A day without caffeine?

Let me tell you, starting your day off without caffeine is not the best way to go. I don't usually have coffee before I go to the Black Belt Prep classes because I don't want to be dehydrated. I've done that once in a two hour class and I decided that once was enough! I usually come home and have coffee, but that didn't happen today.

This morning's class was a true preparation for the test. We lined up, figured out where we're going to stand, taught the Cho Dan Bo's that they need to face Kwan Jang Nim, and practiced the bowing in and the standing meditation. Then he got us organized for the actual test and we were off and running.
I was in front of a kid who is 17 or 18, very tall and, ahem! LOUD!! He also doesn't realize the extent of his reach and came very darned close to kicking me in the head. (I have asked Sa Bu Nim to move me or him. I don't want to be in danger of being kicked.)

When the second class of the morning started, Sa Bu Nim told me that *I* was going to warm them up. ME?! Okay! That was a bit of a fun thing for me. I actually stayed around a little longer than I had originally intended because I was enjoying the technique and working out. I also got to see my kids do their warm ups. My daughter did her push ups very well. My son has some work to do. His push ups are worse than his "elderly" mom and mine haven't been the best. By the way, *I* did 30 push ups in one minute.

We came home after the kids' class and I've been here ever since. I managed to do laundry with my daughter's help but nothing else. I'm very tired and have been dozing off on the couch. I watched/slept through Breakfast at Tiffany's. Audrey Hepburn was wonderful.
I'm going to be concentrating on forms all week and resting as much as possible. I know that Friday's going to be a great challenge. I can do it. I'm ready. I will try to have my friend Johnny take pictures.

Another WW update!!

I had my usual Saturday morning meeting today. Now bear in mind that I haven't been to meetings since September 29th. I went back last week after making a promise to my best friend that I'd get back on track. I had gained 3.4 pounds in that time frame. I'm happy to say that I've lost it again. I'm back to 42.6 pounds GONE! This makes me happy because I didn't go in the wrong direction.

Today we talked about the Weight Watchers from the 70s. There were a couple of ladies who had followed that plan many years ago in the meeting. They had a lot of weird, probably not medically sound, "diet mentality" things they were doing...one of the things these ladies mentioned was the *6 meat servings* in a day, that you HAD to eat?! EWWW!! I eat meat but 6 servings *in a day* is too much for me!!! Some days I don't eat meat at all. It all depends on my mood. I guess that my peanut butter counts as a meat, but geez, eating THAT much meat?! I'm glad I have the plans I'm following now!!

The major reason we talked about this was that WW rolled out their new and improved meeting materials this week. We can all "start over" in a matter of speaking. We got a new Week 1 book and a booklet titled "KickStart Your Success". It's got information about the Flex Plan and the Core Plan. I personally follow the Flex plan, where you have a given number of points daily and 35 "flex" points a week. The idea is that you have the extra points, but that you don't necessarily have to use them. My goal is to eat my points (or stay under a bit) but not to dip into the flex points. MOST days I can stay within points. This past week, I didn't do so well because I actually went over on Thursday and on Friday. No matter how many fresh veggies and fruits you eat, no matter how much water you drink, if you go over on portions, you'll gain. I know this from experience. I'm not getting down about it. I've already gotten over that.

So this morning, at W/I, I went to the usual lady I go to. I absolutely adore Bernice. She's lost something like 150 pounds and is just one of the sweetest, funniest people around. She saw me and told me it wasn't that cold. I told her, "I'm that cold!" We laughed as I unearthed myself from my coat, gloves, and shoes, put everything down and got ready to get on the scale. When I stepped up, she told me I scared her! LOL! I had a really great week, despite not journaling and keeping up with it like I'd planned.
We got a laugh about me scaring her, but it felt good to see that number. I also surprised another lady, Doris, when she saw me there for the second week in a row. She asked if I was coming in next week and I said "YOU BETCHA!" I'm going back. 21 times makes a habit--I have 19 times to go to ingrain the habit.

I start training for my black belt recertification test on January 5th. That class is at 8:00, so I'll get into uniform, go weigh in and attend most of the meeting, then head to the class and work for 2 1/2 hours. Then it's home to drink LOTS of water and recover. We won't even TALK about the fact that for THIS test I have a PT test. (anyone want to be a "pinch runner" for me? I have to run a MILE and I'm NOT a runner!!) I think that over the holiday break from Martial Arts, I'll go out and either walk or run after work. Who knows, maybe I'll wind up liking it. It'll be a challenge, like my belt test was.

Tuesday-all about challenges

I was right...the scales are absolutely evil to me! I need to seriously watch what I'm eating and if I'm going to snack, it needs to be 0 point foods. If I can just stick with that, I'll do alright.

I have CIT class tonight. There's a black belt class before the CIT class, so I think I may go ahead and use my time wisely by attending said class. I need to be working with the higher dans to make sure that I get my bong form (Bong Hyung Il Bu) done correctly. I also need to start practicing it because that's something I know will need to be done by the next black belt test. March 8th is going to be here before I know it. I'm actually not counting down the days until then because I'm not nervous anymore. I made so many mistakes during my actual test that I figure it's out of my system. I have to go in and practice in between classes now. I'm considering taking classes daily. Mr. M says that it's acceptable since I'm in the CIT program.

I was thinking about a blog I read recently. The writer was talking about practice. When, how, where. One of his blogs dealt with training outside. That would actually benefit many of us who have only trained indoors. It would get us away from the clock watching that we do. I hate to admit it, but there are days when I don't WANT to go to class, that I'd rather watch the clock than do the warm-ups and the actual exercises. I know that the warm-ups are to help me not hurt my body. I need to get past that "clock watch" mindset. That's something I think would be a beneficial goal to set. If I get out of watching the clocks, then I'll be able to have a more efficient training session.

Now, that being said, I need to find a good stretch for the I-T band. I aggravated my left leg years ago by attempting to run when I was 25-50 pounds heavier than I am now. It's acting up again, so I have to take it a little easy. I am going to do the work that is expected, but if I feel a twinge, I'm going to stop and modify the movement to compensate. I really hope that we're not going to do jumping jacks tonight in either class because (news flash!) I. Hate. Jumping Jacks! I really don't like them. (Saturday though, I did 100 of them and didn't stop once!!)

I may stay after CIT tonight and get DB to work on forms with me. I haven't done my forms since Saturday and before that, it was at least a month. I need to do my forms!! I miss them. I like the challenge of improving upon what I've already learned. That is something else I can set as a challenge to myself.