Back from Cali!

I absolutely loved my trip to California. I will have lots to post about it. It was more than just fitness and business building. I got to workout with all of the Beachbody trainers, meet amazing people with even more amazing stories, get some serious training on how to grow my business and be inspired. The weather was gorgeous, I went with awesome friends and just came back home with goals, to-do lists, inspiration, fun stories!, memories and an overall understanding of how to become the person I am trying to be. I will have lots of pics on facebook so if you're not hooked up with me on there do it so you can see all of the fun stuff I got to do!

Zum Zum Zumba!

So Dusty and I are taking a night work out class together. We went for the first time last Thursday and thought it was going to be a Turbo Kick class. It was the same instructor but they have changed the format this semester and on Thursdays they are going to do zumba. Zumba is a like a 60 min salsa / Cuban workout. I was bummed at first because I thought Dusty wouldn't want to do it. Lo and behold if he didn't shake what his mamma gave him and had fun!! I love my husband!! He did SO GOOD! He and another guy took the back corner but he could have been front and center as much as he was shakin it and workin up a sweat. It was AWESOME! So, Tuesday nights will be Turbo Kick and Thursdays will be zumba and Saturdays I will probably go to by myself cause it's 1/2 Turbo and 1/2 step and I don't even like step that much and the teacher is just OK and her step routines are next to impossible to catch on to.

Anyway, props to Dusty for doing so good at the zumba!

It's Official! I feel like a fitness instructor :-)

Dusty and I have searched long and hard for equipment to get me started on my journey of fitness instructing. As you all know the first type of instructing I will do is Turbo Kick. It's funny how you end up where you started. I remember getting up at 6 am when all the "big kids" and mom and dad got up to go to school and work to watch, and sometimes do, Mousercise :-) and here I am full circle trying to work towards getting up at 5 or 6 am again to take and teach Turbo Kick. I am doing better with my practicing but as you all know I freak out a little....OK OK....I freak out a lot when I start something new like this and put so much pressure on myself. But, as Dusty reminded me today that one of the reasons that it is so much fun to do Turbo is the FUN Factor! I need to lighten up and just have a blast with it and as soon as I do that, I will do awesome!

It's lots to remember and it's lots to do, but this is what I want to do so I gotta just relax and know that this is my time to learn the ropes and before you know it I will be amaza-za-zing :-) Hopefully next time I come home to visit I can go somewhere to do a class with some of you guys. Maybe Makayla, Isaac and Jackson again. They did so good!

We have invested in some professional audio equipment for me and it's also things that we can use in our future band room and family room. We have already hooked up this AWESOME PA to our tv and watched Jurassic Park through it and it was so flippin clear and loud....and I STILL fell asleep during the loudest most exciting part. (I swear I have a sleeping disorder....) The sucker's volume was only on a 2 and you could feel the vibrations of the dinosaur's roar sitting on the couch. It's like having surround sound. The thing takes me like 10 mins 0r less to set up and when we want to we whip it out for a movie. I am also considering another way to make money off of the equipment but more on that later.

My mic is actually wireless so there is no cords or belt pack I have to wear and so far it is serving me well. It feels really good to have it on and get used to the sound of my voice cause I used to not like my voice on a mic. Now I just don't even think about what I am hearing so much because I am trying to teach a class!

...and the back of my hair because you haven't seen it curly yet....

Turbo Kick w/ Chalene in the CA!

Well as most of you know I was off to California last week. I had another conference out in Burbank, CA and I was able to go down and take a Turbo Kick class with the Turbo Queen herself, Chalene. It was SO FUN! She is just as every bit of fun and energetic as I thought it would be and I learned so much of what being an awesome instructor is made of. The energy was insane in the room and everybody in class was feeling it. I felt so lucky to be able to go down and take a class from her. She was testing a new "routine" or Round on the class and that was a blast too. *Chalene is the creator of Turbo Kick, the kick boxing program I am certified in....*

After our TK class I got to take a hip hop class, Hip Hop Hustle. She created that program too. Wow. So much fun! It was my first hop hop class in a while and it left me wanting more :-) She is crazy good at hip hop too. Wow! What fun! I can't even describe to you how fun that was for me. It's crazy that the people in her home town just take 5-6 classes from her a week and it's just normal for them. That would be insane if she was just my regular teacher. They are lucky and I am lucky I got to go. After class she took some time to talk with me and take a picture with me. She was so kind and helpful. I asked her a few teaching questions etc. It was just a great experience and I can't believe I just got to go do it.

