I couldn’t be more frustrated with the whole scene. Yesterday was the end of our seventh week of working out with our trainer, Troy. Time to retest our body fat percentages. Ugh. Even though I woke up late from last night’s crazy martini party, I was still in a decent mood. Until now that is. Brian went first. Then he and Troy looked at me and said “Get up on the scale. Let’s get this over with.”

Yep, I went up in weight. Figures. Then Troy told me to hold the metal bars while the machine calculated body fat. I wanted to hit him and Brian with the machine. Stupid grins on their faces. Until, until, the results popped up.

I lost 5% body fat! I ended up screaming in the gym, jumping up and down, and hugging sweaty people!! In the midst of our high season and all our traveling, crappy meals and crappy restaurants, and dreary weight rooms in hotels, I still lost 5% body fat from training with Troy on the Cross Fit program! Amazing! Seriously amazing b/c I never drop anything. In fact I worked out with the triathlon group for over a year and stayed the same. But Troy, he’s my man now! I had to share the good news with all my “suffering friends” that have been on this journey with me for months.

Before we break for the weekend, I want to remind all you lovely ladies that our Early Bird Registration for the Seattle December Workshop ends this Saturday night at midnight.

This workshop is going to be so special. We’ve already got an amazing group of women forming, and they are flying in from all over the country! If you want to give yourself a COOL Christmas gift and join us, take advantage of the $799 price before it bumps up to the regular price of $999. Make sure you register before Saturday night at midnight PST! Click here for details and registration.

Also, we had a BLAST Wednesday night at our Martini Garden Party. Lots of yummy food, flowers everywhere…

I think we had 50 photographers show up at our house!

Crazy fun! Brian set up his own bar in the backyard and reminded me of Tom Cruise in Cocktail! (expect Brian was sexier of course) Did anyone get a shot of Brian mixing drinks?! And, check out that HUGE speaker to the side of Brian.

The music was awesome! The BEST DJ in the WORLD, Michael of Integritas, was there DJing fantastic music. I can’t believe our neighbors didn’t kill us. They REALLY love us.

And check this out!

We made our own Me Ra Koh Pink Martini! I know, I know. They look red. But it was late, sun was going down, and I wasn’t to in to my camera settings. You get the picture though, right.

Yummy stuff! Want the ingredients to my favorite martini, the Me Ra Koh Martini, that Brian and I made up? You know you do!

Thanks to all the wonderful photographers who came Wednesday night. We host this Annual Garden Martini Party to celebrate YOU and how hard you shoot all summer. Brian and I are honored to know all of you and proud to call you friends! As always, great to laugh with you, catch up and just have fun being together!

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For fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese , our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the words of your choice! We just had a great review done on our DVDs, read about it here!

The Chicago Workshop is sold out. But the Seattle December Workshop is now open for registration! Click HERE to register!

Say hello to our new trainer, Troy!

Scary huh!! After fifteen minutes of working out with this guy, you feel like you are going to throw up!

I had this great idea to sign Brian and I up with a personal trainer. Tons of people said Troy was the best. As you can see below, I was super excited!

This is Brian after Troy was done with our Cross Fit session. Let’s just say Brian isn’t as excited.

Pray for Brian. It’s twice a week training for him. (I’m just doing it once a week. :))

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To enter our new Photo Contest for July, send your image as an attachment to contest@merakoh.com . The theme is Water. Any thing that has to do with water is welcome.

To see our day job , visit here.

For more fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese , our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, or for details on spots left in our upcoming Chicago Workshop , click on the words of your choice!

A friend invited me to join her yesterday for a workout session with her trainer. I was totally excited because I’ve been needing a new routine.

Troy, the trainer, said we were going to do four different exercises repeating them three times from top to bottom.

First row 500 meters, keeping it under 2:15 minutes if possible, under 2 minutes is even better.

Then we would do 25 Kettle bell Swings with 20 lbs of weight. A Kettle bell Swing is what the guy to the far left is doing. You basically swing that sucker up over your head and then through your legs 25 times.

Then we were supposed to do 15 Burpees. This means you squat down, hop your legs out behind you, do a push up, hop your legs back into a squat then stand and raise your arms over your head.

