Quick catch up...mostly because I ended up taking four days off from the gym. It was a mixture of holiday time and my hip giving me the finger.
On Thursday I was let out of Real Job early and headed to the gym. Ended up sparring Mike (another pro to add to my list) since he was early, too. It was fun! I was exhausted for some reason by the time I got the to gym. You could have given me a pillow and I would have napped on the gym floor. Hell, I wouldn't have even needed the pillow. Anyway, he asked me if I had my stuff and then told me to wrap and gear up cause we were gonna do some rounds. Then, since class only consisted of Sonic, Catastrophe and I we ended up sparring for an hour. In total I probably did around 7 rounds with Mike (since I'm not allowed to spar Cat and her and Sonic kept going in with each other).
I took of Friday through Monday off. Monday wasn't intentional but there was a blizzard and my car? Doesn't like the snow, and more specifically my brakes don't. I tried for the most part to not cheat with food, but it was Christmas, things may have happened. I knew I was going to gain because I clearly was not working out. Monday also did not help my hip at all because I had to dig my car out of feet of snow and I kept slipping. Every time I slipped pain would shoot down my leg. It was bad. So bad I ended up canceling my Tuesday morning strength and conditioning with Marcin.
What happens when Tuesday afternoon rolls around? My hip feels fine. I tried running but only lasted a minute. I didn't plan on doing miles or anything, I just wanted to figure out how it was coming along. Yeah, not what I thought. Limping while running was not fun. Then I did class with Marcin but it was only me and Lyns so we ended up just doing a lot of pads.
Today was working with Zach and then class but then no sparring. Sparring Zach isn't easy when you're a short girl like me. The easiest time to hit someone is when they're throwing a punch. Problem is that his arms are so much longer than mine that it's physically impossible for me to touch him. Oh well. It was fun sparring him during my training session. We had mouth guards in but no head gear.
Anyway, I need to talk to Jaime about weight classes for the Gloves (which start next Friday) because 132 is not going to happen. I'm putting so much pressure on myself to hit that goal that it's almost like the pressure is stopping me. Pressure adds 5lbs, didn't you know? Regardless, I feel pretty strong right now with the weight I'm at (not near 132). She should be coming back from Canada soon and she's teaching class on Sunday, so at the latest I can talk to her Sunday. I hope she sees things how I do because I would like to (try) and compete.
We'll see.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Slight Bump in the Road
FRIDAY:
Real Job holiday party where my lunch wasn't a problem...it was the dessert. Went to the gym after. Elliptical for half an hour then bag work for a round or two. Then Marcins class which we turned into a boxing class since it was the two of us. Then a few hours of babysitting.
SATURDAY:
Worked with Jaime and did some rounds of sparring with Dena (who has a wicked left hook). We did her favorite kind of sparring where she can go all out and I'm not allowed to throw a punch. But I was able to get out of the way a lot, which was the point. Wish I did better. Apparently I still have that disconnect between throwing while doing pads and sparring. Oh, and my weight was 138.2 after which isn't too bad.
That night was the SB holiday party. Didn't eat the pizza, which I am immensely proud of, it was what I ate when Sonic and I went to the mall that wasn't that great. Short lived will power moment.
SUNDAY:
Jaimes boxing class and sparring. Sparred a new girl (new for me to spar) which was good. Then I got a round in with M. She kicked my ass. Hard. But I'm used to it with her so it didn't bother me. What did bother me was my leg jamming so bad I almost hit the canvas and cried. Thankfully it was in the last few second of the round. But I was done after that.
Went shopping with my dad and his girlfriend after at Old Navy and picked out some Christmas presents for myself. Was extremely happy when I tried on a new pair of jeans and they fit. The size? FOUR.
FOUR. I fucked buttoned a FOUR. My biggest size, that I was for a while was a fourTEEN. I'm happy.
MONDAY:
Worked with Zach for an hour and sparred 7 rounds with him. I use the word sparring loosely. For every 15 punches he landed on me, I was lucky to get 2 in. But seven 3-minute rounds is nothing to scoff at so I'm happy with that. Then I did his ab circuit with him which was hard. Three sets of 20 push ups followed by 100 real sit-ups. Then a short burst of random ab stuff. Fun times.
TUESDAY (hey, we're at today):
Blast of conditioning with Marcin bright and early. Nearly died on my way to work because my brakes hate snow and people suddenly don't know how to drive. Hello, it's New England, in winter. We've done this before, people. And my weight? 139. Grr. Which means it'll be up around 141 by the time I get to the gym. I see Zach's ab circuit and the elliptical in my future. Also sparring with Sonic and my new mouth guard.
Here's the bump in the road. I might not fight at this years Golden Gloves. Jaime told me on Saturday that there is no sub-novice division so I could end up getting paired up with someone who has had seven or more fights and I'd get killed. It's not worth it. So we agreed that I'll (attempt) to make weight and register and go through the motions. We'll see who I get paired with and if I have to not take the fight, I won't take it. There will be more fights and I haven't even been boxing a full year yet. It's okay. Slightly disappointing, but okay. I'll just prep myself for June and the National Golden Gloves and hope there is a sub-novice division.
We'll see what happens.
