Losing It - Week 8

All day yesterday, I felt like I’d been hit by a truck. Or at least a Chrysler Pacifica. But no, I’d just spent the previous day driving said Pacifica.

I told Mark, “I feel like I worked out really instead of just sitting on my butt!” Too bad I’m sore from driving nine hours, not running nine miles. Or something.

[Don’t get worked up. I’ll tell you all about the driving and the nine hours and the whole reason I did it all . . . next week.]

I never would have thought that sitting perfectly still – aside from some very enthusiastic jamming to the sporadic radio stations and my favorite CDs – would make my stupid, weak muscles hurt. And all that random aching has made me think about the many different ways I’ve hurt those same, weak muscles.

• Crunches, leg lifts and lunges in my bedroom every night in high school.
• Running sprints and separators at early-morning basketball practice.
• Learning how to lift weights with my friend Jeremie and then with my boyfriend.
• Frequenting the student rec center that sat next to my dorm.
• Joining Curves. Quitting Curves. Joining Curves again.
• Walking with my friend Katy – at that rec center, of course – weeks before my wedding.
• Taking aerobics for an “easy” credit. Ahem.
• Kickboxing.
• Walking.
• Tae-Bo.
• Walk Away the Pounds.
• More walking.
• Water aerobics.

I’m sure there’s more. But I can’t remember now. So, tell me: What’s your favorite way to exercise? What’s the hardest thing you’ve done to burn calories? (Mine would definitely be the kickboxing class. It was super hard and super early in the morning!)

This post is part of the Losing It Challenge. If I’m one thing, it’s consistent: still not losing weight, but still not giving up. How about you?


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Losing It - Week 2

So, here we are. The end of our second week of Losing It: Not Just Our Sanity. Each week for the next 9 weeks, Jessie from Vanderbilt Wife, Ashleigh from Heart & Home and I will be sharing a peek (or in the case of this wordy ramble, an oversized bay window) into our weight loss journeys.

If you’d like to take the challenge to Lose It (#LosingIt10 on Twitter, by the way), write about your own journey, link to this site in your post, and share a link to your blog post in our weekly carnival. The bloggers who link up at least six out of the 10 weeks will be eligible for our prize package of a six-month subscription to The Six O'Clock Scramble (a meal planning service), a Weight Watchers pedometer and a gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods.

The winner will be the person who loses the largest percentage of his or her body weight during the 10 weeks.

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This week I was on my weight loss game. Mostly. Kind of. Okay, let’s just compare my week to my goals (and then, yes, I want you to compare YOUR week to YOUR goals. It’s only fair.).

• Drink 10-12 cups of water a day. I’m all over this one. If I have one good habit, it’s drinking water. Of course, it means I spend half my day walking back and forth to the bathroom. But I think it’s worth it to be able to say things like, “I’m all over this one.”
• Stick to my weekly allowance of points (Weight Watchers). As my daughter has taken to saying, “Welllll . . .” I haven’t stayed within my points. But I did write down my food and count all my points almost every day. So there’s that.
• Exercise three times a week. I did a Walk Away the Pounds video on Monday after work. Annalyn alternated between marching along with me and saying, “No, Mommy! Not dance!” I know I need to exercise to complete my healthy transformation. But I can admit that I’m going to have to work up to the multiple times a week thing.
• Lose 20 pounds during our competition. I’ll let you know after my weigh-in today!

Edited to add: I lost 1.2% this week! Woo-hoo!

All right, that’s how I did. Now tell me how you did!

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Who wants a worm, anyway?

 

Image by chefranden

I’m trying to become an early bird.

A few weeks ago, I decided that I really need to start getting up earlier. Of course, I make this decision about once a month, so it isn’t quite a dramatic statement as it seems.

But this time I actually prayed about it. I asked God to help me get up earlier. And you know what happened the next morning? A certain two-year-old woke up a good 40 minutes earlier than normal!

And she’s been doing that for the past several days, waking up and hollering, “Get me out, Mommy!” until I pull myself out of bed and join the land of the living.

Now that Annalyn’s going to daycare, we’re going to have to make this a regular thing, this getting up before the last minute, this rising before the sun, this not hitting snooze half a dozen times.

It’ll be good for me. Right? Staying up late and sleeping in is overrated, right? (Not that 7 a.m. is sleeping in. Because it’s not.)

Yes, I think I’m convinced. Getting up early will be good. As a matter of fact, I thought of 10 benefits of getting up early, and I’m linking up to OhAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday (which is hosted at Mandi’s It’s Come 2 This today).

1. I can finally, once and for all, for real this time read my Bible every morning.
2. I could change a load of laundry. And maybe, after a bunch of early mornings in a row, my hamper might be empty for at least 10 minutes.
3. I can empty the dishwasher before breakfast. So I can actually sit down with Annalyn at dinnertime.
4. If I get up before the sun, it’s possible I might actually snap a picture of it coming up. (I said it’s possible, not probable. Quit laughing.)
5. Once I get tired of oatmeal (my Weight Watchers breakfast strategy), I’ll have time to scrambled an egg and nuke some turkey sausage.
6. If I’m really feeling good (and Annalyn’s not awake and wanting to play blocks, watch a movie or play with her clubhouse), I could work out. Water aerobics class is over for now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t pop in a Walk Away the Pounds, Shred or even Tae-Bo video.
7. I can wear my needs-to-be-ironed shirts. The ones that have been crammed in the back of my closet for months because I never have time to iron.
8. I can make coffee for Mark and wake him up nicely – as in, without shouting, “Come on! You’ve got to get up now! I’m going to be late!”
9. I can actually dry my hair and go to work looking like a grown-up.
10. I can breathe. Instead of spending the first hour of my day in a panic, I can spend that time with purpose.

