I started fading at the start of Week 6 — Pure Strength 2 and Pure Cardio on consecutive days.  After Pure Cardio I did 4 out of 5 segments of Core Dynamics.  The cardio day was particularly difficult for me since I started my cycle of getting absolutely no sleep around then.  The next day started with Cardio Strength 2 which is normally my favorite workout of the series, but I was so dead during it that I pretty much went through the motions.  I soldiered on with Pure Strength 1 and Cardio Strength 1 after that but combining the lack of sleep, the intensity of the workouts, my draining period, and the fact I was following a strict diet really got to me.  Dynamic Flexibility was scheduled for my rest day but since I started with Erica and Melt Therapy, I decided to forgo to active stretch for the more passive one.  I had officially lost 1.5lbs before ending the week with Cardio Interval Burn, but by that point I was so tired of everything that I broke from my diet completely.  Honestly, despite having a great weight loss attempt during Week 6, the stress onto my body got to me so badly that I couldn’t move forward to Week 7 with the same kind of discipline.

Week 7 was almost a carbon copy of Week 6 except I decided to screw the diet, had dim sum TWICE in one week, and subbed a strength workout with a cardio workout because I just needed it that day.  I also managed to hurt my back so my attempts to finish the 8th week aren’t going well.  I may just have to do a “restart” of the final week.  I’m pretty pissed at myself lately so please think of some good thoughts  to get me through the last week (and heal my back!).

Now, I should mention that I didn’t hit 1300 calories every day.  Actually, I did a little less everyday.  The first day, I had a huge emotional fight with my husband which resulted in my eating 1800 calories.  The next day I was determined to do better and go down to 1600.  After that I pretty much hit 1300-1400 calories/ day.  I even got under 1300 calories one day (but barely under).  On the easier days, I supplemented with more walks around campus or the neighborhood with my dogs.  All in all, the culmination of consistent effort led to a now total of 4.5 lbs of weight loss in five weeks.  Not my best number ever, but it gives me hope for the end of the PFC rotation which is coming to a close very quickly.

The start of this first week meant that I lost my core and stretching day to replace it with a strength workout.  I was excited to take part in this new change.  My first day was Pure Strength 2, my preferred strength workout of the two discs in the set.  I have started to push my weight limit using 10lbs for some of the light weight movements and adding an extra lb or two with gloves on the heavy (15lbs) movements.  Also, the band is becoming a lot easier to use.  I’m not sure if its breaking in or I’m stronger, but I’m going to guess that its a combination of both.

Next up was Pure Cardio with my nifty new weighted gloves.  I absolutely loved it.  The gloves were a great add on to push it to my favorite cardio workout in the series.  I also added the entirety of Core Dynamics after walking my dogs (post cooldown).  Then, my favorite workout in the series: Cardio Strength 2.  I’ve decided to keep to 8lb and 12lbs during the circuit workouts because I’m too afraid of injuring myself to jump up to 10 or 15lbs with such fast movement.  I absolutely love starting my workout with CS2.  Following the circuit workout was my first try of doing a second strength workout, Pure Strength 1.  It confirmed that I like the second one in the series more, but I still enjoyed doing it in lieu of a stretch day.  With the strength workouts out of the way, I did the second circuit workout, Cardio Strength 1, followed by a rest day.    The rest day was appreciated because I was going off to see Les Miserables at the Ahmanson — but boy, planning to eat that day was hard!  My husband and I ended up going to CPK and was struggling to find non-calorific items.

The end of the week didn’t get to end with a bang.  I’m having a lot of hormone changes balance itself out, so my body thinks its TOM which means endless cramps and fatigue and sleepless nights for me.  I tried to do Cardio Interval Burn with weighted gloves but could only get into two blocks before shedding it off and just taking the completion of the workout as a victory.  Well, I took the 2.5lb loss as a  victory…but I know the next week is going to be super difficult to do.  I’ll probably drop down in intensity as a result.

