Strong and Sassy

LIGHT......

2010-02-14T14:28:00.001-08:00

....at the end of the tunnel? I'm still looking for it. Come ON, people. Get moving!!!!!!!!!!!!

ROCK THE WALK!!!!

2010-02-02T11:11:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow's the big day - my FREE 3-MILE WALK CLASS at The Orchard Church in McHenry, 9 a.m.! I don't know if she'll read this but a big shout-out to my friend Lisa, who's coming to get her walk on AND invited a bunch of friends who are coming too! Can't wait to meet your friends, Lisa!

At tomorrow's class, I'll be giving a little background on Leslie Sansone's walk-aerobics program, sharing why it's SO effective, and giving health and fitness tips. I'll also hand out some special little surprises! Visitors will enjoy a ROCKIN' 3-mile walk (with my favorite music playlist) and will be invited to get a punch card so they can come back and rock the walk as often as they'd like! $5 per class and $1/kid onsite childcare (with an option for two FREE classes) -- Taking charge of your health and fitness DOES NOT get any EASIER than this!!!!!! Tomorrow I'll report on how it went. Hope to see YOU there!!!!

....In other news, this morning I decided to have another date with the treadmill. Now that it's February, I need to work on increasing my mileage over the next three months in preparation for the half-marathon in May! Always feels good to get a workout in in the morning!

Last Chance?

2010-01-31T12:35:00.000-08:00

"I felt like I was on The Biggest Loser doing one of the 'last chance' workouts!" That's what I told Bob Garon this past Thursday after participating in his Synergy Kettlebell Kamp. It was intense. It was tough. It was an amped-up workout compared to what I'm used to. And I loved it.
Upon arriving at the class, I was greeted by Bob's five-year-old son who quickly deemed me "a new client" and then showed me his pristine kettlebell swing technique. This kid's gonna grow up RIGHT! Then I finally got to meet Bob face to face, after several months of facebook correspondence.
First, he had me show him what moves I know so far (I'm pretty new to bells) and, I must admit, it was a tiny bit intimidating to be showing my rookie stuff to an expert. Next he explained what we'd be doing for that evening's class. It all sounded great....and it all looked fine outlined on the dry erase board. 'Pssh, piece o' cake,' I thought. Didn't say it to Bob, though.
Ha.
Let me just say - I've never been a pushups kind of gal. Bob had us on all fours, butts in the air, doing these crazy cool pushups. He had us in the pushup position doing rows with our kettlebells. He had us doing burpees and lunges. I'm talking SERIOUS lunges. Wish I could remember the correct terminology for all the moves. Anyway....we did four-minute circuits. Four minutes doesn't sound difficult at all, does it?
Ha.
We went right from the burpees into the rows into the lunges into - well, you get the point. During the workout, he yelled out words of encouragement: "Stay strong! Finish it up! Do it til the last second - that's what counts! Every second counts!" Bob (Harper) and Jillian ain't got nothin' on Mister Garon.
At one point the sweat was dripping so fast and my heart was beating so quick I didn't know if I would make it to the end of the workout. My drenched hair was sticking to my face and breaths weren't coming easy. But I did it.
After taking Bob's class, I came to a couple of definite conclusions: 1) People who do these workouts on a regular basis are beasts and I have great respect for them. They will have movie star bodies. 2) I loved the class and hope to be able to take one again. I learned a lot about proper form and the coolest thing about it is that you're doing cardio and strengh training simultaneously. At the same time, I will probably never be a kettlebell "regular." I am a walk/run interval kind of girl who loves to work up a good sweat, and I love adding high-intensity workouts like kettebell to my regime once in awhile to kick it up a notch and challenge my body and mind.
I thank Bob for letting me experience his class, his expertise and his passion. He so DEFINITELY has passion. And he cares so genuinely for each person under his direction. That, my friends, is hard to come by. Bob is the real deal. He's a health and fitness guru from whom I have already learned so much. So if you're anywhere near North Aurora, Illinois and want to work it like a rock star and learn what bells can do for your body, seek out Bob Garon and his Synergy Kettlebell Kamp. Tell him Wendy sent ya.

No Workout Today

2009-12-22T18:26:00.001-08:00

But I'm not gonna beat myself up over it. I ate well today and will work out tomorrow morning. I already moved the coffee table and everything. :-)
Tomorrow I go to the Wheaton Eye Clinic to see if I'm a candidate for the laser floater surgery. Please, please, please Lord, let me be able to have that done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5K

2009-12-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

Did a 5K in my family room this afternoon. Gotta love those Leslie DVDs!!

So I am in the midst of a - oh, I guess you could call it a campaign - to get MORE PEOPLE to join my Mon/Wed morning WALK LIVE group aerobics class in McHenry!!! If you live in the McHenry area and you want to get healthy and have a great time doing it, please get in touch with me! Make 2010 YOUR year!! I would LOVE to help you get started on your healthy, active lifestyle.
Take a look at my website for all the details: http://walk.conger.tv

NEW!!!!!!!!! --------> Sometimes when you're just beginning something new, you have specific questions that are very individual to you. You have once-and-for-all decided to take care of YOU so that you can be at your best for those you love. This is the BEST decision you've made in a long time, but for now you'd prefer to have a one-on-one consultation. I am now offering individual consultations (by appointment) where I will talk with you and give you a thorough, safe introduction to my walk aerobics workouts. I will make sure that your first workouts are tailored just right to YOU based on your fitness level and comfort level. If this interests you, I would love to chat with you soon! My contact information can be found on the above website.