Real Job holiday party where my lunch wasn't a problem...it was the dessert. Went to the gym after. Elliptical for half an hour then bag work for a round or two. Then Marcins class which we turned into a boxing class since it was the two of us. Then a few hours of babysitting.
SATURDAY:
Worked with Jaime and did some rounds of sparring with Dena (who has a wicked left hook). We did her favorite kind of sparring where she can go all out and I'm not allowed to throw a punch. But I was able to get out of the way a lot, which was the point. Wish I did better. Apparently I still have that disconnect between throwing while doing pads and sparring. Oh, and my weight was 138.2 after which isn't too bad.
That night was the SB holiday party. Didn't eat the pizza, which I am immensely proud of, it was what I ate when Sonic and I went to the mall that wasn't that great. Short lived will power moment.
SUNDAY:
Jaimes boxing class and sparring. Sparred a new girl (new for me to spar) which was good. Then I got a round in with M. She kicked my ass. Hard. But I'm used to it with her so it didn't bother me. What did bother me was my leg jamming so bad I almost hit the canvas and cried. Thankfully it was in the last few second of the round. But I was done after that.
Went shopping with my dad and his girlfriend after at Old Navy and picked out some Christmas presents for myself. Was extremely happy when I tried on a new pair of jeans and they fit. The size? FOUR.
FOUR. I fucked buttoned a FOUR. My biggest size, that I was for a while was a fourTEEN. I'm happy.
MONDAY:
Worked with Zach for an hour and sparred 7 rounds with him. I use the word sparring loosely. For every 15 punches he landed on me, I was lucky to get 2 in. But seven 3-minute rounds is nothing to scoff at so I'm happy with that. Then I did his ab circuit with him which was hard. Three sets of 20 push ups followed by 100 real sit-ups. Then a short burst of random ab stuff. Fun times.
TUESDAY (hey, we're at today):
Blast of conditioning with Marcin bright and early. Nearly died on my way to work because my brakes hate snow and people suddenly don't know how to drive. Hello, it's New England, in winter. We've done this before, people. And my weight? 139. Grr. Which means it'll be up around 141 by the time I get to the gym. I see Zach's ab circuit and the elliptical in my future. Also sparring with Sonic and my new mouth guard.
Here's the bump in the road. I might not fight at this years Golden Gloves. Jaime told me on Saturday that there is no sub-novice division so I could end up getting paired up with someone who has had seven or more fights and I'd get killed. It's not worth it. So we agreed that I'll (attempt) to make weight and register and go through the motions. We'll see who I get paired with and if I have to not take the fight, I won't take it. There will be more fights and I haven't even been boxing a full year yet. It's okay. Slightly disappointing, but okay. I'll just prep myself for June and the National Golden Gloves and hope there is a sub-novice division.
We'll see what happens.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
TGIF...Almost
Whoops, didn't mean to take a few days off. My bad.
TUESDAY:
Woke up early, at the gym for 7. Did about 45 minutes of conditioning but not a lot of legs because my hip has still been bothering. Then after my real job I worked at the gym and did only a few miles on the bike.
WEDNESDAY:
My normal day for working with Zach. Had a session with him at 5 and pretty sure we did a lot of jabs. We also worked on how I can cut someone off in the ring and get them into the corner. Good stuff. Then did class at 630 and then sparring after. Did two rounds of only jabs with Knuckles because she has two weeks left before she can throw her right (she's about the only one that listens when told not to do something). And they were good rounds! There some kind of disconnect in my brain when it comes to sparring. What I do on pads is awesome. I'm fast and throw a lot. When I spar? Not so much. Well, this time? I flipped the switch and.it.was.good. Hell, if I'M saying it was good then it means something because 99% of the time I think I suck. I feel bad because I made her nose bleed pretty good (blood ended up on her shirt) but she bleeds so easily it's crazy.
But, of course, Zach won't tell me it's a good round straight out. Today I showed Jaime the round (Koala was kind enough to tape it on my phone). Her reaction: "Holy crap, that was awesome!"
TODAY:
Got an email from my gym boss asking if I would teach the teen class. Say what now? OF COURSE I'LL TEACH THE CLASS! Only problem, I get out of Real Job at 430 and can't get to the gym until just before five. One of the other trainers was nice enough to stay and start off until I got there. It.was.awesome. Not for the teens, though. I might have been a little bitchy. But they know me as Nice Behind the Counter Girl/Girl That Is Always There so I couldn't let them get away with anything. This is what I had them do:
2 rounds of footwork (2 min each)
2 rounds on the bag (3 min each)/1 round on pads with me (3 min)
1 round speed on the bag (3 min/20 sec on with 10 sec rest)
8 minutes of ab work
I had so much fun. I really hope I get to teach again. I was so nervous, though. Mike, the regular instructor, came in halfway through and was at the desk but I don't know if he was watching. Then Jaime came in and I have a feeling was paying attention to what I was doing. Really hoping I impressed because she'll give feedback and I'm hoping it's very positive. My plan is to try and get something out of her on Saturday as she's killing me.