And last, I was given this crazy ball that was a tad bit heavy and told to throw it up against the wall, like the lady in the green tank top is doing, and then as I catch it lower myself into a squat so my rear actually taps the bench. I think it’s called Ball Slams. Just 25 of those. “Butt Slams” is a much more appropriate title for these.

Troy modeled all four exercises and said the point of this workout was to do these four exercises as fast as we could–three times through–in under thirty minutes. We needed to be at an aerobic heart rate which means not only are you sweating but you feel like your going to throw up. And honestly, I’m watching Troy model these four exercises and thinking, “How on earth am I going to get my heart rate up that high?” (I have the heart rate and metabolism of a snail’s grandma snail.)

Okay, can I just say that as I was half way through round two, I bent over and thought I was seriously going to hurl all my dinner from the night before! My whole body was shaking, and I couldn’t believe I had agreed to come with my friend!

I managed to finish in 22:23 time. And I would have been happy if I wasn’t fainting from total exhaustion!

This high intensity workout is all about building muscle strength while staying at a cardio level (to burn fat) and then getting it done as fast as you can. It’s called Cross Fit. But I’m thinking “Cross Sick” is more appropriate for me right now after seeing how sick I felt from 22:23 minutes of this workout. One of the highlights to Cross Fit is you are always working to lower your time and up your intesity. So instead of doing 45-60 minutes of cardio every day, you do some weight training/cardio a few times a week, and you’re done in 20 something minutes. And believe me, your body is DONE for the rest of the day after that little 20 something minute workout.

You have to check out Cross Fit’s website. It’s pretty thorough with video demos of every exercise. And supposedly, there is hope for me to have abs and be looking like this! (or maybe not, the image actually scared Brian a little :))

I had so much fun doing this that guess who I signed up for this Tuesday morning? Okay, I’ll give you one clue. It’s the same guy I signed up to do the 5K for me in my Sprint Triathlon–and he doesn’t run.

Tell us about your suffering these days. We’re into July and I want to hear how and what people are doing to suffer! Has anyone heard of the website called Cross Fit? Is anyone trying it and seeing results? Any before and after pictures like mine above?

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On a totally different note…we got so MANY, MANY, MANY entries for the Fatherhood contest!! I can’t wait to look through them and get our five finalists posted! But check back tomorrow because we’re going to announce the Photo Contest Theme for JULY! And we’ll also talk about tips and tricks for taking photos on the 4th of July!

xoxo

Remember this post, “He Tells Me I’m not Suffering!“?

There were so many awesome comments on that post that I’ve been curious to know how everyone is doing with their suffering.

I up’d my intensity on the elliptical and weight training, but then I went down to the women’s business workshop, the Next Octave, in San Francisco (didn’t work out) and then from there went to San Diego for our women’s photography workshop (had ALL kinds of intentions to work out and didn’t), only to come home and feel tired from being gone for two weeks=too tired to work out for another week! Before I knew it three weeks had gone by with no exercise. ERRR!

My chiropractor is the best guy and said, “Me Ra, just don’t beat yourself up! That’s the worst thing you can do. Get your sleep, recover from traveling, be kind in your self talk and then get back out there.” So I took a deep breath, let down and can you believe that last week I slept for twelve hours a night!! Went to bed at 8:30pm and woke up around 8:45am–four days in a row! Not only that but I took two hour naps in the middle of the day! I was starting to wonder if I was depressed!

But then my energy kicked back in and this morning I got up at 4:45am and went for a twenty mile bike ride.

Watching the sunrise over the Puget Sound was AWESOME! Will I crash with fatigue at 4pm today, oh yes, but seeing the sunrise with 10 other cyclists was worth it!

I was so excited to get back on the bike because of how much weight training I did all winter. Okay, I quickly found that unless your also biking the weight training can mean almost zilch when it comes to riding the bike. Oh my goodness, I barely kept up with the group this morning. Sometimes I wasn’t keeping up at all, but Diego was kind and stayed back with me till I got up the hills. Isn’t it frustrating that just because you suffer in one area, you don’t necessarily get a Free Pass in other areas?

In case you want to put a face to Diego, he’s the second guy in with the green skirt on.

So it feels a bit like starting over on my bike right now, but as long as that sunrise is waiting for me, I’m good.