After those couple hours of working out I went down to Newport Beach to layout and walk up and down the beach. My mind was still going over and over what Chalene and I spoke about and I was thinking about our classes I had taken that morning and I just couldn't believe I was there on Newport Beach in CA after a couple of classes with Chalene. What a perfect day!


Me and Chalene after a couple hours of working out. Great fun!


Newport Beach


Newport Beach

Shox!

So for our Christmas Dusty and I used our credit card points and got some gift cards to spend on ourselves. We traded in 35k points for $400 in gift cards. $200 to Overstock, $100 to Omaha Steaks and $100 to Nike.com. The only one we have spent so far has been my Nike one. I have been wanting Shox for my Turbo workouts and I am finally getting some! Yay!!

So it took me a long time to decide what colors to get. On the site you pick the design of shoe that you want and then you customize all of the colors on the shoes even down to the laces. :-) I kept going back and forth on basic colors, but Dusty convinced me to go crazy and pick colors that would let people know that I made the shoes!! So.....these are the shoes that I picked!! On the back of them I have etched TURBO GIRL on the backs of my shoes!

I Passed! I Passed!!

I got an email the other day telling me that I passed both the practical and written tests of Turbo Kick :) Yay! Now it's time for practice, education, energy and starting classes. I am going to start a Church first and get used to teaching and then start applying at gyms and stuff.

I will keep you all posted on the progress!!!

It's all fun and games until.....

OK. This is a quick little side note. So, I was sore for 3 full days after my Turbo Kick certification. I didn't work out at all even though I knew I needed to.

Dusty looked at me and said, "Girl you best do Turbo Jam or else yo butt will be Turbo Haaaaaam!" I just laughed so hard. It sounded straight up like something Mike, Jason or Jeremy would say.

**When did Mike start saying ham like that anyway? Was it at Thanksgiving? Whenever it was Dusty says it like that all the time. Heck so does mom, Lissa and me.....**

My Turbo Kick Certicifation Experience!

Wow! Wow! Wow! What a day. Last Saturday I drove up to Layton, UT for my Turbo Kick certification. Turbo Kick is the live version of Turbo Jam. I love it! I absolutely love it! It makes you feel so powerful and tones your body like nothing else that I have done. The music is powerful, motivating, helps you let loose and helps me, the instructor, get into it and pump up the class--and myself! It's kick boxing, martial arts and hip hop rolled into one. Dusty often tells me it was made for me. I love all three of these elements and I have a blast doing them.

I love to teach, especially dance. I know I get this from my mother. When she is in the spotlight, she shines so bright; no wonder her name is Starr :) I am a different person when I teach. I love to have a connection with my students. I love to feed off of their energy and give them a little of my own ;) I love to motivate. I love to see results in myself and those in my class. I love to push it to the next level. I love to see how far I can go, what would happen if I go a little bit further.....push a little bit harder... When I am in my element I feel like I am the person I want to be.

These feelings and experiences I have had from teaching dance is what ultimately got me to go for the Turbo Kick certification. Tonight I was doing one of the Turbo Jam home videos and I kept thinking that "Now I am the instructor. What am I going to give my students? ENERGY!!" I was able to push through it so much better now that I have a goal and direction. Whenever I get my class(es) they will be looking up to me and I owe it to them to give it my absolute very best every day whether I am teaching them or not.

