(NO THIS POST IS NOT DIRTY)
Well it's Sunday night and after a fun weekend and reading Kerri's recent post
I realize I ought to put something up here.
Yes I have been on board the fitness train with Kerri but sadly I have nothing to blame extra pounds on except for cheese fries and funnel cake. Nothing noble like children. Possibly also doughnuts and M&M's. But i prefer my exercising to be more like things you used to do as a kid. I do a lot of walking, and once it warms up I can't wait to get back on my bike (nothing fancy, it's made by Huffy). But my favorite is my nightly half hour jumping on a mini trampoline. Nothing more to make you feel good then watching bad TV and jumping in you living room. Seriously it's entertaining, easy to get into and requires no special skill.
But my love of playground type things hit a new high on Saturday with the trapeze class. I'm not sure what it is about hanging upside down that I like so much. It was so cool, they taught us how to get on the bar, how to hang from it in some strange ways, how to balance sitting on it. Yes my arms are a little sore today, but really not nearly as bad as I was expecting. The bruises on the backs of my knees, no one warned us about that possibility, but really i just won't rest those against my chair at work for the next day or two. It was so much fun that as soon as Kerri and I were outside we were planning the next time we could go.
So 2 thumbs up on this one folks, I think everyone should give this a try (as long as you have no fear of heights, vertigo, or fear of looking a little silly.) Also if you go wear long pants, I think the bruises would have been worse in shorts!
OK on to the next class.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Ewww, Disney does it again
Sorry to all you Disney fans, but i don't love Disney movies. I'm not into the princesses. Ok, I lie, Cinderella and Snow White have grown on me. I despise the merchandised movies and the skewed messages they send to young girls. I won't continue this rant and just get on to what I wanted to blog about. Paige is watching The Little Mermaid and it's early on where she whines at her daddy "but I'm 16!". Now I may be in the minority here but I never realized or even thought about how old this little fish was. When I heard 16 I flashed forward to the end where she marries her beloved prince. She is 16! What kind of creepy whacked out cult is King Triton running down there where 16 year olds run off and get married? I was 29 when I got married which I realize is older than usual. I can't believe this escaped my attention for so long. Disney is icky!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Super Fit Mama
So the time has come. I am done having children. My youngest is 15 months. I have no more excuses for carrying around the last few pounds that prevent me from wearing my "cute jeans".
This is a post about exercise and actually doing it. Now I know some of you moms out there are saying "I have no time" "I work" "I need to watch my stories". Blah blah blah. There is always time for something if you really want it. I worked quite a lot from home when I first had Paige - in the early morning before she woke up, in the afternoon, late at night. If I can find time for that or for watching Grey's Anatomy then I can find time to workout. Great thing about exercising is that it doesn't have to cost you one cent, only commitment and time. I can't think of any other investment in which you get more of a return.
Some people who know me groan when I complain and say I want to lose weight. I'm not really overweight but I'm not as small as I was before my second kid. Things start to spread people and they just don't snap back into place like they used to. I'm not overly concerned about my weight as much as I am about my fitness level. I have lost a lot of muscle tone and I just don't have the stamina to keep up with my daughter like I should. I try to be careful around "ears". I don't want her growing up thinking she has to be rail thin to feel good about herself. I do want to be sure that she gets that this is more about being healthy than anything else. but it's hard to keep this from her because it seems that weight loss and fitness seem to be the #1 topic lately with everyone I know. We all seem to want to accomplish something. My husband is the only one recently who has really set his mind to it and got it done. he has some serious will power...and a really good trainer at his gym. Some days I long for his "bachelor" life. Not having to worry about kids makes it so much easier but still not really easy. I'm sure Rachel can attest that it is still hard to find the time and energy to get it done.
I don't struggle with food, that's never been my problem. But since having kids...wait let me rephrase...since having my second kid I just don't seem to find the time or the energy to do it. and of course there's always the occasional health issue to throw a wrench in out plans. Last year I had a bad 6 months of Thyroid problems which almost destroyed my existence. I had hashimoto's disease and didn't know it for some time because it was pushed off as a possible pregnancy (arggggg!) or hormones. it got really bad. I gained about 10 pounds which isn't much, except for I gained it within 4 weeks time. That was bad. I had a slew of other symptoms that really knocked me out. Constant periods, dry skin, breakouts, drastic hair loss, limbs falling asleep, excessive tiredness, depression, vision deterioration, and towards the end a week long bout of nausea and vertigo. This went on for what felt like forever. At first I thought it was hormones. I had stopped breast feeding and the weight gain in the first month seemed like it could just be that. But just prior to when my thyroid "died" i was feeling really good, exercising, really happy. Anyway we finally figured it out and my endocrinologist could hardly believe I was even able to walk into her office. Now months into using a synthetic hormone I'm starting to feel normal again. Sidenote - if you feel like crap I highly recommend having your thyroid levels tested. it's very common and a lot of doctor's push it off as hormones or "the change".
