Well, Well, Well!

Well, well, well! What have I been up to?

I don't know if I got this crazy idea at the thought of farm fresh eggs in my backyard or after seeing pictures of adorable coops! I wanted it to be cheap and to use as many of my scrap pieces as I could. I found plans that I liked, like the Playhouse Coop but the plans were not easy for a novice. I found the Backyard Chicken site which allows readers to submit their pics and the building process for their own coops. It was a challenge to sort through all and find one I liked, considering I knew very little about chickens and how they lived.
So I drew up many, ideas on envelopes of bills. But then I would toss them after they were on my counter for too long. They were never worth keeping anyway.
I kept going out to my building area under the carport and looking at all the wood I had accumulated and putting a few pieces together. I think after about a week my husband started feeling sorry for me. He is not really that great at creating plans either though so we were not a great pair.

It has been over 2 months since I last blogged and for good reason might I add. I have been so busy this spring and now it is already summer! Yay! I love, love, love summer. We have a swimming pool so everyday has a little sun and water in it. My kids love to swim, and play in the water and as a fair skinned red-head somehow, I am TAN!
I started back to school to prep for my trip to Nursing School at Oklahoma City University in January by taking Principles of Chemistry at OCCC. It is 8 weeks and ohhhh so intense. Luckily I had to take Advanced Chem in high school so it is all very vaguely familiar. High School was over 10 years ago so I must add the very to vaguely.
I have been most busy with my building obsession. I love surprising myself. I love challenging myself. I love to show off my skills to my husband. While I did show off my skills, I also go in way over my head and needed more help from him than I intended. But, the end result was AMAZING. So amazing that 8 chickens are now the residents of my latest obsession,

A chicken coop!

I have to give thanks to Ana at Knock Off Wood, whom I mentioned a few months ago when I built the West Elm Modern Farmhouse Table and Benches. She is this super talented, beautiful and most generous blogger who shares her own plans to Pottery Barn look-a-like furniture.
After I had built the West Elm Farmhouse Table and two benches, a Pottery Barn Madison book shelf and a preschool picnic table, I decided I needed something bigger. I am not sure if it was the idea of raising my own chickens and going out for farm fresh eggs every morning or the idea of these super cute yet functional chicken houses that I found at Backyard Chickens. This website gave semi-instructional pictures but no plans! So I gave it my all and just went for it. A divorce was almost caused in the process but now that it is all said and done, we are all a happy family again. All 15 of us. Yes, there are now 2 parents, 3 sons, 2 dogs and 8 chickens! This is the final result:

For Crepes Sake!

I used to be a good mommy. With my first child, David, I made him homemade baby food. I was even working full time in the Air Force! Every Saturday I would spend about 5 hours preparing and freezing months worth of baby food for him. He was NEVER served a jar of Gerber. And yes, I was damn proud of that.
With my second child, I attempted to do the same. It lasted 10 days. . . He was ONLY served jars of Gerber. Well, not completely. I tried and tried but it was much harder to do. I did not feel like less of a mommy for this, this time around though.
Well, over the past (David's fourth birthday is in less than 2 months)few years, I have given in to requests for Pop Tarts, Coco Puffs, Coco Pebbles. . . I could go on and on. I take my kids with me to the grocery store which makes it very hard. I want to keep the peace so we can get out with a happy mommy.
My challenge to myself this month is to make more healthy, homemade breakfasts for them. Cooper (17 months old)will eat anything and would devour any homemade breakfast. David, on the other hand, is a very picky 3 year old. He used to love waffles and pancakes. Now, he prefers dry cereal on the couch with some Dinosaur Train.
David is like his mommy in the mornings. Grouchy! In his case, he needs some dry cereal and Dinosaur Train on tv. In my case, I need just shy of a full pot of coffee. Somedays I do not fully awake until noon.
Back to the point, I am going to branch out from pancakes and waffles and move on to CREPES!

I just made a batch of them and they are waiting until morning in the fridge. We will be having blueberrys and syrup as the topping tomorrow. In David's defense, he has been trying so many new foods lately, it's like he is a different child. We do not pressure him with food. If he does not eat what is served at mealtime, he will wait until snacktime to eat again.
Do you have any tips or breakfast recipes for a picky child? Next, I will be making strawberry muffins and freezing them for the month!

Here I Am!

I am still alive and well. Just have been busy lately. No shredding to report. No 5K training to report either. So what have I been doing? Took a spur of the moment trip to my moms in Jupiter (Palm Beach area) Florida. Just me and the kids drove 24 hours there and 24 hours back. We were able to stay a week which was so nice. I got to spend alot of time with my sister who is 18 and is like a real grown up now! When I have visited in the past, she has never wanted anything to do with me or my kids. This trip was so special because she spent the entire time with us! I also got to see my mommy! We talk on the phone 5 times and day, skype twice and message each other in between. It was so nice to just sit and be with each other.

