Kicking It Ol' School

One of my tennis teammates is over 40 and has a super lean, but muscular body--especially awesome legs. Ironically, she has been given the name Red Hot Link (like the sausage, but her body is definitely no sausage). Anyhoo, the other day she mentioned how she is a long time Tae Bo fan and although it has been on the market FOREVER she still works out to this trusty ol' faithful workout.

So, this morning I dusted off my old Tae Bo VHS tapes (yep, VHS. I still have them and still have a VCR) and got to kicking with Mr. Billy Blanks!

It was great! It was as tough as I remembered. I know it works (Red Hot Link is evidence of that), so I will re-incorporate Ol' School Tae Bo into my workouts and look forward to the results!

Happy Monday! I am Shay Shay Fit!

Dig Deep and Never Give Up!

I would venture to say that last night I played the most dramatic match of my very short time playing competitive tennis. My Mixed Doubles team had a make-up match. My partner and I had never played with each other, but we learned quite a bit about each other very quickly (other than that he had kidney stones--which you wouldn't have known by his tough playing). We both like to run down balls (so talking to each other was key--we only managed to run into each other once!); we don't mind being patient with our shots (although I was less patient at times and suffered for it), but we are aggressive at the net, and we both have a lot of fight in us! Here's out things played:

First Set: My partner and I got off to a really slow start. I can only speak for myself: I made way too many errors and couldn't get my lob game on like I wanted. We were down 0-4 and then managed to turn the tides and get to 6-6 (tiebreak)! I say managed, but it was definitely no accident. We stepped it up! My partner informed me that he had a perfect tiebreak record, so we had no choice but to "do the darn thang!" as my Women's Double team would say! And did we-We won the tiebreak 7-4 and took the set!

Second Set: You would think that with the momentum from the first set, we would have just gunned it in the second set. NOPE! We found ourselves down AGAIN, but this time 1-4. Just CRAZY! I had some of the same lob issues from the first set and then our opponents decided to "pick on the girl" so everything came to me. But Shay Shay is NO PUNK ON THE COURT! I thought about Serena being down 0-4 in the Aussie Open and modeled her mindset: "I have nothing to lose." I got to some tough shots and made some really good shots. It also helped to hear my teammates cheer "good shot Shannon!" from the sidelines (I have always wanted to entertain and be on stage. Hobby tennis is as close as I'll get!) My partner and I communicated throughout and my partner got in great shots when he actually could get the ball returned to him and BOOM, BOOM, BOOM--6-6 (tiebreak) AGAIN!

Second Set Tiebreak: Recall that my partner has a PERFECT tiebreak record. So, I felt the pressure (not exerted by him; totally Shay Shay pressure). We were slow out the gate in the tie break, but my partner served up two beautiful serves to get us back on track, and I held tough getting to balls at the baseline that seemed out of reached.

So we get to tiebreak game point and match point; it's 6-5. My partner served up a BEAUTIFUL ACE--MATCH POINT OURS!

But wait, it's not over. The opponents' teammate says from the sideline (after my partner and I hug and celebrate), "Hey it was not his serve. It was his partner's serve [that would be Shay Shay], but it doesn't matter. You didn't catch it, so it's over. "

Well, our opponents were clearly annoyed by our mistake (and it was a MISTAKE) and I detected in their facial expressions that they at least contemplated that we may have cheated. Well, Shay Shay wasn't going down like that! I DON'T HAVE TO CHEAT TO WIN!

So, my partner and I decided to replay the point. We did and I served it up. We got one off my serve--score now 7-6.

Now, it's the other lady's serve. And she somehow gets one of the dead balls on the court. So, now she and her partner are testing out balls. I start doing jumping jacks because Shay Shay refused to let the delay cool me. Then I see a ball and saw it over to our lady opponent.

First serve: in the net.

Second serve: in the net.

We Win! But oh so anti-climatic after my partner's HARDCORE ACE earlier.

Our team took 4 out of 5 points. Yay! Drama Over. On to the next match. Lesson: Dig Deep and Never Give Up! Thanks for the lesson, Partner!

Week 1 & Introducing Shay Shay Fit

Today marks the end of week 1 of the McGhee Ladies Getting Fitter and Finer Challenge. We now have 24 participants. COME ON #25!

I did okay the first week, but I did not put in the effort to get to Shay Shay Fit (my profile name for The Challenge) mode! I need to kick it up a notch so that my body will be shocked into some SERIOUS fat loss!

I can tell already this will be a fun, but competitive challenge. Folks are already talking smack--I hear you "UMPH"! I'm ready for you! LOL!

I'm FIRED UP and READY TO BURN!

I am Shay Shay Fit!

Never Leave Home Without Them . . .

So, I am back from work travel. I had a good food run and managed exercise while away. But, I have to remember to never leave home without a few things:

1. My Ipod! There is nothing worse than going to a hotel gym, especially if it is small, without having your own tunes to get you through your workout!