My instructor last Saturday gave me just that--her all! She had energy bursting through her toes and finger tips. She had so much stamina, energy, form and FUN!! The workouts, no matter how difficult they are, are FUN!! As a teacher it is not only my responsibility to teach my students, it is my responsibility to entertain them as well. Encourage them. Motivate them.

I started out last Saturday in tears because I got lost. :( The directions I had were confusing and the place was very hard to find and I ended up being like 45 mins late!!!!! I called Dusty crying and asked him to say a prayer for me and within a few minutes I found it. I felt so stressed out my body literally felt like I had gotten the flu or a bad cold from the stress of being late and getting lost. My joints ached, my head was pounding with a headache and my body felt so heavy. I got registered and my instructor was already doing a lecture but she welcomed me with a smile and made sure she new my name and I started to feel a bit better. I started to feel a lot better when 3 other girls showed up later than I did!! I felt bad for them too because I knew what they had just went through but happy it wasn't just me.

After a little bit of lecture we went through breathing, form and technique and punches, kicks and signature moves. Over and over and over again as our instructor went through giving advice to people and encouragement. We went right in to learning our first Round. a Round the live version of what a 60 min video would be. The Round is what I will teach to my students. 60 mins of non stop, no-holds-bar workout. It was great. Wow was it tough but it was great. Afterwards we had a quick lunch of about 35 mins and then back to the grind.

We were then divided up into groups and each group took turns getting in front of the class and instructor and teaching our segment to the others. It was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. You have to make sure that your energy is high. You need to be careful of the pitch of your voice and make sure it's not too high and annoying. You need to make sure you aren't saying a lot of words when you cue your students to the next move and confuse them. You need to learn when and how to make your visual and verbal cues so students can easily transition into the next move. There is a lot to remember! Everyone kept messing up but that was OK. It was a good experience for all of us. When it was our groups turn there for a while no one was cuing so I just started to do it. I was messing up a little but I was proud of myself for just stepping up and not being nervous and just willing to learn. It was great...and an eye opener! Wow! It was hard.

After that we got our lesson on music utilization, teaching on the 32 ct phrase, cuing, making your class FUN and a lot more. It was a lot to take in in one day. I will never stop learning! I want to be the best instructor I can be and those kinds of instructors learn something new and get a little better each day!

After more review of form and technique it was time to do Round 31 again, but this time we would be judged. We were lined up in rows and the music was turned on. When you are in the front row you are being judged and you had better be doing your very best. Holy cow!!! 60 mins of giving it your all!!! It was great!

I got one compliment when she was standing in front of me she told me I had awesome kicks!! Yay! She said it like 3 times :) That was a big compliment to me. It was towards the very end of the day and I was trying so hard. That made me feel good.

After the practical test we had to take a written test. The test wasn't that hard because if you were paying attention to stuff throughout the day it's really just a repeat of what you learned that day. There seemed to be a few trick questions so it needs to be read carefully. By the time I got to take the written test my body was in overdrive and I had a real hard time concentrating on what I was reading. It was one of those tests where you had a question sheet and an answer sheet. I always think that I marked the wrong letter when I have to mark another sheet but I am sure I did fine. I always freak out like that :)

Afterwards I stayed around and talked to the instructor (she told me I did a great job) and other people that were there certifying. I also bought 2 pairs of workout pants and 2 belts. I will have to show you pictures I LOVE them.

After my BIG day I made my journey home for 1.5 hours. I called a few people to spill the beans about my day...........and just Dusty was home. Dusty was laughing and said that sounds like his life. Your triumphant news and no one is there to hear it. lol He said it reminded him of his mission. When he got home from 2 years of being away his family was 2 hours late to come pick him up!!! To this day I have that image of him sitting next to all his belongings in an empty parking lot....SAD!!