Then I wrangled...I mean babysat Jaime's daughter while she kicked Sonic's ass. One of the cutest kids I've ever seen and she didn't cry once! Yes! Success! After that I did some work and after the last class I had the intention of doing a couple rounds of jump roping and doing some major time on the elliptical. What did I end up doing? Going to the mall with Sonic and Catastrophe and we did some major gift shopping. But seriously it was over an hour of walking so that's some form of exercise, right? And our brains were dead so it was an interesting trip, to say the least.
Tomorrow I have my Real Job holiday party at an awesome Italian restaurant so I have to thinking carefully about what I want to eat. Regardless of what I end up getting I'm going straight to the gym after to do some bag/jump rope/cardio work.
Very busy weekend of boxing training coming up. And I get to sleep in on Saturday! That might be what I'm most excited about.
23 DAYS!
TUESDAY:
Woke up early, at the gym for 7. Did about 45 minutes of conditioning but not a lot of legs because my hip has still been bothering. Then after my real job I worked at the gym and did only a few miles on the bike.
WEDNESDAY:
My normal day for working with Zach. Had a session with him at 5 and pretty sure we did a lot of jabs. We also worked on how I can cut someone off in the ring and get them into the corner. Good stuff. Then did class at 630 and then sparring after. Did two rounds of only jabs with Knuckles because she has two weeks left before she can throw her right (she's about the only one that listens when told not to do something). And they were good rounds! There some kind of disconnect in my brain when it comes to sparring. What I do on pads is awesome. I'm fast and throw a lot. When I spar? Not so much. Well, this time? I flipped the switch and.it.was.good. Hell, if I'M saying it was good then it means something because 99% of the time I think I suck. I feel bad because I made her nose bleed pretty good (blood ended up on her shirt) but she bleeds so easily it's crazy.
But, of course, Zach won't tell me it's a good round straight out. Today I showed Jaime the round (Koala was kind enough to tape it on my phone). Her reaction: "Holy crap, that was awesome!"
TODAY:
Got an email from my gym boss asking if I would teach the teen class. Say what now? OF COURSE I'LL TEACH THE CLASS! Only problem, I get out of Real Job at 430 and can't get to the gym until just before five. One of the other trainers was nice enough to stay and start off until I got there. It.was.awesome. Not for the teens, though. I might have been a little bitchy. But they know me as Nice Behind the Counter Girl/Girl That Is Always There so I couldn't let them get away with anything. This is what I had them do:
2 rounds of footwork (2 min each)
2 rounds on the bag (3 min each)/1 round on pads with me (3 min)
1 round speed on the bag (3 min/20 sec on with 10 sec rest)
8 minutes of ab work
I had so much fun. I really hope I get to teach again. I was so nervous, though. Mike, the regular instructor, came in halfway through and was at the desk but I don't know if he was watching. Then Jaime came in and I have a feeling was paying attention to what I was doing. Really hoping I impressed because she'll give feedback and I'm hoping it's very positive. My plan is to try and get something out of her on Saturday as she's killing me.
Then I wrangled...I mean babysat Jaime's daughter while she kicked Sonic's ass. One of the cutest kids I've ever seen and she didn't cry once! Yes! Success! After that I did some work and after the last class I had the intention of doing a couple rounds of jump roping and doing some major time on the elliptical. What did I end up doing? Going to the mall with Sonic and Catastrophe and we did some major gift shopping. But seriously it was over an hour of walking so that's some form of exercise, right? And our brains were dead so it was an interesting trip, to say the least.
Tomorrow I have my Real Job holiday party at an awesome Italian restaurant so I have to thinking carefully about what I want to eat. Regardless of what I end up getting I'm going straight to the gym after to do some bag/jump rope/cardio work.
Very busy weekend of boxing training coming up. And I get to sleep in on Saturday! That might be what I'm most excited about.
23 DAYS!
Monday, December 13, 2010
My Legs, They Ow
Quick little blog before I fall asleep and have to get up ass early for conditioning with Marcin.
Stepped on the scale this morning and it did not give me a happy number so we're not even going to talk about that. Went to work, showed my coworkers the videos from yesterday and then left at 430. Then it was time to work at the gym. Quiet afternoon, no new members to sign up, no major cleaning up from yesterdays activities. Didn't leave the gym until 9 because I got some work in.
Did a total of an hour on the stationary bike, which ended up equaling 16 miles (yay!) and did four rounds of jump roping (15 minutes total). Stepped on the scale at the gym and it gave me a number lower than what I saw this morning. Still no too happy with my numbers. Zach says it's fine but there really will come a point when it's not fine. 26 days remember?!
Good news is I upped my calories today to where I should be (around 1400) and I didn't cheat all day so I'm really proud of myself. If I can keep it, which I'm 98% sure I can, then I'll be good...I hope. I really, really, REALLY hope.
Zach showed up today to work with some people and I showed him my rounds from Sunday since he wasn't able to be there. After watching me falling on my ass over and over...and over again, I asked him what he thought. Boy was I not happy with what he said. He thinks the rounds I did in CT, when I was horribly sick and feeling like shit, were better than yesterday. Problem is, I didn't think yesterday was too terribly bad. They weren't awesome but it wasn't terrible...I thought. He says they weren't "terrible" but I'm still bummed. Confidence is wavering but I'm just gonna step up my game and starting thinking with confidence. Fake or otherwise.
