Slapped with the humble stick

My hub-dub and I ran a 5k today. It was the inaugural Runway 5k, at his work. First of all let me put out there that I am so so proud of him. He's still a fairly new runner, and he cut 15 minutes off his time today. He was so gitty. He did an amazing job.
He told me a few weeks ago, maybe you should train for this marathon. I responded with, I'll probably run on the treadmill before then and do my Zumba, I'll be fine. My mom asked me last night, "Are you ready for this run tomorrow?" I said, "Sure, it's just a 5k. It's not that big of a deal." So hub and I went to the run this morning. I'm giving him all my tips, "Run your own race. Don't start out too fast. Pace yourself." We start the run, and we're doing good, everybody takes off at the starting line. I'm thinking, don't worry we'll pass these people in no time, they're starting out too fast. I get around 1st, 2nd, 3rd turn, and my body say, "done." So I stop and walk it out. I tell Frank to keep going... run your race.  Come to the 1 mile sign, and start running again. "Done" I'm thinking, are you kidding me? It's just a 5k keep going. So I start running again. Then a guy with a cane walks past me. "Done" Seriously? So told myself, really, I'm done. I'm going to run up to this water table, take the chip off of my ankle, and I'm going to go wait by the finish line for my husband. So I ran ip to the water table, and thank the Lord they had the cheerleaders there cheering me on and I saw the 2 mile marker, and I thought, "Ok, it's right there. I can get to there." So I ran to that and each corner I turn, I can see Frank still running. And I realize that if I don't finish this race then I'm going to be a blubbery mess all day beating myself up and that will end up retracting from what a good job he's doing. So I kept going. I eventually got my mojo back and ended up finishing the race with a girl that i was keeping up with the whole time. And Frank was waiting at the finish line cheering me on. I'm so glad that I finished. And I thank the Lord that I got slapped with the humble stick today.

the death of me

This journey is going to be the death of me. I mean if you gotta go, it's not a bad way to go. I did pretty good with my eating today. Until I tried to eat some Reese's Pieces and starting choking on it. haha... ok I get it, lay off the candy. I also ended up having chicken nuggets and home-made (baked) fried for dinner. Not the best thing, but, that's what was in the freezer. I need to go grocery shopping. I need to figure out this high protein on a budget thing.
Then I went to Zumba and apparently went hard, cause my boobs are freakin' killing me. I've worn the bra that I wore tonight before, but knowing it is a little on the small side try to avoid it. Tonight's combination of going hard, Tamara's special is jumps, and wearing a cheap little sports bra, took a toll on me. For those of you that don't know large breast are a serious issue. I was trying to tell the hub-dub and he just kinda looked at me like I was crazy, but truth be told if I don't have the right support it affects everything from my pain and discomfort to my ability to get a full breath in. When I first started running, years ago, I would wear two bras, and then I found some legit bras that are actually made for high intensity workouts. But as we all know, bras don't last forever and their expensive. So I'm starting a save Jessica's boobs fund... just kidding. But really just took a pain killer, I'll be fine.

Today:
Zumba - 1 hr
Upper body-
pushups
cable pec flys
chest press
bench dips
tricep extension
tri cable pushdowns

I think that's everything.

Eating:
Bfast- omelet w/ ham and cheese
snack- Acai shake
lunch- mashed cauliflower and a chicken breast
snack- a bunch of candy, carrots, almonds
dinner- chicken nuggets, baked french fries, (and a hot dog)

H2O- 3 glasses

Quote:Friends are like bras: close to your heart and there for support.
Donna Roberts quotes 

Yay! for November.

I'm so excited about this month. Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday. I love how everyone comes together. I love the reason for Thanksgiving. I love the family being together at the house, in the kitchen, and for dinner. AND I LOVE THE FOOD. I love the turkey for days afterwards. I love the cheesy tradition of going around the table and saying what you're thankful for. I just love it.
This particular November however my husband has decided to take a stand against the plateau that his weight has hit. This to me interprets to us making better decisions together. I will be cooking better for both of us. I will be setting our schedules around our workout schedules. This is a part of our life for the rest of our life.

So today:
I worked on my back and my biceps
1 hour of Zumba
the I did some core exercises


Food:
Bfast- Protein shake
Lunch- ham sandwich, cucumbers, carrots w/LF ranch
Snack- 1 pk of smarties
Dinner- Chicken tenders rolled in flax seed and faux fried (baked). and mashed cauliflower
H20- 4 glasses

Quote:

Working on the ball

It's been a long weekend. Sandy came and visited this weekend. Thankfully we didn't have too much devastation in our area, but it did have us stuck in the house for 3 days or so. So there wasn't a whole lot of working out going on. But on a good note, I didn't eat a lot of crap. Tonight I had a chance to go back to the gym. I did a simple yet challenging lower body/core ball workout.

1 mile: 6:40 mins - eliptical
Wall crunches on Ball: 3 sets x 20
Butt lift holding ball: 3 sets x 12 <-- This hurt like a son-of-a-b
Plank Mtn Climbers: 1st set x 12/ 2nd set x 8/ 3rd set x 8
Superman over ball: 1st set x 10/ 2nd set x 8/ 3rd set x 15
Seesaw: 1 set x 20

Can't finish if you don't start.

I went to the track tonight with hubby. I have this workout that I've been wanting to do for several months now, but it got hot, then I had the surgery, then school started back so I couldn't go on Fridays... etc, etc, etc. And I finally realized today that all of those excuses were crap, I was just scared to do it. It's a lot of work. I thought to myself that there is no way I'll be able to do this whole workout. But as I thought about it today, if I don't start it, then I'll never be able to do it. So we got out there and did it today. So this picture is about a quarter of the actual workout. I will reveal the rest of the workout as a conquer in the coming weeks.

 

I felt really good about my eating today as well.

Breakfast- Omelet with tomatoes, flax seed, cheese

Snack- almonds, edamame

Lunch- Turkey, 1/2 avocado, gorganzola, lf mayo, tomato, on wheat

Snack- chicken, 1/2 avocado

Dinner- Tilapia, w/ lemon & Basil, spinach

After workout- home made protein bar and cup of hot tea

 

Not too shabby I'd say. I's kinda fun coming up with new stuff to eat.

 

Today's quote: "You have brains in your head. You have feet in you shoes.You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. ~Dr. Seuss

on the right track

Went to the gym tonight. We had an especially hot Zumba class. Apparently the yoga class before us was cold. So needless to say my naturally sweaty self sweated my freakin' ass off tonight. After Zumba I did the torture body... I meanlower body workout that one of my darling friends was nice enough to share. I'll be sure to kick her... I mean thank her tomorrow for that one.

This was tonight's lower body workout.

 

I also went grocery shopping tonight
I tried to get things that were high in protein as well as fresh and frozen produce. I didn't get a lot of carbs. I already have a loaf of whole wheat bread and I got some bananas, and juice. There are a few things on there that I got for the girls, so don't think I'm eating teddy grahams and pizza. So I'm really trying. The hub-dub is trying to go no carbs for a week and work healthy carbs back in. I guess that's kinda South Beach diet. But I don't know enough about it to say if it is or not. So don't quote me on that.


