You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category.
Alternately titled: This Is Me Being Brave, Internet. RIGHT HERE. BRAVE.
Okay, so here’s the truth: I wasn’t going to do this. Not now, not in a million years. Not even when pigs fly or cows squirt Ben & Jerry’s ice cream directly out of their udders.
(In which case I would totally buy myself a cow or two for my backyard.)
(And, oh, the irony that THAT specific example came to mind while writing this particular post.)
You all know that Rob and I started doing P90X back in April. I wrote a couple of posts about it here and here. I never did get around to writing a final recap of P90X though, and I’m not sure why other than I seem to have gotten distracted by various shiny things. But today, because My BFF Mo came to work out with me, because she did such an awesome job (and dude, she just had a baby three months ago), and because she encouraged me to post some photos, I’m doing it.
Mo, if this isn’t love, I don’t know what is.
In all honesty, I’ve received a lot of questions and inquiries about P90X from my blog posse anyway, so I thought I’d start with a little bit of a review of the whole thing.
First, obviously, it’s a 90 day program, which if you’re really great a math you know that that equals three months. And all I know after this is that three months of doing the same program is a long time. Granted, there are thirteen (I think) discs in the whole set, so there’s a lot of variety going on and every day is different, but even still there is plenty of room for monotony to set in. Luckily I was totally determined and on fire when we started, so I didn’t start getting bored until around day 70. Then, with two weeks to go, I quit.
I know. Let me say it for you: QUITTER!
To make up for my lameness I’ll go ahead and just show you my pictures now. (Be nice.) Yes, pictures. The P90X people encourage participants to take photos of themselves on Days 1, 30, 60, and 90 so it’s obvious to see the progress that one is making, and because we were so gung ho, that’s exactly what we did.
K, now be nice:
(Days 1, 30, 60)
Right away by Day 30 I noticed that the squishy inner tube around my waist in Day 1 started deflating and my arms and legs also slimmed down. Then by Day 60 it felt like my entire body shrunk a bit. Then Day 90…yeah. No Day 90.
Obviously there were some results, but there was one catch to the whole deal totally tripped me up: I didn’t follow the diet plan. Sure, I ate healthy, but I enjoy a beer or some nachos every once in awhile, too. And unfortunately I recently learned that fitness is a 70/30 split, 70% diet and only 30% exercise, which totally sucks for someone like me, who would rather do squats until I hurl than give up a big fat bowl of ice cream. So, if you’re looking for informercial-worthy results, do the diet.
Now, back to me quitting before the 90 days was up. Rob and I immediately started another program! This one is called Insanity, and it’s almost all cardio. No weights, just balls-to-the-wall jumping jacks, suicide runs, burpees, and a few push ups thrown in there for good measure. Not to be redundant, but the best way to describe Insanity is that IT’S FLIPPPING BATSHIT INSANE.
However. I love it, and it’s awesome. I almost love it more than P90X because it’s so high energy and so intense that every workout flies by and before you know it it’s over and you’re a sweaty unconscious puking mess. And the best part is that I really believe that it sheds the fat away. Again, I’m not doing any major diet plan, but I still have seen some decent results.
Here’s a photo of me on Day 1 of P90X again, and the second is of me just a few weeks ago (it looks weird, I know, but I was in a dressing room trying on a new bathing suit and I took a picture to send to Rob and Court to get their approval, because, obv.):
(April 1 and July 3)
Now, back to the reason I wanted to write all of this: I’m nothing special and I’m no different from any other girl or guy out there. I’m just a chick who had a baby, felt fat and flabby, and wanted to prove to myself that I can be proud of my body again. I wanted to be fit, healthy, and confident. So every day (okay, most days) I took my butt down to the basement and pushed play. No thinking, just doing. Some days it sucked and some days I slacked off, but overall it paid off.
All of that to say that I really want to encourage anyone else who is on the fence to just do it. You CAN do it. If you’re interested in P90X, go for it. Get the program and just do what it says to do. Stick with it if you can, and I know it’s not easy, but if you do what you’re supposed to do you’re going to succeed. Same with Insanity. Do it, and grab your barf bucket while you’re at it. Then come back and tell me you’re doing it so we can commiserate together about how badly our calves are burning.