Tomorrow, 7 am, conditioning. Work. Work at the gym. Biking for forever. Let's get those numbers down!
Stepped on the scale this morning and it did not give me a happy number so we're not even going to talk about that. Went to work, showed my coworkers the videos from yesterday and then left at 430. Then it was time to work at the gym. Quiet afternoon, no new members to sign up, no major cleaning up from yesterdays activities. Didn't leave the gym until 9 because I got some work in.
Did a total of an hour on the stationary bike, which ended up equaling 16 miles (yay!) and did four rounds of jump roping (15 minutes total). Stepped on the scale at the gym and it gave me a number lower than what I saw this morning. Still no too happy with my numbers. Zach says it's fine but there really will come a point when it's not fine. 26 days remember?!
Good news is I upped my calories today to where I should be (around 1400) and I didn't cheat all day so I'm really proud of myself. If I can keep it, which I'm 98% sure I can, then I'll be good...I hope. I really, really, REALLY hope.
Zach showed up today to work with some people and I showed him my rounds from Sunday since he wasn't able to be there. After watching me falling on my ass over and over...and over again, I asked him what he thought. Boy was I not happy with what he said. He thinks the rounds I did in CT, when I was horribly sick and feeling like shit, were better than yesterday. Problem is, I didn't think yesterday was too terribly bad. They weren't awesome but it wasn't terrible...I thought. He says they weren't "terrible" but I'm still bummed. Confidence is wavering but I'm just gonna step up my game and starting thinking with confidence. Fake or otherwise.
Tomorrow, 7 am, conditioning. Work. Work at the gym. Biking for forever. Let's get those numbers down!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
That Went Well
Today was our Charity Sparring Event and our Sadie Hawkins class. Being an all womens gym, the only men in there are the trainers. Well, today we did something different and fun. We hosted a Sadie Hawkins class where we could beat up on some guys. Some brought their husbands, other brought brothers and friends. It was a success. The guys were charged for the class as were all non-member females. The class was pretty full so it was definitely a success. Following that we had our sparring event where there was donation you could give. Good group of people came and we raised a good bit of money to buy gifts for teens in foster care.
So, I sparred. The girl I was originally supposed to spar wasn't able to come so I was paired up with someone else. I knew the girl I was being paired with and we get along pretty well. Problem is, and honestly it's not that big of a problem, but this whole week I've been preparing to fight a southpaw (lefty) and this girl? Not a lefty. Which is fine because it's what I'm used to, I just wish I hadn't spent all this time changing how I was gonna do this thing. Oh, well. It happens. And at the Gloves it's very possible I could be paired up with a southpaw. Regardless, it changed for today and yet again I was paired with someone who has had many years of experience. Six to be exact but she had to take about six weeks or so off from boxing and has only been back in the gym recently. That's what I was told so that I felt better about it. Um, yeah. Six years is still six years.
We did three 2-minute rounds. And I fell on my ass in the third. Right. On. My. Ass. It was one of those "I could see myself falling and couldn't do anything to fix it" things. I pretty much ate an uppercut and as I went to jump back and move away my right leg kind of buckled (my hip is still pretty much effed up, so I don't know how running is gonna go tomorrow morning) and down I went. Tiiiiiimber! Oh, well. It happens. During the three rounds I did with her I felt pretty good except that when she would come in fast and get me on the ropes, I would freeze.
I really need to work keeping my head up and fighting out of it. The good part is, I don't think she held back too much with me which makes me feel pretty good. I was able to get her a few times with my right, and I stuck my jab right in her face more than once. So that's a plus! My jab still needs work and I have to be faster and throw more at a time. I get in my own way. Psych myself out and am not as aggressive as I need to be. All things I need to fix in 27 days...along with losing at least 5 lbs. Gah! Starting to get a little concerned. But regardless, I'm doing the gloves and I'm gonna try my best. Crossing my fingers!
Tomorrow? Going to get the gym in the morning and attempt to run. Like I said, my leg hip isn't 100% so I don't know how successful I'm going to be. But if it's not running, then I'm going to do a good bit of time on the elliptical and then some jump roping. Then off to work! Then off to my other work (the gym)!
So, I sparred. The girl I was originally supposed to spar wasn't able to come so I was paired up with someone else. I knew the girl I was being paired with and we get along pretty well. Problem is, and honestly it's not that big of a problem, but this whole week I've been preparing to fight a southpaw (lefty) and this girl? Not a lefty. Which is fine because it's what I'm used to, I just wish I hadn't spent all this time changing how I was gonna do this thing. Oh, well. It happens. And at the Gloves it's very possible I could be paired up with a southpaw. Regardless, it changed for today and yet again I was paired with someone who has had many years of experience. Six to be exact but she had to take about six weeks or so off from boxing and has only been back in the gym recently. That's what I was told so that I felt better about it. Um, yeah. Six years is still six years.
We did three 2-minute rounds. And I fell on my ass in the third. Right. On. My. Ass. It was one of those "I could see myself falling and couldn't do anything to fix it" things. I pretty much ate an uppercut and as I went to jump back and move away my right leg kind of buckled (my hip is still pretty much effed up, so I don't know how running is gonna go tomorrow morning) and down I went. Tiiiiiimber! Oh, well. It happens. During the three rounds I did with her I felt pretty good except that when she would come in fast and get me on the ropes, I would freeze.
