best body bootcamp Archives

Focus T25 – Week 2 (Beta)

For the first time in weeks, I actually did all the workouts as planned. Even the double day on Friday!

Here’s what week 2 of beta looked like for me:

Monday – Dynamic Core + 20 minute treadmill interval run
Tuesday – Core Cardio
Wednesday – Rip’t Ciruit + 2 mile interval run
Thursday – Upper Focus
Friday – Rip’t Circuit + Speed 2.0
Saturday – LOTS of dancing at the wedding reception
Sunday – REST!

*For a more detailed explanation of what each workout entails, please read my week one beta post.

So I kind of take back what I said last week about Rip’t Circuit. While I still think Total Body Circuit from the Alpha phase is way harder, I definitely felt more challenged when I upped my weights. I started the beta phase with my 5 pound dumbbells, and this past week I used my 8 pounders (the heaviest I have at home). Let me tell you – 3 pounds on each arm makes a difference!

As far as the other workouts are concerned, I’m still enjoying the program overall. Core Cardio is still the most challenging workout for me but in a good way!

I find it hard to believe that I only have 3.5 weeks to go. WHAT?!

So what’s next?

In true Parita fashion, I’ve already started thinking about what my fitness routine will look like once Focus T25 is over. In fact, I went through and organized the stash of workouts I’ve printed out and saved over the past 1.5 years. Most of these are Best Body Bootcamp workouts. As I was looking through everything, I had a pretty good idea of what’s next.

I’m definitely going to increase my running in terms of frequency and mileage. Right now I’m running 2 to 3.2 miles about twice a week. After T25, I want to start running at least three times a week with one of those being a much longer run (right now I’m thinking 4-6 miles). I plan to run the ING Miami Half Marathon in January, so I definitely need to keep up with my running!

And while I appreciate T25 finally incorporating weights into some of the workouts, I am itching to start strength training more regularly. I think it’s all the BBB workouts I looked through! Not 100% sure what this will look like but I know I want to strength train at least 2-3 times a week. Can’t wait!

And of course, my weekly workouts will include plenty of stretching…and rest as needed!

If you don’t follow a specific program, how do you decide what your workouts will be?

And just in case you’re interested in my weekly recaps…

Alpha Week 1
Alpha Week 2
Alpha Week 3
Alpha Week 4
Alpha Week 5
Beta Week 1

Week 1 TM Training + Polar FT4

written by Parita 14 Comments

Before I delve into the things that relate to the title of this post, I just want to say that my birthday weekend was pretty much awesome. I had a “me day” on Friday where I did a lot of leisurely things (i.e. lots of reading!). On Friday night, we went to a wine tasting with Robin and Andy where I learned about Cabernet Sauvignon (more on that in a later post). Saturday morning was spent tidying up, the afternoon was spent at the mall, and the evening was spent at a music festival. Sunday was pretty standard with a grocery store trip, food prep, and the Bachelor wedding (not a huge fan of the show itself but wanted to watch this…don’t ask!). All in all, a great way to ring in 30!

Ok, so on to week 1 of Tough Mudder training.

SUNDAY: REST – CHECK
MONDAY: Upper body + core; 20 minutes light cardio (elliptical) – CHECK
TUESDAY: 3.5 mile run – CHECK
WEDNESDAY: Lower body + core; 20 minutes light cardio (elliptical) – CHECK
THURSDAY: REST – CHECK
FRIDAY: Full body circuit; 2 mile run – CHECK and the run was probably a little over 2 miles
SATURDAY: 4.5 mile run – CHECK but this turned into a 4 mile treadmill run due to poor planning on my part

Thoughts: I am loving the BBB strength workouts. I love the focus of this first phase and the emphasis on the core. My runs were good, but at this point, it’s hard to imagine having to do more mileage. And finally, I need to step it up with my stretching…BIG TIME. I experienced a lot of soreness that I know could’ve been eased with some solid post-workout stretches. Oops!