Isn’t it all about how it makes you feel more than what the scale says! The feeling of accomplishment for getting my rear out of bed at 4:45am is so much greater than what the scale says I weigh. It’s like, “who cares what the scale says!! I just biked twenty miles and my family is still asleep!”

Tell us some tales from your suffering since you did your Five Steps to Prepping. Did you kick into gear and then drop off after a month? Did you have weeks where you didn’t exercise but pushed yourself to get back in there again? Have you been consistent the whole time? I’m dying to know!

p.s. I made a special category on our forum called Suffering with Me Ra so we can keep this conversation up or and maybe get some guests to give us cool tips! We are closer to the forum going live. We just can’t believe how long it’s taking to figure out how to customize the look and feel of it so the branding is consistent with our other websites. It’s so annoying because the software people told us “this is such a User Friendly” back end! Yeah right! But don’t give up on the forum, we are still plugging away. Brian says 90% there.

Here is where we will start friends!

For me, the first step in suffering (and finding freedom) is knowing the truth and nothing but the truth. That being said, without knowing these Five Steps to Prepping it’s pretty hard to track your progress. You end up relying on the scale and how many pounds you’ve gone up or down. But for me, this isn’t about pounds as much as it is increasing tone, increasing strength, and liking how my clothes fit. Can I get an AMEN!

So here’s the homework assignment! Let’s make it due by next Monday! That means you’ve got seven days to face the music and take the first step.

1. Find or buy a journal.

You’ll decide how much “keeping track” you want to do, but it’s good to have it all in one place.

2. Let’s get #2 done and over with.

Pick a scale you can use on a consistent basis and write down in your journal what your current weight and the date. Make sure you step on the scale at the same time every day with the same amount of clothing. I prefer in the morning when I wake up.

3. Measure your inches.

This 3rd step is so important b/c you may not see pounds come off the scale, but if you’re tracking your inches you could be seeing loss in inches which means more toneness. That’s a great thing! With a simple tape measure, get measurements for these body parts and write them down in your journal along with the date:

a. Upper Right Arm_______ / Upper Left Arm________ (relax your bicep at your side, and have someone help you by wrapping the measure right around your bicep, don’t squeeze to tight but make sure it’s tight enough to not be slipping around)

b. Chest _________________ (wrap the measure across the middle of your breasts)

c. Stomach_______________(go right over the middle of your belly button)

d. Hips__________________(go right over the middle of your rear and wrap around to the front)

e. Right Thigh_________ / Left Thigh __________________ (relax your leg and wrap the measure right around the middle of your thigh)

*record even 1/8 of an inch if that’s what you’re seeing b/c every little 1/8 or 1/4 adds up when you start losing

4. Get the Body Comp. This may take some research to find who offers Body Comps. I go to our Nateuropath and they hook up my toe and right hand and then run a current through me (can’t feel a thing) which measure my Muscle Mass, Body Fat and Water Retention. It’s only $18, and I’m going to start doing it every 30 days as we get closer to race season. Why is a Body Comp helpful? For me,it let’s me know if I’m eating enough protein to be gaining muscle instead of body fat. Since I can’t eat eggs or dairy, I struggle with getting protein and this keeps a Body Comp can help keep me on track. It also let’s me know where my Body Fat percentages is in comparison to Muscle. This isn’t necessary, but it can be encouraging when you see your Body Fat go down in percentages.

5. If #4 doesn’t seem possible right now, DON’T SKIP #5. Purchase a Heart Rate Monitor. It’s tough, actually almost impossible to know if you’re working hard enough without knowing what your heart rate is doing. The heart rate monitor below is the one Diego and I use. Click here for the specs on it. On the right of their website page, you’ll see the Dealer Directory tab. That’s where you can find out where to purchase one. Why this one over others? Most heart rate monitors force you to buy new ones when the battery dies, but with this one you can switch out the battery and save a ton of money in the long run. And it has great features on it for every level of fitness.

Goals…hmmmm…

Start thinking of your short and long term goals. What do you want to accomplish? Why are you going to start suffering with me? If you’ve never done a Sprint Triathlon, that’s a fantastic goal b/c you can go at your own pace. It’s all about finishing, and triathlon people are one of the nicest and most encouraging crowds to hang out with.

Or how about a pair of jeans you fit into before kids or before the wedding day?

Maybe it’s a certain amount of body fat that you’d like to exchange for lean muscle?

