30 day bikini body results and more

Adjusting to my new schedule of working full time has been easy so far.  I ended up feeling exhausted a few days, it kind of snuck up on me Thursday and I passed out on the couch watching bubble guppies with Lu, but week 1 of the new family lifestyle was pretty good. It has also officially been (past) 30 days on the bikini body mommy 90 day challenge and let me tell you, it is the hardest, easy workout plan I've ever done! I'm  logging a (most weeks) 6 days a week workout plan and have seen some decent results the first 30 days.  I've officially lost 5 lbs and 4" off my stomach and thighs! My two worst trouble zones! Woo hoo! And while I have done the whole day 1 vs day 30 photo thing, I still am not happy with the way my body looks showing that much skin, so perhaps those photos will be strictly before and after. 

I've been having some slow progress since I am struggling to get back into healthy eating habits post injury and it is taking a lot longer to figure my shit out this time around!  I had a couple weeks where I was stress eating like crazy, and emotional eating teamed up with PMS just is an ugly, ugly thing.  Knowing that I am still struggling with emotional eating a year after starting this process really sucks and I am not sure why I can't quite break the bad habit.  I really need to start doing some digging, of the emotional sort and get past it so I can kick my weight gain's ass! I have lost all but 3 of the 8 lbs I gained back from my stupid injury and while I personally feel like it should be better than 5 lbs and 4" I know that I should be glad for whatever results I get, because sometimes, I really haven't worked hard enough to deserve them!

I think what is hardest for me is knowing how hard I worked to get out of the 200 lbs mark only to screw up and put myself right back up there, and now I've been stuck at 201, 202 the last couple weeks, fighting to break the 200 mark again.  A place I said I never wanted to see again.  But stuff like this is going to happen, as my own dieting history has shown, and I am going to have to fight really hard to get to where I want to be.  I have to taste that desire again, I have to learn that you can't out-train an bad diet, and eat to live not live to eat, etc..... My diet is the one thing I haven't been able to beat.  I can work out a mean streak, but that means nothing if I down half a freaking pizza in one sitting.  Usually when my eating turns to crap I can remedy this by doing the handy 3-day military diet, but I have not even been motivated enough to do that.  Ugh, I guess I've just hit a rough patch. 

My official update will be on the 4th, just like every other month and I'm hoping I can take those last 3 lbs off, maybe a couple more??  Wish me luck, I still really need it!!!

Sprinkler Sprint 5k

So we participated in an other awesome 5k this past weekend in Las Vegas, this time it was a family affair

I saw a friend advertise this event on her facebook page, she participates in many of the runs out there in Vegas, and I figured it would be an awesome mini vacation for us all. Heck it is summer and what sounds more fun than running through the streets of Vegas being blasted by water at every turn?

It was the first edition of this run, so it was a bit of an experiment, and while it was well organized and pretty fun, it was certainly lacking.  There were 4 areas where you were blasted with water, the first was an icy tunnel that had a few fans and some misters, so we did not get very wet at all.

 

It was alright, just enough to cool you down a bit.  We had to go almost a mile before seeing or coming across another "event", a water truck going up and down S. Las Vegas Blvd.  It was pretty brief but we got a bit wet.  I was a little bored at this point and we engaged in our own water bottle fight. Lucas did not enjoy getting wet at all.

(Nice stink face, eh?) Next we came up on a trolley with 7 people on it with water guns.  Didn't get very wet there either, a bit disappointed.  We then spent almost the entire last 1.5 miles just running the streets of Vegas.  As we rounded the last street there was the water cannon station where we got the most wet, I was hoping the whole race would have been a bit more like that spot, there were lots of people at that part so you really got soaked. Again, all it did was piss Lu off even more. That lead you to the popsicle area which was pretty cool and to the finish of a slip and slide, which two of the four were broken.

Didn't stop my E and C from going down it! The end of race party had a water truck and misting station so we got plenty wet then.  My overall opinion on the race was that it was pretty fun, a bit boring as the stations were spread out too far, but I can see the potential for this to be epic in the years to come.  It went well for it's first try and we would do it again. Well, 3 of the 4 of us anyhow.

let's get physical

Ya, I just went there. But it's time to get cracking ladies and gents!

This officially concludes the first year of me working my butt off and losing over 30 lbs.  No more sad, frumpy, boring mommy moments for me.

So long!  I'm working towards getting back into my pre-children shape, and I've got about 20 lbs to go. 

