Sharing a Giveaway!

My friend Lindsey has an awesome blog called Fitness For the Rest of Us. I have blogged about her blog before, I like it that much. She gives great reviews of fitness DVDs and she has the most fantastic give aways!

Today she posted a give away for Paul Katami's Hollywood Bootcamp 4 x 4. I have drooled over all of Paul Katami's DVDs for a long time, but I haven't bought one because I have many to keep me busy. Plus I try not to spend too much money. So I'm entering this contest here and hope you all run over to Lindsey's blog for a wonderful dose of inspiration--she has an amazing weight loss story--and to take advantage of her wonderful give aways!

Cathe Gift Certificate Winner

Sorry so late. The day didn't go as planned, we actually threw in some fun this afternoon (a long walk) and that messed my regular exercise up, plus it's supposed to sleet/storm tomorrow so I had to go to the grocery store for the weekly groceries tonight instead of tomorrow, plus then I had to get my regular workout in, plus when that was done I had to drink a gallon of water and cool down, plus then I was sweaty and stinky and had to take a shower...

Love my run-on sentence?

So I wrote all the names down. I used my Cathe hat that I just got myself (which I love!) instead of a pretty vintage bowl because it was handy. I then had my dear husband pull a name.

Oh, and before I announce the winner, I now remember why I don't like give aways: because it always makes me feel bad for the people that didn't win. I wish I were rich so I could do for everyone...but I'm not.

Okay, no more putting it off. The name that Hubby pulled out of the hat? Katie!

I will email you, and when I hear back, I can get the gift certificate all lined up!

Thanks for entering, everyone, and celebrating my blogiversary with me!

Blogiversary Give Away--$35 Cathe Gift Certificate!

It's celebration time here. I started my blog February 19, 2009. I've gained much through my journey: the friendships and support, better health, lost a few pounds along the way, a diagnosis for my mystery pain finally, and a love of fitness. There have been ups and downs on this journey, but my blog has been the perfect outlet for me.

So to celebrate, I wanted to share my passion: fitness. What to give away? I love my Benson-era Firms, I love Jari Love, and I love Cathe. They're my favorites, although there are many other instructors I love as well.

Since I've given away Firm videos in the past, I decided to give away a gift certificate to Cathe's store. I will never forget the night I sat down at Collage Video's website on the lookout for strength training videos that weren't manly, that were appealing, and would help me on my fitness journey. What I bought were Firm videos. What I was captivated by were the Cathe workouts. I knew I was a beginner and not ready for Cathe. I'm not saying my Firm videos were easy--they weren't. Cathe is different, though. I watched several of Cathe's and knew that I would buy some one day.

And I did. I now own many of her workouts. I'm even good at some of them! lol She is polished, she is highly professional, and she is safe. She has excellent form and is a top-notch instructor. She's Cathe, after all. Her workouts are tough--most are an advanced level, but they're good. They're even fun.

Her step workouts are very enjoyable. I started out with Basic Step, which is her beginner step video. I felt so accomplished when I got that down. Then I moved on. I'm still working on some of her tougher stuff, but it is such a thrill to get through her workouts, to finally perfect a move, and to be dripping in sweat when finished. It's also a great rush to do her weight workouts and be able to up my weights, to feel my muscles working and getting toasty.

Anyway, I want to share the Cathe love with a $35 gift certificate. She runs great sales, and if you sign up for her newsletter, you may be able to find terrific deals.

Here are my give away rules:

First of all, I am not responsible for any injuries sustained when you use your winning DVD. Just had to get that out of the way.

1) Comment here to enter.
2) One entry per person.
3) Leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you.
4) Tell me why you want to win--just curious!

Entries will be taken until February 19 at 12:00 central time.
I will write out all entries and put them in one of my pretty vintage bowls then draw a winner.
I will announce the winner sometime in the evening of February 19, which is my blog anniversary. I will also email the winner.
Winner has until Monday, February 21st, 2011, at 8:00 p.m. central time to respond to me. If I do not hear from the winner, I will draw again.
I think that's all I need!