On my way back to Oklahoma, I heard some gut-wrenching news that a mama from my playgroup lost her 6 month old son to SIDS. It is the saddest thing because he was the happiest baby and while I only knew her for 4 months, they were a part of our lives. As a group, we ordered her a necklace with her sons name and "Forever Loved" hand-stamped on a silver pendant and a heart charm with baby foot prints. I hope it turns out great and she really likes it. We are also wanting to bring over meals for her family but she is not wanting guests so we will just have to keep in touch and be there for her when she is ready. I cannot imagine the pain to lose a child. My heart ached all week for her.

My husband is back to working out of town during the week so I am starting another woodworking project. I think I posted earlier about the modern farmhouse table and bench from West Elm that I wanted to build using the plans from Knock Off Wood. I already have one bench so I went and got the lumber for the table today. I cannot wait to get started! The weather is supposed to be great this week so I hope I will stay busy outside.

I will try to get better with my blogging! I really want to, I swear!

Boring!

Note to self: Do not run during American Idol on elimination night. You will be bored out of your mind. Wait to run during Grey's Anatomy or Real Housewives. Even better, put in your new Glee DVD set. Even better better, work on your ipod playlists and run to music since that is what you prefer anyway. You can do it.

Well, I ran 2 miles last night but it was hard to keep myself going. I
basically wanted to quit after 2 minutes. I planned on doing 3 miles but I am still happy I ran. I am going to shoot for 2 miles twice a week and 3 miles at the end of the week. Then every week I will up my mileage by a half mile.

On a side note, what face moisturizer do you use? I had gotten a sample of Olay ProX and this tiny container I got in the mail for free lasted me about 2 months.

Well, when I went to Target to replace it, it costs $39.99! So, I am a cheapo and I just bought the generic Target brand of regular Olay face moisturizer for around $4. It really is awful and I may try to return it and just spend the money on the ProX. It was so wonderful. My skin right now is dry and flaky and I have not been like that all winter until I ran out of ProX. What do you all like? As I get older, I find it more important to use something good to fight aging! It is my face after all!

Amazed

I am always reading a highschool friend's facebook posts about her running and working out basically on a daily basis, and I find myself wondering why I couldn't run too?? She is such a sweet person and she told me all about how she does it and what her goals are and that she lost 60 pounds last year. I mentioned before that I want to run a 5K but of course I have not started training. I have alot of goals and plans people. Most of them just stay in my head. I have a goal tonight to run 3 miles on my treadmill as I watch American Idol. So, since it is already 7PM, I must get to it! Off to run!!!

Who am I rooting for on Idol?


Are you surprised the long haired blond boy is not up there? Me too.

New DVD

Meant to post this yesterday but got sidetracked. . .

Jillian Michael's new DVD came out today, called Yoga Meltdown. From what I have read is that it is set up like Shred but only two different levels, each 25 minutes. I WILL be going to WalMart tomorrow to pick this up. I would have gone today but I had to babysit for a friend. I have been trying to do the Shred every other day or so. I have lost 2 more pounds in February!! Yay! I am trying to figure out how to eat healthy but it is a challenge every meal! I really do not eat alot of convenience foods or packaged foods. My problem is pasta and potatoes. I tried to do a modified South Beach diet but it only lasted one day! ha So, tonight I am grilling cheeseburgers and fried potatoes. Is that healthy? No way but my family will eat it and they will love it and I hate putting very much thought into food! I like cooking new things and finding new recipes but when it comes right down to it, there are a handful of meals that I make over and over and over. Don't worry, I will be swapping the potatoes for a salad.

On another note, I finished the bench I was working on last week. On Sunday, Scott gave me some lessons on how to use the tools. It really helped. The bench is not perfect in any way but the lumber cost less than $20 and I made it all by myself!!
Still have to sand and stain (and start the other bench and table!) If you think you cannot build things like this, you are so wrong! You should have seen me the first day, it was pathetic. I had no clue what I was doing. I kept it up though and finished it!

Let me know if you have tried Yoga Meltdown or your thoughts on the Knock Off Wood blog. I would love to hear what you all are up to!

Obsessed

Well, I have not been working out in the shape of picking up weights and jumping up and down but I have been super busy. A few days ago I found this blog called Knock Off Wood and I can't get enough of it! This lady, Ana, shows you how to make Pottery Barn-lookalike furniture on a budget. So, I have been working on this bench that goes to the West Elm Modern Farmhouse Table and Benches set. It is just awesome and would be perfect in my (newly painted!!) kitchen. My current table only seats 4 and when we have my stepson over, someone has to sit at the bar (usually me!). So I would love to have these bench seats.