I really need to work keeping my head up and fighting out of it. The good part is, I don't think she held back too much with me which makes me feel pretty good. I was able to get her a few times with my right, and I stuck my jab right in her face more than once. So that's a plus! My jab still needs work and I have to be faster and throw more at a time. I get in my own way. Psych myself out and am not as aggressive as I need to be. All things I need to fix in 27 days...along with losing at least 5 lbs. Gah! Starting to get a little concerned. But regardless, I'm doing the gloves and I'm gonna try my best. Crossing my fingers!
Tomorrow? Going to get the gym in the morning and attempt to run. Like I said, my leg hip isn't 100% so I don't know how successful I'm going to be. But if it's not running, then I'm going to do a good bit of time on the elliptical and then some jump roping. Then off to work! Then off to my other work (the gym)!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Gettin' There
I had every intention of blogging yesterday but that just didn't happen. After working all day yesterday I headed over to Catastrophes place to work on our amazing gingerbread house for the contest this weekend. Have I said that my gym is awesome? We are going to be raffling off the houses (all two of them) and proceeds to go helping by presents for teens in foster care in RI.
But, yes, weight. The topic no one likes, me among them. It's causes a lot of stress and not a little bit of depression. Back in 2008 I weighed 180lbs. I currently weigh 138.2 as of yesterday morning. Awesome, right? I know! A 41lb weight loss is amazing and I should be thrilled. And I am but I'm still majorly stressing. I started boxing to lose more weight and I was probably just over 150 when I started back in April but now that I'm preparing to compete, there is a lot more pressure. Boxing is an amazing sport, however, you fight in weight classes. Very specific weight classes. That part sucks. If you're off by a pound you can get stuck in the next higher weight class and end up fighting someone who has ten pounds on you. Not exactly conducive for good competition.
When we made the decision of me definitely fighting in the Gloves, Zach had me step on the scale so that we can start tracking things. I was 148.8. Honestly I thought I'd be lower (and there is some debate amongst members about the accuracy of the gym scale) but by that point my pants were getting loose on me and I was building muscle.
The cap for the weight class I'm going to be competing in? 132. A difference of 16.8 and so far I've lost 10.6 of them. Which, in addition to the rest of what I've lost is really an awesome thing. And honestly, I wouldn't be too worried about losing the rest of it, BUT the first night I have to weigh in for the Gloves is January 7th, even if I don't compete. That would be 28 days away. The good news is since I haven't had any fights yet, I'm in the novice division which allows 2-3lbs over the 132 limit. So in all reality I really only need to be 134. Which is 4lbs away. Everyone is telling me that it's no problem and I'll be fine. Everyone from Jaime to Marcin to Sonic. I really should listen to them. But I'm honestly terrified I won't be able to do it. I've lost so much already that the smaller I get, the harder it is to get the rest off.
I am now not allowed to just wear shorts and tanks tops to work out in and for the past few days I've been training in pants and about three layers of shirts. Plus a thick rubber compression thing for my ribs which makes me sweat like crazy. Sweating it off, baby. Jaime says it will also prepare my body for when I have to drop weight in the future.
For the most part my food is under control, I just have to work on eating enough during the day. I eat probably 1100-1200 calories a day, but in reality I should be eating 1300-1400 (who would have thought you'd have to eat to lose weight?). That's a lot of food. I also have to make sure I'm not going crazy with carbs. It seems like whenever I try to increase my calories, my carbs go higher. I keep trying to find new things to eat that are low carb but high in calories. This is why I've been eating lots of eggs for dinner and for lunch on the weekends. I also probably have about one cheat item a day. My will power isn't very strong, but I'm honestly doing the best I can. I track everything I eat and every bit of exercise I do and I'm crossing all fingers and toes that I make this weight. At this point I'm not even concerned about the boxing part of the competition, but the weigh in. I also will have to weigh in every night that I might fight depending on how far I make it (and I'm training my hardest to try and not lose the first night!). The Gloves are basically every Friday in January, so for the entire month I need to be right on point.
Oh, and when I weigh myself at the gym and at home I'm weighing in wearing basically nothing so I'm hoping I can actually get down to 133 or 132 so that I don't have to wear a stupid bikini or something. Regardless of how much I've lost, I still see myself as a fat slob. But we're not gonna talk about that. So there is no way I'm going to want to wear that in front of a ton of people. I can't even jokingly say I'll starve myself (because that would never happen) but if I really don't eat enough, it gets stored as fat and I end up gaining weight. Oy vey.
Okay, quickly. This morning. Drove down to Battleground with Sonic to take Jaimes boxing class. But Jaime wasn't teaching this morning (which we knew) and it was Melissa (who won at the National Golden Gloves this past June). It was basically a sparring class with a round or two on the bag. I went in with a girl named Steph. She's wicked cool about my size, maybe a smidge shorter. Never sparred her before. Did three 2-minute rounds and my rib was sorta okay, except for when it started killing during the second round. Oh well. Then after class Melissa was nice enough to stay and get in the ring. Did three rounds of just jabs and then one round of everything. Then I was done. And now? Cleaning and doing nothing for the rest of the day.