End with a favorite quote... Somebody's always looking, make it worth their while. ~Somebody

 

 

I need you

Alright friends, followers, country-men, I need your help. I'm losing steam. I'm not out completely, but I haven't been putting in the effort lately that I have been all year. I don't want to give up, I don't want to quit, but too many excuses have been slipping in lately. I need to get back on it full time. If you see me out, don't hesitate to ask how it's going. Don't think that I'm "tired of talking about it". Please ask me how my exercises are going, ask me how I'm doing with my eating, ask me how my weight loss is going. Don't ask me how much weight I've lost, because I've thrown my scale away, I'm going by inches. Ask me how much better my clothes are feeling. Please don't think it's a touchy subject, I need these words to keep me going. I need to be able to say to people I've been really doing well, or I haven't been doing so well, so I get back in my routine so the next time you ask I can say, "I've been doing a lot better with it since last time you asked, thanks for asking." I love when people stop me and say, "I've been reading your blog, it's so motivating." But the truth is I write it so that you can motivate me. So you can keep me accountable. I have over 1500 views on my blog, which in the big blog world isn't a lot, but in my little world it means somebody cares enough to check in on me. Love you ladies, and guys apparently, thank you for keeping me in this lifesyle.

Where my girls at?

I used to be a member of a women's only gym. At the time I thought it was awesome. Looking back I realized there wasn't a lot of the POWER motivation.  There were a few women in there that worked really hard, but not a lot. I was thinking about that tonight while I was doing my strength training. I enjoy being able to say that I work out alongside some pretty bad-ass guys. But at the same time, tonight, after the guys filtered out and all the girls that are just in there to see the guys workout left,
the gym was left with 4 or 5 bad-ass women. I felt proud. Proud of myself, proud of the other women in there working out, proud of every woman that braves a coed gym for the sake of her own strength and health. I read a quote this week that is currently one of my favorites, "There's nothing sexier than a woman that knows her way around a weight room." Damn right!!

Tonight's workout:
20 mins on the treadmill
1 hr Zumba

wide pushups: 10/ 6/ 0
Barbell bench press: 30lbsx12/ 30x12/ 30x12
Cable Flyes: 15x12/ 15x12/ 15x12
Overhead triceps dumbbell extensions: 10x12/ 10x12/ 10x12
Triceps pushdowns: 15x12/ 15x12/ 15x12
abs:
sitbacks x 3
sit-ups and slow back x4
plank 20sec/ 16sec

'A' lifter

I know I haven't posted in a while. I have been working out. I've been trying to go to bed earlier though. I did have a bit of a rough week last week. I went to Zumba and I did weights, once maybe. Anyway, I went today. I went with intentions to do my triceps and chest.  When I go there I ran in to Alice. (Zumba instructor/friend)
Love Alice, like me, she wasn't super feelin' her routine. So we finished what the routine's we had planned. And then her Jessica assasination went into action. She says to me, "Ya wanna do abs? I these great moves Dawn taught me." This should've been a warning to me as opposed to an invitation. So we do some ab works. Now mind you, I have no ab strength AT ALL!!  So Alice showed me some great moves to strengthen my abs. Then she says to me... How about some legs moves?!?  So we do these simple, no brainer, no weights, leg moves. I AM NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO MOVE TOMORROW!!!  Thank you Alice. We did 'a' lifter that will make me drop tomorrow. There will be not lifting. hahah... Anyway, Zumba tomorrow. Tamara's class. We'll see if I can function. 

HUGE Mistake

So, I didn't work out that much this weekend. I say that, and I did go to a two hour Zumbathon Saturday night. But that's all I did. And those of you that have been following know that's really not a lot for me. I made a HUGE mistake of stepping on the scale Saturday morning. I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to do it till the 30th, but I did. Well, huge mistake. And I was pissed. So pissed that I stomped over to my mommy's house and cried in her lap. I know my body's changing. My 'can't fit into my pants anymore, they're too small' pants have turned into, 'I can't fit into my pants anymore, they're too big' pants. So obviously good is happening here. But dammit, if that scale didn't get the best of me this weekend. 
But I did go back in today.

I did a lower body workout. (I don't have my details sitting here)
And I went to Zumba!!!

My little one is sick (bladder infection) so my schedule's been a little off. Luckily, my hub-dub stepped up to the plate and I still got to make it to the gym. NO EXCUSES!!

It's quitting time

You know when you get to that point where you're tired, and your body aches? And you think to yourself, I should probably take a break. Maybe I'll take the next couple of days. Then the next couple of days turns into... I'll just go back next Monday. Then it's crap, I haven't been in two weeks. Then 6 months later you think, I should go back to the gym, I was doing really well for a while there, etc. etc. Well, I feel like I'm at those crossroads. My body hurts like a son of a bitch. Like seriously, my butt, my knees, my arms, I hurt. I've been going nonstop. I should take a break, give my body a chance to catch up. Hell no!!!! I've got a goal to meet. I've got to do this. There is no way after all this, that I'm giving up. I take my rest days. I don't take them consecutively because that's where I falter. And I still do some type of activity on those days. It's just not super strenuous. So I'm still in it. I guess, just whining a bit. I think that's ok. I don't do much whining on here.

So today's activities:
2.5 mile run this morning (5am)
1hr Alice' Zumba class

And back and biceps:
Hammer Strength Lat Pull down: 3 sets: 45x12/ 55x12/ 55x10
Wide Grip lat pull down: 3 sets: 70x10/ 80x10/ 80x10
Seated Narrow Grip Cable Rows: 60x12/ 60x10/ 60x10 <-- Love these
Bent over Barbell Row: 3 sets: 40x10/ 40x10/ 40x10
Back Extensions: 3 sets: 10/ 10/ 10
Barbell curl: 3 sets: 20x10/ 30x10/ 30x10
Incline Dumbbell curl: 3 sets: 10x10/ 10x10/ 10x10
Alternate Hammer Curl: 3 sets:12.5x10/ 12.5x10

I've still been keeping up with my eating well too. I find that I'm eating a lot of chicken and salad. I eat other things too but I eat that a lot. And egg whites, OMG I can eat through a carton of eggs like there's no tomorrow. I still don't think I'm getting in enough carbs. I'm not talking the unhealthy white carbs, I'm talking whole grains, fruits, wheat, and such. I need to work that in more. I've been eating a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast with Xylitol Brown sugar sprinkled on it. So that's a little, but that's pretty much it.  hmmm... how to work in more carbs.

Night night

Little changes

SO excited to be back in Tamara's Zumba class tonight after 2 months. I missed her...  a lot!!  She's amazing. A great instructor, and a great person. I'm so glad to be back. She had a lot of new songs. Reminded me what a real ass-kicken feels like.

So after Zumba I did my lower body workout. Little changes happening in the routine.

Leg extensions: 3 sets: 55lbsx12/ 55x10/ 55x10
Wide stance Barbell squat: 3 sets: 70x10/ 70x10/ 70x10
Barbell lunges: 3 sets: 20x10/ 20x10/ 20x10 (I hate lunges)
Barbell deadlift: 3 sets: 40x10/ 40x10/ 40x10
Leg Lift: 3 sets: 80x12/ 80x12/ 70x10 (oops too many reps on the first 2)
Seated Calf raises: 3 sets: 40x10/ 40x10/ 40x10
Standing calf raises: 3 sets: 40x10/ 40x10/ 40x10

So I have a short term weight loss goal of 10% by October 31st. But I'm going to try to only weight myself once a month. eeeek!!  The scale makes me crazy! So I'm only going to use it on the 30th of each month. That's it!