Happy working out! Work work, as Cathe would say.

And the winner is...

Lynn at Actual Scale! She's the lucky winner of The Firm's Standing Legs and Upper Body workouts.

I did Upper Body today and it's a wonderful upper body workout! lol I did Standing Legs earlier this week and when I was done, my legs weren't standing!

Grab your leg warmers, find your old leotard, step back into the 80s and 90s for a timeless workout!

I hope you enjoy!

***
Disclaimer: I purchased this with my own money. I have no relationship with the creators, anyone involved with or distributors of this video. Use at own risk. Not responsible for injuries. You can curse my name during Standing Legs all you want. lol

I will leave you all with a clip of The Firm's 20 Questions About Fitness.

Happy New Year Give Away!

Happy New Year! May 2010 be a fantastic year!



In light of the new year, I decided to have another give away. Let's start the new year right with healthy eating and great exercise. To help with that, I'm giving away something I love: The Firm!



I am giving away one brand new DVD that has two workouts on it. The Firm Standing Legs and The Firm Upper Body. This is a weight lifting tape. Items needed to do this DVD are a tall box/high step and dumbbells. (Ankle weights, a chair and a barbell can be used, but are not necessary.)



Standing Legs is 45 minutes long and dubbed as one of the toughest lower body workouts available. It can't be all that bad, because I do it!



Upper Body is 40 minutes long and a thorough upper body workout.



To enter, leave a comment. If you announce the contest on your blog, let me know by leaving a second comment and I'll let that count as a second entry.



My son and I will put the entries in a bowl, and he will choose the winner. (That's easier than me using the computer, plus he likes to be included.) The winner must contact me within 48 hours of the announcement of the winner. Entries close at 9 pm Central Time on Friday the 8th, and my son will draw a winner on Saturday the 9th.

Happy New Year! May all your weight loss, health and fitness dreams come true!

Thank you, Kelly!

Guess who was lucky and won Kelly's No Pudge Fudge Brownie blog give away?

Me!!!

The poor mailman, it's been snowing all day, snowed a good six inches last night, and he's running a couple hours behind. However, he walked up the driveway with our yummy box of No Pudge Brownies.

Guess who is making brownies tonight? A fantastic substitution for that fudge I was craving. =)

Should I make the mint, the original or the cappuccino? Or all three? lol

Thank you so much, Kelly!

If I don't get on again tonight, Merry Christmas Eve....and Merry Christmas.

Wendy Whiner

I am a whiner. I admit it. It is one of my worst qualities. I cringe when I look at some of my posts, because I whine. A lot. Sorry. I am brutally honest here on the blog, though, and you get the real deal, warts and all. (I don't have warts, though.)

I also whine when I'm sick. The past two days have been no exception. It's funny, because "they" say that men usually whine when sick. The opposite is true in my house. My husband never whines, but I always do. It get on his nerves, even though he doesn't say that to me, I know it does.

Between my son and I, we have gone through a box of Puffs in the past two days. We are quite the pair, sniffling, sneezing, blowing our noses, repeat. Today it seemed as if school would never end. I was so tired and desperately wanted to nap. Finally at 2:30 he started his last subject, and it was a reading assignment. I snuggled up and tried to sleep, but the medicine I took kept me awake. I don't like taking antihistimines. They make me feel flighty inside. I think I shall suffer tomorrow and do without. The neti pot does a fabulous job of keeping my sinuses clear.

The antihistimes also dry me up. I drank gallons today. Got all my water in before noon, and I drank two pots of decaf by myself. The hot was soothing. I don't like tea, sadly. I'm still thirsty. Tomorrow no more meds. I just don't like this!

whine, whine, whine

Yesterday I came way under calories and points. Very unusual for me. All bets are off when I'm sick and don't feel like eating--listen to your body! Today I've been trying to get more protein in, so I should be on target. I did get lots of exercise--with all that drinking, I put on lots of steps walking to the bathroom! lol

I hope tomorrow is better. I want to work out. I miss it. Amazing, I should say something like that!