Oy. It’s been a week. You know, one of those weeks that sticks out its foot and trips you, grabs you by your shoelaces, spins you around its head, and then lets go to send you soaring through the air only to land flat on your face in a pile of fresh, steamy dog crap.
Work’s been busy, life’s been crazy, PMS attacked me like ferocious pit bull, and dude, by 4:30 this afternoon I was on the verge of either crawling into my bed, pulling the covers over my head, and sucking my thumb until Sunday or dropping some major dough over at Ann Taylor Loft in the name of some retail therapy.
Luckily at 4:31 I had a light bulb go off in my brain and decided to call my mother-in-law to see if by any chance she could come watch Avalon so I could go to the gym and blow off some steam. Like my knight in shining armor, she came over and relieved me for a blissful 45 minutes of ace-kicking, bootcamp style. High on life and endorphins, I came home an hour later as a new person, refreshed, rejuvenated, and sweaty as a mother bear. Then when my MIL went to leave I couldn’t thank her enough for coming and giving me a little break, in fact I think I may have offered to even buy her a car, I was so grateful.
So, alas, to anyone who may have crossed my ugly, voracious path this week, I’m sorry. If I ever get like this again, just tell me to shut up and drop and give you twenty. We’ll all be glad you did.
Rob and I are halfway through P90X. Wait, no, actually we’re a little over halfway…48 days in, to be exact.
Dude, I’m not a mathematician.
We’ve been pretty religious about following the daily workouts, but as life tends to throw curveballs sometimes, there have been days when we haven’t been able to exercise due to one thing or another. And nutritionally? That’s the hard part. We both have discovered ways to eat cleaner than how we used to, but man, we love food. In fact last night, it was hilarious; Rob and I were laying on the floor playing with Avalon talking about the homemade peanut butter cookies my Grandma made that were sitting in our freezer when he just looked at me and was all, you know what? Screw it. Let’s just eat, and eat whatever we want. HOW GREAT WOULD THAT BE? No restrictions, no limits, Mickey D’s here we come!
Then I reminded him that that’s called pregnancy and is the reason why I’m even subjecting myself to this chin up/ab ripper/plyometrics torture in the first place. Mama ate one too many pans of don’t-give-a-rip rice krispie treats, if you know what I mean.
So, just checking in. Still going strong.
(Heh. Pun.)
Everyone’s seen the informercials for P90X, I’m sure. The one that shows all the sad, flabby people in the “before” pictures, followed by the really ripped people flexing their new muscles and snarling their thin faces out of pure pride and excitement in the “after” pictures?
Well, consider me one of those sad, flabby “before” people, on my way to being (hopefully) in the best shape of my life, because Rob and I have ordered the entire P90X program and have been doing it for a week now.
We’re trying to get the best results that we can, and are therefore following the program as closely as possible. This unfortunately includes taking the dreaded “before” photos, which, although completely embarrassing, shameful, and hideous, are the best motivation in the entire world to get my butt in gear. I’m positive that the body I see in the mirror is pure hallucination, because the photos make me look a lot worse than I ever thought I looked. The pictures are on lock-down on my computer right now, never to be seen by anyone’s eyes other than my own and Rob’s…and only because he had to take the pictures for me in the first place. Sorry, Rob.
So, one week in, and I’m not gonna lie, these workouts are tough. And long. They’re at least 60 minutes long, and some days are 75 minutes. The longest DVD is yoga, which is 90 minutes. Surprisingly they all go by relatively quickly, HALLELUJAH, making a 75 minute workout not so daunting. I didn’t think that I’d be able to carve out enough time to get through these long workouts at first, but Rob makes time every morning at 5am to get through it, and because I’m more of a slacker than he is, I workout during Avalon’s morning nap, which seems to be working out really well for both of us. Plus, I get the added bonus of questioning Rob about how horrible each workout is before I have to do it myself.
