New and Improved!

Well HI there my lovelies!  It has been quite a while since I've posted.

Let's see:

1. got married
2. got to have my dad there (he was touch and go for a while but he's great now!)
3. been auditioning
4. been working out like crazy
5. started a new business.

Say what?

Yes.  I am now an Independent Beach Body coach.  A decision I did NOT come to lightly.

I was working at small, boutique gym in the back office.  It was a great part-time job dealing with reports and retention and all that.  But my boss was a bit of an OCD psycho and I just couldn't deal with him anymore.  He, essentially, forced me to quit.  Long story, but it's true!

So, to say the least I was frustrated.  I talked to a friend of mine and she had just signed on to be a coach.  I've been approached by people before.  Never did I want to take the plunge because, well, I just wasn't committed.  Now, with no job and sick of staring at the Craigs List wall, I decided today was the day to just jump in and try it.  If it works, GREAT.  If not.  Oh well, at least I tried.

My friend told me that until the end of the year, to sign up as a coach is, essentially, free.  Well, this clinched it for me.

I'm definitely interested in trying something for free, right?  :)

Also, Beach Body is the company that has P90X!  And those of you who know me, know I did all 3 months of that crazy workout.  THEN I did Insanity.  And now I'm doing ChaLEAN Extreme!

Oh yes, people.  OH. YES.

So I figured I'm working for a company I 100% believe in!  Why not get discounts and freebies and share my experience with other people looking for the same life change I got!  So yeah.  Yay me!

How are you?  Did the Thanksgiving world kick your butt?  It sort of did for me, but I did workout yesterday and today (and plan to tomorrow too!).

xoxoxo
Ali

www.beachbodycoach.com/aligoodman

Day 103 - Gifts and Saying Goodbye

Thursday, March 4, 2010

So today was a crazy day!  Mom and I met to accomplish a couple of things wedding-wise:

1. check out bridesmaids gifts
2. check out gifts for hostesses giving the shower
3. check out flower girl gifts
4. go to the jeweler to design my wedding band

Before that, I got a call from my agent (YES!) to come in for a voice over audition.  Mom and I walked from her place to Starbuck's where she waited while I went in for my audition.  After it was over, we headed to find some gifts!

We were VERY successful!  Here's how it played out:

1. found shower gifts
2. found bridesmaids gifts (just have 3 more to pick up from another store)
3. found groomsmen gifts
4. found flower girls gifts
5. found me a rehearsal dinner dress
6. found me a shower dress
7. planned a 2nd day with jeweler so Jon could get fitted too

All in all a very successful wedding-planning day!

Our friend Gene is leaving Chicago tomorrow.  We're sad!  Unfortunately he just could NOT find a job while here.  It's been so tough watching so many people struggle with money and being jobless.  He's headed back to Maine to save some money so he can come back to Chicago for our wedding!  I have high hopes for him. He's a great guy!

We had a fun dinner with him and toasted him a good farewell.  We are driving him to his train tomorrow evening.  Sigh.

Calories Consumed: 1241

Workout: NONE

Day 101 - Mom's Dress and The Biggest Loser returns

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

So today my mom and I headed up to Highland Park.  I had to meet with Carrie (my sister-in-law) about our business and we also had a few wedding goals to accomplish:

1. solidify the invitations
2. find mom a dress

Invites went GREAT!  Jon and I worked on the response card-wording and are happy with our creative results.  The other stuff looked excellent so we are good to go!

Mom's dress.  Well, as luck would have it, we went back to the same place mom purchased her dress for my last wedding-that-shall-not-be-named. (It never happened.  2 months before it was cancelled!)  Mom LOVED that last dress.  It fit her perfectly.  It was MADE to fit her.  She looked stunning and felt stunning.  She didn't keep the dress (it was in purple) because she didn't want to wear it to anything else. She was really sad to see it go.  Mom also hates to shop so this experience would prove not fantastic to begin with unless we hit it out of the park on our first at bat.