This week’s workouts look similar to the above. The only difference will be that I add a few extra reps to the strength stuff.

And now on to the second part of this post – a review of the Polar FT4.

As I previously mentioned, this was a birthday present from my parents. Originally, I thought I wanted a Fitbit Force but changed my mind after reading a few reviews and thinking about what I really wanted – a heart rate monitor and nothing more. I may look into the Force a little later after all the kinks have been worked out. I’m not much of an early adopter anyways!

Once I nailed down what technology I wanted, I did a little bit of research and narrowed down the list to the Polar FT4 and the Polar FT7. After consulting with Vishnu, I decided to go with the FT4. It basically came down whether or not I wanted to know if I was working out in the fat burning zone. Since I didn’t know what I would do with the information, I decided I didn’t need that feature. Simple as that!

When my watch came in, I scanned the instructions on how to program it and got to work. After entering all the necessary information (weight, height, date, time, etc.), I was good to go. Easy peasy! And let’s be honest, if I can do it, you can do it.

In the case of any good HRM, you want to pick one that comes with a chest strap (or so I read). Not something I was super excited about but decided to deal with it. Turns out you don’t really have to deal with it because you can’t feel it and it’s actually comfortable. The only thing I would say is that for people who are really small, the strap may be a bit to big since there’s only so much adjusting you can do. I have mine set to the very edge of the sensor area and it fits perfectly. If you’re super narrow around that part of your body, you may have issues.

The strap and the watch itself are the two major components. There is also a little clip on heart rate sensor that attaches to the strap. But again, you can’t even tell it’s there.

As far as my personal experience using this device is concerned, I absolutely love it. In fact, I wore it for all the workouts mentioned above, including the strength training. I love how at any given time I know my heart rate and whether or not I should push myself a little bit more. And at the end of my workout, I know how many calories I’ve burned along with the duration of my workout.

The only con for me is that the watch, while very comfortable, is a kind of ugly. Haha! But then again, I wasn’t really going for a fashion statement.

I should also say that if you the type of person that gets obsessed with numbers, especially calorie burn, this may not be for you. The geek in me likes to think about the effort I put into a workout and what the outcome is, but that’s about it at this point in my life. It’s also kind of fun to guess the number and see how far off I am.

If you have any other questions, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email.

What workouts do you have planned for the week?
Do you own a HRM? Thoughts?

Just Some Stuff + Great Transitions

written by Parita 12 Comments

This is going to be one of those “here’s some stuff that’s been going on/will be going on” type of posts. Hopefully my little update is more interesting than the title of this post!

So first and foremost, my pre-transfer image files are back! What a freakin’ relief….seriously. I thought all was lost, since none of my personal efforts were working. As a final measure, I contacted a WordPress.com team member on the forums and she pretty much saved my blog. After a little bit of digging, she figured out the problem, told me exactly what to do, and now all is well in the world!

This transfer stuff is nuts! I’m still really glad I did it on my own, but it was definitely a huge learning curve. Feel free to email me with any questions if you decide to take the plunge. I have lots of wisdom to share!

Wisdom is gained with age, and guess what, I turn 30 next week (great transition #1!). Instead of celebrating in an all out kind of way, I think I may take next Friday off from work and make it a true Parita day.

My mom, on the other hand, has been counting down to my birthday since January 1st. She loves reminiscing about what she was doing 30 years ago, and in all honesty, I don’t blame her. I’ve always believed that birthdays are more of a celebration for the parents, and I hope mine celebrate 30 successful (I think!) years of being amazing ones!

Speaking of my parents (great transition #2!), they really wanted to get me a birthday present this year. For some reason, my mom was all about the Vera Bradley bags, and my dad was all about perfumes. I was not. So instead, they told me to pick something I really wanted. Enter the Polar FT4. After a little bit of research on the part of me, my sister, and Vishnu, I decided that I wanted this heart rate monitor. I’ll share more once I’ve had the chance to play around with a bit…

…next week at Best Body Bootcamp (great transition #3!)! Woo hoo! The next round starts on Monday, and I am so so so ready. I’ve only been strength training once or twice a week for the past 1.5 months and can’t wait to incorporate more of it into my weekly workouts. It’s still not too late to join, people. And if you do, I promise it will change your life!