Oh, and what the eff kind of show is Bridalplasty?! Holy crap some people are insane.
But, yes, weight. The topic no one likes, me among them. It's causes a lot of stress and not a little bit of depression. Back in 2008 I weighed 180lbs. I currently weigh 138.2 as of yesterday morning. Awesome, right? I know! A 41lb weight loss is amazing and I should be thrilled. And I am but I'm still majorly stressing. I started boxing to lose more weight and I was probably just over 150 when I started back in April but now that I'm preparing to compete, there is a lot more pressure. Boxing is an amazing sport, however, you fight in weight classes. Very specific weight classes. That part sucks. If you're off by a pound you can get stuck in the next higher weight class and end up fighting someone who has ten pounds on you. Not exactly conducive for good competition.
When we made the decision of me definitely fighting in the Gloves, Zach had me step on the scale so that we can start tracking things. I was 148.8. Honestly I thought I'd be lower (and there is some debate amongst members about the accuracy of the gym scale) but by that point my pants were getting loose on me and I was building muscle.
The cap for the weight class I'm going to be competing in? 132. A difference of 16.8 and so far I've lost 10.6 of them. Which, in addition to the rest of what I've lost is really an awesome thing. And honestly, I wouldn't be too worried about losing the rest of it, BUT the first night I have to weigh in for the Gloves is January 7th, even if I don't compete. That would be 28 days away. The good news is since I haven't had any fights yet, I'm in the novice division which allows 2-3lbs over the 132 limit. So in all reality I really only need to be 134. Which is 4lbs away. Everyone is telling me that it's no problem and I'll be fine. Everyone from Jaime to Marcin to Sonic. I really should listen to them. But I'm honestly terrified I won't be able to do it. I've lost so much already that the smaller I get, the harder it is to get the rest off.
I am now not allowed to just wear shorts and tanks tops to work out in and for the past few days I've been training in pants and about three layers of shirts. Plus a thick rubber compression thing for my ribs which makes me sweat like crazy. Sweating it off, baby. Jaime says it will also prepare my body for when I have to drop weight in the future.
For the most part my food is under control, I just have to work on eating enough during the day. I eat probably 1100-1200 calories a day, but in reality I should be eating 1300-1400 (who would have thought you'd have to eat to lose weight?). That's a lot of food. I also have to make sure I'm not going crazy with carbs. It seems like whenever I try to increase my calories, my carbs go higher. I keep trying to find new things to eat that are low carb but high in calories. This is why I've been eating lots of eggs for dinner and for lunch on the weekends. I also probably have about one cheat item a day. My will power isn't very strong, but I'm honestly doing the best I can. I track everything I eat and every bit of exercise I do and I'm crossing all fingers and toes that I make this weight. At this point I'm not even concerned about the boxing part of the competition, but the weigh in. I also will have to weigh in every night that I might fight depending on how far I make it (and I'm training my hardest to try and not lose the first night!). The Gloves are basically every Friday in January, so for the entire month I need to be right on point.
Oh, and when I weigh myself at the gym and at home I'm weighing in wearing basically nothing so I'm hoping I can actually get down to 133 or 132 so that I don't have to wear a stupid bikini or something. Regardless of how much I've lost, I still see myself as a fat slob. But we're not gonna talk about that. So there is no way I'm going to want to wear that in front of a ton of people. I can't even jokingly say I'll starve myself (because that would never happen) but if I really don't eat enough, it gets stored as fat and I end up gaining weight. Oy vey.
Okay, quickly. This morning. Drove down to Battleground with Sonic to take Jaimes boxing class. But Jaime wasn't teaching this morning (which we knew) and it was Melissa (who won at the National Golden Gloves this past June). It was basically a sparring class with a round or two on the bag. I went in with a girl named Steph. She's wicked cool about my size, maybe a smidge shorter. Never sparred her before. Did three 2-minute rounds and my rib was sorta okay, except for when it started killing during the second round. Oh well. Then after class Melissa was nice enough to stay and get in the ring. Did three rounds of just jabs and then one round of everything. Then I was done. And now? Cleaning and doing nothing for the rest of the day.
Oh, and what the eff kind of show is Bridalplasty?! Holy crap some people are insane.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Where were we?
Well, a little less than a month, but close enough. Hi, I'm an aspiring amateur boxer and I am going to be competing in the Southern New England Golden Gloves in January. I've actually been meaning to document this for a while but honestly I've been a little lazy about it. Haven't been in the right head space, so to speak, but we're good now. And I might be following in the footsteps of one of my teammates (sup, Catastrophe?).
Let's give a little back story, yes?
I used to be the girl who ate everything in front of her and 98% of it was bad for me. I was also the girl who fake ran the mile in high school and whose only form of exercise was changing the channel on the television. I was quiet, shy, self conscious and nervous about everything. I am 100% not the girl I was a year ago, let alone when I graduated high school. Sometimes, I wish some of those "popular" kids could see me now so I can say SUCK IT!