Funny enough, when we were looking for MY dress we went to 5 different places.  I really liked one dress (but I didn't LOVE it) but it was really out of my price range.  I could have talked my father into it, but I really didn't love it.  Then we finally bit the bullet and went to the place where I got my last dress.  I was leery about going back to the same place.  Felt like a bad idea or whatever, but, lo and behold I found THE dress.  I LOVE my dress!  I LOVE MY DRESS.  And I was thrilled we'd decided to look fear in the face and go back there.

Mom took no chances and decided to hit the same place.  And after trying on about 11 dresses with NOTHING that came even close to a possibility, we decided we'd go somewhere else.  Mom got dressed and had a conversation with the sales person about the last dress she had and how much she loved how it fit.  The lady went in the back and pulled out a dress that looked amazing.   Mom tried it on and it was perfect...just a size too small and in the wrong color!  They looked at the swatches of fabric and realized it could be made in the color we needed and made to her measurements!  PERFECT!

Also?  It turns out, THIS dress is made by the same designer as the LAST dress Mom fell in love with!  So it all works out in the end!

So excited to see it on her when it's in the correct color and cut to fit her!  :)

Tonight, THE BIGGEST LOSER Season 9 returned (it's been on hiatus for The Olympics) and I'm so excited!  It's such a motivator to work out when watching that show!

What shows get you moving/motivated?

Calories Consumed: 937

Workout:
         Cardio:
              3 minutes warm up
              45 minutes run/jog
              8 minutes cool down
        
        Strength Training:
             125 regular crunches
             100 reverse crunches
             1 set Pilates 100
             50 toe reaches (alternating)

Day 92 - My crazy schedule and Avoiding sleep

Tuesday, February 25, 2010

So today was filled with busy-ness.  Heh. business.  Busy-ness.

Yeah.  I'm exhausted.  I've been busting out wedding stuff, film stuff, rehearsal stuff, life stuff...I'm really wiped out!

But I can't sleep.

Well, I can but I'm sort of afraid to go to sleep.

I'm afraid of my dreams.

There. I said it.  I'm afraid of my dreams.

I'm really sick of having dreams about my ex and Jon's ex.  I know that a LOT of it is wedding-related.  I also know that it's my body's way of working stuff out.  I know, even more, that it's much easier for my brain and self to deal with THEM than deal with the other wedding frustration (read: my awful uncle) which I am subjected to dealing with and really don't want to.  That situation is it's own "living nightmare".

I'd prefer to run into either one of our exes.  Twice.  Than deal with my uncle coming to my wedding. But that is a whole other blog story.  One I'll examine as the wedding day approaches and my anxiety explodes.

Yay! Things to look forward to! :)

My friend, Debbie, is having her baby in March and I cannot believe March is around the freaking corner!  Soooo close!

Ok. It's time for me to wrap up and suck it up and go to bed.  I'll be no good for anyone if I don't have sleep.

I have a full list of things to do tomorrow!
TAXES are on that list... let's see if I can hop to it!

Calories Consumed: 982

Workout:
        Cardio:
             3 minutes warm-up
             35 minutes cardio
             (2 - 1 minute sprints; 1 - 5 minute sprint)
              8 minute cool down

Day 52 - Cramps and Caloric Overload

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

So today started out AWFUL.  I was up at 3am with horrible cramps.  I finally got back to sleep to wake up with the same pain at about 6am.  It was just one bad dream after another. :(

When I finally peeled myself out of my bed, I realized I had little time to get all my workout done before I had to meet my mom to work on wedding stuff.

I've heard that working out (especially cardio) can help cramps.  So I started some cardio.  It did help.  But I also think popping a few ibuprofen was the "real" help.

After about 30 minutes (yeah that's all I could get) I went to take a shower and realized that somehow the bubble bath popped open on the shelf and had fallen on its side and had dripped bubble goo EVERYWHERE AND ON EVERYTHING.

UGH!

I quickly called my Mom and told her I'd be running about 30 minutes late.  Then I did a VERY fast clean-up (didn't finish it) and showered and ran out of the house.

Mom and I were looking at places to hold the rehearsal dinner.  We wanted to go a little more light and fun since our wedding is a bit more formal.

