that you don't necessarily like especially when you try your best. I started using the MySugr app on my phone and recording as best I can.

 Hopefully by practicing this again it will be good for something. Ideally progress on my next a1c. 

Some other snap shots from the week:

ThinkThin and I are bffls!

Lol

Feels nice to relax on this Saturday afternoon after a long week and tutoring all morning then staying to work on my own assignments. 

Happy Saturday! 

So looking forward to seeing some very special people tonight who I have missed soooo much! 

Xo

AHHH

STRESSED STRESSED STRESSED. It has been a BUSY week and it does not look any better until Thanksgiving. Everyday has been going going going. Tomorrow I teach my first lesson in my methods class and I hope it goes smoothly. We all have to teach 4 mini lessons as a practice for student teaching. I cannot wait for my first one to be over!


Not only am I worried about the lesson in general, but my biggest fear is having my blood sugar drop during any school presentation. It is always so stressful because there is no one really who can relate to my fears. Its not like having an unfortunate stomach ache before a presentation and having people "understand." I know I will be doing a lot of testing tomorrow. Better get the extra test strips out now.


My plan tomorrow is to sleep in, get ready and head out to school early to practice again. I am even skipping the gym because I do not want to feel rushed and make sure everything is in place. Not too happy because I will also be missing the gym Saturday as I need to tutor again at the math clinic.

Besides my on going school anxiety here are some other snapshots from the past week:

Twins? 

Fall is here!

Talk about on point

Wish I could have gone :(

Sooo frustrating and scary! 

My school planner for the rest of October

Luckily the majority of my assignments are due before Thanksgiving which I am so looking forward to!  

Workout Wednesday

Let me get you up to date on my workouts for the week. Since I know you are all DYING to hear so you can try them.

Sunday Funday Workout: Started with the treadmill followed by weight training. I am getting ready for my next 5k which is a little over 2 weeks away. I got 4.2 miles in. I like trying different things like running at a faster pace and holding it then recovering, sprints, adding incline, etc. My goal though is to not stop and walk. So no matter how slow my jog is as long as I am not walking that's what I am going for.

I have learned that running is just as mental as it is physical. I always make it to the 5k mark (3.1 mi) but then I just tell myself farther. I have that inner dialogue in my head like "Who are you kidding you don't want to stop" or "Just a 1/2 mi more!" It works and as I finish I feel so much better.

It was on to legs. 3 rounds of this set with plyometric moves in between. WOAH!

15 lunges each leg (15 lbs each hand)
20 sumo squats - stop for 5 bicep curls at 15 & 20 (15 lbs)
15 side lunge pulses (15lbs)

20 Jump Squats after round 1, 20 Burpees after round 2 , 20 Side to Side Jumps after round 3.
Abs, stretching and I called it a day.

Monday Madness: I went to a UFX Burn class at the gym. I haven't been since the spring because I would go Weds at 6am, but they added a Monday 6am class so now I can get back to it. This is basically a boot camp style class. There was a warm up, 4 sets with 2 exercises and cool down. We would perform exercise 1 for a minute, 10 secs of jogging in place then 1 min of exercise 2. Do that for 4 sets then 30 secs recovery. We ran through that 4x. It sounds really confusing, but it worked because....

O...M...G I am still sore. The back of my legs from my calves to the back of my knees kill.

Bummer was my blood sugar SPIKED right after so my Monday morning was spent trying to get my numbers down. 

That's better.. 

It really dragged out my Monday because I had a headache all day. It really makes you feel like you just can't win. Try and workout because it is the healthy thing to do (and I enjoy it!), but deal with high blood sugars for unexplained reasons. Another example of a T1D frustration.

Tranquil Tuesday: was an off day. Felt great sleeping in til 8am!

Willpower Wednesday: (this morning) I taught spin. I almost didn't because there was a mishap with the music!! I almost cried. I thought, this CANNOT be happening. I turned on everything for the sound system, set up the microphone, all of the lights for everything were on, but NOTHING was making noise! AH! Luckily a spinner discovered a hiding switch that was not turned on. She saved the class! 

Besides the rough start it was a good class (so I'm told). :) There was some MJ, JT, Aerosmith, Bruno Mars, Adele.. want to know more then come to my class!

Sharing this just because I think it's really pretty! 

Celebrities, School on a Saturday and A Spin Class Dream.