Once I found this website, I proudly told my husband I was going to become a carpenter and felt as if I had just found out my life's purpose! Unfortunately, carpentry is alot harder than expected. My drill died on me yesterday and this afternoon I planned on resuming the great build then realized the drill was not even on the charger. And this is the story of my life. . .

Back in the Saddle

Well, I did the 30 Day Shred Level 1 today with 5 pound weights! It was certainly difficult since I have not worked out in almost 2 weeks! I remember how much I love this workout. It is so fast-paced and over so quickly!

Unfortunately, Jillian Michaels is coming under fire lately and is being sued for her diet pills, Jillian Michael Maximum Strength Fat Burner and Calorie Control. She has received three lawsuits in a week now! Poor Jilly (She probably hates that, I just know it)! Two of the lawsuits claim that the pills simply don't work and the other claims that the ingriedients together create a "toxic cocktail". I hope she can pull out of this with a clean slate.

Anyway, my husband is back to working out of town alot. This is good and bad. I get out of cooking real meals and can eat little healthier meals throughout the day. Bad things. . . well, I do miss him. . . sometimes. (JK LOVE YOU BABE!)

Hiatus

I am on an exercise hiatus. Keep checking back because I will soon have my butt back in motion.

Any encouraging comments will be appreciated!

Gave it a go

Well yesterday I came down with a full blown cold. My head feels like it may explode. I feel like I have already undone all my hard work I put in the past 30 days. Yesterday was the 5th day of no exercise. Although, I did get a ton accomplished on my kitchen and it was well worth it. Painting is not an easy job, for sure.
I woke up this morning and decided to give the Chalean Extreme a try. I have to be honest and tell you it is soooo boring. I don't dislike Chalene but it just didn't have me motivated to continue. Therefore I stopped after 20 minutes. I miss Jillian. Hopefully this afternoon I will feel better and can try out Banish Fat Boost Metabolism. I like how Jillian makes you sweat within the first minute.

Here are two things I am considering:
1. Training for a 5K. Red Bud Classic is on April 11. Definitely have enough time to train for this. I have an awesome treadmill in my bedroom so it would be easy to fit it into my schedule.
2. 30 Day Slimdown Plan found on Exercise.tv. This uses 3 of Jillian Michael's DVDs, the 30 Day Shred, No More Trouble Zones and Banish Fat Boost Metabolism. It is basically a calendar showing which videos to do which days for 6 days a week. I really like these videos so I think this would be fun. I have everything I need to do this also.
3. Combine both of the above, striving for 5 hours of exercise a week.

Anyway, hopefully i can get to feeling better. I HATE having a cold.

Lousy Day

Well, I have had another long day of painting and I am still not done. I was so tired when I put the kids down for a nap that I sat on my butt and watched The Young and the Restless. I started painting at 10AM and I will probably still be painting at 10 PM. I got the walls painted Behr's Pale Daffodil (but I would call Screaming Yellow). The cabinets are Behr's Still Sand. I finished and hung the lower cabinets. Tomorrow I will be doing the drawers. I have to play with my kids tomorrow or they may take over the house! Poor David asked me today, "Mommy, don't you want to play with me?" It broke my heart.

Workout routine: painting. . . ugh, I so wanted to do SOMETHING today but I have so much painting to do and my house is such a pit that I need to finish!

Anyway, let me know what you did today for your workout! I would love to know!

BTW I got Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones DVD and also Banish Fat Boost Metabolism DVD!!! I can't wait to try them.

Wrist workout

I have been getting an awesome forearm and wrist workout the past few days! I have been painting my kitchen cabinets and walls. We still have alot do do and this is the 4th full day! I WANT MY KITCHEN BACK! Why couldn't I have been satisfied with dirty, 30 year old brown?

I am planning on starting the Chalean Extreme workout series tomorrow. I haven't decided if I want to commit myself to doing it for the full 90 days. . . that sure is a looong time. I really have become a Jillian addict and I am missing her already. I finished my Shred on Thursday and I feel like she is getting pretty pissed that I have taken the past 3 days off!

Apparently Jillian has a new DVD coming out!! Yoga Meltdown! It doesn't come out until end of Feb/early March though. I will be getting it the day it comes out! Like I said, I am not a fan of yoga because I have never tried it but the word meltdown has me sold. Maybe I will change the name of my blog to Meltdown Mama Meltdown. That sounds more like my life anyway!

Anyway, I want to thank all of my (5?) readers for your support! I love reading your comments and they keep me inspired to be inspiring! Love yall! (If you are wondering if I say yall alot in real life, yes, I am a Okie by marriage! I have lived in Oklahoma for 8 years now so actually I say yall quite frequently!) Yall come back now, ya hear! (K I don't say that, I'm not a weirdo!)