New goals for the next week: go 5 days with 1300 calorie limits again.  I don’t think I can do it non-stop for a week so I’m going to give myself the weekend to eat more.  I hope to report more of a loss next week.

Trying to take the more positive end, I do think my body is changing.  I’m pretty sure I lost about an inch around my waist (but when I started it was embarrassingly big) and I definitely think my butt is smaller and tighter.  I value having rest days because I realize my back doesn’t hurt or bother me as much during the week either.  In addition, I’ve started adding extra challenges like weighted gloves and increasing the weight I use during workouts.  The next month there’s a big shake up: only one rest day!  That should have some affect, right?

In other news, my husband dropped another 2 lbs.  Seriously?  Hi God, it’s me, and you’re clearly a man.

Sarcasm aside, the week has been really great starting out with a bang: Pure Strength 2.  It was the first time I did it, and I sure sweat more during that workout more than its predecessor.  I’m still struggling with doing pushups correctly.  I finally found a good video online to really help me place my arms/hands in the right location relative my shoulders and that’s been helping, but it also has been reinforcing the fact that — oh, right, I’ve been doing that wrong for almost three decades and I don’t know what muscles I built up doing that but it definitely was not the pectoral muscles.  The next day I got to try out Pure Cardio with my nifty, new weighted gloves.   Wow, that was a nice change!  I really liked that add on from that workout just helps me intensify it.

With those two workouts out of the way, I started my double Cardio Strength 2 series, worth Core Dynamics/Dynamic Flexiblity in between the two circuit workouts.  Cardio Strength 2 is definitely a “Mommy!” workout and I’m very hesitant to go heavier than I have been during the workouts (8 and 12lbs for light and heavy respectively).   That said, I think I enjoy it more than Cardio Strength 1 if anything for the fact that the first cardio sequence does not include sumo burpees.  Also, for some reason I enjoy the mountain climbers to plyo jack pushup in block #4 of Cardio Strength 2 to the mountain climbers to $%^#$%^ evil ski hops of block #4 of Cardio Strength 1.

I got my much needed rest day (though I ended up getting so delayed that I didn’t get to do a yoga workout like intended), and I ended the week Cardio Interval Burn.  Actually, I used the warmup and the first two ascents of the Anytime, Anywhere workout to get my body warm before I had to drop off my husband at the train station.  That last ascent is VERY deceiving and VERY tough early in the morning, but it sure got my body ready for Cardio Interval Burn.  The interval workout was fun and I sort of wish I used my weighted gloves during that workout as well (I was turned off since the warmup includes speedbags).  I did manage to keep my calories within reason that day though by the end of it I was d-y-i-n-g.  A small treat of Pinkberry to the rescue (it’s ok — I had a coupon).

So, one month down.  Here are my goals for the next week:

• Try to hit 1200-1300 calorie intake.  It’s hard, but its probably why I have a big belly.
• Use the weighted gloves in the cardio driven workouts to increase the intensity of my cardio workouts.
• Incorporate more yoga workouts during the week.  I doubt having more yoga will hurt Michelle Dozois’ rotation.
• Despite needing to write my dissertation, try to walk around more regularly.

That aside, I am impressed with how I am able to maintain my weight despite all my indiscretions.  My husband did console me during my tantrums that I have started to take a shape that is more acceptable indicating that maybe if the scale is a lying bastardo and I am changing my body.  I like to refer to this process as “reorganizing” my body composition…but I would love to fit into that Vera Wang dress I have too.  Ok, ok, take the wins, and enjoy the fact that this past week — at least workout-wise — has been super fun with the introduction of new workouts.  