Truth be told, however, they’re really not as horrible as I thought they would be. For some reason, maybe because of how intense the infomercials look, I was completely intimidated by the program and never thought that I could make my way through dozens of chin ups and push ups and 60 minutes of jumping, but Tony Horton, the creator of the program, always gives modifications for the moves and makes it do-able for people like me. As in, people who can’t even do one measly chin up. So even though Tony’s ego is as wide and expansive as the planet Earth itself, he makes a really great workout routine.
Today is my rest day. “Rest,” as in “do nothing and, for once, be okay with it and not feel guilty!”
See, this program IS awesome. I just wish there was a day in the diet plan that said to eat a bag of Cadbury eggs in one sitting. That, I could dominate.
When I was pregnant I received this really awesome baby jogger as a baby shower gift. It is the most tricked out stroller I have ever seen, with an iPod connection, speakers, and odometer. The only thing it doesn’t do is run my calories off FOR me, which clearly is an add-on that needs to be invented right away.
Anyway, since I live in the Midwest and yesterday it was 50 degrees and sunny at the beginning of March, that’s practically the universe saying to us, “hurry, get outside in a bikini, rub on your baby oil, and run through the sprinklers before Old Man Winter comes back and squashes all of your warm, sunshiney dreams!” So of course we took advantage of the weather and decided it would be a great day for an inaugural run with the baby jogger.
I knew it would be a tough run for me since I haven’t run since probably August of 2008. And, yes, it was definitely rough. I think I only ran about two miles, and four minutes into the run I was already complaining. It’s true. Just ask Rob. Here are some of the things that may have come out of my mouth during those 20 minutes:
I think I have to pee.
Your music sucks.
Seriously? We’re listening to this?
OMG, my legs are sore already.
CHANGE THE EFFING SONG.
How long have we been running?
Can we go home now?
I just can’t help it. Running ain’t my thing, in case I haven’t mentioned that before. It makes me a horrible, awful sinner. I should never, ever run again.
Avalon, however, loved the run. She even took a little snooze, so I have to assume that’s a good sign.
What’s really weird is that I think I may head back out today for another couple of miles. I know, why would I do that? But it’s the weather. It’s what Midwesterners do.
Being that I was still feeling crummy last week I only managed to get in three workouts, and thus…
No weight loss. No weight gain though, either. So, whatever. I’m feeling better (finally) so this week I’m back at it.
By the way, I started the 30 Day Shred. Have you guys done this? Holy crap, it’s hard! I started with the Level 2 workout and couldn’t believe how after only 20 minutes my muscles were shaking, I was completely out of breath, and I was dripping with sweat. Jillian is tough, man. However, I gotta admit, I have a feeling that doing the same workout for 30 days straight is going to get boring. I was under the impression that each day would be a different workout, but that’s not the case if I’m understanding it correctly. I’m going to go ahead and do what she says anyway and do it for the 30 days just to see what happens and put Jillian to the test. As much as I’d like for her to be WRONG and to EAT HER EVIL WORDS, well, I also really do want it to work so that I can see some killer results.
I’m off to go get harassed by Jillian now. Goodbye forever.
So there’s good news and bad news.
The bad news is that I’ve been sick for almost an entire week so far. Nothing too major, just the annoying cough/runny nose/body ache kind of thing. Basically, the exact ailment that makes me break out into a coughing fit just to so much as think about doing anything active, so needless to say I didn’t work out at all last week save for one measly day of cycling.
The good news is that I still managed to lose a pound this week. Coming from me, the girl who hates to watch what she eats and pretty much only believes that weight loss occurs from some serious butt-kicking in the gym, the one pound loss is miraculous.
It probably has something to do with the fact that I really have tried to consciously get my act together and eat healthier every day. I’m not only doing calorie math in my head, but I’m also trying to be really good about eating fresh fruits and vegetables more often. One thing in particular that I’ve become obsessed with lately is a smoothie I saw Giada make, a “dreamsicle” smoothie. It has OJ, vanilla yogurt, a banana, a little vanilla extract and ice in it and it is DELICIOUS.
