Carrie Nyden

Nope, I’m not referring to the summery shoe that let’s your toes breathe.  I’m referring to my workouts.

*NOTE: these are NOT my feetsies.  These are my lova’s (Alana) feet!  My feet NEVER look this good! hehaho

 

This time last year, I was doing practically the exact opposite of what I’m doing now.  I was limiting cardio to none or maybe one day a week plus 4 days of lifting.

 

You can check out some of my lifting videos here:

My YouTube Channel!

Chin-up video!

Now, I’m taking yoga and doing other cardio-based group exercise classes.  Say whaaa?!

 

This is due to a few reasons.

1. I bought a Groupon for unlimited yoga/group exercise classes at a local studio (SyncStudio).

2. I’ve wanted to get back into yoga for years.

3. I don’t have enough money to commit to a year-long gym membership at the time.

4. I’ve fallen in love with it!!!

(No, I’m not doing this to “shock” my body.  I don’t believe in that BS.)

Yoga challenges me in ways I have not been challenged.  It challenges my flexibility, balance, mental focus, and my overall mentality towards life. I absolutely love the messages that my teacher, Christine, reads at the beginning and end of each class.

I never thought I could truly enjoy group exercise after insanely burning myself out on it in college.  I taught WAY too many classes for my body’s liking.  It’s fun being able to push myself at the direction of the teacher without thinking, “Is this workout good enough?” “Am I motivating them enough?”

Another thing I love is the competition.  This isn’t the case for yoga but for the cardio circuit class.  If a guy shows up, I’m that much more motivated to crank out more pushups, more jump squats, more whatever movement we are told to do.

*Part of the inside of the downtown location of SyncStudio!

My month membership ends on October 30^th, soooo I’m pretty sure I know what I’ll be requesting for Christmas!

I may be suffering from what Martin Berkhan likes to refer to as “Fuckarounditis,” but that’s okay.  I’m enjoying myself and loving life and that means more to me than Martin’s opinion.  Mmmmkay?  And with any exercise program, or diet for that matter, it is being able to enjoy it and stick to it, rather than implementing the perfect program.

 

On tonight’s agenda:

I’m going to a tech startup job fair tonight.  Think this business card will fare well?!

 

Ohhhhh, what am I getting myself in to?!  Let’s see how many confused looks I receive.

So, you ask, what have I been doing in the glorious town of Chapel Hill, NC?!

HI LOW!

Long time, NO blog. Like a year and five months. Yep, I could have been pregnant twice in that time period! Holy moly. Bad, bad bloggie. I’ve been meaning to blog, but for various *dumb* reasons, I have put it off.

Family vacations are always da bomb diggity and this one was no exception.  This year we went to Topsail Beach, NC!  It was BEAUTIFUL!  We were right on the oceanfront so all we had to do was walk out on our deck to watch it and we could listen to the waves all day/night.  Since I’m not a huge fan on sitting in the sand, I love oceanfront properties.  Best of both worlds… no messy sand but you still get to be right by the ocean.

Some of our activities included: running/walking on the beach, drinking wine and bubble gum flavored vodka (no, not mixed together), watching WVU lose (boooo), talking with some strange peeps on Chatroulette.com, and cooking/EATING amazing meals.

Random first fact is that… I’m on vacation this week at Topsail Beach, NC!

Alright.  Now the SERRRRRRRRRIOUS stuff!

Even before the competition was over, I started freaking out about what to do in the off-season.  I was reading forums, asking for advice, and generally just freaking out.  I want to find a good balance between exercise, nutrition, and leading a somewhat normal life.  As of now, I have no coach and no plan.  I’d like to hire a coach, probably just to reassure me, but I know that wouldn’t be financially wise.

AND even though I’m not sure if I can pay for it… Since I qualified for a national competition, I’ve been looking at them!  I’m thinking either the IFBB North American Figure Competition in Cleveland, Ohio on September 3^rd (www.garyudit.com) OR the National Figure Competition in Atlanta, George on October 15^th (www.nationalbodybuilding.com).