There, whine over.

And one nice thing: If you don't read Actual Scale's blog, you should. She is celebrating 50-pounds lost by having a give away for an Amazon gift card. I think that's a fabulous thing to give away! Congrats on your great loss!

19 Minutes...

My contest winner contacted me, with 19 minutes to spare! Just thought I'd share that.

Anyone who might be interested in those old Firm tapes I adore so much, if you still have a VHS player, you can pick them up dirt cheap on Amazon. I've been picking them up right and left. =) You can also pick up some that are on DVD for a pretty decent price, too, but not all made it to DVD.

For Christmas, I have asked for a barbell. Then I will be complete. Of course I may need more weights...

Winner Second Notice

Dparke, you won my contest!!!

Please contact me. My email is at the very bottom of the page.

If I do not hear from you by Sunday, November 1 at 6 p.m., you will forfeit the DVD.

Thanks,
Jo

p.s. I did email the winner but have not heard back!

And The Winner Is...

dparke!

Congratulations! I wish I were rich and could buy everyone who participated a prize, but I'm not and I can't.

Thanks for entering. And thanks to everyone who reads my blog and gives me such tremendous support!

My First Give Away

Well, here I go, jumping into a give away, something I thought I'd never do.

I feel like doing something very positive and giving back right now.

So, what brings me great joy that I'd love to share? The FIRM. Specifically, The FIRM tapes that were made in 2001 and before.

Do you love 80s leg warmers? The leotards that made women's legs look a mile long? Can you say cheese? Yup, the outfits in these tapes are cheesy, but they were popular in their time. The thing is, they are absolutely fantastic workouts. You don't even think about what they're wearing, you're too busy working hard to notice.