Are you an early bird? If not, what could you accomplish if you got up a few minutes early?

Also, for inspiration to wake up earlier, you should check out Kat’s new blog, Inspired to Action.

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Jumping in

Image by ashleigh290

Most the time you can tell it's January at the gym because the place is packed. But at 6 a.m. in the deep end of the pool, I'm pretty sure I'm seeing life as usual.

And by usual, I mean the high school girls swim team practicing on one end, several old ladies in suits with skirts on the other end, and various coaches, lifeguards and random chubby men in Speedos in between.

Yes, that's right. I'm taking water aerobics.

Taking a class - especially with a friend - is actually the best way for me to get exercise in consistently. The commitment of paying for something in advance combined with the accountability of knowing someone else will be tortured showing up with me is exercise gold for me.

While I'd love to take some sort of boot camp or kickboxing class, I know better. All the commitment and accountability in the world isn't going to keep me coming back to something that makes me want to die causes major pain. (See: The 30-Day Shred.) And so, low-impact, old-lady water aerobics it is.

Thankfully, my friend Brittany is game for the early morning class that works with my schedule. If she wasn't, I'd probably still be sleeping until the sun was at least thinking about coming up on Monday and Wednesday mornings.

Last week was our first class, and it wasn't the best timing. Like most areas of the country, we have had crazy cold temperatures and large amounts of snow over the past couple of weeks. But we soldiered on.

And the class was fun! Those old ladies were barely fazed by the same workout that completely kicked my butt. But that's okay. I think a workout that I feel but can manage is just what I needed. Even if I am schooled by grandmas.

Have you ever done water aerobics? What exercise are you doing these days?

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But I'm on my feet four hours a day, three days a week!

What's that? You thought that because I watched the GLEE premiere the first time around that I wouldn't watch it again last night?

Wrong!

I couldn't do much more than that. After all, I did walk an entire mile last night. Oh, I didn't tell you? That's right - I've started exercising. Again.

And next week, I'll be joining Weight Watchers. Again.

I'd love nothing more than to never say those words again. So I'm thinking about starting some sort of weekly fitness / weight loss / dieting / accountability THING on this blog.

What do you all think? Would you be interested in something like that? Would you be bored by that? Annoyed? Excited? Love it so much you want to marry it?

Let me know.

Until then, I'll be stretching my legs. When you're used to an exercise routine that consists only of lifting a gallon of milk out of the fridge and shuffling down the hall behind a slowly walking baby girl, a short mile feels like a 5K.

It’s a bit like watching your great-grandmother do a strip tease.

Sarah at The Mom Chronicles does a great post every week called Thursday Ten. Since I’m a fan of putting my thoughts into important-looking bullets – you hush, it helps me think! – I thought I’d give this a try.

Except it’s Friday. And “Friday Ten” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. So I give you the very wordy Friday Five. As Nigel says, “And . . . cue music!”

• Last night was the big night. Yes, it was my mom’s birthday (helloooo, spice cake!). But it was also the night my beloved So You Think You Can Dance returned. And it did not disappoint. From Cat Deeley and her furry white vest to Nigel’s crazy British insults (Exhibit A: the title of this post), all my favorite folks were back in my living room, where they belong. Although . . . the six-time men’s baton twirling champion, Crazy Kate, creepy “joint-tortionists” and the same-sex ballroom dancers don’t actually belong in my living room.
• I have given in to peer pressure and started doing the 30-Day Shred. Day 1 (also known as Monday) was wretched. I thought I was going to die, and I was okay with that. Day 2 (yes, I am a glutton for punishment) was also torture, but in a different way. Working out didn’t make me feel like puking, but my muscles made it very clear how unhappy they were to be woken after years of inactivity. Day 3 actually took place on Day 4, because I had an allergy attack that wouldn’t be stopped. But by last night (Thursday, or Day 4), I almost felt normal again. Unfortunately, Annalyn woke up an hour early this morning, so I wasn’t able to shred myself. Thankfully, I’m quite sure Jillian will still be there come 6:00 tomorrow morning.
• Annalyn has a new game, and it’s adorable. It’s called “Night Night,” and it has two versions. In version one, she grabs a pillow and/or a blanket, lays down and says, “Night, night!” Then she pretends to sleep. Because when it’s not actually bedtime, this apparently is a fun thing to do. The other version involves Mommy and Daddy pretending to sleep (and snore), then waking up. For some reason, that makes the kiddo giggle her head off. Which, you know, makes us laugh, too.
• Tonight I’m going to scrapbook with my friend Christelle. I said I was finished with Annalyn’s one-year album last month, but really, I’ll finish it tonight. I still have to journal and embellish and generally polish it up. I still won’t be completely finished, though. (Will this project ever end??) I need to make a trip to the scrapbooking store sometime this weekend to buy extra page protectors and album extenders . . . because I had a LOT of pictures to deal with! And while I’m there, I think I’ll find someone to help me put the whole album together. I have a feeling it will involve screwdrivers, and I’m not so good with the tools.
• Jessie has started a fun carnival over at her blog, The Vanderbilt Wife. She’s asking everyone to share their favorite family recipes – and already, I’m seeing a lot of yummy food! I had hoped to post about the Cheesy Chicken I make, based on a recipe from Mark’s mom. But thanks to a little chicken misunderstanding in our house, it just didn’t happen this week. Go check it out anyway! After all, you probably need a good dish to take to a potluck or BBQ this weekend, and I bet you’ll find something there!

All right, that’s all the randomness I can manage for now. It’s your turn – what’s your week been like? Do you have plans for the holiday weekend? Am I the only one who wishes Mary Murphy and her annoying-as-all-get-out scream would get booted off of SYTYCD?