Monday, December 29, 2008

Resolutions

It's almost that time of year again! When everyone starts making those New Year's Resolutions!
I love that people want to make fitness a part of their lives in the new year, but I get annoyed when they hog the gym! It's selfish maybe, but I cherish my early morning gym time with the "regulars" that have been getting up early with me to get in an early sweat session. I never have to worry about getting an elliptical, treadmill or have the weight area clogged up with people. Come Jan. 2nd I will. Boooo!!
Ok, I am over it. Unfortunately ( or fortunately-however you want to look at it), most of the newbies will be a thing of the past by the end of Jan. or Feb. at best. In a way it is kind of sad and I wonder where they all go. I only hope that they just could not hack the early mornings and start going to the gym later in the day.
I have not made any resolutions for myself and probably won't. I just like to make goals for myself throughout the year. They might change and some might not happen, and that's ok. As long as I put forth a good effort-all is good!
I would like to continue to raise a healthy and happy family in 2009.
I have a few possible tricks up my sleeve for this blog and another blog as well. I am still working out the details, but don't want to talk about too much--it might jinx it!
Happy New Year.
Make the most of 2009..I know I am.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

2 more sleeps!



Well, we have finally finished Christmas shopping. Nothing like procastinating and then complaining under your breath that the stores don't have what you are looking for! We were able to wrap everything last night as well. The kids will get their gifts tomorrow and then head to Matt's parents house either tomorrow afternoon or Christmas morning-it depends on the weather.


I was able to get my long run in this weekend. I was looking forward to getting the 5 miles in outdoors on Saturday morning, but Amara had a quick flu bug Friday night ( actually Saturday morning at 12 midnight is when she got sick). Needless to say I was up all night with her and did not even think about attempting to run on Saturday. She is probably 100% better already. So glad it was over with quickly.


Nutrtion has been fairly good. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination! I am hoping to just maintain until the new year rolls around. It will be much easier to comply when Matt is 100% again. I like cookies anyway!


I am thinking of starting a new blog based solely on my training for the 25k and other athletic escapades. I am still keeping this one, but feel I am not staying true to the title! We'll see though. So that 's what is going on with me! I hope to update before the new year, but if not


Happy Holidays and be safe!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Monday, December 15, 2008

Is Christmas over yet??

I don't want to sound like a Scrooge, but this time of year is always way too busy!
Maybe it's because we love to wait until the last minute to make decisions and get gifts. Nah, that can't be it!
We finally went present shopping for the kids this past weekend. I hope to finish up this week for them and all the other people we have to buy for. We only have, what, 9 shopping days left??? Ugh........

Despite my busy schedule I am still making time to plan my menus everyday. Yesterday I had my first " free" meal since the start. I cannot believe that I forgot to plan it! That is so not like myself. It was one of my best "free" meals in a looong time.
We found some frozen ground beef in the freezer that was from my mother in law. I am pretty sure it came from a grass fed organic cow farm! I made burgers with it and it was delicious! I also used white potatoes and made some oven fries. Amara was really excited about the tater tots she thought she was eating!
We don't normally eat anything besides sweet potatoes. The main reason being that Matt has rheumatoid arthritis and sometimes white foods cause a flair up for him. I think it happens too if he goes overboard with them, and I am happy to say that he did not, and in turn, had no flair ups! Funny how that works.
Workouts are going very well. I was able to get all my workouts in last week and then some. I don't like to announce my weight/fat loss to the world (ha), but let's jsut say I am very happy with my progress thus far. I am not doing so well with drinking my water, but I am working on it.
This week is also my last day of teaching for a client until after the new year. I will miss the participants, but it is a much needed (and dare I say deserved) break from teaching. I am really looking forward to spending that extra time with the kids.
Both kids are doing great. Amara had her Christmas program at school today and it was fun to see her interact with her friends and to see Miles on the loose in her classroom.
Miles is talking a lot more and signing a lot more as well. It's a lot of fun to see his personaltiy coming out more and more everyday.
And that's today's update!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Thursday!