The week started out the same way the last two weeks did: Pure Strength 1.  I’m now using 8lbs for my light and 15lbs for my heavy weights there.  I like the workout, but man that band work is killer!  The next day, I got to revist Pure Cardio where I came to the very obvious conclusion that heat really can get to me.  Last week, the temperatures were killer and I nearly died doing Pure Cardio.  This week, I had a much, much easier time — so much, that I went and bought weighted gloves to incorporate into next week’s workout.  With those two workouts out of the way, I got to start what I know refer to as the “Mommy!!” workouts — Cardio Strength 1 and Cardio Strength 2 with a rest day in between.  Cardio Strength 1 has some stiff competition since I’ve gotten to do Cardio Strength 2 as my favorite workout in the series, but I couldn’t tell you which one I cried out for my mommy more!  And if you’re wondering what makes you call out “Mommy!”…mountain climbers followed by plyo pushups.  Do I need to say more?  I was really THANKFUL for having Core Dynamics and Dynamic Flexibility between those two circuit workouts and man did I milk it!

With that part of the week done, I got to take  rest day to really push on Friday with something C-R-A-Z-Y.  Cardio Interval Burn was on the queue and I wanted to really push it.  After completing that workout, I walked my dogs and then “previewed” the Anytime, Anywhere Workout.  I didn’t DO all of it, but I did a good chunk given how tired I was.  I burned HELLA calories that day.  It was an awesome way to end the week and it made me really look forward to the upcoming one.

I’m a little sad that the first month is almost done!  The 4th week appears to keep mostly the same weekly format as the previous three but there’s a serious shift in the second eight weeks.  I wonder how that’ll change my body.  However, the real goal for the upcoming week is to get a real handle on my dietary intake…which is probably the real reason why I need to lose weight in the first place.  It’s ok though — at least I get to do fun things like PeakFit in the meantime!

The whole week started off painful because it was ASS HOT in Los Angeles, CA.  It started off innocently enough when I completed Pure Strength 1 for the second time.  I’m happy to report that the band breaks in even more the more I use it.  Sunday morning, I woke up extra early to try and do Pure Cardio before it got too warm but it seems that I was too late.  I had to put on the A/C but by the last hammer combo, I was dying.  I was amazed I managed to give my dogs the walk they truly deserve in the scorching heat afterwards.  The next day was followed by Cardio Strength 1…MOMMY!!!  Cardio Strength 1 when its hot is even harder!!  I know it’s the workout that made me fall in love with the program, but…MOMMY!!  I got a small break with Core Dynamics and Dynamic Flexibility but then I had to go back to Cardio Strength 1 the day after!  Even thinking about doing that workout twice this past week, my holding steady weight gain makes a ton of sense.  When Thursday came around, I was thanking my lucky stars for the day off.  I was happy for Friday and had to get Cardio Interval Burn before the morning rush hour.  I didn’t do as great with the early morning workouts as much this week, and that is something I wish to correct in Week 3.

It’s a shorter recap than last week I realize, but I am swamped.  I’ll try to be chattier at the end of this week.  But a couple highlights to note from this week:

• Working out in the heat makes everything harder.
• When Michelle says bicep curl, she really means hammer curl.
• Mountain climbers followed by ski hops are EVIL.  Seriously, Michelle — PICK ONE.  You can’t have both and not have me gasping for air on the floor.
• I’m seriously thinking about getting weighted cardio gloves — something to help the movements in the circuits where I want to put on weight from 12lbs but not quite ready for 15lbs.
• Speaking of which, I’m thinking about moving up to 15lbs on some moves!
• Not having any weight loss sucks, but gaining weight sucks even more.  I’ll take the win given the extra calories this week.