And finally, my life (not so great transition #4) is going to be a little crazy at the beginning of February (another reason why I want to take a day off next week). In the span of 2 weeks, I’ll be flying to Chicago, Las Vegas, and Atlanta. Chicago for a work related training, Las Vegas for Roshni’s bachelorette party (!!!), and Atlanta for a friend’s engagement party. Even though it’s going to be a little hectic, I’m looking forward to seeing my coworkers, good friends, and family! Should be a good two weeks.

Tell me – what “stuff” do you have going on right now?
Do you find it hard to come up with transitions? I am ok most of the time, but with random posts like this, YES.

Random Friday Musings

written by Parita 8 Comments

1. My friend Monica got engaged this past weekend!!! I’m so happy for her and her fiancé(!) Amit. I’m also happy that we got a chance to spend time with Amit when they visited Miami back in August. WOO HOO!

2. We now have seven weddings lined up for 2014 (that we know of at this time). Next year is going to be CRAAAZY!

3. We’re going home to Atlanta for Thanksgiving this year. I can’t wait for all the family time plus good food. Oh the food!

4. Vishnu’s attending a conference this weekend in South Beach, so for the first time in a long time, I’ll be 100% on my own for two days. Lots of exciting things lined up – a haircut (well, more like a trim), trips to Costco, Target, Marshalls, and Whole Foods, and a little bit of baking. It’s gonna be wild! Ha!

5. Remember when I forgot my network password upon returning from India? Well, it happened again, except this time I can’t remember the password to my password document. Let me explain. I created a Word doc that lists all of our online accounts and the corresponding passwords. For added security, I password protected my password document, and now I can’t remember the password. To make matters worse, there is no way (according to my research) to retrieve passwords for password protected documents. One of the help guides I was reading actually suggested writing the password down somewhere. Not very helpful at this point.

(I just re-read this paragraph. And now I’m dizzy. Sorry.)

6. Phase 3 of Best Body Bootcamp required us to use heavier weights for two of the workouts. For week 5, I used 10 pound dumbbells (the heaviest I usually go is 8 pounds). For week 6, however, I used 15 pound dumbbells! This just shows that slowly and consistently pushing your limits is the way to go.

7. I was dancing (also known as bopping) around the kitchen the other night as I was waiting for some food to heat up in the microwave. And in my head, I was singing “Snap Yo Fingers.” Five minutes later, as we were sitting down to eat, Vishnu started singing that very same song! WHAT? When I asked him how he knew, all he would say is that we’re connected. Well, duh! But really, how did he know? I still haven’t figured it out. I’m going to get to the bottom of this because I NEED TO KNOW!

8. We’re meeting up some friends for dinner tonight at a placed calledBombay Darbar. I’m so excited because these are the same friends that introduced us to Yard Bird and Rocco’s Tacos. Given their track record, I’m 100% positive it’s going to be a fabulous and delicious meal. Can’t wait!

9. Don’t forget to enter my Cook Smarts giveaway! It’s a good one, I promise!

10. HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Time to Play Catch-up

written by Parita 10 Comments

After yet another week away, I’m home! And now it’s time to play catch-up.

1. The wedding we attended in North Carolina was an absolute blast. From the minute we got to the hotel on Saturday to the minute we left on Monday, it was one big non-stop party. I wish all of our close friends lived next door. How great would that be!

2. My work trip to Chicago was a lot of fun. I don’t get to see many of my coworkers all that often, so it was nice to reconnect. More often than not, we were reconnecting over food…and lots of it. I didn’t take many pictures of my meals, but trust me when I say that we pretty much ate all the food. Every meal included glasses of wine, a variety of appetizers, our main meal, and dessert. The best thing I ate was definitely the turtle brownie sundae at Bridge House Tavern. Yum.

