Getting Out of My Comfort Zone

It's week 3 weigh-in over at Shrinkingjeans and this one wasn't exactly my favorite. I was up a pound. Grrr!

There's been lots of holiday chaos and workout squeezing going on these days. Doing it all is not easy. What does that mean? It's the mad dash to get to the stores ahead of closing time or in the split second before those annoyingly enticing bonus bucks expire (only to find out that the store is not closing until 12am-holiday hours are in full effect!) Then the rush over to meet a friend for a new workout class. Which was definitely fun and burned quite a bit of calories. Can't wait to get back!

I can accept todays crappy weigh-in, but only because I have worked out and eaten well all week. I drank tons of water, more water than I have in the past two weeks. I know it's a salt intake issue. My body holds on to every little granule of salt that goes into it. That darn canned soup - I knew better! Time to get to cooking some home made grub again. It tastes better and is healthier!

This week's fitness challenge is to try a new class. I did it! I had joined Transformations with one of those Living Social deals. It was a really good price. $20 for 20 classes. A girlfriend bought the deal with me (and that was before this week's challenge was posted) and we were able to pick a day to go together. We went to their Kickboxing class. There were 3 instructors. I was impressed. I tried to keep up, but it was NOT easy. I forgot to start my HR watch when we began the class, and by the time I did, the heart was already kicking and then the darn thing beeped at me the rest of the class. No clue what that was about, maybe just to keep on my toes! It was a lot of fun, and I will be trying another class again soon. I had forgotten how much fun a group class can be. I also was reminded of how being with a friend in a class or at the gym can help energize me. It's one of the reasons I have enjoyed being part of Shrinkingjeans. They are great at helping you get out of your comfort zone, work off some calories, and meet a lot of wonderful, supportive people!

I am not comfortable squeezed into my skin right now.

What am am is, excited about getting out of my comfort zone and finding a new me I am comfortable with.

Visualizing

I cannot believe it's already December 1st! Does anyone have an explanation for why time is flying by so quickly these days? Is it because everything we do in life is done in a hurry hurry hurry mode? I know it seems like fast forward anymore myself.

My clients are always late getting me things, but I have to Hurry Up and finish it at the original agreed to time. I do meet these crazy deadlines, but it's always at a cost.

For me, the cost is that I lose out on ME time and FAMILY time. When it all adds up, it's an incredible loss because I miss workouts, relaxation, reading, and the fun I could be having with my family watching my son grow up. It also adds up physically in weight gain. My health has to do with part of it, I know that, but I also stress eat, which is horrible. If I could only figure out what I can eat continuously, all day, and not gain weight!

All that being said, this past week was not that way. I had just come off a crazy overtime schedule with work, and was able to sit and relax. Almost too much and I really was antsy because I wasn't used to it. I was supposed to get in as many exercise minutes as possible for the week with my Holiday Hoedown challenge, and unless I can track shopping from 5am until 2pm, I had a pretty low number to record this week. I did walk a 5K as part of my Winter Wonders team plans. Most of my team mates recorded theirs for a virtual Turkey Trot on Thursday, but I was traveling. I made mine up on Sunday finally. I did pretty well with eating on Thanksgiving despite unhealthy food options placed in front of me to tempt. Tasted small amounts vs eating big helpings and I think that made a world of difference. I didn't feel like the stuffed turkey at the end of the day.

I was really pleased when even though my workout minutes were low, my weight decreased again. I was down 1.6 pounds this week. YEAH!

As I have dressed for work this week, clothes are starting to feel a little less stretched to snap or fasten. It's such a good feeling!

The Holiday Hoedown challenge this week wants us to post three things I'm going to do to stay on track this month.

1. Prepping for Breakfast and Lunch.
2. Getting outside the house to workout
3. Continue to visualize a smaller ME.

Number 1 is very important. I am always running out the door to the office, and most of the time it's about 5 minutes late. It never fails that as I am leaving my son decides he is hungry and I am a sucker for getting him his breakfast. Instead of telling him to wait until his father is ready to make him food, I prep it. What that does is hold me up from leaving. (And as a mom it still is hard to leave him at the kitchen table eating solo.) If I get things together, even in my mind, the night before it makes it so much easier to just head out. It's still another late night thing for me to do, but I have always been more of a night owl than an early bird!

Number 2 will be easier to do since I got a great deal on some classes at a gym to use for a bit. It's a little more out of my way, but it's a 20 class deal, and I am going to try to get in there for 1-2 early morning classes to help me get back to a morning workout routine (long term goal!)

