I’m not a particularly religious person.  I was raised Roman Catholic; I consider myself Catholic but there exists a strange chasm between what I ought to believe and what I truly believe with my soul.  I don’t fight it, I don’t denounce it, I just don’t understand it.  So I’m Catholic more by tradition and culture than I am by religious belief.

{That now concludes the longest discussion of religion that I will ever have on this blog.}

But all that said, I cannot resist giving something up for Lent.  Just so we’re all on the same page, Lent is the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter and is meant to be a time of penance and repentance and of course, self-denial. 

“I’m giving up soda!”

“I’m giving up TV!”

“I’m giving up coffee!”

I don’t think a Spring has passed in the last 20 years that I haven’t given something up. It’s usually whatever it is that’s currently weighing me down.  Last year, I gave up stupid websites like FML and MLIA.  They weren’t enhancing my life and yet somehow I couldn’t stop checking them out on my iPhone whenever I had a moment of downtime. I’m actually very glad to say that I haven’t looked at them since last Ash Wednesday and don’t miss them one bit.

I think my propensity toward this strange tradition of a religion I only partially adopt is just because I can’t stop challenging myself.  It’s a perfect opportunity to prove to myself that “I can do it!”

This year I decided to give up two things that are currently weighing me down, and funny enough, they’re both loosely food-based.

1) I will give up eating on the couch at home.

2) I will give up all sweets (fruit doesn’t count).
 

For me, eating on the couch at home is a major crutch! I need to separate eating from relaxing.  And I know for sure that when I’m mindlessly munching in front the TV and probably consuming a lot more than if I was more mindful.

Sweets?  How does one break the habit of the sweet tooth!?  I’m not sure it’s possible. (PS. I’d love for you to prove me wrong!)

What are you giving up for Lent?

Back in January, I made a switch from teaching evening classes to teaching exclusively 6am and weekend classes.  The impetus for this was that my work schedule really didn’t permit me having evening obligations because deadlines had to be met and I was exceedingly stressed out about getting to class on time, or scrambling to find a sub when I just couldn’t leave work. 

So, I talked to my bosses, we made some changes, and my schedule is now as follows:

Monday – no class (Miriam’s!)
Tuesday – 6am BODYATTACK
Wednesday – 6am BODYPUMP
Thursday – no class
Friday – 6am RPM
Saturday – 9am BODYPUMP
Sunday – 10:30am BODYATTACK

For me, this new schedule has been exceptionally successful.  No more stressful days at work worrying about meeting deadlines in time to go to class, and I still get all my classes in.  (One other change I made was giving up a fourth format to streamline the amount of preparation needed for my week’s classes.  Also hugely successful.)  Teaching 6am classes is not something new to me; I’ve been doing it since about 2005.  From 2005 to 2010, I actually taught 5:30am classes twice a week.  Yes, it takes discipline waking up in the 4’s, but it came with time.

Anyway, I’m freshly home from my Friday 6am RPM class, and I can’t help but blog about how much I love my 6am members.  Here’s why:

1) People who wake up before the sun to work out are SERIOUS about their workout.  They’re not there to “see and be seen” and they’re most certainly not going to be primped and polished showing up to the gym.  They’ve got bed head, eye crusties and last night’s mascara on their face (oh wait, that’s me) and all they care about is getting their sweat on.

2) People who wake up before the sun to work out generally don’t have another opportunity to do it during the day (like myself) and their schedule depends on getting in and getting out to get on with their day.  Sometimes it’s stay-at-home-parents who have family demands.  Sometimes it’s high-powered executives and judges.  Sometimes it’s doctors and surgeons.  Whatever the day brings, the morning is when they can carve out their “me time.”  I love that my classes are filled with people from all walks of life, sharing one common goal:  Health and fitness.

3) People who wake up before the sun to work out are committed to making exercise a part of their daily life.  I’d be willing to say that more people than not would rather NOT get up before the sun rises, but their other motivators get them out the door to their workout.

4) People who wake up before the sun to work out are not passive consumers of fitness.  They are VERY interactive.  They tell me which songs they like or don’t like, they tell me when the workout isn’t hard enough (rarely is it too hard).  They tell me when they like or don’t like schedule/instructor changes and they tell me when my pants are see-through (oops!)  They even invite you out to happy hour, because they’ve already gotten their workout out of the way.

5) People who wake up before the sun to work out are a friendly bunch.  You’d think that they’d be half asleep and grumpy, but they’re not.  They tell me about their lives and their families.  They are generally pretty chipper and happy to see one another.  And when you’re the only morning class, you have time before and afterwards to chat and get to know one another.  Such is not the case for tightly-scheduled evening classes.