Maybe it’s about having endurance and energy for shooting a 12 hour wedding and then keeping up with the kids the next day?

They can be as wild and crazy as you want, but make sure you have a few. We can even share them on the blog if you’d like to cheer each other on!

One of my short term goals is to suffer four times a week for the next month. That means I need to boost up my intensity level and just give this a freaking shot. Funny little story…Saturday I went to work out and decided to SUFFER. I got on the elliptical and did what Diego and my chiropractor said. I tried to do intervals of going 210 Strides/Per Minute for 4 minutes and then 2 minute recoveries. I honestly didn’t know my legs could move this fast. It was like this major mental block. But when I focused on fifteen seconds at a time, I totally I did this for 45 minutes! Mind you, I almost puked when I was done, but I did it! Instead of burning my normal 380 calories, I burned 900 (including the weight training)!!

I came home and told Brian I was thinking of us having another more baby. Our window was getting smaller, maybe we should think about it. He looked at me and didn’t say any thing. Then he gave me this little half smile and said, “You are so looking for a way out of suffering this month. If you got pregnant you wouldn’t have to try this suffering thing for at least NINE months. ” (ouch! He knows me so well :))

Okay, here’s another question! What would be good reward incentives to reaching our short term goals? They can be personal, or something everyone can have access too, small and big, ideas, ideas, ideas!!!

As you get your Five Steps to Prepping done, post it up on the blog to encourage others to get it done too!!

Wow, it’s Sunday afternoon! I’m getting a little work done and then we’re off to take the kids swimming. I had to jump on and see how the blog responses were coming from Friday afternoon, and WOW!!!

I’m so excited about how many people posted! I say we go for it!!

But first a bit of disclaimer…

I’ve got to throw this in here because weight and the body’s self image is so skewed in this world. So please don’t hear any message of me trying to propel that issue. These next 30 days are all about breaking through plateaus and feeling better, not focusing on the pounds lost but how we feel. Hope that makes sense.

To all those who commented on Friday’s post!

Thank you so much! There were so many wonderful posts, but the biggest thing I felt was such a sincerity from so many of you. There was such a beautiful honesty. Many of you expressed how you just wanted to feel better and break through the slump you’ve been in. I totally applaud you for that! And I’m with you!

I loved all the suggestions too! I love yoga, and if you haven’t tried it that fantastic! Some of you asked if I’d seen a natueropath. And you’ll laugh b/c we are the total homeopathic family. Our family doctor cracks up with us b/c I usually go to the chiropractor, natueropath and acupuncturist before I see her. These three fields have played a HUGE role in me coming to understand my body’s makeup. I’ve had so many mountains to climb in my health since I was little, and I can’t tell you how much my doctor, chiro, nateuropath, and acupuncturist have all been a team in my successes. Someone else mentioned the B shots, and Brian and I both give ourselves B shots once a week for being anemic. These have been so helpful!

The whole post on Friday is not so much about my needing to be healthy b/c I know I’m making good choices. It’s more about wanting to break through a plateau I’ve been at for 3 plus years. I want to go for that triathlon this summer or the 62 mile bike race and feel stronger than last season.

A couple people in the post from Friday said I make them tired, and I had to laugh. Your honestly is treasured! I think my friends agree. But when you’ve lived most your life believing you were a victim and feeling like damaged goods, it’s an amazing thing to step into healing and wholeness. Healing is the most invigorating, energy filling thing I’ve ever known. Sometimes I feel like I just learned how to dream, and I want to learn to dream even bigger!

But I promise, I’m not high energy in all areas of my life. One example, when the kids were babies, sometimes at bedtime I’d dress them in the clothes I wanted them to wear the next day b/c I didn’t want to change their clothes again!! How is that for confessions!

So here’s the deal…

On Monday afternoon, I’ll post the First Five Things To Do as we embark on this new journey together. Let’s call the post our Five Steps to Prepping! A couple of the things will be easy, some will take a little work and research. Bottom line, each one is all about prepping to feel and look better! And FYI, we’re calling this category Suffering with Me Ra! So glad I’m not alone!!! I love you guys!

Off to the pool with the kids!

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p.s. I’ll post the winning Finalist of the Photo Contest Monday morning! And we think we may be able to post the winner of the Running on Empty Contest on Wednesday!