The week has been going well. It is Day 6 of being on my plan. Things are good. I only miss sugar. I love sugar. It's my downfall in life. It's not really a downfall. I just love it.
I feel so much better now that I am done with the snacks, too big portions and sugar! I know better, but just needed a small break from being rigid. Now I want to be rigid once again.
I was able to make Zumba last night thanks to Matt!! The YMCA Kid Zone closed at 6pm for some reasons. Zumba is not done until 6:30. He was kind enough to leave work early so I could participate. I have had to skip that class for 2 weeks already. I must have been getting cranky about it. I learned a few new dances last night too. Good thing I am an awesome dancer ( sarcasm)........
As usual, this class did not disappoint.
Not too much going on besides getting ready for Christmas. We have not bought one gift for anybody yet. We like to live on the edge. I hope to get most of the shopping done this weekend if not all of it. Who am I kidding? We probably won't get any done!
The kids are doing well. Amara is doing really well in school. She loves to learn-I hope this is always the case as she gets older. Matt and I have discussed starting both kids on a second language. Italian being the choice. Matt is 50% Italian and 50% polish. I think it would be great and he and I would of course have to learn it as well.
Miles is getting more and more fluent with his language ( sign language) he uses it regularly now as he tries to communicate with us. He can verbalize about 10 or more words + several alphabet letters and numbers.
Life is good!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Christmas Past....







It's been so busy these past couple of days. So I decided to take a trip down memory lane! It's so funny to see how much the kids have changed in one year!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

It's on..again!

I finally received my nutrition parameters late last night...so I am on my new "lifestyle" plan..NOT a diet. Things are going well. I am still nice to my family and I don't feel the need to gnaw my arm off. This will be my 3rd time doing this program. Every time I have done it I have been very successful and every time I have done it it has been for a different reason. I take the breaks because a girl can only measure her food for so long!
It's always easy to eat really clean when Matt is on the ball too. I am thankful that he shares the same interest in health and fitness that I do. If he didn't that would make it a lot harder for me to comply.
Here is what was on the menu today so you can see that it's not weird and strange foods--plain maybe, but that's only because I choose not to be creative today!

1. 2 protein pancakes and grapes
2. oatmeal, cottage cheese and an orange
3. protein shake, asparagus and coconut oil ( not all mixed together-yuck)
4. chicken and romaine salad
5. lean ground beef, couscous and broccoli
6. egg whites and salsa

So this may not sound so tasty to a lot of people, but I actually love everything I ate today. This is not so different from the things we normally eat, but the difference is I am measuring out just about everything I put into my mouth. It's annoying at first, but after a few days it's just something I get used to. And it works for me so I ain't complaining!

Amara is full of questions when the food scale is brought out. I don't tell her I am trying to lose weight ( except for after I had Miles-did I mention he was almost 11lbs!??! It's been a while since I brought that up.....). I just explain that food is energy and I need to know how much energy I am getting so I can teach my classes, run and take her for walks. I tell her we don't want too much or too little energy and sometimes I use the scale to keep me on track with that. She seems satisfied with that answer.
This week I also started weight training again. I am being smart and trying not to overdo it with my shoulder issues. So far so good. I just need to not get cocky and start lifitng too heavy to aggrivate them once again.
Today I was able to run 4 miles and then take an hour long Power Spin class. I normally would not do both, but I really wanted to take the class. I am glad I did. It was very tough today and just what I needed! I might use some of the things I learned in class today and take it back to my own Spin class.
It has been snowing almost non-stopfor 2 days now. I am not a lover of the cold weather. Amara loves playing out in this stuff! She went out twice yesterday and was in it today as well. Miles wants to go out, but I am sure he would not be able to walk with all the stiff clothes would have on plus the boots! He had fun watching Amara from the inside though ( so did I). I might venture out in is to build a snowman tomorrow with her-or Matt can do it!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Monday, December 1, 2008

Oh well...

It turns out I don't get my new plan today. I'm ok with that. I will just do it on my own for this week!
I made it to the gym early this morning and knocked out 4.5 miles and did a very short and lightweight full body workout. I need to take it slow so I can still move tomorrow.
I still have to teach a class at noon and another at 5:15pm.
I just need to keep my food choices in check and I am good to go!