Rest Day

Today was a rest day.  So I cleaned the shit out of a house for 5 hours straight. Very restful.

Food Help!

I am so tired tonight. But I have to post because I didn't last night and I don't want y'all to think I'm not doing anything.
Yesterday, Frank and I went on a running date. That's what I call them because it's time alone with each other with the kids being watched. We ended up running around the streets of his parents neighborhood. 2.5 miles in 38 minutes, I think. It was a great run. I didn't start to get fatigued or hurt in any way until the last quarter mile or so. Other than that I just felt like we were out for a leisurely stroll at, for me, a relatively fast pace of 15:30 (or so).

Then today:
We went to Zumba class.
Then I worked shoulders and abs...

Dumbbell bench press: 3 sets: 12.5lbsx12/ 12.5x 12/ 12.5x12
Front dumbbell front raise: 3 sets: 10x12/ 10x12/ 10x12
Side lat raises: 3 sets: 7.5x12/ 7.5x12/ 7.5x12
Bent over pec fly: 3sets: 10x12/ 10x12/ 10x12
Ball Crunches: 3sets: 12/ 12/ 12
Bicycle crunches: 3 sets: 12/ 12/ 12

Then I walked to My girlfriends house to hang out for a while and catch up and walked back which turned out to be 2.2miles.

Then when I got home we rearranged the girls room.

So needless to say, I exhausted. And it's going to be a long night.
We're putting Lu in a Toddler bed tonight, so everybody keep your fingers crossed, say your prayers, and be prepared with hazelnut coffee tomorrow morning, that it goes well.

I'm still doing well with my eating. Friday night we ate the in laws and they ordered Chinese food. So I just ate a portion of the food. I did eat two dumplings though. I'm finding that I have an issue when I'm eating healthy options that I don't eat enough. I have my 6 meals a day, of protein, veggies, and some sort of starch (normally fruit) but at the end of the day (when I'm logging my food) I have boo-koo calories left over. I'm going to log this whole week and then see what... somebody says. I'll have to track down a reliable food diary checker overer person. (Dawn, Vicky, Yvonne, Alice) hmm... any takers???

1800lbs????

So I watched this guy work out tonight. And quite frankly he scared me. Not as in, oh gosh I hope I don't run into him outside of the gym scared, but a OMG we're going to have to call an ambulance when this guy crushes his skull scared. I get it that everyone has their own workout, but this guy was flying through his sets with the whole "look what I can do" thing going on. Then he gets on the leg press he puts 4 45lb weights up there, speeds the 5 or 6 reps, then he puts 4 more, same thing. His last set, I am not lying, he had every 45 lb weight that I could see in the weight room. 40x 45 lb weighs on the leg press. 20 on each side. That's what... 45 x 40... 1800lbs... that can't be right... maybe I miss counted one side. but i know he had at least 20 on one side. WTF?!!?  Would you leg press that much?!?!  And he wasn't a big guy. I mean he wasn't a beginner by any means, but he wasn't somebody that should be leg pressing 1800 lbs. There were these other two guys on the other hand... OMG I could see them leg pressing 1800lbs, but they seem better trained than that. They walked in, I had never seen them before, but they pretty much owned the joint. They were wearing their tapout shirts (woudn't suprise me if they actually were tapout guys). They were spotting each other. Doing everything right. Ok, let me stop... They were freakin' HOT!!  That's all. the end

My workout tonight was:
1 hour of ass kickin', instructors going home for birthday cake eatin' Zumba class!!  She was seriously celebrating her birthday Zumba style. It was awesome!!!

Then I did lower body
Leg Press: 3 Sets: 160lbsx12/ 160x12/ 160x12
Leg extension: 3 Sets: 55x12/ 65x12/ 55x12
Wide stance Barbell Squat: 3 Sets: 60x12/ 60x12/ 60x12
Seated Leg Curl: 3 Sets: 70x12/ 70x12/ 70x12
Standing Calf Raises: 3 sets: 40x12/ 40x12/ 40x12
Seated Calf Raises: 3 sets: 50x12/ 50x12/ 40x12

My little runner girl

I had a great workout tonight. When I first got home Caroline and Frank and I went up to the track to run.  I don't normally take Caroline to the track to run becasue she gets "tired' or has to pee about 5 minutes after we get there.  But she recently expressed a desire to run with me. After explaining to her that she wouldn't really be able to run with me at this point because she gets exhausted quickly and needs to work up to where I am (which isn't much), she told me that she wants to do it. So I decided today that we'd put Lu in the nursery and take Caroline with us. So we got there and Frank did his own thing. And I stretched with Caroline, trying to show her how to properly stretch as opposed to just flopping around.  Then we started on a very slow jog, and of course she sped up and then waited for me and then ran up to Frank. And then she ran up a down the bleachers like Frank did. Then she stopped for water. Then she ran another lap the other way. and then sat and waited for us to get around the track and then she got a crick in her neck so she had to pour water on it to fix it. haha. Meanwhile I ran 3/4 of a mile before stopping to help her stretch so she wouldn't try to go further than she should. But I was very proud of her. She did end up running 1/2 a mile plus one set of bleachers. And then she asked if she could Zumba when we got home. Of course, I told her no because she had to eat dinner and get ready for bed. But the fact that running motivated her to want to do more and not to do nothing, was super exciting to me. I love my little girl. I am concerned, and if anybody reading this can tell me what to do or where to look into this. When she stretches she has a very hard time straightening out. I try to straighten her out, with our morning yoga and with stretching for running and she has the hardest time straightening out to do any stretches. I don't know if this is just because she's young and has a case of the lazies when it comes to stretching, and will get better as she does it more or if it's something that I should consider getting the dr to look at. The only reason that I am the slightest bit concerned is because of my scoliosis as well as my grandmothers.  Mine is slight and has never been a cause for concern for my doctors, but I do have it none the less.

Anyway, my strength workout tonight was back and biceps:
Wide-grip Lat Pull-down: 3sets: 70lbsx12/ 70x12/ 70x12
One-arm Dumbbell Row: 3sets: 10x12/ 710x12/ 10x12
Seated cable Row: 3 sets: 60x12/ 70x12/ 70x12
Underhand cable pull down: 3 sets: 50x12/ 50x12/ 50x12
Alternating dumbbell curl: 3 sets: 10x12/ 10x12/ 10x12
One-arm dumbbell preacher curl: 3 sets: 10x12/ 10x12/ 10x12
Standing bicep cable curl: 3 sets: 20x12/ 20x12/ 20x12

Have a good night.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor day. I had the day off... and so did all of the groupX instructors.  Good for them. really really that's good that they get to spend time with their families on holidays.  I didn't let it stop me though. I went this morning and drug my mom off the couch and took her to the gym with me. 

7 minutes treadmill warm-up

Wide pushup(on knees): 2 sets: 12/9
Barbel Bench Press: 3 sets: 20lbsx12/ 20x12/ 20x12
Cable Flys: 3 sets: 15x12/ 15x12/ 15x12
Tricep dumbell Extension: 3 sets: 10x12/ 10x12/ 10x12
Tricep Pushdown: 3 sets: 15x12/ 15x12/ 15x12

4.4 mile 20:42 mins stationary bike

I did good with my eating today too.  Frank made macaroni with marinara for dinner. So I had a very tiny serving (so to not offend) and a very large salad. I also passed on icecream AGAIN.