Despite feeling somewhat normal again my lack of "luster" still plagues me. and I know what it is. the dreaded exercise. So I started my own self proclaimed 30 Day Fit program. This is what I am doing:
One last thing. Another reason I needed to shape up a bit is because Rachel and I are taking a trapeze class this Saturday. Wow, this should be interesting. we promise to blog about it! I think we are planning on doing a fun class to blog about each month. I'm really interested in learning some kickboxing. Stay tuned!
This is a post about exercise and actually doing it. Now I know some of you moms out there are saying "I have no time" "I work" "I need to watch my stories". Blah blah blah. There is always time for something if you really want it. I worked quite a lot from home when I first had Paige - in the early morning before she woke up, in the afternoon, late at night. If I can find time for that or for watching Grey's Anatomy then I can find time to workout. Great thing about exercising is that it doesn't have to cost you one cent, only commitment and time. I can't think of any other investment in which you get more of a return.
Some people who know me groan when I complain and say I want to lose weight. I'm not really overweight but I'm not as small as I was before my second kid. Things start to spread people and they just don't snap back into place like they used to. I'm not overly concerned about my weight as much as I am about my fitness level. I have lost a lot of muscle tone and I just don't have the stamina to keep up with my daughter like I should. I try to be careful around "ears". I don't want her growing up thinking she has to be rail thin to feel good about herself. I do want to be sure that she gets that this is more about being healthy than anything else. but it's hard to keep this from her because it seems that weight loss and fitness seem to be the #1 topic lately with everyone I know. We all seem to want to accomplish something. My husband is the only one recently who has really set his mind to it and got it done. he has some serious will power...and a really good trainer at his gym. Some days I long for his "bachelor" life. Not having to worry about kids makes it so much easier but still not really easy. I'm sure Rachel can attest that it is still hard to find the time and energy to get it done.
I don't struggle with food, that's never been my problem. But since having kids...wait let me rephrase...since having my second kid I just don't seem to find the time or the energy to do it. and of course there's always the occasional health issue to throw a wrench in out plans. Last year I had a bad 6 months of Thyroid problems which almost destroyed my existence. I had hashimoto's disease and didn't know it for some time because it was pushed off as a possible pregnancy (arggggg!) or hormones. it got really bad. I gained about 10 pounds which isn't much, except for I gained it within 4 weeks time. That was bad. I had a slew of other symptoms that really knocked me out. Constant periods, dry skin, breakouts, drastic hair loss, limbs falling asleep, excessive tiredness, depression, vision deterioration, and towards the end a week long bout of nausea and vertigo. This went on for what felt like forever. At first I thought it was hormones. I had stopped breast feeding and the weight gain in the first month seemed like it could just be that. But just prior to when my thyroid "died" i was feeling really good, exercising, really happy. Anyway we finally figured it out and my endocrinologist could hardly believe I was even able to walk into her office. Now months into using a synthetic hormone I'm starting to feel normal again. Sidenote - if you feel like crap I highly recommend having your thyroid levels tested. it's very common and a lot of doctor's push it off as hormones or "the change".
Despite feeling somewhat normal again my lack of "luster" still plagues me. and I know what it is. the dreaded exercise. So I started my own self proclaimed 30 Day Fit program. This is what I am doing:
- I always made the excuse that there is no time. I always felt that I needed at least an hour and I sweat so I always need to shower. to combat this I started with 20 minute intense workouts so I had time to quickly shower. If there was no time to shower I did light cardio. Now as I'm progressing if I can do 40 minutes or an hour that's awesome but if I can only do 20 minutes that's ok too, better than no minutes at all.
- I set realistic goals. I only require that I work out 3 days a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On these days I do intense circuit training and have been using the workouts from Jillian Michaels of the biggest loser (complimentary on Comcast on demand). They are awesome. I'm usually a yoga and pilates person so I figure doing circuit training with lots of squats and weights will be a whole new direction for me.
- I give myself bonus days of cardio on Tuesday and Thursday. If I can work it in that's great but if I can't then I don't feel like a failed myself.
- I gave up alcohol during the week. Cuts out the calories from my wine along with the blocks on cheese I usually ingest along with it.
- I weigh in a measure myself at checkpoints. I have never done this and I think it helps make me be serious about getting in shape.
- I push myself. I'm a wimp and it's easy for me not to do that last 2 reps in a set. But now I push it and squat a little deeper on that last rep.
- I tried to rope a few friends in with me for support. I started sending them bitching bragging e-mails about how much I'm working out and that they should get up off the couch and work out too. If they are reading this - "stop reading ladies and go work out!!!" Rachel has started sending me e-mails about what she's doing to work out which always makes me want to one-up her and bust out a good workout that day.
One last thing. Another reason I needed to shape up a bit is because Rachel and I are taking a trapeze class this Saturday. Wow, this should be interesting. we promise to blog about it! I think we are planning on doing a fun class to blog about each month. I'm really interested in learning some kickboxing. Stay tuned!
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