Okay, I joined my awesome, amazing, wonderful all women's boxing gym in April 2010 as a way to lose more weight (around April 2009 I weighed roughly 180lbs) and to do something I wouldn't find boring. So I went to the gym to meet with the owner and check out the place. It was awesome and I signed up for a membership after a quick tour. I also decided, in addition to that, and because I was nervous about having lots of people in the classes watching me, that I'd sign up for some private lessons. I was paired off with Keith, a pro boxer and a really nice guy. He taught me all the basics and trained me good. He left our gym after about two months and I was given a new trainer, Zach. Oh, Zach. There aren't enough words to describe you. He's an interesting guy but he knows his shit, been boxing for about six years and is an amateur boxer. I was a little nervous to walk into the gym the first day he was there and find out, "Hey, you have a new trainer...enjoy!" I've been training with him ever since and he knows how to push my buttons to get me to train harder and better. He's good like that. I've been working with him once a week since about June.
I also have a second trainer, Jaime Clampitt (4x world champion if you care to google her). She also has been training Zach for the six years he's been boxing. She is probably one the nicest people I've ever met and I'm so lucky to have her as one of my trainers. I had met her briefly while I was training with Keith. She had subbed in for one of my lessons while he was prepping for an upcoming fight. I was hella nervous to meet her. I mean, c'mon, I googled her before I met her and I wanted to know how much she was going to kill me. She didn't. And I wanted to work with her more often. She trains me once a week as well and I've been working with her steadily since September (I worked with her a bit before that but she took about a month off for her last fight).
In June two girls who trained at our gym headed down to Florida for the Women's National Golden Gloves. They each won their respective weight classes and are now Golden Gloves champs. How awesome is that? Jaime had me spar them literally three days before they left for the competition. Damn. I believe it was while they were gone the seed was planted. I also take Jaimes Sunday morning boxing class and she had mentioned, I assume in jest at this point, that next year I'll be down there with them and to start thinking about competitions in January. I'm pretty sure I laughed at her because that point I had only been boxing for 3 months and I sucked, but I nodded my head and halfheartedly said, "Sure!"
Fast forward 5 months and it's a done deal. I'm going and competing. And I'm terrified. I've had no competitions thus far but I have done two "exhibitions". The first one was a few months after I started sparring and it went pretty well, me and the woman I sparred had pretty much the same experience level. Second time was the day after Thanksgiving just two weeks ago. I've sparred Marcia before, when she comes up to SB some Sundays and she gives me good work (she also hits incredibly hard). But she's been boxing for seven years. Um, I've been boxing for seven MONTHS. I do love working with her, though, but I was terrified that day. It was at her gym down in CT and I was horribly sick. Bad, bad cough, and had maybe 60% energy. I was pretty sure I sucked the big one. Everyone who was there, and those who watched the tape (including Zach who was not able to attend, so Jaime and Melissa worked my corner), said it was pretty good...but I need to work on my jab. It was a great experience and it was my first time in front of a lot of people. I'm proud that I did it and got through those three rounds. And I busted her lip, go me!
Now we're at this week. I worked with Jaime on Tuesday and I was not feeling so great. We started things off, after jump roping to warm up, with some sparring. Holy crap, what? AND she sparred as a southpaw because the girl I'm being paired up with on Sunday (for a holiday "exhibition" at my gym) is a lefty. I was all over the place. For every ten punches she throws I throw about three it feels like. My problem is that I get way too down on myself while sparring and I think too much. When I tell my brain to stfu, I can throw combos and combos and land a lot of it but it's hard to turn off your brain enough where that is effective and yet still be thinking and trying to figure what your opponent is going to do. And then we did pads, which went a lot better. Wednesday I worked with Zach and I felt incredibly good after my hour with him. We did about six rounds of pads and I felt solid.
Oh, I should also say that I tend to not get hurt in the ring (knock on wood and minus some bloody noses) but outside the gym. Catastrophe convinced me to try a pole dancing class (it's great for muscles!) and after four weeks I broke a toe. I was done with that. Two weeks before Thanksgiving I fell down my stairs and bruised my tailbone something fierce. The latest one? I've had a cough for about a month now and I pulled the intercostal muscles in my ribs. Hurts like a youknowwhat but I refuse to quit and slow down (and I've been yelled about by quite a few people for it). Oh and I have tendinitis in my hip flexor. ONE MONTH, remember?
To wrap this up I'll just give a quick run down of what my gym schedule is like as I am now on a training-six-days-a-week plan as per Jaime. And as me and Sonic say, "We don't question the Hurricane."
Sunday: Jaimes boxing class (that I am not skipping anymore!) followed by sparring.
Monday: running in the afternoon or morning and some ab work.
Tuesday: conditioning with Marcin int he morning, also including running and jump roping in the afternoon
Wednesday: one hour with Zach followed by his boxing class, then sparring
Thursday: Mike's boxing class
Friday: NOTHING
Saturday: Jaimes boxing class at her gym in RI and then one hour training.
That's roughly where I'm at. Did I mention I also work full time during the day and three days a week I work at my gym?
Tomorrow blog: Weight. Gross.
Let's give a little back story, yes?
I used to be the girl who ate everything in front of her and 98% of it was bad for me. I was also the girl who fake ran the mile in high school and whose only form of exercise was changing the channel on the television. I was quiet, shy, self conscious and nervous about everything. I am 100% not the girl I was a year ago, let alone when I graduated high school. Sometimes, I wish some of those "popular" kids could see me now so I can say SUCK IT!