Number 3 is the most important. I have so many nicer clothes in my closet from just before I got married, and before my pregnancy. I have stopped shopping for lots of clothes, I buy only necessities. There are more than one item in my closet I am visualizing fitting back into. It's what helps me keep going.

I pass my wedding photos hanging on my wall and see a really different me. A ME without this extra weight that pulls down on me, and makes my clothes not fit, and say - I can get back to that ME. A ME that I was really proud of, and looked healthier.

A ME I visualize being again soon!

Goals-Goals-Goals

I have so many goals, it's hard to focus on just a few for the Holiday Hoedown over at Shrinking Jeans, but I am going to give it a shot.


The Holiday Hoedown is a challenge and I am participating with a group of 6 women that have never met. We are the Winter Wonders and are getting to know each other virtually. Already it's been great fun. (Come Cheer Us On!) Tomorrow wraps up our first week. It is time for the first weigh in along with a few other items. First being to post our week's workout minutes. As I sit here writing this, I have completed 203.36 minutes, and I have 40 minutes til #tworkout time on Twitter with the @shrinkingjeans group. It's always fun and a challenge at the same time, plus tonight there will be another round of prizes. I have to tell you that if you haven't had the pleasure of a workout with them - they are great and I've won a $20 Subway Fresh Buzz card working out with them, so it's worth it in more ways than one!

Okay, enough of the chit chat. Time to focus. I have been working really hard at trying to get in shape after foot surgery in 2005, my 10lb son was born in 2006, and then finding out that there was a thyroid issue going on. Hypothyroidism to be specific. It all made sense, all the symptoms, maybe 10 in all - besides the weight problem. Other worse symptoms that I had to pay more attention to. Months of back and forth with the dr finally came down to that. I got to the point where I was feeling better, but I just couldn't continue with working out for long periods because I would get so drained. I bugged the dr more and got specialists and now it all really makes even more sense. I just wasn't being medicated correctly. I had Hashimoto's which is more intense and apparently there is a lot of fluctuation with the hormones. It's still hard for me. I still get huge bursts of energy and go for a few weeks and then all of a sudden it's like the floor dropped out and I am drained. I have to sleep and I mean SLEEP. It'd been not only physically hard for me, but mentally. It's definitely one of the big goals I have. I want to drop some of the excess inches so I can feel healthier. It's one thing the dr has told me I really need to do.

That shares the first goal in a very roundabout way, but I think that tells you who I am and why this is so hard.

In addition to that goal - I want to:

- Drink 64 oz of water a day

- Workout at least 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes

- Keep training for the C25K and do the virtual 5 K in January
(and after that, continue and train for the 10K in June - Zooma Annapolis. I really want to run the whole race this time, and not just half!!)


Those are the top 4 goals for me.

Besides the health aspects for me, and how it will benefit me for years to come, I want to do this for my family. I need to be healthy so that I can keep up with an active 4 year old, and a very outdoors and active husband.

As for how I am doing this, I am using a spreadsheet along with other components like SparkPeople, Daily mile, Lolo burn and of course Shrinkingjeans #tworkouts to keep me going. I figured out that not just one thing is going to help me get there.


Okay all - it's time to do the aforementioned #tworkout. I have 15 minutes to clean this up, warm back up and get moving!
http://shrinkingjeans.net/2010/11/welcome-to-the-holiday-hoedown-prominade-people-prominade/

A Not So Well Thought Out Plan

I tried to take some photos at a place I have been stalking for a few months. It's been overgrowing and just getting more fabulous day after day. I finally decided the time was right. I had been watching the weather for a week. Finally, it was gorgeous this past Wednesday night. I began to visualize the shot in my mind ... it's just about time for the sun to set, a mostly blue sky all day, a bit of cloud cover starting to form, and a few old building with lots of ground cover, an old boat and who know what else there is ... I was really ready to give it a shot. Literally.

I got off work, picked up my son, ran home, got started with some of our party projects (piñata), and we needed a trek to the craft store. I decided we were going to do a drive by of this place and see if my timing was right for sunset. I had been trying to coordinate with a photographer friend to go do a shoot there together. We did a quick drive by and stopped in a big parking lot across the street. I was thinking we'd cross the street, but then the amount of traffic changed my mind. I didn't want to try running across the heavily trafficked road with my almost 4 YO. So, I finally got the nerve up to try to fit in front. Yes, I can be a bit of a chicken. It's not exactly in a remote location, and there is just this tiny drive up area in front. There's logs blocking the actual drive.

I pulled into the small area and it was definitely tight. I finally managed to get in the space and was confident I could get out of the car without being in traffic. I got out of the car, grabbed my camera out of the trunk, helped my son get out of his seat and we walked up to shoot a few shots. You know how you get all excited, a little anxious and all that? Well, I am full on ready. I can see it working, I am even thinking - tripod. I need my tripod.