Considering transitioning to a morning workout routine?  Just jump in with both feet.  Get to know your friends and the instructor.  You just might fall in love as much as I have!

I’m struggling to write posts these days because my life is a ongoing circle of work, exercise, eat, sleep, with bits of wedding plans interspersed.  If I spent the next 500 characters explaining the Power Point presentation I worked on yesterday which included such things as how the 35 and under demographic has a propensity to renting vs. homeownership and the company’s 10-year return on net asset value, I’d lose you completely.

The most interesting things that have happened to me over the last few days were that I got this ridiculously cool mask for a Mardi Gras party (complete with peacock feathers!) this weekend and how I spent a bunch of time cleaning off my dining room table of death (the “dumping spot”) of all its errant receipts and clippings.

Not all that exciting.

Otherwise, my days pretty much look like this:

5:30am – Wake
6:00am – Teach BODYPUMP, BODYATTACK or RPM
8:45am – Go to work
6:15pm – Come home from work
7:00pm – Make dinner
8:00pm – Prep for the next day
9:30pm – Sleep
Repeat

I am enjoying this break from craziness, but it doesn’t leave much to blog about.  So, I’ll leave you with a rabble of goings-on in my life.  Yes, rabble was the Merriam-Webster word of the day today. 

1) I’m going in a couple weeks to the outlets in Rehoboth Beach, DE for the (12th??) annual outlet shopping trip with my mom, sisters, aunt and cousins.  It is such a fun weekend and I missed it last year, plus, I’m LONG overdue for some new threads.  I was just there for my cousin’s wedding, but I didn’t spend much time at the outlets. 

2) Speaking of new stuff, I bought some new shoes at DSW last night for work and for kickin’ it around Wegman’s on the weekends.

Jessica Simpson Oscar in Nude and New Balance W730GS1.

The Jessica Simpson pumps are remarkably comfortable and have a nice little tread on the bottom so they were really easy to walk in!  (<— how you know you’re over 30: when you judge your shoes by how comfortable they are.)

3) Here’s a funny picture of my Dad and my sister Claire, who’s also my Maid of Honor. Right before I took the picture, I said, “Smile!” and my Dad said, “Wait!  I have Picassos in my mouth!”  (He meant pistachios)

We guffawed.

4) My car is in the shop for repairs and Jeff and I have been using the same car (i.e. his car) for the last few weeks while it gets fixed.  I sort of love driving his car because it’s the same car he’s had since his last few years of college, complete with his fraternity sticker in the rear window.  It makes me feel like I’m in college again. 

But, this is how I left it when I got home from the gym at 9 last night.  I’m a terrible fiancée.

5)  Speaking of retro photo images, I’ve recently started playing with Instagram.  Are you on Instagram?  Find me!  My user name is carberrie.

6) I’m reading this book called Living Organized and it’s teaching me all sorts of tips and tricks to keeping organized in a hectic life.  So I went out and spent $150 at The Container Store on organizational tools last weekend.  Except for they’re still sitting on the floor in the living room, not yet put to their intended purpose.  Soon.  But I think The Container Store is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to wander on a lazy Saturday afternoon.  Even better than DSW. (again, definitely over 30)

7) My female coworker has a female roommate from hell who wanders around naked when they’re both home.  The roommate will realize that she’s naked while my coworker is home and say, “Oh! Sorry, I’m naked.” as though she’s caught off guard by the fact that she’s naked.  WHAT?!  It’s not like when you come around a corner too fast and bump into someone, “Oh, sorry!”  The clothes don’t just fall off of you or disintegrate into thin air.  Have you ever had a roommate like this?

Off to work.

Well hello there!

Boy am I glad today is THIS Monday and not last Monday. Last Monday, at this time (9:50pm EST, to be exact) I was sweating and shivering under a pile of blankets, praying for the Tylenol and orange juice to do their magic and put me out of my flu-induced misery.  It was pretty awful.

But I lived to tell the tale and dare I say I’m stronger for it?  Not totally sure but boy am I glad to rejoin the land of the living.  And in the scheme of things, it was fairly short lived (72 hours from start to finish) so I really shouldn’t be complaining.

Speaking of complaining, someone who I live with whose name rhymes with FLEFF was not amused to have this package to pick up from the front desk when he arrived home from work today.

Not only did the box say, in very conspicuous lettering, DIAPERS.COM it was also 41 lbs.