3. I am happy to report that this past weekend was full of nothingness. On Saturday, we slept in, watched four episodes of Boy Meets World, watched the Dawgs win (!!!), and lounged until dinnertime. Around 8:00 pm, we met up with our friends Andy and Robin for dinner and fro-yo. Our outing also included celebrity sightings. Vishnu and Andy spotted Greg Oden and Shane Battier (Miami Heat players) walking to dinner with a group of friends. Even though I had no idea who these two were, it was fun to see the guys so excited!

Since no one had any major post-dinner plans, we decided to make it a Taboo game night. We ended up playing for 2.5 hours! Unfortunately, Robin and I lost by one point. I blame the wine.

Sunday included a lot of the usual – cleaning, grocery shopping, and football watching.

4. Best Body Bootcamp started today…thank goodness. I am ready to buckle down and get my workouts and eating habits back on track. Wish me luck!

5. I highly recommend that everyone watch this TED talk about The power of vulnerability by Brene Brown. I also recommend that everyone read this article about the human body’s physiological response to exercise. And finally, I recommend that everyone read this article about living a life of purpose.

I think all of the above brings us to the present day. With that being said, have a great Monday!

Life Lowdown

written by Parita 4 Comments

I was looking through my last 10 ish posts yesterday, and I realized that it’s been a while since I’ve done a general “here’s what the heck has been going on” update. Not that my life is all that exciting, but for selfish reasons, I love writing these kinds of posts because they’re fun to read down the road. And I know my mom loves them too!

So here’s the lowdown…

Vishnu finally started rotations. While he’s working hard and studying for yet another exam, he also has a fair amount of free time. During this free time, we’ve been exploring our “new” neighborhood, trying new restaurants, and hanging out with friends. We’re definitely trying to seize the moments and run with them. Live in the present, live in the present, live in the present!

I was in Chicago for less than 48 hours last week for a training class. It was a little hectic but lots of fun – spent time with my coworkers that I don’t see often enough, ate some pretty delicious meals, AND got to see my sister and Adarsh (her boyfriend). A very productive trip indeed!

Three of my grandfather’s sisters were in the Miami area visiting family this past weekend. Luckily, Vishnu and I were able to spend a little bit of time with them. It was honestly kind of emotional because I overheard the older sister say something about this being their last face to face visit. As sad as I was to hear her say that, everyone else seemed at peace. They were just happy to be able to spend this time together, even though it may be their last. A good lesson at any age.

My dad had hernia surgery on Wednesday. Even though it was a relatively minor procedure, I was worried (go figure). However, according to my mom he was and is continuing to be a trooper. I talked to him on their way home, and he sounded 100% normal and himself. And he was even cracking jokes during our evening FaceTime session. Oh dad, how I love thee!

My sister will be here next Saturday!! Woo – so excited! When I asked her what she wants to do, she said, “Well, let’s definitely go to your favorite Miami restaurants and make good food at home.” So she basically wants to eat. Ha!

Two days after Aek leaves, our friends are visiting. Jetan, Anil, Monica, and Monica’s boyfriend will be here for the weekend. When I asked them what they want to do, Monica said she’s looking forward to lots of beach/pool time, and Jetan said he wants to go to the casino and to a specific restaurant/lounge that I can’t think of right now. Hopefully we’ll be able to fulfill everyone’s wishes!

And the excitement doesn’t end there. The following weekend, Vishnu and I will be on our way to India for two weeks. I’m really looking forward to seeing my grandparents and meeting Vishnu’s family members that weren’t able to make it to the wedding. I’m not looking forward to the heat. More on this soon!

Remember Best Body Bootcamp? Well, I’m at it again, except this time I’m behind 2 weeks because of our trips to T&C and Atlanta. Regardless, this round is just as great as the last – lots of challenging and unique exercises, same level of flexibility, and lots of support through the Facebook group. I definitely feel a lot stronger than I did at the beginning of the last round (which is a good sign!).