I am pressing on the shutter - you know, ready for the result. It's not focusing.

Wouldn't you know it - DEAD BATTERY!!! I apparently left the camera on and since I am really not shooting long days, or full days (yet), I don't have a backup. GRRRR.

My heart plummets at this moment. I cannot believe I have pulled into this crazy spot, with a toddler in tow, where there is actually a sign saying NO TRESSPASSING (you can't see it until you are up next to the logs) without a camera.

I start to jump back in the car and it dawned on me, why not try to at least try the phone. I needed some proof, and it was really beautiful. We were there at the perfect moment. I just had to capture one frame (or 6). I know it's not the same. The thing is, there are just no real controls on the iphone. I am going to have to do some searching and see if there are any apps. I needed a few things to force it to expose longer, and I had never tried it before on my phone. I do have a timer, which I almost tried to use, but then left it with the sun glare and then got one shot where the phone exposed better to see more of the scenery.

What do you think? I was happy with what I ended up with. I was not completely disappointed and it made the cost of the phone a little bit more justified - but man there is some serious noise in them.

I really can't wait to have a charged D200, an adult accomplice, and another gorgeous sunset to give it one more try! Oh and I know, double posting, but I have to take advantage of my ME time as much as possible. I know it might be a while before I get a new one up.

Thinking of the Future - Reminiscing the Last 4 Years

As always, things are very busy, but this time of the year it actually begins to pick up speed. Time flies by even faster and all of a sudden the holidays will be here and then the new year. 

No, I am not wishing it away just yet. I really love this time of the year. It's almost my son's birthday, the beginning of the holiday season for me. It's the one big party I give every year. And this will be our fourth party. I cannot believe there have already been 3 birthdays!! He already says he is 4. Please kid, don't rush it, you've got two weeks. I want to enjoy the few days he has left of being 3 way more than he does I'm sure!

I go a bit overboard with the planning for his parties, but it's so much fun. Here's the run down:

1st birthday - Animal/Monkey theme. I loved that one. Yes, there was a good amount of prep, but the monkey cake inspired by Martha Stewart was one of the easiest to do. The invitations were fun, and it was the beginning of making his party hats too.

2nd birthday - Trucks. That year we actually had two cakes, well, a cake and a dirt cake. How fun!! The cake was a fabulous design from Family Fun Magazine and was an excavator. The dirt cake was in a plastic dump truck! 

3rd birthday - I went a bit over the top, with Fire Engines. So, what else but a fire truck for a cake. I think I ended up making 4 cakes to make the whole thing. It was enormous! (I cannt find my photos. Gonna have to add them later)

This year is all about Superheroes. It is going to be so much fun this year. (If there is NO rain... Puh leeze do not rain!) It's time for all the superheroes to show up for training. Gonna have games and fun. My son is really excited too. We've almost finished the piñata, just a little more paint and we are done. Thanks to the Manic Mommies for inspiring me to give this a try! Ours is going to be a Spiderman and kind of similar to this pirate one Kristin made. Hopefully there will be fun photos to show of that fairly soon after the party. 

That all being said, I should have been working on one or more of the projects to get ready for the party, or get a few extra dollars made by working overtime. But, now I have spent the better part of my evening reviewing old photos trying to find these and reminiscing over the last 4 years. This was a lot more fun than work, and as for the projects, there is always this weekend to finish it all up! I think i will spend the rest of the night getting my list ready and watching The Mentalist!

With a bit of chalk

This week on I Heart Faces it's all about chalk. I had a photo that immediately came to mind when I saw the title of this challenge. In a weekend full of family activity we went to my dad's for a cookout. As always, it was a blast. All of the kids were running everywhere keeping the adults in constant check. This photo captures a "slow-down" period with my son and one of his  big cousins. I love the spiderman face tattoo and the faces they drew on their chalk outline people too!

Happy Tuesday and Happy I Heart Faces Challenge day!

That's right, it's time

I am making time again to stop in and say hello. I am coming live to you today from the home studio now located — on my treadmill. My DH surprised me last night with a new "desk." It's now situated on my treadmill so I can type as I walk. Of course I can't go too fast while typing, but it helps when trying to do my tworkout or watch Biggest Loser and tweet and walk. Or while just watching Glee over and over again on Hulu. I love it! Hoping it get's lots of use while working out during the cold winter season.

OK - short and sweet. I know, really short though, i am squeezing this in before picking my son up from daycare, so it's time to shower and go get the weekend started. At least now i can say I burned a few (200) calories beforehand!

Have a great weekend!