Finished!!!!

I finished my 30 day Shred yesterday and I am so excited to share my results. Yesterday I started painting my kichen cabinets and walls and did not want to Shred when I finished at 630PM! But I couldn't let myself down like that so I did it! I completed the 30 Day Shred in 30 days! I did not miss or skip a single day! I am so proud of myself. I lost 8 pounds and 9 inches! I lost 7 pounds the first week, another the second and none the final two weeks. I lost 5 inches the first two weeks and another 4 over the final two weeks. I don't even want to stop now! If I could lose another 8 pounds next month. . . well, I am not crazy. I am taking a few days off from working out because my knees need the rest. They hurt pretty bad still.
What I learned from this past 30 days is that in order to reach my goals, I need to really watch what I eat. I did not in any way modify my diet. In fact I think I ate more pizza in January than all of the past year! Ugh. It is definitely my favorite food.

Now to check back to see if I met my goals:
Here is from my post on Day 2

My mini goals are:
Drink water, water, water (I've been making Iced Green Tea by the pitcher and drinking it constantly) I definitely did this, the green tea really helps me get enough water in.
No seconds at meals I never had seconds although I may have put more food on my plate at first because I knew I could not get any more. I also would eat off my kids plates when they were finished. Why do I do this?
Two glasses of wine a week (yes, i've already upped my alcohol allowance but trust me it's needed at the end of the week!) Well, I definitely failed this one big time. I started strong but as the time went on, I actually thought it was two glasses a night, oops!
30 Day Shred EVERYDAY for 30 days Heck yes, I definitely did this part right!

My BIG goals
Lose 18 pounds I lost 8 pounds so I am not too far off!

I will definitely be incorporating this DVD into my workout routine often. I loved it most days. It is hard on your knees but I don't think it would if I didn't do it for 30 days straight. They didn't start hurting until around day 20 or so. I am still a huge Jillian fan. She really knows how to kick your butt!

Day 29: ONE DAY LEFT!

Why did I commit myself to this? Well, I feel great and look even better! I have more energy then I ever thought was possible. I can't believe how easy it is to squeeze in 20 minutes to workout every day. I have spent too much energy coming up with excuses and making myself feel guilty instead of just doing it for years now. No more!

Today, I went with my mommy pals to Chickfila for lunch after running some errands. I picked up some 5 lb weights (yes, ive only used 3 pounders through the whole Shred). I also couldn't resist the Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout DVD that was advertised on the show last night, $10 at Target. It boasts you can lose up to 30 lbs in 6 weeks! Wouldn't that be great? Oh yes! Here is a breakdown of the video:
Warm Up 5 min
Last Chance Workout 25 minutes
Upper Body Sculpt 10 minutes
Lower Body Tone 10 minutes
Cooldown 5 minutes
It breaks it down for you though and mixes them up so you do it 6 days a week, different combinations.

Pros: Love Jillians quick strength and cardio combo circuits
Cons: The contestants are there doing the workout and all at different times and it can be pretty distracting. I miss Natalie and Anita!

I was going to skip my Shred and just do the Last Chance workout but luckily my husband was home early from work sitting on the couch making me feel guilty so I not only did it but I also did my Shred! So a total of 45 minutes of hard-ass, kick- butt, fat blasting fun!

Needless to say, I need to go shower. We are going out to eat tonight! WooHoo!!

Day 27: Almost there!

I got a yoga mat on Sunday from Target and it is so wonderful. You may be thinking, how do you not have a yoga mat? Yes, I have bought a ton of exercise equipment in my lifetime but never a yoga mat. I am not a patient or relaxed person (probably a good reason why I should be doing yoga) and cannot stand the thought of smooth, slow movements. I like to do things fast and furious. So, I never saw a need to try yoga. Anyway, Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred has alot of exercises from your forearms and hands on the carpet. I actually had rug burn all over my hands, forearms and elbows! My husband was like, are you crazy? Just go get a mat! So I did! Problem solved.

4 Days Left!

4 more workouts of my 30 Day Shred! I can't even believe it! I love this workout! I love Jillian!

I took the kids out in the snow again today. They have this Jeep that I promised them they could take out since we haven't tried it in snow yet. The wheels kept spinning though so I had to put my weight on the tail end and help push it all through the yard. And we have a huge yard. It was quite a workout. They had a blast and were worn out enough to take a LONG NAP! (Best part of my day!)

So now I have to go figure what to fix for dinner. . . ugh (worst part of my day!)