2. My jump rope. Not all gyms--especially hotel gyms--are created equally. Many of them are super, but enough of them are small with little equipment. All the business travelers seem to wake up at the same time to hit the gym. This can't be an excuse. A good jump rope and my body are all I need to get a pretty good workout!

3. Snacks. You just can't count on being able to get good clean snacks on the road-when you want them. My hotel didn't even have fruit in its little market! The truck apparently didn't come in!

4. My discipline. It is so easy to fall off the wagon when you are traveling. Excuses are everywhere. Then I come back home. Get on the scale. Get mad with only myself to blame! Why even go through this exercise! If waiters bring my whole wheat toast smothered in butter, send it back! If my fish arrives swimming in sauce, send it back. Who cares if they think I am a pain. Shedding extra pounds gained will be more painful! And, I believe most folks in the kitchen understand that this nation is suffering with obesity. So, I am going to believe they don't get as peeved with us healthy-eating folks as we think!

5. My scale. This is really a wish more than a practical must bring on the road item. I daily weigh for motivation or a kick in the pants (this is not for the faint at heart). I miss my morning weigh-ins while on the road. Is there a portable scale out there????!!!!???!!!!

Oh, and if I ever stay in a small town hotel again, I'll pick the highest floor possible. I was on the first floor and woke each morning to the smell of bacon! Not good! I'm glad I haven't had pork in over 10 years and thus wasn't tempted!

Safe travels to all you business travelers out there!

Let the Challenge Begin!

Today is the day that about 20 tennis court fabulous divas embark on a journey with me (along with our Challenge Motivator/Coach Anna Mae) to shed some fat! Today begins the McGhee Ladies Getting Fitter and Finer Challenge. Our goal: lose as much weight that our discipline allows and log in the highest weight loss percentage by April 18th.

I am so excited to take this challenge with this awesome group of women! Pretty much every woman that received Shay Shay's Challenge accepted--without hesitation!

I can't wait to see our results! Watch out ATL tennis community--we're coming to the courts stronger, healthier, and FINER than our current fine!

There is nothing like some good ol' fashion competition to get Shay Shay going. The last friendly challenge I did with a couple good friends back in 2007--I won (although now that I think about it, I never cashed in! LOL! But, the pounds I shed got me jump started to Losing Fat and Winning in Life!)

There are some fierce competitors in this group of women, so I have to step up my fitness and eating clean game.

I am Shay Shay! I AM UP FOR THE CHALLENGE!

Can't Go Without My Cooler! Must Grocery Shop!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate errands. And grocery shopping is an errand! So, I try to do it as little as possible.

The problem is--without grocery shopping I cannot stock up on my clean eats (unless someone out there is volunteering to go shopping for me). If I don't have my clean eats, I can't fill my cooler with the 5-6 fat burning meals. If I don't I my cooler, then I have to spend a bunch of mental energy on trying to find something in a restaurant or our employee cafe'. This is no fun either and can get expensive--to my purse and my waist. Yesterday evening, I had to eat out before my tennis match because I didn't have my cooler packed. I paid $10 for a "healthy as [I ]want[ed] to be Greek wrap with chicken. It was good, but it was $10!

So, before work, I went to the grocery store and picked up a few things. I bought enough to supplement the slow cooker stew I made with other fat burning choices.

Today, I am equipped with my cooler. Today will be a good fat loss day!

I am in a good place now.

Could It Be???

French fries without the guilt??? Baked, but crispy?

I am not one of those people how can't live without french fries. However, every now and then Shay Shay can appreciate a good french fry. Unfortunately, good french fries usually come with bad calories and fat.

Well, not any more!!!

evos http://www.evos.com/ recently opened in ATL. They have fast food type treats without all the grease, guilt, and highly processed ingredients. Now you still have to be careful if you are trying to watch food intake to lose fat. I carefully scanned the very detailed nutrition guide and decided on a cup of veggie chili (110 calories) and the Airbaked Fries (230 calories for the small). Now, you can't expect the fries to taste exactly like the grease laden, deep fried french fries, which one can't deny are super tasty. But, these Airbaked Fries did the trick to Shay Shay!

So, while I will not be eating there everyday, I will go again. I will go when I am in the mood for fast food type food like chicken tenders, milk shake, or french fries or when colleagues want to go out for lunch.

On the regular, I am going to continue to cook my clean eats. But could I really have a treat day without it being a total cheat! SWEET!!!

By the way, the chicken, chickpeas, and sweet potato dish I prepared in the slow cooker was really tasty! It didn't look like the picture; it turned out more like a stew because I had to cook it much longer than the recipe stated. It reminded me of the tasty Indian dishes I order. I enjoyed it and am inspired to try more new recipes!