Anyway. I am so looking forward to learning and teaching and getting better with every class. Maybe when I come and visit you we can do a class together :) I have a long way to go to be a good instructor. I even have a long way to go before I teach my first class....but what I LOVE about teaching Turbo is that it's almost like I just bought my own little franchise. I purchase Rounds and that consists of the music perfectly mixed, a DVD to teach me the pre-choreographed moves and written choreography. Awesome!! All of the guess work is taken from me and I just learn it and deliver a powerful class to my students. You have the freedom to modify where you want within certain guidelines but it is just awesome to just have all of that done for you and you just buy a round, learn it and teach it!

I really want to have an active lifestyle and this will definitely help me achieve that! Please keep on encouraging me and helping me to always do better. I am so glad that I made the decision to do Turbo Kick and I am thankful for all of your support.

tUrBo KiCk CoUnTdOwN!!!!!

I am asking for a little bit of prayers this week as I prepare to do my thang this Saturday at my Turbo Kick certification. I am getting butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it. 10 - 12 hours of Turbo!! Awww yeeaaahh.

Things I am hoping for:

1. I get there on time
2. I can show confidence and personality/showmanship I have learned through dance
3. I can learn the cuing and teaching techniques great
   
4. I will have the stamina it takes
5. I will get GOLD certification....BUT at least pass :)
6. and of course............I hope I don't pass out.....................seriously....................

Thanks to everybody for showing so much faith in me with this. It really does make all of the difference. I have been watching other turbo kick instructor videos on You Tube (we finally upgraded our Internet service so we can now get the You Tube channel here in Utah.....lol.......... :) I just hope that I can have a balance in my teaching style that is not annoying. Holy moly seeing some of those instructors made me want to punch them. I hope I don't get punched out from one of my classes. There are some great instructors out there too.

I went into Gold's Gym the other day and asked about their application process etc. and got a schedule of their classes they teach......8 Turbo Kick classes already! WOW! I told the guy what I was getting certified in and he was like "Those classes are really hot." I was thinking about starting an exercise group at our Church for a month or so after getting certified to get me used to teaching in front of people and then start to go out and apply for places because then I could really feel confident.

Anyway, what I love about this is that it really is fun. It totally doesn't feel like a workout. DON'T GET ME WRONG it kicks your butt but I have been reading some instructor materials and it just focuses so much on creating an atmosphere of a party in your classroom. Motivating people, teaching great form and technique but always having fun!

Wish me luck!! It is going to be a blast!!! I will blog all about my experience next week. Who knows maybe when I come to visit you next we can do a class :)

Amy's on the front page!

So my friend wrote an article for the front page of the Life and Style section of the Daily Herald and I was asked to be the exercise model for the paper. I said yes and had fun doing it. They day that the paper came out I went to a newspaper stand to buy a copy and leaned over to make sure it was the right paper and I was right there on the front cover of the whole newspaper! It took like 30 second for it to dawn on me that that was me. I was on the cover of the paper and then the front page of Life and Style. It was fun!

Turbo Kick Baby!!

So in my last post I mentioned that I had to get back in the groove of working out. Well, at the end of October I am "auditioning" in a sense to try and get certified to be a Turbo Jam instructor!! They are actually called Turbo Kick instructors. I would get certified and then go around to places like Gold's Gym etc. to teach. The try-outs are at the end of October and I gotta get my butt in shape!! Any encouragement is greatly appreciated. :) I will let you know how it goes. I have all of Chalene Johnson's Turbo Jam videos and I think my favorite is Total Body Blast. 60 minutes of intense workout with the yoga ball. I love it! Here is a video from You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PR0072cBJU

Anyway. I have a long way to go before I feel FIT but at least having a goal keeps me motivated on those days where it's hard. I want to be a cute little mom that works out at the gym and teaches classes and has like 10 different pairs of Nike Shox that match every work out outfit. I guess my first step is to stop eating so much dang chocolate and pizza!! Those have been my two things lately. Holy moly I eat a lot of chocolate and we get cheap Pap Murphy's pizza that we love a lot too. Chauntel is a good example going to the gym and being so fit and Angela rides her flippin bike trialing kids all over town for the work out!

What are some ways that any of you guys stay on track with eating or working out?