Cabin Fever

Ice Storm 2010 was a bust for us. I spent all day yesterday nervous and anxious that our power was going to go out, trees were going to fall on our house, basically worried my world was going to end. Here in Oklahoma, any snow or ice calls for the state to shut down. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because I do not like to be out in snow or ice, even rain for that matter. I sat around and watched way too many hours of local news stations reporting that we were getting a Knockout Ice Punch! Anyway, the power stayed on, my husband was home early from work and he didn't even get called in to help with the power outages. I caused myself more panic than needed.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that when stuck inside for days at a time, make your workout a priority. Don't think, well I won't be going anywhere today so it can wait. If not, your kids will want to watch Diego and your husband will have a Ghosthunters Marathon planned during the 26 minutes you need to Shred some of the extra calories inhaled during Ice Storm 2010. God forbid Mama interupt anyone else's tv programming. . .

Don't worry folks. I Shredded. Just not my best.

Day 23: Huffing and Puffing

There was some serious huffing and puffing going on during my Shred. I can't even believe the level of improvement in my strength in just 23 days. I am trying to give it my ALL because it is such an easy to follow program and I only have 7 days left!

Downsides to working out everyday:
More Laundry- Usually as a SAHM I can manage to stay in the same outfit through the whole day, poo and puke do not always even require a change of clothes and my daily outfit is not necessarily different than the pajamas I wear to bed
Excessive showering- Is it wrong to think that I don't need to shower everyday if I am not working out? It's not like I get smelly from doing laundry and checking Facebook statuses
When working up a sweat (im talking soaked clothes and hair) a shower and change of clothes are vital

22 Woohoo

Got my Shred done earlier. It was even harder today because my muscles were so sore and my knees are still really hurting. 8 more days though. I've decided I am not measuring or weighing until the end because I want to see BIG results.

We are supposed to have a snow/ice storm come in tomorrow. Today was 60 degrees and beautiful. We spent alot of time playing outside today, it is hard to believe that the next week is going to be so icky. My wonderful husband went to the store to stock up but was a little late because the grocery shelves were practically bare.

I've decided I need to pick out 2 new workout outfits that will be my reward for kicking butt this past month. They will also motivate me to start the ChaLEAN Extreme program which I am not really looking forward to. Here is one from OldNavy that I love. I like the C9 Pants from Target though because they come in long. I do love this tank though.

Day 21: OMG! Killer Workout

Wow! Level 3 is sooooo intense but it goes by so fast I can't even believe it was possibly the same amount of time as the other levels! I also can't believe I was able to do it. If I had tried that before doing 10 days at the other two levels there would be no way! Let me just say Sumo Squats are definitely a product of the devil. My thighs were burning on the first squat. I was not able to keep up but just did it at a slower pace instead of stopping all the time. The last plank arm and leg lifts were difficult too because it is hard to hold your hands around the weights while maintaining the plank pose. I stopped and did them on my knees for half of it because I could not figure out how Natalie was doing it but after watching her a bit I was able to do them. I think tomorrow will be much better since I will know what the heck they are going to do! It is a very challenging workout but like I said, the time flies by!

I got a ton of housework done today even though I have a cold. I am taking my Vitamin D. Since Cooper has it too, I am just praying David doesn't get it. It is not fun having sick kids. We took a trip to Dollar General to get some things and now while David is asleep, Cooper is calling MA MA MA MA at the top of his lungs from his crib. I know you are thinking, what a fun and exciting life I live!

I am very scared to weigh and measure myself. I keep telling myself that I am not a number and how I feel is more important. I feel great and have more energy than ever. I can't believe I have worked out every day in 2010. I have probably worked out more days this year than all of last year combined! That is just crazy!

Let me know how your weight loss and fitness journey is going so far this year! I need comments people! This is one lonely blog!

Better go get cranky snot nosed baby! Have a great day!

10 days and counting

Day 20 of my 30 Day Shred complete! I did so well today. I mentioned I had been in a funk yesterday and today my dear friend arrived and it became clear why I have been a hormonal grouchy beotch the past few days. :) Today was the first time I not only got through Level 2 without any breaks (usually because one of the children is on a nap strike) but did it all at full (Natalie style) intensity! I am so ready for Level 3 because I really need a change and I am also hoping it is less intense on my knees. They have really started hurting pretty bad and I know it is because of all those damn jumping jacks and double jumpropes!

The playdate went great today and I am glad I brought my Strawberry pie because the only other pie was an ice cream pie! I packed a chicken pita sandwich too so I didn't have to eat pizza which my body would have probably rejected as it was still in pizza overload from the weekend!

I will leave you today with a picture of what a crazy, sweaty, PMSing, Shredhead mama looks like after 20 days of the 30day Shred:

Back into my groove?