If anyone is looking for a new show to obsess over watch, I highly recommend the Netflix original series called House of Cards. It’s a dark and pretty sinister political drama (I think this is my new favorite genre) that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire season. And since Netflix releases all of the episodes at one time, you don’t have to wait long to see what happens next. Except when you plow through the first 12 episodes like it’s your job and are then left to wonder what the heck happens in Season 2 (sigh).

And finally, it’s been raining a lot in Miami this week, which means I’ve been using my obnoxiously huge golf umbrella every single day. But I secretly love it…a lot! If nothing else, the rain has cooled things down a bit, which is a very much appreciated. And since I live and work on high floors, it’s been fun watching the rain come and go throughout the day. Now, if I had to drive in this weather, that would be an entirely different story!

Tell me – what the heck has been going on in your life lately?

Best Body Bootcamp–Final Thoughts

written by Parita 17 Comments

I completed my very last Best Body Bootcamp Round 5 workout on Saturday. I felt…a sense of accomplishment and pride. I followed the plan and worked my butt off (often outside my comfort zone) for eight whole weeks. I didn’t quit – through our move, weekend visitors, busy work weeks, etc. – I kept going. Woo hoo!

The last and final phase of the bootcamp focused on timed workouts (think tabatas). While I love tabatas, this wasn’t my favorite phase. And that’s not because the workouts weren’t tough or anything even remotely close to that. I think my love for true strength training workouts (with weights) has fully blossomed. And now, nothing else will do! But the variety, change of pace, and new moves were more than welcome.

I don’t have any quantitative results to share with y’all. I didn’t weigh myself during the eight weeks, and I didn’t take any measurements. Instead, I tuned into my strength and endurance capacity and focused on the way my clothes fit. With that in mind, I’m happy to report that my weights have increased (I use 12 pound dumbbells for some exercises), I can run farther and faster than ever before, and my clothes are a little bit looser. Oh and knee pain seems to be a thing of the past (knock on wood!). Success!

There is one thing I want to talk about that didn’t go so well for me, and it’s not really related to the bootcamp. Over the past 2-3 weeks, my eating habits have been less than stellar. It’s not that I ate junk food for every meal, but I did eat more than my fair share of dark chocolate. And cheese (in some form) found it’s way into most of my lunches and dinners. Eating out has also been a regular thing for the past 2.5 weeks (last week alone I ate out like 10 times!!), and with that, the wine was also flowing.

Some of the above is work related, some of it is because I’ve had friends in town, and some of it is because we’re not 100% settled yet and won’t be until Vishnu is done with his boards. That’s just life. And don’t get me wrong. I’m super proud of myself for completing the bootcamp and accomplishing what I did. However, I feel like over the past 2.5 weeks, I tried to out exercise a bad diet. FYI…not a good plan.

Now you’re probably wondering how I know this when I didn’t weigh myself or take any measurements. Well, I don’t. All I know is how I feel. And I feel as though I could’ve done a better job with my food choices. That’s all. But I’m not going to beat myself up over it. I truly did enjoy some of the meals I’ve had over the past few weeks. And at the end of the day, each and every one was enjoyed with people I care about. In the grand scheme of things, it’s no big deal. But I do want to clean up some of my poor eating habits moving forward.

So here’s what I think. For the next round of bootcamp, I’m going to focus on the “food as fuel” concept along with the 80/20 rule. Also, I need to go back to my roots and plan ahead, especially when I know eating out is on the agenda.

Overall, the past eight weeks were incredible…life changing even. I learned a lot about myself and what I’m capable of. And I can’t wait for the summer round to begin! Are you going to join?!

Focus T25 – Week 2 (Beta)

Week 1 TM Training + Polar FT4

Just Some Stuff + Great Transitions

Random Friday Musings

Time to Play Catch-up

Life Lowdown

Best Body Bootcamp–Final Thoughts

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