• Being more “on top” of Evee: It sounds easy, but when its the end of the day and none of your experiments worked, and your husband is aggravating the crap out of you, you don’t want to correct your dog non-stop.   As I mentioned before, Evee learns pretty fast and I’m now convinced she learned pretty quickly that we can be easily overcome with her bad behavior if we’re tired.  Hopefully, now, she knows it ain’t happening so she better quit it.  I think I made the biggest impact yesterday when a man came into the house to help us get an estimate to replace our door (blech, four figures) and we had put her in her crate.  She was barking in her crate and I had grabbed her snout and said, “No.”  Nothing that would hurt her, but I did grab firmly, and she whimpered through it, but eventually she subdued to my will, laid down on her bed, and shut up the entire time he was there.  Its been generally good for me to be more physically domineering in general…when I want her to stop play-fighting with Hanu, I barely talk anymore, I just insert myself between the both of them and try to emanate enough of a presence to get her to quit it.  (It works on her…Hanu not so much.)
• Supplements: I know it may sound crazy, but I really think the tryptophan is working.  The PetAlive stuff is more questionable, but I’m really thinking the tryptophan is making Evee calmer.  I’m not sure if I can truly measure this, but now that I’ve reached a certain level of tryptophan, I’m just doing maintenance at this point.  Actually, the way Evee looks sometimes makes me wonder if *I* should be incorporating more tryptophan in my diet.
• Continuing to be kickass on walks:  I read this article in the last week or so how city dogs are happier than suburban dogs.  The theory was that to compensate for the tinier location, city owners go through all the right efforts to make sure their dogs get enough walks and activity and entertainment so they know how to deal with strangers on the street, or how to ignore bicycles, or to not go crazy when someone enters their home.  Suburban dog owners have a habit of just leaving their dogs in their yards thinking its enough and that they get enough stimulation that way.  Luckily, we have a tiny ass yard so we never had that mentality.  We knew not to let Evee lead on the leash, but after her injury, it was really hard to figure out what to enforce and what to let slide.  Adding a crazy Hanu into the picture didn’t help the situation either; but Hanu has calmed down greatly and the weather has been temperate (until this sweltering past week) so more walks have been in order.  Evee (more than Hanu) has been wonderful on the walks, letting me or my husband lead, not pulling for the most part, sitting at corners without prompt, etc.  Our vigilance with walking combined with the next tidbit has really helped her with other dogs.  Keeping positive and negative reinforcement is key for the walks.  The spray bottle is highly effective, but I’ve noticed I can get Evee to ignore “distractions” like bike if I time it right with treats in my hand.  (Poor Hanu though — he barely get “distracted” and always knows when that treat gets pulled out of my pocket!  But if I gave him treats whenever he did that, he’d be super fat.)
• EXERCISE!:  I really wish I could run because then I could take the pressure of my husband to run my dogs on a nearly daily basis.  Both of them love their runs and are more reasonable children for it.  My husband, in his own way to lose weight, has been extra good about making sure they get exercise.  In fact, he doesn’t mind me waking him up earlier to beat the heat.  That said, making Evee run in the heat tires her out wayyyy faster which gets the desired effect much quicker.  Also, a new technique we’ve been trying is that my husband runs her AROUND the dog park with the dogs in it.  So, Evee sees the other dogs she really wants to eat/play with but she has to keep on following the run.

The Breakdown.  Unlike Cardio Strength 1, your ten metabolic circuits start after a warmup.  However, the first circuit is definitely a much easier segment, I believe, with the intention of continuing on from the warmup.  Everything is very kickboxing based with plyo moves interspersed throughout the workout.   The climbs usually physically prepare you for the peak as well.  Like the rest of series, all circuits are done back to back so the entire workout entails of five cardio segments.  The peaks should seem familiar to those who completed the Fit Test, furthering the idea that you will improve upon your Fit Test after 8 weeks.  Michelle’s energy is upbeat and her personality is light and fun throughout the workout.  The entire workout comes in a little over an hour at about 65 minutes.

The Good.  The whole routine is a carefully crafted interval workout, and for cardio addicts like me, it truly fits the bill.  Because of the style of the kickboxing themed DVD, you get what you put into it.  I go deeper, jump higher, punch harder when I want to burn calories; when I need to take a small breather I maybe go a little lighter on the motions.  The choreography is rather simple, and Michelle cues decently.  Lastly, you will need to shower after this workout as you will be soaked.