Okay, I joined my awesome, amazing, wonderful all women's boxing gym in April 2010 as a way to lose more weight (around April 2009 I weighed roughly 180lbs) and to do something I wouldn't find boring. So I went to the gym to meet with the owner and check out the place. It was awesome and I signed up for a membership after a quick tour. I also decided, in addition to that, and because I was nervous about having lots of people in the classes watching me, that I'd sign up for some private lessons. I was paired off with Keith, a pro boxer and a really nice guy. He taught me all the basics and trained me good. He left our gym after about two months and I was given a new trainer, Zach. Oh, Zach. There aren't enough words to describe you. He's an interesting guy but he knows his shit, been boxing for about six years and is an amateur boxer. I was a little nervous to walk into the gym the first day he was there and find out, "Hey, you have a new trainer...enjoy!" I've been training with him ever since and he knows how to push my buttons to get me to train harder and better. He's good like that. I've been working with him once a week since about June.
I also have a second trainer, Jaime Clampitt (4x world champion if you care to google her). She also has been training Zach for the six years he's been boxing. She is probably one the nicest people I've ever met and I'm so lucky to have her as one of my trainers. I had met her briefly while I was training with Keith. She had subbed in for one of my lessons while he was prepping for an upcoming fight. I was hella nervous to meet her. I mean, c'mon, I googled her before I met her and I wanted to know how much she was going to kill me. She didn't. And I wanted to work with her more often. She trains me once a week as well and I've been working with her steadily since September (I worked with her a bit before that but she took about a month off for her last fight).
In June two girls who trained at our gym headed down to Florida for the Women's National Golden Gloves. They each won their respective weight classes and are now Golden Gloves champs. How awesome is that? Jaime had me spar them literally three days before they left for the competition. Damn. I believe it was while they were gone the seed was planted. I also take Jaimes Sunday morning boxing class and she had mentioned, I assume in jest at this point, that next year I'll be down there with them and to start thinking about competitions in January. I'm pretty sure I laughed at her because that point I had only been boxing for 3 months and I sucked, but I nodded my head and halfheartedly said, "Sure!"
Fast forward 5 months and it's a done deal. I'm going and competing. And I'm terrified. I've had no competitions thus far but I have done two "exhibitions". The first one was a few months after I started sparring and it went pretty well, me and the woman I sparred had pretty much the same experience level. Second time was the day after Thanksgiving just two weeks ago. I've sparred Marcia before, when she comes up to SB some Sundays and she gives me good work (she also hits incredibly hard). But she's been boxing for seven years. Um, I've been boxing for seven MONTHS. I do love working with her, though, but I was terrified that day. It was at her gym down in CT and I was horribly sick. Bad, bad cough, and had maybe 60% energy. I was pretty sure I sucked the big one. Everyone who was there, and those who watched the tape (including Zach who was not able to attend, so Jaime and Melissa worked my corner), said it was pretty good...but I need to work on my jab. It was a great experience and it was my first time in front of a lot of people. I'm proud that I did it and got through those three rounds. And I busted her lip, go me!
Now we're at this week. I worked with Jaime on Tuesday and I was not feeling so great. We started things off, after jump roping to warm up, with some sparring. Holy crap, what? AND she sparred as a southpaw because the girl I'm being paired up with on Sunday (for a holiday "exhibition" at my gym) is a lefty. I was all over the place. For every ten punches she throws I throw about three it feels like. My problem is that I get way too down on myself while sparring and I think too much. When I tell my brain to stfu, I can throw combos and combos and land a lot of it but it's hard to turn off your brain enough where that is effective and yet still be thinking and trying to figure what your opponent is going to do. And then we did pads, which went a lot better. Wednesday I worked with Zach and I felt incredibly good after my hour with him. We did about six rounds of pads and I felt solid.
Oh, I should also say that I tend to not get hurt in the ring (knock on wood and minus some bloody noses) but outside the gym. Catastrophe convinced me to try a pole dancing class (it's great for muscles!) and after four weeks I broke a toe. I was done with that. Two weeks before Thanksgiving I fell down my stairs and bruised my tailbone something fierce. The latest one? I've had a cough for about a month now and I pulled the intercostal muscles in my ribs. Hurts like a youknowwhat but I refuse to quit and slow down (and I've been yelled about by quite a few people for it). Oh and I have tendinitis in my hip flexor. ONE MONTH, remember?
To wrap this up I'll just give a quick run down of what my gym schedule is like as I am now on a training-six-days-a-week plan as per Jaime. And as me and Sonic say, "We don't question the Hurricane."
Sunday: Jaimes boxing class (that I am not skipping anymore!) followed by sparring.
Monday: running in the afternoon or morning and some ab work.
Tuesday: conditioning with Marcin int he morning, also including running and jump roping in the afternoon
Wednesday: one hour with Zach followed by his boxing class, then sparring
Thursday: Mike's boxing class
Friday: NOTHING
Saturday: Jaimes boxing class at her gym in RI and then one hour training.
That's roughly where I'm at. Did I mention I also work full time during the day and three days a week I work at my gym?
Tomorrow blog: Weight. Gross.
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