Good day!!!

Today was a great day.  My daughter had her first sleepover last night. Surprisingly, I did sleep, but it was a pretty early morning. We went to church, came home for lunch and nap time, and then headed to the gym. I took an hour Zumba class. The instructor was someone I have never taken before.  She was so much fun. She was very systematic in her steps, but had a smile on her face the whole time. It was so much fun. Then I did my strength training.

Dumbbell bench press: 3 sets: 10lbsx12/ 10x 12/ 10x12
Front dumbbell front raise: 3 sets: 7.5x12/ 7.5x12/ 7.5x12
Side lat raises: 3 sets: 5x12/ 5x12/ 5x12
Bent over pec fly: 3sets: 7.5x12/ 7.5x12/ 7.5x12
Ball Crunches: 3sets: 12/ 12/ 12
Bicycle crunches: 3 sets: 12/ 12/ 12
Plank:18 count

And then we left the Y and went swimmin' at a friends house. So activity level was good today.

My eating today was great!!
I had my square meals. protein, veggies, fruit, no creamy dressings, no deserts at the bbq, no casseroles, or bad sides.  I feel really proud of what I did today.

I have a pain in my shoulder blade right now that's shooting straight to my elbow. So I've taken some pain reliever and am going to put some heat on it.

Night night.

Get my mind in the game.

Today was a fun workout day.  Not that I don't enjoy all of my workouts, but today Frank and I went and played raquetball. We're not very good at it, but we're nonstop the whole time we're on the court. I definitely got my heart rate up.  It was awesome.

On a different note, I ate like shit yesterday.  I really have to get my mind right when it comes to eating. I feel like I need to do a cleanse. Not a crazy, don't eat anything for a month cleanse, but a not exceptions, veggies, and protein cleanse. I need to do something to jumpstart me back on the losing of the weight.

New Year's Resolution

I didn't post yesterday. It was a "rest" day... ok, it wasn't a scheduled rest day. It just turned out that way. It was my daughters open house for 2nd grade. New year, new excitement and adventures. I really like starting my new year in the middle of the year with the school year. I mean, why not really. So my New Year's resolution is to stop. That's it. I'm a very go go go go go go go person. This year I'm going to stop. Stop and smell the roses. Stop and play with my kids. Stop and just breath. Just stop. So what about you?  What's your New Year's Resolution?

Tonight's workout:
5 mins on the Eliptical
Leg Press: 3 Sets: 150lbsx12/ 170x12/ 170x12
Leg extension: 3 Sets: 65x12/ 65x12/ 55x12
Wide stance Barbell Squat: 3 Sets: 50x12/ 60x12/ 60x12
Seated Leg Curl: 3 Sets: 70x12/ 70x12/ 70x12
Standing Calf Raises: 3 sets: 40x12/ 40x12/ 40x12
Seated Calf Raises: 3 sets: 50x12/ 50x12/ 40x12
4.01 miles (stationary) bike: 19:25 minutes

Happy New Year!!

friendly face

Short post, it's time for bed. I went to the gym tonight, by myself. Tuesday is Frank's rest day. So it takes a little extra umph to get myself in there. So it was super nice to see Alice in the gym tonight. It really helps to see a friendly face to keep me going.

So here it is:
5 mins treadmill at 3.00
Wide-grip Lat Pull-down: 3sets: 70lbsx12/ 70x12/ 70x12
One-arm Dumbbell Row: 3sets: 7.5x12/ 7.5x12/ 7.5x12
Seated cable Row: 3 sets: 50x12/ 50x12/ 50x12
Underhand cable pull down: 3 sets: 35x12/ 40x12/ 40x12
Alternating dumbbell curl: 3 sets: 10x12/ 10x12/ 10x12
One-arm dumbbell preacher curl: 10x21s-L/ 10x21s-R
Standing bicep cable curl: 3 sets: 20x12/ 20x12/ 20x12
15 minutes- 4 miles-stationary bike

Gettin' back in there

 I'm back on it. After 7 very very long weeks. I went back to Zumba tonight... NOPE!!!! They're redoing the floors this week. boo.
But I did go to the Y tonight. Hubby and I ran a little over a mile loop from the Y. I felt really good about it considering it's the first time I've run in forever. It actually felt like a relaxed jog. And then when we got back to the Y I did my strength training. The strength training I'm doing is the Jamie Eason's Live Fit 12-week training program. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html. I've done it before and love it. I find that it is very difficult to do the third phase without a workout partner. So that's where I stopped last time. Hopefully this time around I can find somebody that is willing to work out late with me.

So this is tonight's session:
1.13 miles - 18 minutes (not timed. just guessing)
Wide pushup(on knees): 3 sets: 12/10/7
Barbel Bench Press: 3 sets: 20lbsx12/ 20x12/ 20x12
Cable Flys: 3 sets: 20x12/ 15x12/ 15x12
Tricep dumbell Extension: 3 sets: 10x12/ 12x12/ 10x12
Tricep Pushdown: 3 sets: 15x12/ 15x12/ 15x12

See you tomorrow.

That's all...

Walked to the track tonight. I walked a mile around the track and each 1/4 mile I went up and down three flights (24 steps each) of stairs. And then walked back home. Took about 40 minutes. I felt really good about it. Challenged myself but didn't hurt myself.

*Turning the page*

My stomach is killing me. It's not surgery hurt, it's more of a didn't eat enough when taking a pill hurt.  But I haven't taken any pills. Gotta keep an eye on that.

*Turning again*
My 2 year old had her first imaginary friend last night. It was Lion. She was so cute.

That's all.

Weigh-in Day

This morning I weighed myself in at 233.6. Very proud to be mantaining during this non-excercise time. Of course, I would like to be losing. But the fact that I'm not gaining while I haven't been working out is reason enough to be happy for me.
I did walk today, on the treadmill. 2 miles.  I felt good about it. Tomorrow is stairs.

This week's plan

My goal for this week is to do something physical every day.  And since I still can't really work out-workout.  I'm going to have to keep it easy but do something. So...
Monday night: I will go to the gym with Frank and while he is doing Zumba I will walk on the treadmill.
Tuesday: I will walk up and down the stadium at the school track
Wednesday: I will do yoga in the morning with Caroline. (something going on Wednesday night)
Thursday: Swimming
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: Walking at the park with the family.

And writing down all my food.  I did pretty good last week with writing my food down. Didn't necessarily keep me from eating crap, but baby steps.  Keeping myself accountable is a big step.

Taking it slow

I love the Olympics. They are so inspiring. I was discussing with Frank this morning that there has to be an increase in gym attendance during the Olympics. Watching it makes me want to get back in to the gym even more than I already do.
I walked on the treadmill tonight. Between 2.5 and 2.9 for 2 miles. I'm mentally struggling with this so much more than I should be. I understand that doing anything at all is great. But every time somebody got onto the treadmill next to me I mentally explained to them that I wasn't being a slacker but that I'm actually recovering from surgery. GRrrr... take it slow Jessica.

Over it.