Well, the past two days were very hard to get going. I am in a bit of a funk. Maybe the weather? May be feeling a cold coming on. Broke. Bored. The list goes on and on. But I did do my Shred and although I may not have been able to blast away the calories, I completed it. Today was much better though during my workout. I felt like I kicked butt.

I am the organizer of a playgroup for mommies and their little ones in our area and tomorrow we are celebrating National Pie Day! Not so fun when you are trying to lose weight though! Anyway, I just made a sugar free, fat free crustless strawberry pie. Sounds awful but looks delish. Only has 60 calories per slice too, which means I will be eating 2. Haha

Crustless Strawberry Pie
Ingredients
24 ounces fresh strawberries
1 (2.1 ounce) package sugar-free cook and serve vanilla pudding mix
1 (.6 ounce) package sugar-free strawberry flavored gelatin
2 cups water

Directions
1.Rinse and hull strawberries. Distribute evenly in a 10 inch pie pan.
2.In a medium saucepan combine pudding mix, gelatin mix, and water. Stir well and bring to a full boil. Pour mixture over strawberries and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours. Top with light frozen whipped topping prior to serving, if desired.

I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. I love that site.

Anyway, one more day of Level 2 until I am moving on and never looking back.

Day 19 complete! I guess this means I have to weigh and measure myself again tomorrow. Ugh!

Almost Done With Level 2

I completed Day 18 today and I am so ready for the change of Level 3. I am getting burn-out with it all but do not fear, I am not stopping! I am looking forward to having the satisfaction of setting a goal and completing it. Plus, I will be starting the ChaLEAN Extreme program as soon as I am done.

Has anyone noticed that Natalie either has no rhythm or is making up for doing something wrong by doing everything very fast. Anita does everything nice and slow and smooth. Every time Jillian comes over to Natalie she starts doing double time. What does she have to feel so guilty about? She is definitely hiding something.

Happy Saturday!

Ugh

Day 17 Complete. That's all I have to say about that!

Want to vomit

The worst part of the DVD may be when you finally get to stretch and you have it memorized because you have been doing the same routine for 16 days now and you can shut your eyes and almost fall asleep sitting there, but then she makes you stand up for two lousy leg stretches! I feel like I could freeze time in that moment of bliss but then she has to go and ruin it and, oh holy shit my legs hurt and I want to scream a few curse words at her but my kids are running around me in circles so I get up and do the stupid leg stretches and FINALLY IT'S OVER! Actually, it goes by pretty fast and I even made it through 7 minutes of Level 3 afterwards but I had to shut her up because she was too spunky for my mood at that point.

Halfway done!

My halfway point is finally here. I feel like I have been doing it forever yet I also feel like the end is in sight. I am so proud of myself for doing the 30 Day Shred for 15 days now!

How to keep yourself going when you want to quit:

Workout in your sports bra and tight fitting pants. Make sure there is a mirror right in front of you. Watch your ass move up and down, up and down. Watch your boobs (which used to be big and round and after breastfeeding 2 kids are tiny and sag) flap up and down, up and down. It is the only way I can make it through a workout. A constant reminder that I am a work in progress and everyday I will bounce and flap less. Sometimes if I am really sweaty, the jumping jacks and double jump rope will actually make my inner thigh fat smack together and that really pushes me to give it my all.

Hope this helps you keep up the hard work.

Down 5 Inches!

Day 13 Completed! I finally did my measurements this evening and I have lost 5 inches!! I lost 2 on my waist and hips and 1 on my chest. (Don't ask me why I waited until after eating 2 enchiladas to measure myself!) I have not weighed myself since that first week when I lost 7 pounds. I have to talk myself into it. My problem is that I am not eating terrible, just not dieting by any means. I have not had fast food or anything from a restaraunt in 2010. I may do it tomorrow since I went to the zoo today and chased the rugrats around for 3 hours!It is more about getting fit than losing weight. I may have said this before but I have always wanted to be an exercise addict!

For those of you thinking about starting the 30 Day Shred, my advice is to go for it!!!

I was super bummed when I realized that the mail wasn't coming today since it is MLK Day so no ChaLEAN Extreme videos yet! :(

Day 12: Getting there!

We got home from a birthday party around 5 and I knew I would only have a limited window to Shred so I did it! It was very difficult today but nothing like yesterday! I didn't feel like death the entire time, just parts! This is huge. I wonder if I will be able to do it all at Natalie's level in 8 days? Hard parts: walk down pushups (the push up part is killer, im a girlie push up person), anything in the plank position (which is pretty much the entire level 2) and last but not least those squat V arm raises at the end! I couldn't do any of the last set with weights. At that point my arms will barely go up even without the weights. It was great feeling my arms just BURN! I have never really worked out my arms before.

My views on level 2 so far: HARD! GREAT workout. Goes by fast!