So make the decision to join my class or talk with me about your invididual consultation today!! YOUR BODY IS COUNTING ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Fit Yummy Mummy

2009-12-18T07:56:00.001-08:00

Who comes up with these corny workout program names? :-P
Last night I was watching kettlebell videos on youtube when I eventually came across Fit Yummy Mummy. It's targeted at moms who want to lose their pregnancy weight (i.e. baby fat). It intrigued me a little so I tried it this morning. 60 seconds of high-intensity cardio, 60 seconds of rest (walking in place or side stepping), 60 seconds of high-intensity cardio, 60 seconds of rest...a total of 6 times. The whole workout is only 12 minutes. It's supposed to burn serious fat and calories and continue to burn for several hours after the workout. The moves I did for the cardio segments were:

Two-arm kettlebell swings
Jumping jacks
Feet-together side-to-side jumps
High-knee jogging
Deep kettlebell squats
Fast Lunges

It was....different. VERY cool for days when I don't have much time to work out. I love my new kettlebell workouts, too. But nothing compares to my wonderful walk-aerobics workouts and I continue to be SO thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce people to and LEAD people in these perfectly safe, perfect-for-ALL-fitness levels walking workouts!

Tomorrow begins my new advertising campaign for my Monday/Wednesday morning walking class! Made some really cute posters that I'm gonna put up in various restaurants and stores in McHenry and Crystal Lake. This is the time of year when people make resolutions to lose weight and get in shape. Sadly, only about 9% of those resolutions actually STICK. People, if you work out for two weeks and then stop, it's not gonna get you ANYWHERE. Health and fitness is a LIFESTYLE, not a passing interest. You have to KEEP IT UP!!! That's exactly what I'm here to help people do. So if you're in the area, look for my new posters and gimme a shout - you will NOT regret it!!!

In the meantime, all the details of my Walk Live classes are here: WALK LIVE CLASS!

Why?

2009-12-17T16:47:00.000-08:00

Why do I sometimes let myself eat mass amounts of food? And then every time I do, I am reminded of why I shouldn't. Went to a steakhouse today with my friend, Ally. We brought the kids. 3-year-olds in a fancy steakhouse. Use your imagination.
Anyway, lunch was really good. I had a big grilled chicken sandwich, sweet potato fries and an ice cream sundae for dessert. Well, 1/3 of an ice cream sundae. I couldn't see eating the whole thing for two reasons: 1) I had helped myself to three cookies this morning after Lissy's school Christmas program. Had to, um....support the school, ya know. 2) After that ginormous chicken sandwich and mountain of fries I had precious little room for dessert.
Still felt like a whale after that meal, though. That's really not a pleasant feeling. Overeating makes you feel uncomfortable, burpy and just plain large. It'd been awhile since I'd had to unbutton my jeans but on the way home, that's what I did. Yes, Sir. The jeans simply could not hold the belly. Yuck!
And then, after a gluttonous day the last thing you feel like doing is working out, right? So no workout today. I am utterly exhausted from being on the go almost continually this week. Prescription: Go to bed early tonight and get at least a one-hour workout in tomorrow morning. Thankfully, there is nowhere we have to go tomorrow (a great rarity these days) so it will feel amazing to leisurely drink my coffee, snuggle with my girl and then work out.
The moral of today's story? Eat well and enjoy your food, but don't shovel it in just because it's there. It's never worth it.

If You Care to Comment.....

2009-12-16T15:43:00.000-08:00

It looks like all you have to is select "Anonymous" when it asks you what format you want to use. But please put your name in there with your comment so I know who you are! :-)

Dig It!

2009-12-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

How cute is this blog background? Only took me two hours to figure out how to get it on here!

So as soon as I got home from dropping the kitties off at the vet and dropping Liss of at school, I did a wonderful old-school Leslie DVD - "Walk Away the Pounds" 2-Mile - and then my beginner kettlebell workout (which, for being a beginner workout, TOTALLY rocks!). 50 minutes of sweating altogether. Love it when I get my exercise in in the morning! Looking foward to progressing with these KBs....right now I'm using an 8-pound bell, which is pretty light. Will move onto a heavier one soon, a la my KB guru, Bob Garon! Also, will try the intermediate KB workout from the DVD tomorrow. Woot!!

3-Mile walk class went AWESOME at Butterfly Life last night. Ten ladies in the class this time - from high school students to older ladies. Rock it, ladies - you inspire me!! Way to take charge of your health!!!

It's Tomorrow.

2009-12-14T20:19:00.001-08:00

Life's too short to be weak and wimpy. God gave each of us one body and it is our job to take care of it. That's exactly why I started this blog. "Strong and Sassy." Kinda catchy, yeah?

Not entirely sure what this blog will look like; I'm just gonna let it evolve. It'll probably have a lot of inspiring quotes that I run across - from facebook, from people I follow on twitter, from...anywhere. I'll also tell you about how my workouts are going - both personal ones and the Walk Live classes I lead. Fitness is a continual journey so I'll probably share my joys, victories, frustrations, desires, goals and maybe even a few pet peeves here and there. There will probably be pictures once in awhile. And recipes.

Most of all, I hope that following my health and fitness journey will inspire you on yours. And if you haven't started yours yet, what are you waiting for? Seriously? Do you not know ALL of the benefits?! (I'm allowed to be sassy. It's in the title!)

Comments are always welcome, always read and very often replied to. Keep in touch - and shake what your mama gave ya!!