I went for my 2 week follow up appointment today. The dr. said that I'm healing nicely, but he still wants me to take another week of resting before I go back to work.  I'm ready to get back to a normal life AND not be in pain.  But he says everything going on is normal and good.
So I weighed in at the dr.s office at 242.  So freaking excited about that. I'm so so so ready to get back to working out.

Going Crazy

I love being home.  It just proves how badly I want to be a stay-at-home mom.  But sucks that I can't do anything stay-at-home mom-ish.  It makes me crazy looking around the house and seeing things that need to be done... laundry, dishes, cobwebs in the corners, kids room needs to be cleaned. And I cannot explain to you how badly I want to workout. I'm surrounded by my friends and loved ones that are working out. I love that it's all around me, it really helps when I can workout to stay motivated. I think I may go for a walk today. I'm going to call my doctor first and make sure it's okay.  But I have to do something.  You can only bounce between tabs on you computer so much before even that becomes boring. 
On a different note, my eating.  I'm, surprisingly, not eating a lot. Considering how bored I am, in the past food was my go to entertainment.  But I haven't been going to the kitchen our of boredom.  So that's a really big deal.  But I don't feel like I'm making the best choices when I am eating. And my dinner portions have been slightly out of control. From this second on, I'm making better food choices. When I was doing my best with my food choices, I was journaling. I was journaling because I was in Weight Watchers. I'm not going back to weight watchers, but I do need to get back into journaling my food.
Add it to my goal list. Journaling my food.

Goals

Hello World. Happy Monday. So I stated in my last post that I was going to work on my list of goals. So I did that over the weekend and this is what I've come up with, in no particular order.

1) Lose 75 more pounds total. I am currently weighing in at 245.6lbs. This would take me 170. With all things considered this would be just fine with me.
2) Get down to 200lbs by January 1st. This is an average of 2lbs/week. Now please understand that this is just a goal. I am not going to start starving myself, or running 20 miles a day, or in any other way start being irresponsible in order to obtain this goal.  If I reach this goal, OUTSTANDING! If I don't I will still be on my way to better health
3) Become a Zumba instructor in 2013. This is when I would like to get my certification. So by next year I need to find out what it entails, and get my Zumba on!!
4) Plan my family meals weekly. This is something that I've always wanted to do, but our schedule has been so inconsistent that it's difficult to know when and who will be home at what time. Which leads me to...
5) Weekly family meetings so that everybody know who's going to be where at what time.:)
6) Also ties in with #4, eat out less. When I was growing up, eating out was a privilege. We only ate out on special occasions, other than that, it was out of the question. I would like to get back to that understanding. 
7) I would like to grow my own foods. Now, I live in an apartment and I know summer is halfway over, but I can still do an herb garden. I have also been told that I can use my in-laws, and parents yards. So really space is not an excuse. But I do need to find out what I can plant at this point that won't be a bust because of the climate.
8) Buy locally.  Every day I drive down Mt. Pleasant and pass all the signs that say, "Fresh tomatoes, fresh fruit. I also drive past the Farmer's Market and every day, and yet I still pull into the grocery store parking lot and buy their mediocre produce for way more than I should be spending on produce, from some unknown farm too far away. But my reasoning behind this is always the same, I don't carry cash, and they probably don't take credit cards. Which leads me to...
9) Budget. I try and I try and I try.  But something always comes up, or I or somebody in my family wants something.  I can't complain about the family not helping, but it's not just me. I really need to figure out how to budget and how to stick to it. So that I do have my grocery money that I can wisely spend on local foods, and not stop by the store and get something with my credit card, because it's convenient and easy.
10) I would like to go on vacation in 2013. Doesn't necessarily need to be a grand vacation to Disney World or a Cruise or anything of that nature.  But a family vacation that creates memories.
11) I would like to be eligible for a significant raise in 2013. I love my job. And as much as we complain about not being paid enough, they are good about giving us a little teeny tiny itty bitty something each year in our paychecks.  But my goal is to complete projects and decrease my error margin enough this year to be confident going to my superiors and saying, "I deserve a raise."
12) Blog consistently. I love my blog. I always wonder if I put enough in it to keep people reading. And I always remember that I don't need a huge following.  I know I have people that glance at it every once in a while when I post a link And it's cool.  A lot of people that are close to me don't know this, but I am actually very much an introvert (like my mother). In this past this has been perceived by people that don't know me as bitchy, or stand-offish. But a lot of that has to do with the fact that I was raised with a suck it up and move on mantra.  I don't tell people my issues because they have their own issues to deal with. I let people in slowly to protect myself. But once you get to know me, I'm an open book. Ask me anything, I am more than willing to answer you honestly and to the best of my ability. And that's where my blog comes in. I'm not here to put up a pretty blog about how to make your life better or what you should do to be more like me. I have my blog so you can know the real me.
So those are my goals. Take it or leave it. <3 ya.

I'm back

So here I am. Post-op. I'm in bed. I think I did too much yesterday with the whole going from the bed to the couch thing.  So I'm just staying in bed today.  I am one of those rare cases that doesn't have a TV in my bedroom.  So bed is pretty much... just bed.  ha ha.  Not complaining though, I hate having a TV in the bedroom.  Just a thing.  Anyway, so I have 4 incisions. Little bigger than I was expecting. Thanks Doc. I'm gonna have to say something to him about that.  One of them is in my belly button, so when they put the "stitches" glue stuff over the incision the glued my belly button shut. um... weird. Let's see, with the assisted laparoscopy they have to blow up your abdomen to be able to see, so I'm bloated as hell. Not sure if that's why, but it makes since to me. Plus I get dizzy really easily, not sure if that's the Percocet or what, but I can't stand any longer than 5 minutes or so without the room spinning off it's axle.  So that's the post-op stuff.
I have to tell you, we are so blessed. the church ladies have been over each night with dinner. Last night Frank went to Zumba so my church lady not only brought dinner but served it as well. I was telling my girlfriend AliMFD<3 that we needed bread for the girls lunch so she told on me (for not asking for help) to one of my moms. So my Terri-mom showed up with groceries and filled our pantry and refrigerator.  So blessed. How do you even start to say thank you for so much blessings. I mean I know "thank you" is a good way to start, but it doesn't fully express the joy and love in our hearts for these people that give so much.
So I have to start my back to Zumba count down. I'm at looking at about 7 weeks. Unless the doctor says sooner, but it scares me, I'm not going to lie.  Pre-op the doctor said 6-8 weeks, and he said, "Basically we want to avoid your guts falling out of your va***a." I love my doctor. He talks to me on my terms. I totally get that.  I would like to avoid that too. So 7 weeks. August 27th. Monday night. Tamara's class. So while I'm down, I'm going to come up with my list of goals and a timeline. I'm excited.

The night before surgery

So I have my surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30. It's a little surreal.  It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm having major surgery. So far I've thought about, what if I fart the whole time I'm on the operating table? I've blow dried my hair straight, because I know how much you can feel gross and not pretty in the hospital.  So I figured blowing my hair straight would at least let me feel good about that. I've done the cleaning regimen that they gave me to do.  Now it's really just a matter of getting to sleep so that I'll be able to wake up on time in the morning.  Am I missing anything?  I don't know. I guess it's a good thing that I live about 15 minutes from the hospital. Well, keep me in your prayers. Keep my doctors in your prayers. I'll update you in a few days. 

