Day 10 of BODYROCKING!

Today I did the Pound Melting Workout!!!

I altered it a bit, since I barely could do the moves that Zuzana was doing.

1.  Girl push up...15, 23
2.  Side lunge knee up, left leg...18, 16
3.  Side lunge knee up, right leg...19, 19
4.  Crab fighter, left leg...15, 13
5.  Crab fighter, right leg...14, 14
6.  Squads...20, 18

I hope one day I do not have to modify the workouts and can do the advanced exercises!!!

I want to do more upper body workouts, since my quads, butt and calfs are dying.  We will see what I find to do tomorrow!!!

Hope everyone is having a great day!!!

Day 8 and 9 of BODYROCKING!

I got a bit behind with the posts, oops, but don't worry I am not behind my workouts.

Needless to say I am exhausted, even these 12 min workouts kill me!  I guess it wouldn't be hard if it wansn't a challenge, ha.

So yesterday I did a Fat Exorcism Workout, in 21:44 min.  I recommend that everyone would try divebombers, they are awesome, even though I cannot really do them in perfect form yet. 

Today I did, Pretty Fly Exercise Challenge, and I completed 10 sets!  Not so hot :(  Zuzana completed 17.5  I am just feeling pooped and hoping for some second wind!

What to do next!?

Day 7 of BODYROCKING and Christkindlemarkt!

Today was probably the hardest day, muscle soreness wise. It seems like everything hurts, my shoulders, my back, my legs, ouch!  BodyRock is kicking my butt, that is for sure ;)

Today, Ludwig, his mother Ursula and I went to the Fraueninsel's Christkindlmarkt. It took us a little while to get there, two different trains and a ferry later we were on the island eating fried fish, crepes, and roasted chestnuts. It was a great day to be outside and enjoy the Christmas cheer.

Wood carving is very popular here.  Ludwig loved this model of a church.

Having your own cute boat on an island is a must.

Obligatory Glühwein/Mulled Wine!

Baby lama

I burned my mouth with this awesome sandwich.  Grilled in butter fish fillet on a bun, yum!

On the way back home, this was the line to get on the ferry!

This was the sunset, and no picture could ever capture how amazing it actually was.  I did not manipulate the colors at all!!!

So on the way home, I was surfing the bodyrock.tv website to find a workout for today and I was oh so dreading it, you have no idea how.  After the whole day of walking the last thing I wanted to do was to work out!  I am so sore!  Well, I feel like I am cheating but this is the workout on the bodyrock website Heel Toe Express Exercise Challenge, basically walking as an exercise.  This workout is to walk for 40 min anywhere, well, I walked around for half the day and I am freaking tired.  I did a bit of yoga, next thing is that I need to convince Ludwig to give me a massage and then it is bed time!!!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and looking forward to the new week :)

Day 6 of BODYROCKING!

My oh my am I soar or what!?  I had no idea that your Trapezius could hurt so much from spiking rope, OMG!!!  And my calfs, yikes.  I will for sure repeat this workout, I even might make it a weakly thing :)

Today's workout was Game On! 300 squat challenge!  And I completed this challenge in 11:58.  I did not do the squats the way Zuzana tells you to do them, because my knees cannot do that yet.  I did my best, but I still need a lot of improvement with the form, making the squat deeper and more controlled. 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Ukraine, November 2011

This was my 4th trip to Ukraine since my family moved to the United States and my first trip since I moved to Germany.  The first three visits, I always came in the summer for minimum of three weeks.  This time it was different all around, shorter, colder and quieter.  In the summer, with my cousin Irina I roam the streets during the night, when it is bearable, because during the day it is just too hot.  I love walking the city in the night, it is so perfect and alive!!!  In the fall, it is just cold and miserable and all you want to do is stay home, drink tea and eat your grandma's pilmeni.

As a welcoming feast my grandma Valya fried me some 'chebyreki'  I think she and Paula Dean would get along great, and bond over ridiculously fatty food :)

Also, this visit had a bigger purpose.  My best childhood friend Olya, who I know since the 1st grade, had her first baby, who's name is Andrey.  She asked me to be his Godmother and come for the Baptism.  I am so glad I got to be part of this important moment in their lives. 

Mom and Son!  Isn't he supper cute :)

At the Baptism there were two sets of Godparents and everyone got to hold the cute Andrey :)  He really enjoyed his 'bath'!

