Quick’s the word, sharp’s the action

It seems that I’ve stumped my readers again.  Nobody submitted the correct answer to the quarters trivia question: assembling of all hands for muster, instruction, and inspection.  Glenn did come close with his response, so I’ll give him 50 points.  He also made a reference to an awesome naval movie, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.  Not only does it have great acting all around, especially by one of my favorites, Paul Bettany, but it also boasts an amazing soundtrack, stunning cinematography, and 138 minutes of British Navy storyline!  If you haven’t seen it, you definitely should.

He's so adorable and he learned to play the cello a little for his music scenes with Russell Crowe (who obviously didn't), which makes this cellist very happy!

Getting back to the US Navy, here’s today’s question:

Navy trivia of the day

• What is a lifeline?

It was raining all of last night and up until early afternoon today so I was scared I wouldn’t be able to get my run in for today’s Cto5k workout.  Luckily, the weather cleared up and I helped myself to a lovely run around 4:30 PM.  I also completed the last push up workout for Week 2.

Push up workout details (Week 2, Day 3, first column):

• 5, 7, 5, 5, 8; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 30 Total

Cto5k workout details (Week 1, Workout 3):

• Brisk 5 min warm up walk
• Alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes

Side musical note: Are there any instrumental, blue grass, Appalachian, American, cross-genre music fans out there?  If so, you should definitely check out The Goat Rodeo Sessions, a new project by Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, and Stuart Duncan.

I first heard of it on The Colbert Report when Colbert interviewed all four artists before they performed “Attaboy” (my favorite piece) from the album.  It was on the top of my list of songs to buy when I got an iTunes card for Christmas and I’ve been listening to it a lot lately.  Since I mentioned that Paul Bettany learned to play the cello for his role in the movie I thought I’d share something else cello related.  Gotta keep it classy, right?  The correct answer is: Yes, anything with Yo-Yo Ma or a cello automatically is classy!  Well, I hope that I’ve given you enough stuff to keep you occupied until I post again on Monday.  In the meantime, send in your answer to the trivia question and any other amazing cello/navy/movie related randomness!

Too tired to title

I apologize in advance if this post contains nonsense words, fragment sentences, and incorrect quotes.  The Body Rock workout has killed my arms (and probably some of my short-term brain function), so typing is not my friend right now.  Lostartpublishing has done it again!  Responding with the correct answer to the rack trivia question–a bed, BTW–you have been awarded 100 points and moved to first place in the leader board.

Navy trivia of the day

• What does the term quarters mean?

Like I mentioned above, Body Rock and sit ups were on the menu for today.  Not going to lie, it was tough.  Tough enough for me not to explain, because I’d have to type some more.

Sit up workout details (Day 3, second column):

• 18, 20, 15, 15, 23; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 91 total

Body Rock workout details (complete as many reps of each combination in 50 sec, 10 sec break between combinations):

• Superman push ups: 10
• Elevated push ups, L&R knee to elbow touch: 7
• Squat and press: 25
• Squat jump, jump forward, 3 squat jumps: 6
• Push ups (box style): 22
• L&R side jump Burpee, 2 knee to elbow oblique abs (modified), tuck jump center: 1.5
• Forward lunge, side lunge, knee lift: 10
• Close push up (modified), Burpee, sumo L&R knee touch: 5
• Tricep dip, kick out: 10
• Overhead abs: 12
• Squat jumps: 23
• Speed run

Tomorrow’s post will be the last one for this week, which also means it’s the last workout of the week.  YAY!  Don’t forget to check in before I sign off for the weekend!  In the meantime, how are you progressing with your New Year’s resolution(s)?  Did you make any?  Finally, don’t forget to send in your response to the trivia question.  Good luck and good night!

Internet apocalypse

Sorry that this post is coming in so late.  My internet/computer has become very confused in the last several hours and is having problems keeping up with me.  Anyway, I’m not going to let a little technology get in the way of my blog.  Yesterday’s winner of the trivia game was lostartpublishing with the correct answer: turn to–an order to begin work.  100 more points to you!  It looks like Jessica and lostartpublishing are not messing around when it comes to answering these questions.  So all of my other readers might want to start studying their nautical terminology if you don’t want to give the competition away :)

Navy trivia of the day

• What is a rack?