Say Whaaaa?

So my mom facebooks me this morning... yeah, she's that cool.  And says, "Hey get out of bed and meet me up at the gym for some cardio." So of course I can't say no to my mom, so I lace up and get the kids out the door and we head to the gym. So we get on the eliptical, because I feel that the elipitcal gives you a more accurate measurement of your workout that a treadmill does.  Please correct me I'm wrong on this because I really don't know. So my mom and I both set our elipticals on random hill at level 2 for 30 minutes. I put in my weight and she didn't. and we start and the exact same time. So we're running along talking, listening to our music, watching all the tvs. I look down and it says 10 minutes and it says that I've run 3 miles. HOLY SHIT!!! Now, I love to run, but I have never been a fast runner. I normally run about a 15 min/mile. So I look at my mom's machine and it says that at 10 minutes she has run .75 miles. WTH?!?!  So okay, whatever, well by the end of the 30 minutes, my machine claimed that I ran 9 miles. I started to look at my skin to see if I had gotten a nice little caribbean tan too. So what's the deal?  At 30 mins my mom had gone a mile and a half or so. I'm feelin' like my mom's was more accurate. So what happened?  At one point I slowed my pedals down to stay even with my mom and it said that my RPM was 65 and hers was 45. And the only difference was that I put in my weight and she didn't. IDK. I'm not saying all of this to compare to my mom directly but more to the frustration that now i don't know how far i really ran because i find it hard to believe my machine. 

Surgery time

So I realized last night after Zumba class that I only have three more classes before my surgery.  Blah. July 9th I'm having a partial hystorectomy. This is a good thing. I have endometriosis and this will finally relieve me of pain.  So I'm kinda excited about it. As a matter of fact the only thing that I concerned with over the whole thing is how long I'm going to be out of the gym.  I have to be out of work for 3 weeks and out of the gym and "the bedroom" for 6 weeks.  BUT the Dr. did say I can walk till I'm exhausted. So once I'm up to it I will be doing that. 

Please be nice

So, I'm not generally one of those people that takes every hand gesture, smirk or cough as a personal attack.  I'm more of a "Be the Duck. Let things roll off your back" kind of girl.  Therefor when I do see or hear something that I know is personal I know it for sure.
Frank and I went to Zumba last night, Lecia taught. Great class! Love Lecia. There are regulars in the class that we're comfortable with and would consider friends. There are a few girls in particular that are slightly stand-offish, and I can respect that. One of them in particular has warmed up to us recently and we kinda joke with her before class. As we were leaving last night she was out front with a friend and as we walked out I looked at her to say bye, and she didn't notice because she was motioning to her friend with her eyes at us with kind of a, "them" look and the friend very blatantly said, "Oooooooh yeah." Now, I understand that I don't know what they were talking about and it could've been something great, but I'll never know, and have not stopped thinking about the gesture since.  So really all I can say is, Please be nice, people. Everyone is on their own journey. If you don't understand somebody either get to know them or leave them alone.  You may have prettier hair, or a nicer body, or a nice car, but if you don't have a pretty heart, none of it matters... and people know. 

Big Announcement!!

Alright, I'm ready to say it.  I want to be a Zumba instructor.  There... I said it.  There are some that already know this, and a couple that probably new it before me. I have a passion for Zumba and I want more than anything to pay it forward. I have met some of the most amazing, positive, beautiful people through Zumba. There is no judgement. We're all there for the same reason to work out and to have fun doing it. Frank and I have gone on 2 dates that were Zumba. I mean, who does that. We don't dinner and movie anymore, we Zumba.  I love it.  So one of my goals is to get my weight down so that I'm comfortable enough to look at myself during a Zumba class. And to become a certified Zumba instructor in 2013.

Yay Me!!

So I wore this shirt today for the first time.  It's a women's race x-large shirt. Which for any of you that have race shirts a women's xl race shirt is like a normal medium... in my opinion. Anyway, I felt pretty good about it. And upon wanting to hold on to the feeling, I made good decisions throughout the day.  I took the girls to Burger King for dinner, and Whoppers are my absolute favorite fast food food ever. But I remembered a quote I once read that says, "If you eat you've always eaten, then you'll weigh what you've always weighed." So I chose the grilled chicken salad.  Yay Me!!

I'm fighting...

I'm fighting a cold.  I did Zumba yesterday. But that was it.  And then I ate crap for dinner.  So apparently I'm fighting more than just a cold. I'm fighting myself and my terrible eating habits.  I'm fighting the "I just did this, so I deserve..." I hate that I am so strong to pass up candy, cupcakes, chocolate in the kitchen, but you put a pile of chips in front of me and you'd think I hadn't eaten in 10 years.  So I came with a plan today...

Breakfast: smoothie PB, oatmeal, honey, skim milk, and a banana. (Yum!!!)
Snack: Greek yogurt w/ Raspberries, and almonds
Lunch: leftovers from last night... pasta w/ chicken and some kind of white creamy sauce. (What was i thinking?!?) I'll try to avoid the overflow of sauce
Snack: edemame, and a LF cheese stick
Dinner: don't know yet.

Tonight, I have a party to go to.  Luckily some of my other "healthy friends" are going to be there.  So I'll be more likely to just do a veggie plate and leave it at that. I may just make that dinner.

Tonight is strength training. I'll update later on what that will be.

New week... No excuses

I didn't do any strength training last week. I did my Zumba classes, but I didn't do any strength training.  Started out the week with my hubby having strep. Then Caroline had her last day of school and her 7th birthday and then we had the big birthday party. There it is my laundry list of excuses.  I put it out there and now I can't use them any longer.  I went to the gym today and did circuit training.

Workout:
2 min treadmill @ 2.5
3 sets Bicep curls @ 15lbs
2 min treadmill @ 4.5
3 sets tricep cable pushdown @ 30lbs
2 min treadmill @ 2.5
3 sets plie squats @ 40lbs
2 min treadmill @ 4.5
3 sets deadlift @ 40lbs
2 min treadmill @ 2.5
3 sets rubberband chest flys
2 min treadmill @ 4.5
3 sets pec flys @ 45lbs
2 min treadmill @ 2.5
2 sets plank twists @ 10lbs
2 min treadmill @ 4.5
3 sets cable ab curls @ 60lbs

So about halfway through this a girl came up and did a sprint on the treadmill next to me.  Then she got down and did a set that included handstand pushups.  It was pretty badass. Now mind you I'm not comparing myself.  I know I'm not at that level, and I am just fine with that.  But I did find that I'm in a place where I felt comfortable approaching her and telling her that she was doing great and talk to her about our workouts.  Before this journey I wouldn't have approached a badass chick in the gym in a million years.  But now that I am one... I can do that.  AWESOME!!!!

Skinny Minnie

Skinny Minnie is definitely a name that I'd never be called.  But sure enough, one of the girls in Zumba came up to me tonight and said, "Hey Skinny Minnie."  I didn't know what to say.  I think I'm going to seriously be taught how to except a compliment.  Especially about how I look.  I've always felt like when someone compliments me that it's because they feel sorry for the fat girl.  Kind of a, "Say something nice to her, because she probably doesn't hear it too often. It'll make her feel good." I find it very had to believe when someone is complimenting me that actually, do think that I look good.  I can never tell anyone this, really though, because I feel like then I really get fake compliments, and it's even harder to believe. I love to hear it, but I need to allow myself to receive it for what it is.