Olya's brother, Dima, holding Andrey after the immersion.

It was really interesting, because this was the first Orthodox Baptism I have attended, besides my own, which I do not remember, since I was only 4 or 5. 

After the Baptism in front of the Church.

After the Baptism we went to Olya's parent's place for celebratory dinner.  It was fun and merry!


Even though Odessa was pretty chilly we still did some walking around the city with Irina.

Odessa at night!

We also laughed a lot, especially Irina, she laughed so hard she cried!  This was all thanks to the PhotoBooth effects on my iPad.

My aunt Lora, my mother's sister!

Aunt Lora was going back to Reni, here with her son Milan and mother Antonina.

Milan and Aunt Lora.

Irina and I decided to also go to Lvov. I have not been there in probably 16 years or more, oh goodness I don't even want to count. We took the night train and in the morning Uncle Serezha picked us up from the station.

Apparently my brother George and uncle Serezha were big buddies.  George even gave his 3rd grade photo which uncle Serezha still keeps as a memory.

George also signed the photo and gave him a silver fork when were moving to the USA.  My brother is the best!

We had a lot of fun reminiscing and looking at old photo albums.  It is just crazy how time really flies.

Looking at the photo albums with great-aunt Raya!

In front of the Opera Building.

It was really cold and I was unfortunately sick so we ended up siting at a cafe for 3 hours drinking tea and coffee.  I think we are both obsessed with stripes ;)

Lvov is a really neat city, it is not as loud as Odessa and is a lot more quaint.

The next day we went to visit more family with aunts, cousins and babies :)

On the left is aunt Sveta and on the right is her daughter Anya with her daughter Liza. 

She has her father wrapped around her finger.  Here he is reluctantly giving his phone away.

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Liza is an amazing multitasker!!!  She can go to the bathroom, used the cell phone and watch TV at the same time.  She was great, so much energy and spunk :)

Liza with her favorite blanket that she cannot live without :)

I wish we got to stay in Lvov a bit longer and that it was warmer but that is for the next time.  I really would like to take Ludwig there and show him where I come from. 

My last meal was of course my grandma Valya's famous pilmeni.  They are honestly the best I ever had anywhere from anyone. 

This picture perfectly shows how these two feel about their picture being taken ;) 

Last walk around the city!

Silly cousins :)

I am very happy I got to visit my family and be there for the Baptism, but the next time I go to Ukraine is only with Ludwig :)

Day 5 of BODYROCKING!

 Today's treat was a chocolate puppy :)

I started to grow sprouts to put on my salad.  I always wanted to try it and when I saw this 'green house' I decided to finally give a go.  I bought a mix of mustard seeds, mung beans and brown lentils.  After a week they were ready to be harvested and eaten. 

So easy and oh so tasty!

So today I did 15 Minute Cardio Workout with jump rope.  Yeah, jump-roping is not easy as it used to be in childhood.  I cannot even tell you how much time I spend outside jumping in Ukraine, not just jump rope but all kinds of other games, like Chinese jump rope and Hopscotch.  Now just 15min, and I am dead!!!  I did 8 sets, thus I jumped 800 times, with breaks of course ;)
So my review, of the 5 days of doing BodyRock is that I am never bored, every time I can do something new and different.  I have been sleeping VERY well and overall I feel great.  I am pretty soar, but nothing too painful.  I definitely think I will need a session of relaxing yoga this weekend to better stretch out those soar muscles. 

Have a great day everyone!!!

Day 4 of BODYROCKING and Day 1 of ADVENT CALLENDER!!!

Today I started my Advent calender!!! I have bought them before but never could eat only one candy per day and the calender always ended up being just a snack.  Lets see how this year will be.

First day of Advent and I got a snowman :)

Today's work out was the 500 Rep Fat Massacre!!!  I needed to burn off the snowman I ate, hahah, jk.
So this was a time challenge, meaning there are 11 exercises, 50 reps each, and you time yourself to see how fast you can complete these series. This workout was ridiculous: of course I could not do real push-ups and the side plank lifts were very difficult. I finished the whole thing in 29:29 min.  I think this is a great workout if you have absolutely no equipment!!!  You can do this work out basically anywhere, home, gym, hotel, etc.  I think so far this was my favorite work out and maybe I should repeat it towards the end of my challenge to see if I have at all improved.  Eventually, one day, I really want to be able to do real push-ups :)

Happy 1st of December!