Today’s workouts (Cto5k and push ups) were pretty nice, especially my run since it was overcast and not too cold.  The push ups are always difficult, but at least I’m improving.

Push up workout details (Week 2, Day 2, first column):

• 5, 6, 4, 4, 10; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 29 Total

Cto5k workout details (Week 1, Workout 2):

• Brisk 5 min warm up walk
• Alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes

Hopefully my computer will heal itself by the time I need to write my next post because writing all of this on my droid would take forever.  Don’t forget to send in your answers to the trivia question and stay tuned for tomorrow’s post (the last one of the week).

Megapost 2: Achieving a goal was never so easy!

As the title suggests, this post is going to be ENORMOUS.  Don’t be scared, there will be a lot of good news and fun information to learn along the way!  First, the correct answers to yesterday’s scuttlebutt question are: a drinking fountain; a rumor.  Sadly, nobody responded with both answers and consequently nobody will receive the full 100 points.  Lest you think I’m a trivia tyrant, I have decided to award Jessica 50 points for being the first to reply with the rumor portion of the answer (and a funny Little Mermaid reference).  Congrats, you’re now in first place by 50 points!  You shouldn’t get too comfortable there because the next trivia question is coming up and it’s still anybody’s game.

Navy Trivia of the Day

• What does the phrase “turn to” mean?

Today’s workouts were pretty intense and I loved almost every second of them :)  I started out with the sit up workout before dinner and just completed the Body Rock workout.  Based on how I feel now–invigorated, thirsty, and tired–, I am very glad that I decided to stagger the Body Rock exercises to every other weekday.

Sit up workout details (Day 2, second column):

• 15, 18, 14, 14, 23; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 84 total

Body Rock workout details (complete as many reps of each combination in 50 sec, 10 sec break between combinations):

• 10 high knees, 10 mountain climbers: 4
• 2 squat jumps, 2 push ups, 1 tuck jump: 3
• 1 center to elbow jump L&R, 2 leg jumps: 5
• 4 squat jumps, 1 push up: 3
• 5 tuck jumps, 5 1/2 burpees to squat hold: 1.5
• 1 spider knee push up L&R, 1 straight leg push up L&R: 2
• 1 switch lunge and reach: 27
• 2 side lunges, 1 L&R side punch, 2 tuck jumps: 5
• 10 squats, 10 squat jumps: 1
• 10 elbow to knee jumps L&R: 1.5
• 2 wide leg jumps, 1 push up:5
• speed run
• OMG that was INTENSE!!!

Speaking of intense, wait until you see what’s next.  It’s been two weeks since my last weigh-in and measurement post, so I’ve posted today’s results below.

Current weight: 144 lb (-5.5 lb)

I’m hoping that this weight drop is not my cheap scale being cheap.  I guess I should have weighed myself at my DEP meeting earlier today to confirm it.  Now I guess I’ll have to update the weight loss major goal, since it seems that I’ve already accomplished it :) Yay!

Current measurements

• Bust: 37 in (-1 in)
• Chest: 34 in (+.5 in)
• Waist: 31 in (no change)
• Hips: 39.5 in (-.5 in)
• Thighs: 22 in (-.5 in)
• Calves: 13.5 in (+.25 in)
• Upper arm: 11.5 in (+.25 in)
• Forearm: 9 in (-.5 in)
• Total change: -1.5 in

I’m pretty happy with these results, too.  I didn’t expect much change in either my weight or measurements given that I’ve only been doing the push ups and sit ups for the past week, but I am pleasantly surprised nonetheless.  Well, that’s about all I can do tonight folks.  I hope you’ll send in your guesses for the trivia question and stay tuned for tomorrow’s post.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Okay, ladies and gentlemen.  Nobody responded with the complete answer for yesterday’s trivia question: What is a fathom?  I will give Glenn Coulter–my Dad, BTW– and lostartpublishing partial credit of 50 points each for being very close.  The correct answer (according to my little Navy book) is: a unit of length (equal to 6 feet) used for measuring the depth of water.  I’ve updated the Navy lingo page to include the correct definition, something I’ll do after every trivia answer is revealed, so that everyone can increase their Navy knowledge.  Today’s question should be a bit easier since I’m sure that most people know at least one of the definitions.  Remember, same rules and no cheating.  Good luck!