So, I am going to give just one DVD away. I'm cheap, what can I say. Actually, I'm on a budget. The winner gets to choose which DVD they want.

~~~~~

A little FIRM history. It started long ago as a studio, The Body Firm, in Columbia, South Carolina. They also had a studio in Charleston, South Carolina. Eventually, in 1986, they produced their first VHS home workout with Susan Harris. It is one tough workout. A lot of critics said that Susan was too sexy and breathy with her voice. Believe me, if you're working out to this and want to talk, you'll be breathy, too. It has the toughest floor leg workout I've ever done. Their second FIRM tape was with Janet Jones, and rumor has it that Mr. Gretzky proposed during the production. This is Volume 2, which is my favorite.

Anna Benson, her husband Mark Henrickson and her sister Cynthia founded The FIRM. The production quality is amazing...in sync music, classical set, excellent workouts. No exercise video I've ever seen comes close to matching the production quality of the old FIRMS. Then one day in 2001 they sold to Good Times because of a lawsuit with a former employee, which is still on appeal. Sad, big loss for the rest of us. Good Times eventually sold to Gaiam, and The FIRM is still in production, there is still a studio in Columbia, but to me, it doesn't have the appeal of the Benson/Benson/Henrickson videos. (Although it's still very good--just not the same.)

Also important to note is that there are different types of workouts in The "Old" FIRM. They have some that are all weights, some called tortoises which are 75% weights and 25% cardio--slow and heavy; the classics, which were the first six volumes and are 50-50 weights/cardio, hares which are 25% weights and 75% cardio--light and fast, and then just some cardio workouts.

You do need weights for these workouts, and they recommend 3-, 5- and 8-pound weights to start out. Some require a tall or short box, which is now known as a Fanny Lifter. An aerobic step will work. When I started out, I didn't even use my step! Some require a barbell, but you can substitute with free weights or a body sculpting stick, like I do. Also, a 48-inch dowel for balance in some routines, and you can use a broom or mop for that! One even uses a weight ball, but you could just hold a dumbbell instead.

Anna Benson has re-mastered many of the old workouts and is now selling them on DVD. They are chaptered, and she has done a wonderful job. You can see long clips on You Tube, which I've linked to.

So in my little give away, you may choose:

Volume 1 with Susan Harris (Body Sculpting Basics)
Volume 2 with Janet Jones Gretzky (Low Impact Aerobics)
Volume 3 with Sandahl Bergman (Aerobic Workout with Weights)
Volume 4 with Susan Harris and Kai Soremekun (Time Crunch)
Volume 6 with Jayne Poteet (Boomers)

These are all classics, 50-50. I must note that their low-impact aerobics is actually high impact. I modify to low-impact.

The Tortoise with Tracie Long -- this a tortoise, 75% weights/25% aerobics and has ballroom steps.

The Hare with Tracie Long --this is a hare, which complements The Tortoise. Also, ballroom music, the Charleston, etc. These two are dancier than the rest.

Better Body and Buns--this is a tortoise. This is one of my favorites, and I get major DOMS from this.

Sculpting with Weights with Tracie Long. This is geared to beginners, but it's definitely NOT easy! It's a great tortoise tape.

Maximum Cardio with Carissa Foster. This is a Hare, and it's tough. I own it, but haven't done it yet. I've watched it a few times and I don't quite have the stamina yet--plus I have to figure out low-impact substitutes for the high-impact work. A weighted ball is needed for some segments in this.

Tough Tape with Tracie Long -- this is all weights and it is tough.

Now for the contest rules.

There will be one winner.

1. Enter the contest below by leaving a comment.

You may also enter a second time.

2. Blog about it, and leave a comment with a link letting me know you have done so.

Make sure you leave a way for me to let you know you've won!

I don't twitter, tweet or any of that, so we'll just leave it to these two.

Entry deadline is noon central time on October 28. I will announce a winner that evening. I will order the DVD and have it sent to me, then will forward it on. I will note that Anna does not seal the cases of the DVDs. So when you get it, don't assume I opened it up and played it! I wouldn't do that, and I own all these anyway, even if most are on VHS. lol

One final comment: I won't be offended if there are not a lot of entries! I fully realize that the style and the outfits may be very off-putting to some. However, if you have an open mind or have lived through and loved the 80s/90s, it won't even phase you. The bottom line is that these are quality workouts, and many people still love and do them. They're very common on many of the video exercise boards.

Not a Multi-Tasker

Retta is having a contest. I can't help her with her contest, because I'm what I like to call kitchen challenged. It's all I can do to keep track of food groups and points. It's a very cool contest, though, so please pop on over and take a look. I hope some of you great cooks can help her come up with some good plans!