12 out of 30 days completed of the 30 Day Shred. Almost halfway there! I can feel the finish line!

P.S. No I did not do my measurements today but I PROMISE I will post them tomorrow. I am just excited as you. Oh wait, I am the only one who views this lonely but AWESOME blog!

Holy Mother of Jillian

I started Level 2 Day1 today and holy crap!!!! When she said "I want you to feel like you are going to DIE!", I literally thought I may. It was much harder than I had expected. I had heard it was hard, but imagined I would be fine. Oh no! Something inside me is wired wrong and I have to follow Natalie because following Anita is for old folks. The last strength move I had to actually drop my weights because I could not lift my arms anymore. I COULD NOT physically lift them. I HATED Jillian today. I wanted her to die. I wanted to die so I didn't have to finish. She is a serious ass kicker!!!

I am so proud of myself for working out because I did not eat that great today. We celebrated my stepson's 13th Birthday tonight so you know what that involves. I ate a cheeseburger and fried potatoes and only had room for two bites of cake though so it wasn't all a waste.

I took an almost two hour nap today too! It was heavenly. My husband gets to sleep in on the weekends because I would much rather go lay in bed in the middle of the day. It just feels right. It's the only break I get away from my kids all week. Needless to say, after napping, having to fix dinner for family, and then the celebration, I did NOT want to do the shred! I followed through though!

I know I will be SOOO sore the next few days and that will be nice because I want to feel like I am making a difference in my body. I am about to go check my mail for my ChaLean Extreme videos now. Wish me luck!

I get to participate!

I love Kelly's Corner. She is a passionate mommy and although I just know her through her blog, I know we would be fast friends! Especially because she has a love for Sonic like I do! She is doing a Diet Tips series in her "Show Us Your Life" series. I get to finally participate!
My diet tips:
1. Drink Water!

2. Do whatever type of exercise you like (anything is bertter than nothing!)
3. Have a support network- I have my playgroup gals and recently I started posting on 3 Fat Chicks because there are alot of others doing the 30 Day Shred.
4. Limit your weaknesses but don't cut them out- I don't do well when I'm deprived!
5. Give yourself a break! Don't beat yourself up, just pick yourself up and continue!

Let me know what your diet tips are! For me, eating healthy is the hardest part!

Woo Hoo

Well, I just finished Day 10 of Level 1!!!! I am so proud of myself. I have worked out EVERY day of 2010 so far! Funny thing is that my mom bought and did the video yesterday and she told my aunt about it and she did it too. What's even better is that my mother-in-law bought it yesterday and just did it this morning! I love it! Not only has my working out made some awesome changes in myself but also those around me. At first, my kids would go crazy tugging at my limbs as I flailed them like a madwoman. Now they just run around me leaving me alone. I am so happy to be setting a good example for my kids.

My friend Carissa came over this morning with her Turbo Jam videos (another set by Chalene). They are a ton of fun but some crazy moves that will take some practice. The kids were a little out of control so we didn't get much accomplished. She has 3 kids under 3, my 2 and another 3 year old I babysit all screaming and having fun!

Tomorrow I start Level 2! I am so excited. I will wait for tomorrow morning to take my measurements since it just feels like I am a thinner person in the morning!

Ow!

I am sorry but I don't have anything funny to tell you today. I spent all morning cleaning the house. I normally let myself go but since I started this challenge, I have definitely let this house go! My wonderful husband said he didn't even notice it was bad though! Gotta love him! I do not feel like I have lost any more weight so I am not looking forward to weighing in next week. Hopefully a few days of level 2 will give me a boost.

On a much happier note, I ordered ChaLean Extreme this morning off Ebay! It is normally around $150 with shipping and I got it for $55, free shipping! I hope I am not disappointed when I recieve it, it did say new condition, never used just out of packaging. So, we will see. The seller already emailed me to say it was shipped too! I am still planning on finishing this 30 Day Shred before I start CX. I have to buy some weights too and that will have to wait a few weeks before I have enough money. I think finishing this will give me the strength and endurance to even do the CX.

If you are wondering what ChaLEAN Extreme is, it is a 90 day fat burning workout video collection using cardio and resistance training. You can check it out here: http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/chalean_extreme.do. Chalene claims you can lose 60% body fat in 90 days! WooHoo, just the words I needed to hear! Bye bye fat arse!

Happy Thursday!

Turned Out All-right!