Navy Trivia of the Day

• What does scuttlebutt mean?  There are two answers for this one.

It’s only the second day of my restart and I’ve decided to change my schedule.  Instead of doing the 30 Day Body Rock Challenge according to their schedule (every weekday) I will do those workouts Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (according to my original schedule, seen here).  Changing the frequency from every weekday to every other weekday will give my body time to recover from the workouts, especially since I’ll be doing the Cto5k running program on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  To make a long explanation short, that’s why there’s not a Body Rock workout detail below.  The two routines I did finish today are the push up workout and the Cto5k workout.

Push up workout details (Week 2, Day 1, first column):

• 4, 6, 4, 4, 8; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 26 Total

Cto5k workout details (Week 1, Workout 1):

• Brisk 5 min warm up walk
• Alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes
• I can definitely tell that I haven’t really run since Thanksgiving; it was so good to start again!

Don’t forget to send in your answer to the trivia question and check back in tomorrow for the winners and another round of exercises!

Refold!

The winner from Saturday’s trivia question was Jessica with the correct answer of Rodents Of Unusual Size!  You get 100 points! As we should all know, R.O.U.S. is a reference from “The Princess Bride,” also another must-see classic.  Although these movie trivia questions have been great fun they were merely a gateway to the new Navy Trivia of the Day section I’m introducing today.  Like the movie trivia question format, I’ll ask my lovely readers a trivia question based on the information I have to learn before boot camp.  This way I have an interesting study method and I get to test your knowledge at the same time!  And by knowledge, I mean actual current knowledge not something you googled to answer the question–yeah, I know there’s no way for me to actually check this; I’m expecting everyone to behave and follow the honor system.  Sounds fun, right?  But there’s more!  The 100 points I’ve been throwing out aren’t the fake Whose Line Is It Anyway? kind of points.  I will be keeping score and maybe, just maybe there will be a prize for the ultimate winner before I leave in August.  Everybody loves incentives, so I’m hoping that you’re motivated by points.  I mean who isn’t?  Ready to give it a try?  Same rules as before: the winner is the first person to correctly answer the question in the comments section.  Good luck!  Here’s the first question:

Navy Trivia of the Day

• What is a fathom?

Today I was feeling much better and almost completely over my ever-changing-symptom-sickness and was able to redo the Body Rock fitness test.  The test counts as Day 1 of the 30 Day Challenge and the real workouts start tomorrow.  In addition, I started the second week of the sit up workout.  Specifics from both programs can be seen below.

Sit up workout details (Day 1, second column):

• 14, 17, 12, 12, 20; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 75 total

Body Rock fitness test results

• Squat jumps: 27
• Push ups (regular): 10
• Burpees: 6
• High knees: 97
• Switch lunges (slower version): 20
• Tuck jumps: 14
• Straight abs: 12

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s workouts which will include my first running day!  In the meantime, send in those trivia answers and don’t cheat!

R.O.U.S.? You’ve got to know this one…

You know the drill: first one to correctly guess the meaning of R.O.U.S will get 100 points!  And no hints this time; it should be pretty obvious.  The specifics of my push up workout are below.

Push up workout details (Day 3, first column):

• 4, 5, 4, 4, 7; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 24 Total

This post is going to be super short, as in under 100 words.  Nothing to post on Sunday, but prepare for a restart and lots of changes on Monday.

Peace on Earth…

P.O.E.: Peace on Earth and Purity of Essence.  100 points to Sue for providing the answer!  For those of you who have no idea what all of this means, I genuinely feel sorry for you because that means you’ve been deprived of one of the best movies of all time, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”  I mean, seriously, go find a copy and watch it NOW!  “Dr. Strangelove” is one (there are many) of the movies from which I quote quite a bit in day-to-day conversation, so it’s very important that the people in my life understand these obscure references when they arise.

Today’s workout was the last of Week 1 for the Two Hundred Sit Ups program, the details of which can be seen below.

Sit up workout details (Day 3, first column):

• 6, 7, 6, 6, 26; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 51 total
• I just noticed that I accidentally followed the first column instead of the usual second, so today’s numbers will be lower than normal.

