Oh, happy day!

I am over the moon excited!!! I have a workout "date" with Chef Devin Alexander this weekend!

WooooOoOooOooOoOhOOooOoOoooo!

I absolutely adore Devin's cookbooks, "Fast Food Fix" and "The Most Decadent Diet Ever". We just got her latest cookbook "The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook" - my daughter won an autographed copy when we attended Kristin Steede and Cathy Skell's homecoming party last month.

Our family favorite receipes are Modern Day Mac & Cheese (my daughter's favorite), Double Chocolate Brownies, and Hoisin Glazed Pork Tenderloin. Devin shares a few recipes from each cookbook on her website - you simply must check them out!

Devin also has her own television show, "Healthy Decadence with Devin Alexander" on FitTV. I haven't had a chance to watch them as I don't have cable (that's what a pay freeze and unpaid furloughs will getcha), but I've heard wonderful things, and found snippets on 'net that make me want to check my seat cushions for pennies so I can upgrade my cable again! :) I'll be sure to share all the details after our date, as well as some cool photos!!

I'm also super excited to be working on a project for a very brilliant online magazine. More details to come as we get things squared away (I have to ask and make sure I can talk to you about it first! LOL) I also have one more project in the works, but don't want to spill the beans on that one yet, but it's basically a dream come true! I think Jen knows what this one is!! ;)

I feel so blessed for these amazing opportunities - God is GREAT and I am so thankful for His blessings! This is all of HIM and none of me!

From this point forward, TrainerGuy will be henceforth forever known as CrazyTrainerGuy (yes, I'm somewhat stealing Jillian Michael's nickname for her trainer, but seriously, Crazy is the only way to describe what he's doing to me!)

Today was Cardio Torture, I mean Cardio Thursday with CrazyTrainerGuy. We typically do some sort of intervals on the elliptical, followed by heavy stretching, and finishing up with core exercises. I think CrazyTrainerGuy truly is trying to torture me (in a good way) because he really pushed me today ... there was no holding back with my cardio, and while I'm extremely exhausted, I know I'm stronger because of it!

We started off with 10 minutes on the elliptical, and this is where he gets the Crazy part of his name - dude had me STARTING OFF on a level 12 for tension. Uh, what???? We usually END at a Level 12, and I'm starting at Level 12 today? Oh boy ...

1 minute @ 7.0 or higher
30 seconds in reverse as fast as I can
30 seconds @ 6.0 minimum (recovery)
* Repeat 5 times

We typically do all cardio on the elliptical, but CrazyTrainerGuy had me hop off and get on the recumbant bike, where he proceeded to plug me into Level 20!! HELLO????!!!! I seriously can't even tell you what we did because I had no idea - all I knew is that it was tough, I felt like I was pedaling through tar, and my quads were screaming in protest. I can't even tell you how long we went because it was that tough.

When CrazyTrainerGuy finally said we were done, I sent Jesus a prayer of thanks, and rubber-legged my way back for a good stretching session. And let me tell you, it was goooooood! :) CrazyTrainerGuy was buttering me up with that stretching session, because he busted out the most intense core workout I've ever had.

He introduced me to the balance disc. Up until this point, I swear I thought it was some snazzy shiatsu pillow or something. Yeah right.

You basically lie on it with it just above your hips, in the small of your back. It added such amazing intensity to my crunches - I was burning by #4, and could barely finish up 10 crunches.

When I googled "balance disc" so I could add the snazzy photo to the left, I found most people sit on the thing to help with their lower backs. I wish all I had to do was sit on it!!

Once my killer core work was done, I lay on the floor and was so thankful my torture was done for the day.

Silly me. CrazyTrainerGuy told me to get up, cuz he wasn't done with me yet. Throughout the cardio thus far, CrazyTrainerGuy is chatting away, encouraging and pushing me through my workout, telling me how strong I am, how far I've come and how well I'm doing. He also mentions he and BossTrainerGuy are putting my new program together - we typically switch up every 4 weeks, but they're putting together a special endurance workout to countdown my final 16 days before my triathlon and 37 days to my half-marathon.

Oh joy. LOL I must mention that these workouts are in addition to my triathlon and half-marathon training.

So yeah, CrazyTrainerGuy tells me we need to get more cardio in, so really earns the "Crazy" title as he coaches me through ...

60 seconds of box jumps
60 seconds of step ups
60 seconds of "boxing" @ 20 lbs on the functional trainer
*repeat 3 times

And then, blessedly, we were finished. If this is any indication of what the next few weeks will be like, I am going to have so. much. fun. :)

xo,


"You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance." Lee Iacocca