This morning I woke up with a strange pain in my lower right abdomen. I immediatedly diagnosed myself with appendicitis. A few hours later I call my mom to ask her opinion and being a hypochondriac like me, she tells me to immediately go to urgent care. This call was very beneficial because whenever my mom gives me medical advice, I do the opposite. Therefore I waited a few more hours, rested on the couch and imagined I was going to have to have surgery that evening. Surgery??? That thought pushed me to clean my kitchen, bedroom and living room. Someone would have to take care of my kids, right? And my husband can't just take off work! This left me with the horrifying image of one of my inlaws staying at my house looking after my kids thinking how terrible a wife and mother I am to let my family live in this pig sty. Thinking I sit around on the computer all day like a lazy person! Well, this isn't all false. Anyway, I'm sure you're wishing I would just get to the point, right? Well, I am fine. No surgery for me! It just went away!

Back to shred talk. . . It is getting a little old. I hate to admit that. I am still on level 1, day 7 completed! It is also a little scary that I only have 3 more days until I have to do level 2! I have heard terrible things about level 2. So, wish me luck the next 3 days that I can finish up level 1 strong.

Things I love about shredding:
I love Jillian!
It moves really fast, you don't have time to think how hard it is. Just when you can't take it anymore, she moves onto a new move.
I like that it is a plan, 10 days on each level. That is something I can do. I like plans, remember?
It's only 26 minutes including the warm up and cooldown. There are no excuses (except maybe appendicitis ha!)to not give yourself 26 minutes a day!

TTYL

Still at it!

Well, today was Day 6 of Level 1 on the 30 Day Shred and Woo Hoo!! It is still VERY challenging but I am able to do everything full strength, except the pushups. It's hard to believe that I used to be able to do 13 "man" pushups. I had to work hard to be able to do that though. I haven't even tried any real ones. I think it is still good to do the full sets as girlie instead of a few real ones.

I was supposed to weigh in on Sunday but I just didn't feel it, ya know? So, this morning after I drank a pot of coffee (it gives me strength in a strange way!), I did it and I lost 7 pounds! Actually I use my Wii Biggest Loser game to weigh in on the balance board and the darn game shows one of the fat players weight not yours so it is confusing. So, for about an hour I thought I lost only 2 pounds and I was mildly happy. Then I did the math in my head and realized I actually lost 7. I had to put the game in again and make it re-weigh me to believe it!

I now weigh 1*8 pounds and this number is soooo significant for me! It's the number on my Drivers License! When I first wrote this number down at the DMV, it was a huge stretch and I was probably pretty close to *00. It also was the max weight to join the Air Force! I had to lose about 20 pounds to even join! But I did it then and I did it now! Yay me!

My mini goals are:
Drink water, water, water (I've been making Iced Green Tea by the pitcher and drinking it constantly)
No seconds at meals
Two glasses of wine a week (yes, i've already upped my alcohol allowance but trust me it's needed at the end of the week!)
30 Day Shred EVERYDAY for 30 days

My BIG goals
Lose 18 pounds (I can see myself at 150 and it is a beautiful image!)

If for some odd reason you come across my blog, please leave me a comment! I need the company!

Day 1 and 2: Let's Get It Started In Here

My friends in my playgroup and I started a Biggest Loser Challenge in which we all put in $10 and are competing for highest percentage of weight loss in 8 weeks. I am the kind of person that has to have a regimented plan with strict rules to follow. Once I start something, I have to do it perfectly!

My other mommy friends have mentioned the 30 Day Shred and when I found out this was a workout video by Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser???!!!!! I couldn't be more excited! I am an avid Biggest Loser viewer, something about watching people much fatter than me makes me happy inside. No really, I like the show up until the point that they become skinnier than me. While I sat around and ate hoho's (just kidding, I would rather die than eat a hoho, more like drink 2 glasses of wine!), these fat arses went and got skinnier than me!! How did that happen when I had such high hopes to lose along with them? So, it is a brand new year and I am happy to say that not only did the new season of Biggest Loser start this week, but I have started the 30 day Shred.

For those of you that have no idea what I am talking about, it is a workout video that lasts 20 minutes. There are 3 levels and you are supposed to do each level for 10 days before you move on.

Yeserday was day 1 and man was it a killer! I was so sore in the evening that I was a little worried my excitement would flounder the next morning.

Today, I woke up before the kids and DID IT! They did wake up in the middle and while I wanted to quit and give in to their pleas for food and drink, I didn't!

Since the new year I have worked out every single day, granted this is only January 7, this is PROGRESS!

I am making small lifestyle changes and focusing on working out to fill in for my lack of eating great. My daily goals are: drink 10 glasses of water and nothing else (yes, this includes wine!), no going back for seconds at meal time, and workout 30 minutes a day most days. I also have started journaling my food. This is very helpful to actually see and maybe makes me eat better once I screw up. I am amazed how I am wanting to eat better when I am working out. It's like I don't want to blow all my hard work.

Anyway, I took my waist, hip and chest measurements this morning, pictures in my bikini (yes, I am crazy) and weighed myself on New Years Day. I am all set to get fit this year!