~~~

My son is sick. He's been having really bad insomnia due to the ADD meds. Once last week he was awake at 5 in the morning--he had not slept. So I let him sleep in, we did school when he got up. I don't think this is working. The kid has bags under his eyes, he felt toxic and sick and had a throbbing headache all day. So will go back to the doctor and stop taking the meds. Poor kid. He loved the ability to focus, but it's not worth it if you lose sleep and become ill.

~~~

Went thrifting this morning, came upon some really bad garage sales. I gave up on sales and went to Salvation Army and another Thrift Store. I found three FIRM tapes for $1 each, so I snapped them up. I was happy. After that we all went to the sporting goods store where hubby bought me 5-, 8- and 12-pound weights with a holder. I also got gloves because I didn't like the feel of the weights. (I wanted the pretty colored ones, but they were too expensive.) I cannot believe the price of weights! Good grief! I had no idea. These will hold me for quite awhile.

I did my strength training today in one of my new outfits!!! Had hubby take a photo of me, but the shirt is so tight that it is too gross to publish. It fits--it's a snug shirt, but it reveals all the bulges and it's just one of those things that nobody wants to see. lol

I wanted to journal about my exercise experience, and I didn't really want to clutter this up with daily exercise posts. That's why I have the exercise calendar--but I want more. I want details, what weights i used, how I felt, etc., because I want to go back and compare. So, I started a blog that I was just going to keep to myself, but then I decided to link to it on the side. It is called 282.5 Firming Up. Yes, it's a play on words as I am so in love with The FIRM (the older stuff) that I'll mostly be focusing on that. I'll throw some Richard Simmons and Leslie cardio in, too, but The FIRM was made for me: It's girly-girl yet tough, and it just makes me feel good to watch/do it.

~~
I will be cleaning like a fiend tomorrow and don't know if I'll be making blog rounds again. This is really bothering me. I try when I have a five-minute block of time, but it's just not cutting it. Give me a week and I'll be good. I hope. It just seems everything usually hits me at once, and I am not a multi-tasker. I had so much laundry today (and I'm still not even close to being done) that I felt like loading it up and going to a laundromat. lol I didn't.

That is all my fault, though, as I let things slide a bit. I'm paying the price now! At least school is ready for next week and I have zero prep work for that.

Happy weekend.

I Won a Giveaway!!!

I won a giveaway from MacAttack at Fat Buster. I never win any giveaways, so I was very excited. Thank you so much, MacAttack!!!

The Fed-Ex man delivered the box this afternoon, and I promptly tore it open!

Oh, look at the pretty colors! I had no idea I would get so many!

What is it? Mix 1. Yummy drinks that have 3 servings of fruits/veggies per serving and antioxidants equivalent to 4 cups of green tea. The Mango, which I have at my side, has 200 calories, 2.5 fat grams, 3 grams of fiber and 15 grams of protein.



I waited until my husband got home from work to try them. He pulled a bottle of each from the fridge and we taste tested. Here's what we think:

Mix Berry:

Me: This flavor wasn't for me. (I'm a picky eater, so go by my husband's reviews, as he's more normal with his taste buds.)

Hubby: Loved it.

Blueberry-vanilla:

Me: Pretty good.

Hubby: Loved it.

Mango:

Me: Taste explosion in my mouth! I LOVED it.

Hubby: LOVED it, it was his favorite.

I do not think I would have sought these out had I not won the giveaway. I am thankful I did. That mango was just heavenly to me, and I will definitely check my store out to see if they carry it. I checked Mix-1's store locater, and my store should carry it! If not, I'll drive to the big city to stock up.

It's good to try new things and I'm glad we were able to. Hubby said that it's thick and filling, I though it was a good stick-to-your-ribs type drink. I can see these being really handy while on the road or on the run. I can also see them being a great pick-me-up when I want a great taste explosion. Hubby is going to take the mix berry to work and use them as afternoon snacks.

Thank you so much, MacAttack!!! You made us very happy today!!!

A Give Away

MackAttack is having a give away!

She's giving away Mix1. It's a pre-made smoothie drink with lots of antioxidants. It sounds really yummy!

Go on over and sign up for her give away. It ends Sunday, so hurry!

I Can't Read

Ang clearly stated to write our blog name on a piece of notebook paper with the photo to prove it's our scale. Well, I used frog paper, hope that's okay. ;-)

Here it is cleaned up a little. I tried to remove the sticker, which was a silly mistake.

Ang's Summer Challenge

Ang has a doorprize contest going on as a part of her Summer Challenge. It's an ugliest scale contest.

Now I don't know if my scale is ugly, but it's 7 years old and I've never removed the sticker. That's kind of ugly.

The worst thing about my scale is that it is dirty. Eww. There's a hair on it. There's smudges on it. It desperately needs a good cleaning.

It's rather silly, but I never think to clean the scale. That's obvious! I move it out of the way when I'm doing the floor. I think that I'm going to grab a Clorox wipe and go clean it up a bit. It's actually a little embarrassing to post my dirty scale. What the heck, though.

I wonder if I'll lose .1 or .2 by cleaning it up? ha ha

So here is where I get excited or curse, depending on the magic numbers:

Kelly's Give Away

Kelly is having another give away! Don't run over there and leave a comment, because I want to win. lol Just kidding. I mean I want to win, but go visit. lol

It is chocolate heaven.

I'm drooling!

Kelly's Give Away

Kelly at Happy Texans is having a blog give-away. She's giving away three bags of Carb Check Bagels. I haven't seen those around here, so I thought I'd enter.

Go visit her blog and maybe you'll win.

I haven't had a bagel in a long time, they sure sound good!