I know I have really been slacking, not keepin’ up with the ol’ blog and all, but I’ve been really busy getting prepared for the holidays, and all the extra work that is required for me to do in order to take time off.

I will say that despite my busy schedule, I was able to get in my exercises.

I met up with Moe on Monday. We had a great workout session, complete with weight training and kickboxing. We also discussed the upcoming bootcamp, which I am really looking forward to [I know I’m not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, but I can’t think of another way to say it, so we’ll move on].

I had my weekly Tuesday Pilates session with Suzanne. I was really on my game that day. I was focused and centered and all that good stuff. I even managed to work up a bit of a sweat, which is a first for me and Pilates. Suzanne did say that that tends to happen as you get more advanced in the workouts.

Friday was my favorite day. I got a one hour massage from Michell, which was absolutely amazing. I needed to get rid of some of my tension before dealing with the extended family over the weekend. I was nice and relaxed throughout most of our session, except I clenched up a bit when it came to massaging the gluts (cuz I usually like to have dinner and drinks before we get to that part of the program). But anywho…

I had a great week and a fabulous weekend, but unfortunately I managed to catch some sort of bug yesterday (or whenever), so I’m feeling very crappy today. Check back a lil’ later for details on this week’s workouts.

And don’t forget to sign up for a chance at a spot in our post-holiday bootcamp.

So I got up early Saturday morning to meet Moe down at BB Davenport.

To warm up, I did an assortment of exercises, that I swear were designed to make me feel stupid…one required me jumping over a lil’ half ball thingy, the other had me gliding back and forth on these little discs. But I guess I can’t really complain, cuz they did the trick and I was sufficiently warmed up.

We did about thirty minutes or so worth of boxing/kickboxing exercises while listening to Moe’s bizarro mix tape which she probably plays while taking road trips (Sade’s “By Your Side” doesn’t exactly keep the ol’ energy level up). I was actually kind of worried that I’d accidentally punch her, since she was holding the punching pads…Moe kept inching back, so I think she was a little worried as well, not that I’m some sort of Million Dollar Baby (which is a good thing considering the movie). I did have to pause here and there to pull up my shorts, which have gotten too big since I've started working out...which is a good thing.

Lemme tell you, I worked out some aggression that day. I punched to the point where my arm started feeling a little numb.

So after our lil’ boxing session, it was time for some weight training. I made the rounds through the machines, and eventually had to do some crunches. Now, since I’ve been keeping up with my assigned home workouts, the crunches aren’t nearly as hard to do as they once were.

Once my session was over, I went home, got cleaned up, and met my grandmother down at the outlet malls in San Marcos.

When I woke up Sunday, once again I was feeling a little sore, and my arms kinda hurt…although that may have had to do more with all the bags of gifts I was lugging around the outlet malls than the workout with Moe.

Oh, and for those of you who are thinking about joining my lil’ post holiday boot camp, Moe is going to be our trainer, and if you’re looking to be whipped into shape, she’s gonna do it.

I would love to tell you about my awesome personal training session with Moe this morning.

...how I persevered , despite a severe hangover (Clear Channel Christmas party was last night...or was it a Holiday party...either way, I looked really good).

...how I braved the freezing weather just so I could get in my workout.

I'd love to tell you all this and more, but Moe overslept.

I believe this was a first for her, so I won't harp on it too much...no more than I already have anyway.

The morning was not wasted however, I joined the other early risers for a nice morning workout on the treadmill, eliptical, and stairmaster (man, I had forgotten how much I truly hate the stairmaster).

Meeting Moe tomorrow for a make-up session, so I'll update the ol' blog later.

Yesterday was an off day for me. I had my session with Suzanne, Pilates instructor extraordinaire, and I couldn’t quite perform up to my usual standards…I couldn’t get centered, I couldn’t focus, I just plain sucked.

I blame it on a combination of really cold weather and the fact that I ran out of my Special K with Berries, and had to settle for Raisin Bran.

Also, I had a cramp in my left calf. It wasn’t Charlie-horse bad, but bad enough to irritate me the rest of the day. Oh and the smoke detector kept beeping every few minutes when I was trying to sleep…it was either the smoke detector or the carbon monoxide detector, and since I’m still alive and well (it was just too cold and I was too lazy to get out of bed and replace the batteries), I assume it was the former.

Come to think of it, I didn’t hear any beeping when I got home last night, so maybe I hallucinated the whole thing.