We decided to come back to the restaurant and do a tasting that night with Jon and my dad.

After getting back to her apartment we hit the lists and tried to get some things finished.  I was in need of some food.  I had a small snack knowing full-well I would be having calories out of my personal control tonight with the tasting.

UGH!  Food was amazing.  Amazing.  BUT, the calories were ridiculous.  I ate as little as I could and still feel like I was giving a true idea as to what the food would taste like (we got prawns and sea bass and tuna, etc.  I am a pescatarian so I don't eat meat or poultry.  Only fish).

After leaving I just started to feel icky again.  I wanted to take more ibuprofen, but I also needed to get my abs and legs in today.

I don't know how I did it, but I busted out the abs and legs when we got home last night.  No extra cardio, but I did what I could.  I barely combated the calories, though, I'm sure.  Things were DRIPPING in oil.

Ok, ok, I know tomorrow is another day.  And I did do well to avoid all the chocolate my mom has lying around the house.  I wanted a frango mint so badly I could taste the indulgence in my mind.  But I didn't.
So that was good, right?

Today's Goal:  Drink water and be careful at dinner.  FAIL (I know I did the best I could at dinner, but it just was a caloric fest.  And I somehow lost count as to how much water I drank. Although I can tell you it most likely was NOT enough).

Tomorrow's Goal:  Do my cardio before Jon gets home from work.

Calories Consumed: approx 1500??  (seriously!)

Workout:
       Cardio:
            3 minutes warm-up
            30 minutes jog/run
            (1 - 5 minutes sprint)
             5 minutes cool down

      Strength Training:
           50 push-ups
           1 set Pilates 100's
          100 regular crunches
          100 reverse crunches
          100 oblique crunches (both sides)
          100 regular squats (12 lbs each hand)
          100 regular pulsed squats (12 lbs each hand)
          100 plie squats (12 lbs each hand)
          100 plie pulsed squats (12 lbs each hand)
        

Day 51 - Time and Money

Tuesday, January 13, 2010

So today was a much better day.  I got in a great workout and felt like things were mostly back on track.

I know a lot of my sleep issues are due to the fact that Jon and I have an absolutely hideous mattress.  It was never meant to be our full-time mattress but it's all we have at the moment.

We're saving every penny we can to just get to go on a honeymoon.  Also, I'm really revving up the promoting of my voiceover demos so any extra money I make has been going into that.

* www.aligoodmanvo.com


Throughout my whole life I've never had just one interest.  I've been a jack of all trades, master of none.  I've decided to change that vision.  I want to stop all the desperate attempts to "get" somewhere.  I am just putting my focus into my interests.  In the future I am totally open to them changing but, for now, I have to stop just shooting myself in the foot.

This is why I am heavily focusing on film and voiceover.  I'm not leaving theatre, altogether, but it's not where my interests are lying these days.  For the first time in my life, I'm ok with that.

Time is what I am lacking.  Time and money.  I've been putting off seeing friends and family so I can focus on me and my goals.  It's taken a toll on my mental state.  I miss my friends.  I tend to have hermit-tendencies.  So this week and a bit of next week I made sure to make firm plans with friends and family so I HAVE to get out of the house and schedule myself better.

Now, of course, I'm freaking out about the time I'm spending away from those things I have to do!

Balance.  Right?  BALANCE.

Got to get a bit better on my water.  I only got in about 50 oz today.  It was not enough.

Working on wedding stuff tomorrow with Mom. Would love to really get some things off of THAT list!

Today's Goal: back into the workout routine = SUCCESS!

Tomorrow's Goal: DRINK WATER!  And be careful at dinner.

Calories Consumed: 1095

Workout:
        Cardio:
            3 minutes warm-up
            40 minutes jog/run/shadow box/kicks
           (1 - 10 minute sprint; 2 - 1 minute skaters)
            8 minutes cool-down/stretch

        Strength Training:
            60 back rows (15 lbs each hand)
            50 biceps curls (12 lbs each hand)
            50 triceps curls (12 lbs each hand)
            50 shoulder press (12 lbs each hand)
            50 chest flies (12 lbs each hand)