The Not as Good.  The music in the entire series has been OK.  They license from same people most exercise DVDs turn to so you may hear a lot of the same tunes from other workouts in the PeakFit system.  For some reason, the music in this DVD didn’t get me as revved up as the others.  The workout truly may be too difficult for a lot people.  It’s definitely on the advanced end; intermediates will be seriously challenged (this “advanced” exerciser was huffing and puffing!).  Lastly, on the rotation sheet that came with the PeakFit Challenge system, it says on the days you do this workout you would “and/or” the Anywhere, Anytime workout as well.  I would freaking die if I did both back to back.  Michelle Dozois has confirmed that it was intended to be “or” and not “and” at all so please don’t try to do both on the same die.

Final Verdict.  I actually haven’t decided if I like this workout more than Pure Cardio!  But I do like the calorie burn more!

The Breakdown: Five segments, done back to back, culminate together for a 10 metabolic circuits.  This signature PeakFit workout organizes the workout as follows: each of the segments include a compound weight ascent (level 2 intensity), followed by a cardio climb (level 3 intensity), and finished up by an all out cardio peak (level 4 intensity).  Peaks are followed by very short basecamps (or level 1 intensity) periods which quickly flows into the ascent.  The compound movement keep the cardio going intermixed with plyo movement as well as some kettlebell inspired moves (which appears to be the chic thing in exercise dvds lately — but not complaining!  In fact, thoroughly enjoying!).  The cardio segments are all floor based with no equipment necessary.  Peaks are plyometric movements and there are some peaks from the Fit Test so you get to practice those moves even more.   Coming in around sixty minutes, I dare you not to be a sweaty mess after this incredibly, awesome workout.

The Good.  ZOMG, I loved this workout.  I mean, I loved almost everything about it.  Your body heats up so quickly and the progressive nature of the workout gets me ready for the shoot of endorphins ready to flood my system during the peaks.  You’re absolutely soaked — I mean, SOAKED –and your muscles have really worked it (oh the shoulders, they burn, they burn!  and if they don’t, GET A HEAVIER WEIGHT!).  I’m absolutely floored by the people who call this “down a notch” workout.  You’re doing it wrong — its intense and addictive and is seriously making me think of saving up money to afford a Breakthru Fitness gym membership.

The Not As Good.  The workout has no real warmup; actually, first segment is part of warmup.  I know some people who do their workouts at 530a so you may find it slightly hard to have your body completely warm.  Because Michelle sets up the routine this way, I really appreciate it that the first two segments don’t have a peak.  Segment #4 (so circuit #4 and #3) was too core focused without enough modification for me: 1) I’m spent and 2) I have a weak core.  Anything with mountain climbers or cardio based plank moves for longer than a count of 8 get to me. I had rhythm issues again with the workout, but I hope to overcome that issue within the next week.

Final Verdict.  I love this workout so much that I can barely stand waiting to try it again.  I feel lucky that I have it on the rotation TWICE this week and I’m very eager to previewing Cardio Strength 2.  I completely understand why the workout was so popular before the entire PeakFit Challenge was put on DVD and why people would shell out $20 for the single DVD.  I’m glad I didn’t the first time around, but I love the workout so much that I wouldn’t have minded it!

The Breakdown.  Dynamic Flexibilty is broken five segments to finish to a total running time of just around a half hour.  A more athletic stretch workout, Michelle guides you through a fusion of traditional and nontraditional yoga poses with her on twist.  Throughout the workout, she works on stretching the whole body but there are bigger focuses in each section whether its glutes or legs or shoulders.  Michelle does a great job getting your body warmer before embarking on some of the deeper stretches in the first segment.  The second segment focuses on hybrid warrior poses.  When you’re done with warrior, she continues in the next segment alternating between planks, downward dogs, scorpions, and pigeons (so very animal focused!).  The fourth segment uses her Exerspy band to stretch out the glutes down on the mat, and the final section also uses the resistance band but you’re more focused on the legs (ITB, hamstring, quads, etc.) in the first half of the segment and then you move into the upper body for the final minutes of the workout.