Zumba

Saturday morning Zumba.  I needed it today.  My hubby is sick. He doesn't do sick well, so it was a long night.  So I had to get out of the house.  Anyway, Zumba was a blast today. Straight party time.  Love it. 

I don't wanna

So I fight this battle with myself every time I go to work out. It goes something like this, "Ok, here I am. Sitting in front of the gym. Get out of the car. What am I going to do when I'm in there.  Um... upper body. no I don't feel like doing push-ups. Lower body?  I just did lower body, and my legs still hurt from that. So just do cardio. C'mon, Jessica, get out of the freakin' car!! I hope it's not busy in there. GET OUT OF THE CAR!! Ok. I'll do upper body and some cardio. Just no pushups."  and this continues all the way until I do the first exercise of the night. Tonight was no different. Especially when I realized that I didn't have my workout in my purse. But I did it. 

3 sets of biceps curls 12 @ 12.5lbs (dumbbell)
3 sets of triceps cable push-downs 1 set 12 @ 30lbs, 1 set 12 @ 35lbs, 1 set 12 @ 40lbs
3 sets of bicep bench press 12 @ 30lbs
3 sets of skull crushers 1 @ 30lbs, 2 @ 20lbs
7 assisted pull-ups 20lbs
THEN... this is the exciting part

5000 meters on the rowing machine

in 27:57:5 minutes 

That's right folks.  I did 28 minutes on the rowing machine  I remember when I was yelling at myself to do 5 minutes on the rowing machine.  Yeah, my arms are going to be so awesomely sore tomorrow.

Blah

Blah day. It happens.  I did really well with my eating today.  But... PMSing and I just want my feet up and some icecream.

Please do what I do

One of my daily prayers is that my daughters see me as healthy and choose that for their life as well.  It's one of the many reasons that I do what I do.  As many things as my girls are going to face in their life I want their health to be a priority. So my daughter wrote this note for me at school and I was elated to see that she chose to use my passion for running as a reference to her mom. 

How I'm doin' it.

So I've been asked to post more of how I'm doing it.  So here goes. 

Tonight was lower body:
5min run to warm-up
3 sets of 12 Plie Squats @ 70lbs
3 sets of 12 Dead lifts @ 50lbs
3 sets of 12 Barbel Side Split Squats @ 50 lbs
3 sets of 12 Leg Press @ 190 lbs
2 sets of 12 Leg curls @ 90 lbs & 1 set of 10 @ 85lbs
2 sets of 12 Leg extensions @ 90 lbs & 1 set of 12 @ 85 lbs
2 sets of 12 Seated Calf raises @ 70lbs & 1 set of 12 @ 60 lbs
15 minutes (2.63 miles) on the bike

I was supposed to do a Clean when I did the Dead lifts, but I wasn't quite sure of the correct form of them.  So I asked a purple shirt and he looked at me like I asked him how to do a push up.  So when I said, I kind of know how to do a clean and press he said to me, "Yeah, it's the first part of that." Grrr!! Never came out from behind the desk.  Alright then, let me go kinda guess/figure it out and, meh, hopefully not FREAKIN' HURT MYSELF!!!! 
Plus++++ I was home all day with my girls. I didn't eat breakfast, I was in the ER with my eldest at that time (Ear infection) BUT I had a protein shake at 10ish, then chicken and mushroom mexican dish for lunch (out with mom)... and chips (dammit). Dinner was Spaghetti with a sauce with some chopped meat (85/15) and then a protein shake after my workout. So minus the chips and the missing breakfast I felt good that I didn't snack all day long being home. 

I'm starting to see it...



Christmas 2011
276lbs

This was my company Christmas party last year. The theme was beach party. (excuse the mustache :0)) The white shirt that I have on over my dress, I was unable to button. I wore this same outfit today and had to have my husband tighten the tie around the back.





This is me today. June 4, 2012.
248 lbs



I'm so glad you're here

Having a rough go today.  I just got a junk-mail that said, surrender to the sweet fudge, or something like that.  I little part of me pondered the thought, but then I quickly deleted it.  And thought to myself, how can I face my blog knowing that I've been bad.  Now mind you, I'm not one of those people that puts any food off limits, but I do know my limits and I cannot just eat A piece of fudge.  If I eat fudge it will put me on a downward spiral of, "I've already screwed up so I might as well "enjoy" the rest of my day." forgetting about the rest of the sentence that goes, "and beat myself up the rest of the night." SO I will not seek out fudge. I will eat my sandwich for lunch, and a piece of fruit, and be proud of myself at the end of the day.  So proud that I'll want to continue when I get off work and go for a jog with my hubby.  So thank you for checking out my blog so that I can see that people really do care about me and how I'm doing. 

They see me runnin', runnin' and runnin', runnin'

Me running the Shamrock marathon in 2008.

So I went running tonight with Frank.  We did 2 miles.  It felt great!  I miss the feeling that I get from running.  I love that it proves to me that my body is capable of so much more than I give it credit for.  That's all.  It doesn't matter what else happened the rest of the day, all that matters is that I went running.

Weigh-in Day

So I weighed in this morning at 250. Now I could sit here and whine about the fact that I've been back and forth with this 250/251/249 for a couple of weeks now OR I can celebrate being down 26lbs and move forward. So... let's consider 26lbs...

1) 26 lbs of fat
2) 26lb cat
3)26lb fish
4)26lb gummy bear
5) a Two year old
6) a 26 lb barbell plate
7) a bowling ball
8) 26 one lb full butter boxes
9) a small dog
10) 10 ft metal chain
11) 5 bags sugar
12) 26 foot balls
13) 19 inch flat screen T.V.
14) 3 one gallon jugs of water

Yeah, I'm thinking 26 pounds is kind of a big deal.  Good thing I'm not carrying it around anymore.  Now I can focus on more important things!!

Happy Memorial Day

I'd like to thank all of the men and women that have fought for my freedom.  I have had military influence in my life, all of my life. Growing up, my father was in the Army. We spent three years in Panama after Just Cause. We were surrounded by buildings with bullet holes and restricted areas that were off limits to civilians, and/or Americans. And I will never forget the time that my mother had to be rushed to the hospital by helicopter because the car we were in could get through the riots. And I know I was very much protected from the thick of it all.  A miniscule glimpse of what these soldiers see and deal with every day.  Just so that I can walk down the street with a pair of jeans and a tank top on, or pray at a restaraunt before my meal.  I listen to whatever music I want to, and I am friends with whoever I want to be friends with, all because Of the men and women that fight for those freedoms for me every day.  Thank you dad, and Ramsey, my brother, and Kurt, the guy that lives above me, and the lady I saw in the grocery store today, and Stacey, one of my amazing church lady friends, and so so so many others that I know and those that I pass on the streets, and those that will never ever meet me, but still fight.  Thank you for making this choice so that I can make choices.

Daddy

My Bro-bro

This Day ROCKED!!!