Apart from doing my scheduled workout I also got my hair cut again.  It’s a bit shorter than what I wanted/expected, but I think I like it.  I’ll probably let it grow out and cut it again (but not as much) in early August before I ship off to boot camp.  Enough talk about my hair, I guess I should show you a picture already :)

I should have just kept it like that, right?

What do you think? I still have to play around with it to find a style I like.

It’s not the best picture to showcase my new hair cut, but that’s all I’ve got right now.  I’ll make sure to post a better one when it comes along.  I almost forgot to mention that I learned a nifty styling trick from Melissa (the lady who usually cuts my hair) at the salon.  Since I won’t be able to take my own hair products to boot camp, she suggested that I use a penny size amount of lotion (if the Navy gives me lotion, that is), as a replacement for gel/styling wax, to tame my hair after a shower.  I would never have thought to put lotion in my hair, but I’m sure that the tip will come in handy if/when my hair becomes unruly.  Tomorrow’s post will cover the last push up workout for Week 1 and another acronym guessing game that’s a bit easier than P.O.E.–make sure to check in again!  In the meantime, have you ever cut your hair really short before?  Any tips on styling (besides lotion) without any products?

P.O.E.?

Any guesses as to what P.O.E. means?   I’ll give you three hints:

1. It has nothing to do with the Navy, directly.
2. Water fluoridation
3. Big board

And don’t even bother posting the answer(s) if you’re a member of my family, you’ll ruin the game for everybody.  If nobody has commented with the correct answer before tomorrow, I’ll announce it as the post’s title.  I’m getting everybody used to seeing more acronyms and new words before I unveil my new review tool on Monday.  Before I get any further off track let me show you what I did today as far as fitness and diet go.  Since today is Thursday, that means I did one of the push up workouts (check below to see the specifics).  Usually this is where I post a link to today’s food journal entry, but my food journal will now be listed as a link to the right since it’s something that I’ll be updating everyday and it has the same URL regardless of the date.  But mainly because I’m lazy.

Push up workout details (Day 2, first column):

• 3, 4, 2, 3, 9; performed with a 60 second rest between reps
• 21 Total

Check back tomorrow for pictures from my hair cut and details about my workout.  That’s all I’ve got for today, so put on your trivia thinking caps and start guessing!

All signs point to next Monday

It’s 8 o’clock and all is well somewhat better!  The sore throat and other symptoms are gone, but the cough remains.  So I made the executive decision to put the heavy breathing exercises (aka Body Rock and Cto5k) to Monday and give my lungs a break.  Taking a shower, changing out of my “sick” clothes, and generally cleaning up from my hermit routine helped a lot with the healthier feeling.  Believe me, you didn’t want to see what I looked like.  Imagine Snape’s greasy head of hair atop a sweatshirt/yoga pant wearing vagrant girl surrounded by two dogs on a couch and you might be close to a mental picture of my appearance for the past few days.  After tidying up I finished today’s sit up workout (specifics seen below) and filled in all the yummy stuff I ate in my food journal.

Sit up workout details (Day 2, second column):

• 9, 12, 9, 9, 23; performed with 60 second break between reps
• 62 total

Announcement time:

• I posted the link to my blog on Facebook yesterday and my friends came through in BIG way!  The Navy and Me was visited 61 times in one day–the record before that was 19!–and 3 more people decided to follow my updates.  Thank you so much to everybody who stopped by yesterday, you couldn’t have surprised me more with your turnout.  Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have been so worried about sharing my posts on Facebook, but now that I know that it’s not the end of the world I’ll share all the time. 
• Friday I will be getting my hair styled/cut (finally!) after chopping it off for the donation a week or so ago.  I’m obviously going to let her give me some suggestions, but I think I want something like a mix between the two picture below.  As I get closer to boot camp I’ll probably have my hair chemically straightened so I won’t have to worry about doing anything to it while I’m there.
  

  Ginnifer Goodwin's pixie cut from her role as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard in "Once Upon a Time"

Ashley Greene's pixie cut wig she wears while playing Alice in "Breaking Dawn"

Tomorrow’s post will be shorter since I’ve decided to push the running/interval training to next Monday, but I hope that all of you will still keep checking in!  In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the blog so far?  Are there things you’d like to see more or something that I haven’t been doing?  How about the pictures and ideas for my haircut(s): thumbs up or down?