The Good.  Honestly, its one of the best stretch workouts I have.  It kicks Stretchmax‘s ass and is shorter and not as hard as Yoga for the Warrior.  It’s euphoric feeling is most likely amplified by the fact that I was REALLY tight and I REALLY needed a good stretch so my opinion of it may change.  Michelle’s cueing is pretty clear and the music was not very ya-ya I’m in a yoga studio which I like.  (Actually, I wish there were more workouts that included metal music…but don’t worry, no metal in this system.)  I like it as a total 30 minute stretch workout, and I think that I’m thankful that its scheduled on the rotation…I mean, how many times to we make time to stretch and relax?

The Not So Good.  For those of you who like to hold your stretches extra long, you may hate this workout.  I could suggest to you that you pause and hold the stretch as long as you’d like, but I can understand if you were annoyed you paid money to have the workout have such short holds.  Michelle talks a LOT during the workout.  Don’t expect super-duper meditative state when completing this workout as you will get annoyed.  Lastly, if your Exerspy band hasn’t broken in yet, you may find it too taut for some moves.

Final Verdict.  Big surprise, I liked it.  I felt good from it.  I did it on top of Core Dynamics so I still got to spend around an hour on improving my health so that is always a win in my book.  But man, I did have to be super vigilant about my calories that day since my burn was so low.

I know, you can sit down now.  I was excited too, but we all have to move on.

All that aside, I really enjoyed my foray with Michelle and her carefully done Peakfit Challenge.  At the very onset of the week, Idid my PeakFit Fit Test.  It was a good mini-interval workout in itself and pretty much proved what I knew: moves that I do with either Cathe or Chalene I can do a lot and moves I’ve never seen before (like “Plank to Frog”) I sort of suck at.  It’s supposed be used as a baseline for you to track your improvement, but come on, if you’re going to do certain signature moves over and over again for 8 weeks, OF COURSE you’re going to show improvement.  What’s really more telling is when you KNOW how to do certain moves and you still improve.  Despite that, I am looking forward to tracking my progress.

The first workout after that was Pure Cardio.  Despite not having any peaks, it seriously challenged me!  I was having a hard time with it, but I blame my diminished success on a lack of familiarity with Michelle’s terminology, rhythm, and cueing.  In addition, I was trying really hard to start off the next 8 weeks with workouts done very quickly after I wake up so my body wasn’t quite used to it.  The next morning I did Pure Strength 1 for the first time.  It was a Monday (blech) and continuing the effort to do my workouts early in the morning.  It’s a different workout I look forward to getting better and am very HOPEFUL that it will get me the desired look I want (sculpted not bulky but with real lean muscle mass).  The next day I did Core Dynamics and Dynamic Flexibility back to back.  Tuesday’s are sort of more crunched in the morning since I have a standing appointment each week then and I was pretty stressed at work so I really enjoyed the time to stretch out all the knots and kinks in my body.

Wednesday’s workout was the most awesome workout of them all: Cardio Strength 1.  I was drenched and freaking loved it.  I like circuits in general, but I really loved the style and format of Cardio Strength 1.  I am almost so excited about it that I really want to do Cardio Strength 2, but I’m going to be good and stick to the rotation.  On Thursday, the hardest part of the entire week: a rest day.  I’m not being to funny — it’s hard for me to take a rest day sometimes.  My life has been so crazy that having one hour of exercise in my life seems to be the only time for me.  But I persevered and took the rest day (I did walk my dogs extra long that day since I had the time).  Then, the finale of the week: Cardio Interval Burn!  OMG, I loved it!  It was challenging, sweaty, and fun.  I almost tried to do the Anywhere, Anytime Workout because of the way the rotation format was set up but was quickly informed by others in my check-in group that it was an either/or with Cardio Interval Burn not an “and” which was good news because I was fried by the end of Cardio Interval Burn!  It was an absolutely fantastic way to end the first week..and it happens next week too!  So, Fridays are fun even when you’re trying to workout at 615a (which btw, is the earliest I’ve ever done a cardio workout so go me!).

One week down, seven more to go.  I’m loving it so far and appreciate how well organized the system is right now.  Will it get me the results I want?  Time will tell…