As usual, I digress…

Suzanne was very patient with me during my session, although she did mention something about “no mercy” sometime during my workout.

I worked on “The Cadillac” and “The Reformer” and even did some mat work. I started getting a little better towards the end of the session. I did a pretty good job during the Ab series, and the “tree” and “elephant” moves didn’t appear to be nearly as difficult (though still not easy) this time around. Oh, and with all the stretching and exercising, that ol’ cramp finally worked its way out of my calf…yay!

I had my personal training session with Moe Wednesday afternoon…I would’ve posted my blog then, but I was having difficulty lifting my arms…in truth I’m still feeling a little pain, but I’ve gotten used to it.

So once again, I was in my high-water sweat pants, but at that point, I really didn’t care anymore. Okay I did, but I figured no one would notice anyway.

I got to Body Business (Anderson) fifteen minutes early. I decided to make the most of my time by warming up before my session officially started. I hopped onto one of the spinning bikes, and got to peddling. Now, I ride my exercise bike almost every morning for nearly an hour, and my butt should be okay on any seat, but I gotta say that spinning bike had the most uncomfortable seat known to man. Seriously, the FBI could put a suspect on this thing, and after a few minutes they’d be ready to confess. Luckily, I went numb back there after about ten minutes.

So Moe strolls over, and we chat for a bit. Moe says that we’ll be doing something I’ll really enjoy. During the course of our conversation, we watched a man nearly wipe out trying to catch his magazine which had fallen while he was using the treadmill (which is why I don’t read anything while I’m on that particular machine).

After my warm-up, we moseyed on over to the free weights area. I had to do 30 reps with this 40 pound barbell. And then we did some other arm exercises that nearly killed me. And then we moved on to the leg machines. Again, felt like I was gonna keel over. If you’re thinking that was the fun part, you’re wrong.

We went into one of the big rooms and did some kickboxing. Did I enjoy it? You better believe it! I strapped on the gloves and went a few rounds with the bag. I was a first timer, but I did quite well. Guess all those Rocky viewings came in handy.

So I punched and kicked ‘til I was exhausted, then mean ol’ Moe (I’m kidding, it’s just fun to say Mean ol’ Moe) dragged me back over to the weights and we did another set on those machines.

Moe worked my butt off! I was all kinds of sore driving to work, but it was all worth it. Besides, I needed all that to work off the 2 chocolate chip cookies I had earlier in the day. I swear, someone has had a birthday almost every other day for the past 2 weeks, which always means cookies. I hate those Sagittarians, they’re making me lose my will power.

[I'm going to flash back a couple of days now, because I was too lazy to type this up Tuesday]

My Tuesday started off pretty crappy. I pulled my sweat pants out of the dryer, put ‘em on, and discovered that they had shrank to the point where they’re about 2-3 inches shorter than they were when I bought ‘em. Let that be a lesson, do not over-dry mesh material. They’re a weird color, somewhere between pink and purple, and of course nothing really matches it, so I basically showed up to Body Business looking like I’m color blind and wearing high water sweat pants.

I had a 6:30 appointment (at the Davenport Village location) with Suzanne for my Pilates session. I got there fifteen minutes early so I could warm up. I actually managed to do 15 minutes on the elliptical machine, which is a big achievement considering it wasn’t that long ago that I couldn’t even reach the 5 minute mark…what a difference a couple of weeks makes.

Anywho, my morning was filled with trees and elephants. Those are the names of a couple of Pilates routines. I remember Suzanne saying something about Jill Clayburgh’s mom coming up with the elephant name. Do we still consider Jill Clayburgh famous? I mean what has she really done in the past few years, besides a guest stint on Nip/Tuck last season? Guess I’ll have to check the Internet Movie Database later.

Moving right along…

I had to perform the Elephant on the reformer (dunh dunh dunh!). It was much more difficult than Suzanne made it out to be, but then again, she makes everything look effortless. Basically I had my feet on the little platform thingy and…you know what, there’s no way I can properly describe the move, so I guess you’ll just have to sign up for a session to figure out what I’m talking about. I have to say that once again, I am surprised by how much I am enjoying Pilates. I don’t get a sweaty-type workout from it, but I’m definitely seeing some positive results.

Oh, and after my Pilates session, I weighed myself and discovered that I had lost the remainder of the 2 pounds I gained over the Thanksgiving holiday. Yay me! Guess you don’t have to sweat like a pig to get a good workout.

Speaking of sweat, check back later, when I'll document my latest adventures with Moe.