I'm sitting around 178 in this photo, and I'd like to do even better than that and take off another 20 lbs making this years goal total 40 lbs to lose.  That would put me right around 160 ish, once I get there if I choose to keep going I will, if not I'll be going into maintenance mode.

Here are the things I have learned in the past year:
*This is a process, there is no quick fix.  You didn't get unhealthy overnight so don't expect to get back to healthy that way either! It takes WORK, diligent, hard work, not just a few minuets of cardio a few times a week either. 
*Daily workouts.  Right now, I am doing 3 days of HIIT (high intensity interval training) and 3 days of cardio for 45 mins. So aim for 5-6 days a week, anything less will not give you consistent results!
*Weight training is a must kids, muscle burns fat! Weight lifting is MORE important than cardio for weight loss! If you want to burn the fat off you need to build up the muscles under it!
*You cannot out-train a bad diet! Eat to live, don't live to eat, I still struggle almost daily with this one! I love food, too much and the love affair stops here and now!
*You are going to slip up from time to time, hell, I am still recovering from the damage I did while I was nursing an injury, instead of sticking to my diet, I turned back to food for comfort and gained weight that I worked super hard to take off! But the key here is to not give up, it's a bad day, not a bad life! Even if it is a bad couple of days, stop that crap and get your butt back in gear! Never, ever  beat yourself up for screwing up, that will lead you to failure!
*Find someone, anyone to help keep you accountable! This is a really hard change to make, it would be so much harder to do alone! Even if you feel uncomfortable reaching out, know that at least I am here going through this with you and I always have an eager ear to hear! USE ME! Or find someone who will tell you to "put that cookie down and give me 20!"
*Celebrate the little things as well as the big things! So you didn't lose any weight but you lost 3" off your stomach? That is some shit to be proud of right there! Progress is progress no matter how "small."
*The scale is not your friend! I used to weigh myself every day, and then my scale broke and it is a bit liberating.  Just work out and eat better to feel better, don't let the scale rule you! Weighing yourself multiple times a day is obsessive and unhealthy and it won't help you achieve your goals! Go do some squats instead if you feel tempted, the burn you'll feel after is much better than any number on the scale!

*Remember your goals.  Keep the prize in sight when you don't feel motivated to work out or when you are tempted to eat like crap.  Does skipping a workout get you results? Does a cheeseburger? Then ask your self if you can really afford to skip the workout or eat that cupcake!

*Lower your standards of personal "perfection." Would I love to look like this:

Um, yes please! Will I ever look like this? Not with out thousands of dollars of surgery.  You know what your body is capable of, make realistic goals, like fitting into pants 4 sizes smaller or feeling confidant in a bathing suit.  Not to look like someone who has a different body than yours.  Cuz no matter what you do , you can't fight the shape God gave you, but you can sure as heck enhance that bad mother and feel like a goddess in your own skin!

Now get busy!

 



Uh, sorry about that...

I know.

I have been relatively absent from all things health and fitness related. Guess I needed a hiatus? As you may recall, I had a blast enjoying my injury (not,) and working really hard at losing tons of progress! Yea! And also, as you may recall, I have not had a scale.  So imagine my surprise when I stepped back onto my parent's bathroom scale to find a whopping 6 pound weight gain.  YIKES! Talk about a reality check, guess you can't skip working out and start eating ice cream everyday and expect to keep a minimal weight gain.  So just to recap, I had injured myself in late April, and from May 4th to July 4th, only gained 2 lbs as a result.  From pure laziness and stupid stress eating, I gained an additional 6 in 3 weeks.  This is horrible. Like I was pretty depressed about that number for a few days, and rightly so!

But, instead of quitting, instead of shaming myself and falling back into old habits, I just dusted my ass off and hit the ground running, twice as hard! I still have a lot of work to do, as it has only been a week, and old habits y'all, they die HARD!! I have started a 90 day program from this hot momma here. These work outs are very, um, simple and easy? In all reality, they seriously kick your buns! And I need a good kick in the buns! I don't follow her eating plan verbatim, but changes are being made, little by little.  I am pretty stoked I made it through one week and didn't skip a beat at all! Can't wait to see how I look in 30, 60 and 90 days. Maybe I'll post all the pictures...if you're nice...

No day but today

Yesterday was a day filled with nothing but sadness and regret for me.  For many of us.  But it showed me something very important.  Something happened in that choir room many years ago.  A family was born.  An incredibly large, completely insane, and dysfunctional family.  And as a family we have grown, welcoming in the new, and we have lost, mourning together as one.  Clinging close to each other no matter how far apart we are, no matter how many words have been spoken between the years. 