I got my butt kicked by my mom's trainer today. She's awesome.  We did circuit training.  So we did our workouts with 2 minutes of runs and walks in between each. It was awesome.  I sweated my ass of and felt great afterwards.  Then a couple of hours later we did Zumba.  My mom did her first Zumba class.  I was so excited.  I can't say she "loved" it, but she did say that she liked it, and if not any faster than today's class that she'd be interested again. 
It was amazing the difference in the people that were in the gym from the night, when I normally go, to this morning.  There were no girls following boys around wiping up their sweat.  The employees were more interested in the safety and concern of the patrons instead of which basketball game is on.  It felt good.  It felt like I was in the big leagues. The way I see it, I can make a life of this.

The Nothing

So I didn't work out today.  Blah.  I know I've gone pretty hard this week.  But I don't like not doing anything.  I am working out with my mom and her trainer tomorrow though.  I'm excited/nervous about that.  I would love to have my own personal trainer.  I know I can go so much harder.  I know that my body is capable of so much more.  But really?  It's unlikely that I'm 1) going to make myself do it, and 2) know full well what I'm doing without hurting myself.  It's so hard to find somebody to work out with late at night when I work out anyway, much less a trainer.  And why do they have to be so damn expensive.  In a perfect world everyone will just want everyone else to excel and will all lend a hand to make sure that happens.
I'm also going to try to get my mom in to Zumba tomorrow.  I think she will really love it, she just needs to trust herself and let herself do it. She used to be hardcore into group exercise, step class, spinning, kickboxing, all of it. So I know she can do it. 

*turning the page*
I'd like to start adding pictures to my blog.  What's the best way to do that?  Should I add pictures of me? Pictures of motivational posters? Just random pictures?  Any suggestions?

Zumba night

Tonight was Zumba.  Alice's class.  She's so awesome.  Super duper sweet, and a lot of fun.  Her classes are always packed.  Tonight was extra packed though.  Some of "the guys" were zumba-ing.  Apparently they're summer guys (that work at the Y).  And each summer they come in for a couple of weeks, spice up the joint, and then fade back out.  Admittedly I did shake my ass a little more with them there.  I figure, WTH, anything I can use for a little extra motivation to get my heart rate up, right?  Right.

I drank all my water today. It felt great. I also ate relatively well.  I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Not so good things... mayo in my tuna fish, with crackers, and croutons and Caesar dressing on my salad at dinner.  I have this obsession with creamy.  In my coffee, my salads, my sandwiches, my pastas... I love creamy. I wish I could get over it. Find a good substitute, but seriously, if one more person tells me to replace the butter and sour cream on my baked potato with salsa I'm going to lose it. It just isn't the same.  I guess this part will take time.

Introduction

I know introductions are normally the first post, but I gues that's just not how I roll.  Hi, My name is Jessica.  I'm a mother of 2 beautiful girls. One 6 about to turn 7, and the other is 2. I'm sure you'll hear more about them as they are a big part of my world. I am also a wife to Frank. Frank and I have been married for 6 years, together for 12, or something like that. I also work full time, as does my husband. And that's what you get what you meet me.
I have been heavy all of my life.  At least that's what I thought when I was younger.  The truth is that I've always had big boobs, so I thought I was heavy because I had to buy bigger shirts and bras than girls my age. But in reality, looking back, I had an amazing body in highschool. BUT you couldn't convince me of that when I had to look at size 16 prom dresses. (SN... this is a lot harder to think about than I realized it would be) So after I graduated I put on the freshman...20 or 30, whatever it was.  Didn't really care at the time, I was out of the house and allowed to do what I wanted, and since drugs and alcohol weren't my thing, I ate.  I met my husband when I was 20. After all the duds I dated I knew this man would be in my life for a long time... he had a car and actually let me call him boyfriend. So the more comfortable I got the more and more relaxed I got with watching what I ate and exercising.  Fast forward a bunch of years of yo-yo dieting, throw in a couple of marathons and half marathons, to January 1st, 2012.  New Year's resolution weigh-in day... 276 lbs. HOLY FREAKIN' CRAP!!!  What the hell happened?  This is not me.  I'm not that girl.  But I am, I was, that was me. So I went to a Zumba class that week that I was off for Christmas break.  Dawn was the instructor. Seriously, to this day, one of the hottest chicks I know.  Anyway, loved the class. I also did a little running (SN... I love to run. Running has always been a passion of mine) did a little strength training. Got Frank to start doing Zumba with me.  Don't ask me how, I guess it just clicked for him.  I said try it, he said ok, I'll try it. and it is one of the best things that's ever happened to us (besides our children obviously).  It's something that brings us together.  It's a thing the he and I share that we love and we love to talk about and we love to be a part of it.  So... here I am five months into 2012, still going strong. I've lost 30 lbs. I feel great.
There are several things that I see while on this journey. Which brings me to this blog.  This is going to be a combo, of my weight loss story, as well as things that make me laugh, things that make me mad, things the make me go, WTF?!?! while on this journey. Just so people know my opinion. Not sure if you'll care or relate.  But for the most part you'll probably have some kind of rise of emotion.
There will be several references along the way that may make you go, "What does that mean?" I'll try to make a side note (SN) if I don't think I've mentioned them before. Otherwise, try to keep up.

I work out at The Y... so some of my words have to do with that. For example, Purple Shirts... these are the guys that are employees at the Y, that are there to answer any questions that you may have during your workout.  Or in some cases change the channels to the most exciting basketball games, or chat with the cutest chicks in there, or chase each other with markers, and every once in a while look up and acknowledge the fact that you might actually have a question relating to working out.
There are the black shirts... these are ACTUAL personal trainers.  These (normally girls at my Y) are no joke.  They will wipe there sweat off the mats with these other guys.  If I didn't feel like money was literally falling out of my pockets and into theirs just from asking them if there were still using a machine, then I'd have them help me more often.  The Red shirts, I believe, are always custodians, and blue shirts are involved with child care. and then there are the rest of the bunch. Some I've grown fond of, some I just see, and some I make my skin crawl every time I see them.  The way I see it, is that's my Y, in a nutshell.

Finally...

I had a great workout tonight.  I did my lower body workout and my new and improved abs workout.  Now, I've been doing the same lower body workout for about... 4 months now, give or take. Always including squats.  Yes, I'm one of those freaks of nature that loves squats.  I love that I can do them. I love to think about the outcome of continuous squats. Love them!! Anyway, tonight, I was doing my squats as normal, with the smith machine, and I saw a guy watching me out of the corner of my eye.  So I start thinking, either this guy better be Christian Grey, or he's a creeper and he better back off.  So I finished out my set and turned around and sadly, it wasn't Christian Grey, it was Tony.  I wish I could say Tony was comparable to the desired, but nope.  He was an older gentleman, quite buffvery obvioulsy knew his way around the gym.  He was actually there to help me on my form with my squats.  Finally... somebody is helping me out.  ME!  I've been doing this on my own since January. I've worked out with my mom and her trainer a couple of times, and every once in a while I'll ask a "purple shirt" to help me out, but on a regular day to day basis, it's just me sitting there making shit up as I go along.  For the most part I have an idea of what I'm supposed to do.  Anyway, so Tony comes over, as sweet as can be assures me he's not a creeper and that he does have experience and studies is physical training, and shows me (and wipes down the pad when he's done) how to correctly perform a squat with a bar, placing the bar across my shoulder blades and not across my neck/the top of my spine. Amazingly enough, the last set was almost a relief.  Thank you Tony, you were a breath of fresh air in the stuffy gym.  They way I see it all, the purple shirts need to be Tonys.