Wow that is a lot in one title. Lets begin...

Where I work is pretty cool. Cool people, customers, food and an even cooler hostess. It's always nice though when a "celebrity" comes in. Rapper Lloyd Banks popped in for dinner! He has been there before and has always been very nice. So I got to take my picture with him once again. Yay because I like the way this one came out better. :D

Beamer Benz or Bentley...Beamer Benz or Bentley...

Sorry Mary Ellen, please don't be mad at me. At least you got to say you sat next to him.

Saturday morning I had to tutor at school for my commitment to math honor society. Everyone must volunteer 3 Saturdays throughout the school year. Local high school kids come in for math tutoring from 10-1. I try to grab all of the Algebra kids since that's my strongest math area. I was happy to say I got through it and knew MOST of the material. :) It is hard because although we are all math majors, we have not seen this material since high school. After going through Advanced Calc it gets a little blurry.

I even helped with some Trig. It is good practice for student teaching next semester. It's still going to school on a Saturday, but it wasn't ALL that BAD.

Sooooo since I was already there, I decided to stay and be productive. I wrapped up most of my next lesson plan due tomorrow which felt good. I was the only one in the computer lab which helped me focus. What I didn't realize about the lab at SJC is that the lights are on sensors. So after awhile they would shut off and I would be sitting in the dark lol. Oh well.. I had bar time to look forward to after I got out.

This HUGE salad was for dinner, yum!

I guess all of this Spinning has now got me dreaming about it too. I stayed up late looking at different spin profiles trying to get some ideas for this weeks class and just fell asleep with spinning on my mind.

 I had a dream that I had a packed class and all of the bikes were taken, even mine! (wasn't too happy about that), but hey that must be saying something if people are fighting for a bike. Every spin instructors dream is to have zero empty bikes...one day! 

Back to school work it is. Two midterms this week, yikes! I am looking forward to having off next Monday for Columbus Day!

Breaking News

Today something really exciting happened. My FAVORITE brand of protein bars started following me on Twitter. Those of you that know me well know that I am obsessed with thinkThin products. Refer back to one of my first posts if you forgot.

I could not believe when I got the notification.

We even exchanged a few tweets. I felt so loved :)

Seriously if they wanted me to go around and tell everyone how great their bars are I think I would do a pretty good job. 

Last night before they officially started following me they sent out this tweet. I mean come in this HAD to be directed towards me. 

Of course I retweeted. 

I bet your day wasn't as exciting as mine, but if it was I'd love to hear! 

Happy October! My Fall Line-Up

I cannot believe it is already October and this year is quickly coming to an end. It feels like just yesterday I was ringing in the New Year in Times Square.

It has been a really great year and I am looking forward to a bunch of stuff throughout the fall.

I entered another 5k race for the end of the month. It is being held at my high school so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to enter. It is for the Commack Coalition of Caring. My goal over the next few weeks is to get a few more runs outside.

I am also thinking of entering my first JDRF walk on November 3 at Bethpage Ballpark. I really do not know why I have never done one before. Probably because up until recently I have always been more quiet about having T1D, but maybe now is the perfect time to enter. This year is all about getting out of my comfort zone.

Speaking of JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) I am attending my first meeting for the Young Leadership Committee on Oct 15! I found out about this organization of "young professionals" that meet and discuss different topics every month... then go to happy hour! Seems like a good way to meet new people. It is in NYC which makes it that more exciting, love city trips!

Thanksgiving is going to be the highlight of my fall as I am once again The Elf on the Santa Claus float in the Macy's Parade! Last year I had the opportunity and it was a blast. I was offered to be the elf again and there was no way I was turning it down. I am also going to be doing other events with Santa for the city!

So I have some pretty exciting things lined up. I think it will help to balance out the overwhelmed feeling I always get when I think of school.... I will still get stressed, but hopefully this will AT LEAST bring a smile to my face for a split second.

Lastly I am looking forward to cooler temps and being able to wear sweaters, boots and scarves. I am not a fan of the 85 degree weather coming into town tomorrow.

Love Lauren Conrad! 

I lied, One last thing I am looking forward to... 

Writing this blog! Today I received a nice message saying that they read my blog and it has inspired them to make healthier choices. I am so touched and the message brought the biggest smile to my face! So keep up the good work and THANK YOU for reading. :)