I will not let another tragedy come and go with out telling you all just how much I love you.  Thank you so much for being my "family", for giving me a safe harbor during the tumultuous teen and early 20 years.  I rejoice with each and every one of you, with whom I am in contact, I cheer in your happiness, I cry in your sadness, I root for you, I pray for you.  You and I may not speak often, or really even at all, we may just dance around each other's lives, but I still care very deeply for you! You are my family.  Jason was my family. I was so proud of him.  And I never told him.

Life is just too short to not take this moment and say that you are still on my mind and in my heart, wherever you go, whoever you are now, I will always cherish you and the memories we made in that choir room, tour bus, hotel room, drama room.

There's only us, there's only this, forget regret, or life is yours to miss, no other road, no other way, no day but today.

A body at rest stays at rest

Holy cow! Had my first (second) run this week and boy did it kick my assets! My time is still pretty good, about 11:30 per mile, but it hurts like hell and I am walking way more than I'd like.  It is very true what they say about a body at rest.  My body fought me hard during this run today, it wanted me to quit, to walk instead of run.  It was hot, and tired, and wanted to go put yoga pants on and sit around watching tv.  My head, thank goodness, was having none of that! "Push, you can do it! You're almost done, just a little further!" Running is 75% mental! (for me anyhow) and I am thankful my head won that round!

It has been a rough road getting back into a normal workout routine, I am so used to this new "schedule" that it's been difficult to get out of this rut.  But I am just tired of feeling like crap, tired of being tired all the time, tired of being bitchy and mean! So run I must and run I will! I even bought myself some fancy running pants! And they rock! Didn't move, ride up, slip down, did not need to be adjusted at all! Thank you dearly Old Navy for your awesome Active line! If you need workout pants, I recommend the active line 100% ( I also live in the fold-over yoga pants, seriously comfy!) I wish I was getting paid to plug them...Ahem...Old Navy...???

The goal for now is to just ease back into working out, I'm obviously going to have to take it slow as I did in the beginning, because 2.5 months off had a huge impact on my body and I've lost a lot of ground.  It is discouraging to have lost so much progress (2 miles worth to be exact) but all I can do is battle it out harder.  Stay positive and stay focused, I have a goal in mind to reach before I get pregnant and I have goals that will still need to be met once pregnant.  I have to do the work now so it will benefit me later! Plus I'm feeling all kinds of awesome post-run over here, that should be motivation enough for me to keep going!

I win?

This is the story of how I won the argument for having another child.  You see, I myself was not even convinced that we should have anymore. In fact, I had just given up on the idea.  I was done. Well, I was trying to accept being done. 

Anyone who knows us knows that we have been dancing around with this idea of having another child.  Lucas is a very difficult, high energy little guy and my husband has a very limited amount of patience for the little ones, so in all reality, it would make sense for us to not to  have any other children.  Limited resources and our advancing age were also factors.  I kind of knew that this was not something that was very likely. 

But we do not have children for the first five years.  After that, having children becomes a bit easier.  They are a bit more independent, they require less one on one entertainment.  But even knowing that these "fun" toddler stages will soon pass, these were not the reasons we decided to have another child.

A few nights ago, I noticed that several of Ethan's book had teeth marks on them.  My first thought was that the baby was chewing on them.  Well, later that day I found E chewing on one of his favorite books.  Now that we are armed with the knowledge of knowing he has Autism, several memories from his infancy to now became crystal clear.  He has had it all along.  Everything that lead me to believe he was just a "good" baby was just the Autism.  As you can imagine, I was instantly floored with my own grief.  He was born this way and will be this way forever.  And one day, I will not be around to protect him.

He will eventually learn to navigate in our "world" and will be able to function and appear fairly normal, if not maybe a little odd.  But he will always have certain tendencies, and there will always be certain things that will be hard for him to deal with.  Something that his siblings will be able to help him with when mom and dad cannot.  The instant I had this thought I told my husband who, although he is hesitant, and a bit scared, agrees with me whole heartedly.  These trials that we are going through now will pass and someday Chris and I (God willing, a long distance in the future) will pass on too, leaving our close knit children together to forage on without us.  There is strength in numbers.  Three is good.  Three is strong.  And three there will be! (Unless the Big Guy has other plans, like twins...)


***No, I am not currently pregnant, nor are we trying at this time, I have a few things to work on first and then, maybe in about 3-6 months we will embark on this adventure again! Also make sure you like my blog facebook page to keep up to date with any Autism, weight loss, and/or baby news?****