He hauled it across the courtyard and brought upstairs to our apartment.  He’s a trusting soul that it wasn’t indeed 41 lbs of diapers for a) some future offspring I had not yet advised him of, or b) some reeeeeally strange new hobby I was into.  Lucky for all of us, it was just dog food.  I do not usually buy dog food on the internet but it was one of those bargains I just could.not.pass.up!

So, between being sick in the beginning of last week and trying to catch up on life the latter part of last week, LiveFit was a total wash last week.  Nothing to speak of other than restarting again today now that I’m back to my normal self. 

And with that, off to bed I go!  That 5am alarm waits for no woman.

The past two Friday nights, I’ve found myself chilling out at home and channel surfing as I decompress from a long week.

And, I’ve stumbled upon Shark Tank twice.  I think the reason that this show appeals to me so much is I’m in love with their entreprenurial spirit.  I love their gumption.

The first week, I laughed out loud at this guy:

(source)

Seriously.  Go to his website and watch the video.  Jeff and I did the “I want to draw a cat for you” dance all weekend. *cue shoulder shrugs* My bridesmaids just might get cats drawn for them as a gift.

And this week? The Chord Buddy caught my attention.

(source)

Learn to play guitar in a few easy steps!? I’m totally in.  I just need a guitar now.  If I had a guitar sitting around, I’d spend the $49.95 for the Chord Buddy. 

My Shark Tank ideas? 

(Hold onto your hats because these are awesome.)

When my sister and I were little, we ate a lot of bagels.  (Who didn’t in the 1990’s?!)  We always felt like deli meat should be processed and manufactured with a hole in the middle so you could eat bagel sandwiches without your meat-to-carb ratio being off.  

Imagine that with a hole in the middle for a bagel sandwich.  Genius, right?

(Except that I don’t eat bagels OR bologna anymore, ha!)

And then in college, I had an idea for a battery-pack powered blow dryer so you could blowdry your hair, for instance, in the car on the way to school.  Necessity is the mother of all invention, eh?  Seriously. I’m still waiting for someone to invent that. 

What’s your Shark Tank idea?

It’s Wednesday night, it’s 10:20pm and I’m just walking in the door.  I’m writing a post because I SAID I WOULD WRITE ON WEDNESDAYS and after taking last Friday off from blogging (shhh don’t tell the boss) I swore I wouldn’t do it again.  Last Friday, I had a good excuse: I wasn’t feeling well. Today, I have no excuse other than I’ve been up since 5am and just set foot in the door after an all too familiarly long day.

But that’s no excuse.

So, I write.

First of all, thanks to everyone for your encouragement on my LiveFit update on Monday.  I appreciate the virtual cheers and applause!  I think I dreamed that night that someone left me a nasty comment about the photos, but lucky me, nobody actually did.  How’s that for subconscious?

Anyway, I’m just getting home from a delicious dinner over at a friend’s house; a belated birthday celebration (exactly two months post-birthday) where she made Thai shrimp stew and fresh fruit salad with mint for dessert.  Nothing says friendship more than a friend who’s willing to cook clean eats for you for your birthday dinner.  The stew was teeming with veggies – broccoli, onion, cauliflower, tomatoes, squash… delicious and made to order (no bell peppers, please!) That’s a true friend.

Today, on three different occasions, I flexed my, “no thank you!” muscle.  I read somewhere that discipline and willpower is a “muscle” (not a real muscle of course)… but that is to say that the more you practice discipline, the more likely you are to be able to make the tough choices when the rubber meets the road. 

Like, for instance, last night I went out with friends but abstained from alcohol and went home at 9:30 knowing I had 6am BODYPUMP class.  And tonight, I’m flexing my discipline muscle by blogging when there’s nothing I want more than to curl up with a book in bed right about now.  (Soon!) 

In that same thought process, this past weekend, in conversation with my sister, she said this to me:

“Happiness is yoked to discipline.”

And what she meant by that is that FUN and HAPPINESS are two different things.  You can have fun, without being truly happy.  True happiness is rooted in working toward the creating the life you dream of, whatever that may be.  Seeing your hard work pay off is truly rewarding. 

This week, I’ve seen my hard work pay off in a couple of ways:
a) Following the LiveFit program and seeing real change in my body
b) Spending the time and effort preparing my classes and having 30 people show up for my 6am BODYPUMP class. (See also above: 9:30 bedtime)
c) Watching as my wedding starts to come together in a real way and feeling so joyous that the details and the nuances are so very Chase.

Success is built on a foundation of hard work.  Learning this every day.

But what does this have to do with flexing a discipline muscle and saying No thank you?  To me, every time I say “no thank you” to something that is not aligned with my goals, it is like putting a penny in the “I believe in myself” jar.  It reinforces to me that I know what’s best for me and at this time, in this place and I make that decision whether to say yes, or … No thank you.

No thank you to obligations I don’t have time for.  No thank you to foods that derail my training goals.  No thank you to costs that are outside of my budget.  No thank you.  

Flexing that no thank you muscle?  Feels good.  Almost as good as BODYPUMP.

Almost.

As promised, LiveFit progress pics! 

Now, I am many things.  I like to think I’m a pretty nice person, I pick up on new concepts quickly and I have a deeply compassionate heart.   I am not, however, skilled WHATSOEVER in taking self portraits with a self-timer.  So, forgive my frizzy hair and poor lighting and inability to get my entire body in the frame and just accept it for what it is.  And seriously people, anyone who has ever posted progress pictures on a website or blog, let me tell you, it’s a really humbling experience.  But, I’m committed to being real and honest with you guys so no hiding behind anything here. 

Left hand column: Before LiveFit (December 5th, 2011 to be exact).  
Right hand column: End of Phase I (4 weeks into 12 week program, at 5:30am today, to be exact)

I think the most noticeable change is in the side profile, but I can also see slightly less “back fat” (for lack of a better term) in the view from behind.  As I mentioned last week, I have seen a big change in my measurements (waist, hips, etc.) but not as dramatic of weight loss.  I’ve lost about 5 lbs.  I will say that I can definitely tell I’m getting stronger.  The weight training and consistent meals incorporating protein is definitely increasing my lean muscle mass. I actually did 8 tricep pushups on my toes while teaching BODYPUMP last weekend!  That, my friends, is a feat for me.  Yay!

So, on to Phase 2, which, from a nutritional perspective, isn’t much different.  From a training perspective, it is dramatically different because you incorporate cardio into the plan. I’ve mentioned before that I couldn’t not teach classes which are cardio based, so I tweaked the program to suit my job and kept doing cardio. 

But, here’s a typical day of meals for Phase 2

The difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2 is that the 4th and 5th meals are switched, so you’re eating less later on in the day. 

So, I’m excited!  I’m pleased with the results so far and am looking forward to continuing. I just need to have a stern talking-to with my sweet tooth. 

1. My wedding doesn’t have a theme.  Does it need a theme?  I googled “wedding theme” for ideas and came across Tacky Weddings.  It is exactly what you might think.  Heinously tacky wedding photos and videos.  And while I was wasting time on Tacky Weddings, I came across The Lovely Bride, which appears to be your one-stop-shop for quasi-orthopedic wedding shoes which almost guarantee a sprained ankle by time the DJ calls it a night.  For $140.  Really?

2. Saving up your vacation hours from work for a 2 week honeymoon is an overwhelming exercise in delayed gratification.  This girl could use a day off, for sure.

3.  A friend who happens to have 4 names (First name, Middle name, Maiden name, Married name) advised HIGHLY AGAINST having 4 names.  My middle name happens to be my Mom’s family name.  My last name is, of course, my Dad’s family name.  Having to decide whether to keep my middle name or my to-be-maiden name is something I am struggling to decide.  It would be easier if I could just smoosh them all together and then I would be Chase Moncarleist.  Or Chase Monleistberry.  Or Chase Carleistydoro.  Leistberrydoro.  Carmonleisterry. Hmm.

4.  I want our wedding vows to include the words ’til death do we party.  No?

5. Your fiancé probably does not enjoy being interrupted in the middle of the Bulls game for you to hold up your laptop for him to see the adorable/creative/cute/amazing thing for the wedding you just found on Pinterest.  Assuming your fiancé is like mine.

6. Speaking of Pinterest, I was looking back over my wedding pinboard and realized one of the wedding gowns I pinned many months ago is actually very, very, very similar to the dress I selected.  Totally coincidental.

7.  I’m a little bummed that the Nationals at Orioles game that is happening on my wedding day is not a day game.  I would have totally gone to the game in the afternoon before the wedding. (The wedding is late in the day.)  And I probably ended up with a bad sunburn.  Like this picture from Jeff’s cousin’s wedding in 2008 where we roasted in the sun at the Cubs game the day before.  Scorched.

Speaking of which, I made this sign for that game.  I was very proud of my cleverness.

The last T is silent.

8. There are some really cute bridesmaid dresses out there these days.  Is it wrong to buy one for myself? Tell me this isn’t an adorable dress.  Tell me, couldn’t you TOTALLY wear that again!?  Psst. Buy it here if you like.

9. In researching stylists to do hair and makeup for the big day, I had the brainstorm idea that there should be service where a hairdresser comes to your house in the morning before work and blow dries your hair for you.  I would do that more often than would be an advisable frequency. 

10.  My approach to my wedding is perfectly summed up in this passage from A Homemade Life.

When people would wish us well, they would often say, “Oh, I just know your wedding day is going to be PERFECT!  It’s going to be BLISS!  It’s going to be the BEST day of your life!”  Brandon and I would always giggle about that, even though the gesture was very nice.  For one thing, there’s the word bliss which makes my toes curl. It reminds me of diamond company commercials and bath beads.  But even more than that, if the best day of our lives is our wedding day, we thought, what the hell comes afterward?  We would have a lot of so-s0 years to look forward to.  We wanted to have a beautiful wedding, but it didn’t need to be utter perfection.  It needed to celebrate what we bring to each other in the truest way possible, and with some good food and dancing.  But it didn’t need to be the best day ever.  In fact, we sincerely hoped that, in the long-term scheme of things, it wouldn’t be.

Many better days to look forward to, indeed.

I’m glad to say this week was a VAST improvement over last week.  I even hesitated linking to that post because I just wanted to learn from it and set it aside.

The weekends are always toughest for me when it comes to indulgences and I’m not 100% certain why.  Something having to do with the structure and discipline of the week and the complete opposite of the weekend. I almost would prefer to have a work week that was Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday instead of two days off in a row.  I get into too much trouble.

But this weekend, I was a busy, busy girl.  Between the quarterly Les Mills launches and football, I was too busy to get into much of anything.

Some fun shots from this weekend. 

Me and Kate in BODYATTACK 75. I’m in the yellow.  Massive air.

Jill and Jen rocking out RPM 53

BODYJAM 59 (which the pictures totally don’t do it justice… you gotta watch the video)

Speaking of videos, check this one out!

Wheee! 

Anyway, I’m approaching the end of Phase 1 of LiveFit – one week to go.  I thought I’d share some of my progress by the numbers.  This is the change since January 1, 2012.

Can we just talk for five seconds about THESE TWO metrics?

I’ve lost four inches from my waist in 3 weeks.  That even includes the really bad weekend I had last week where I was totally off the program.  Let me tell you folks, this program WORKS.  I’m going to do an “end of Phase I” photo comparison next Monday so you can see what I’m seeing.

Clean eats  + consistent exercise = RESULTS.   Woo hooo!  

Have a great night!

So, the Ravens lost tonight, the game they needed to win to advance to the SuperBowl.  And before I go on, allow me to acknowledge it is a game.  It is a pastime, it is a sport, it is a hobby.  There are far more important things to worry about in this world.

But, I’m devastated. 

Baltimore is where I was born, my hometown.  Baltimore is where I will say my vows in June.  Baltimore is a great place to live, a wonderful place to grow up, a city full of culture, excitement and most of all, charm.  But since I’ve been living in DC for the last 18 months, I have woefully learned that it does not carry this same level of honor to people outside of Baltimore. 

Baltimore’s got a reputation (forged in no small part thanks to the Ravens themselves) as gritty, working-class, scrappy and hardscrabble.  And, well, weird.  People know it as what they saw on The Wire, and it’s no-less-uninviting predecessor Homicide: Life on the Street.  Our most well-known filmmaker, John Waters, has made some of cinema’s most unusual stories.  And our most well-known poet is known for his tales of mystery and macabre.  Our accent is unappealing, with a long drop of the letter “o” resulting in the bastardization of words like home to heaummm, and no to neauuux.  It’s quasi-southern and quite honestly, pretty unharmonious to the ears.

But if you can see past the outward reputation, it’s a remarkable city.  Small enough to be intimate (Small-timore, anyone?) and big enough to have the vitality and bustle of a major city.  The history in Baltimore is deep – our National Anthem was written here – and our own Johns Hopkins hospital has been ranked at the top of U.S. News list of best overall hospitals for more than 20 years.

So, what does this have to do with the AFC Championship?

My hopes and dreams of the Ravens heading to the SuperBowl was my abstruse way of making a statement that Baltimore is not nearly second-class city you might think it is. 

Baltimore is a city who deserves a second look.  It has earned the right to be more than that stop on the Amtrak Northeast Regional between Union Station and Wilmington.  And it’s most certainly not a suburb of DC.

My dream for the Ravens to hit the national stage for the most televised sporting event of the year was not about touchdowns and interceptions.  It was about giving the city the platform to show the country that it IS a city worth noticing.  It is a city that has bred remarkable athletes (let’s not forget Michael Phelps, too!) and has a fan base of locals and transplants who BELIEVE in it. 

There’s always next year, absolutely. 

I just wasn’t ready for it to end yet.