Rob and I are also obsessed with V8 and V8 Fusion, a perfect way to sneak in some extra vegetables in a day. In fact if anyone wants some, please, come help me drink it. We went to Sam’s yesterday and ended up buying four huge bottles of the stuff. Clearly, we have issues with buying things in bulk.
Oh, and also, a couple days ago in my very blahhhh state of mind I was sure that fresh baked chocolate chip cookies would make me feel better. Instead though I remembered that I had a box of No Pudge brownie mix in the pantry so I made that instead, and HELLO! Have you guys ever tried this stuff? They are delicious, and the only thing that you add to the mix is fat free vanilla yogurt, so not only is it fat free, it is so easy that I could ask Avalon to bake them for me while I lay on the couch watching Rachael Ray.
Don’t be fooled though, because it seems that for every healthy food I eat I counteract it with something bad, and by bad I mean really, really good. In fact, last Saturday night Rob and I went out on a date to Carrabbas. You better believe that I had not only a quartino of Sangria, but also an entire loaf of their fresh bread because, Mmmmm, me likey some white, enriched carbs. And as if that wasn’t enough, after our salads (okay, we were good and had salads for dinner) we finished it off with some limoncello bread pudding. See, I told you. Good with bad. Give and take, it’s what I do.
So. One pound down, plenty more to go. I’m still not back on the workout band wagon, thanks to all this hacking and snot dripping out of my nose, but hopefully before the end of the week I’ll be back to my normal daily sweat.
Thank you and goodbye.
Not too long ago my friend Mo and I were discussing our housekeeping woes and how neither of us were happy with our respective vacuums. I would say that my vacuum sucked but that was exactly the problem – it didn’t suck. Instead, it simply just blew all the dog hair and dust around and made an even bigger mess.
So the last time my cleaning lady was here I thought I would ask her which vacuum she preferred, thinking that she would know best, right? And here is what she said: her FAVORITE vacuum, the one she takes with her to all of the houses she cleans, is a $39 Bissell from Walmart. She said she had tried lots of different vacuums, all the up way up to the ridiculous $1,200 ones, and that this particular Bissell was the best.
Because I am a bean counter, I couldn’t have been happier to know that the vacuum of my dreams was less than forty dollars. I had Rob run out and buy one yesterday and he was definitely skeptical thinking that it was a cheap piece of crap, but after he put it together and we gave it a test drive we were both sold. It’s definitely nothing fancy and is just a basic model with a bag, but seriously, you should see the lines in the carpet this thing makes! Be still my heart.
In other consumer news, my sister Courtney was wearing her Temptress hat today when she sent me an email alerting me of a new color of Le Crueset cookware:
How did these people know that this is the exact color of my kitchen?
I’m not sure exactly when I decided that my pots and pans needed to match my walls, but I’m certain that they do now.
And last, but certainly not least, my mom’s newest creation that she’s selling at Orange Tree (though there is the possibility I might sneak in there late one night and steal them off the wall, so here is my fair warning):
I just died. Are these not the coolest paintings ever? Again, kitchen. Need.
Why must my kitchen be so needy?
Hey! Guess what?! You know that post I did all about my weight-loss/fitness goals? And how I was going to weigh in every Sunday and post my progress?
Well I’m already chickening out and a little bit and have decided not to post my weight. It’s just that, well, I have issues but, duh, that’s obvious.
So instead of putting the numbers all up here, I’m just going to remember them in my head and only post my progress. For example, if the universe is really good to me this week, maybe next Monday I’ll be all, HEY! I LOST 2 POUNDS! SQEEEE! And if not, meet me at Dairy Queen.
So, with that taken care of, yes I did weigh myself yesterday and now I know exactly where I am starting at and where I want to end up. I have been cycling and throwing my kettlebell around and have even been thinking about running outside in the frigid temps. Weird, I know.
The eating has been going well too, probably because I’m not being too strict with myself and all0wing myself the free pass at dinner. It makes it a lot easier to eat really healthy during the day when I know I can eat enchiladas for dinner. Needless to say, six o’clock is my favorite time of day, OINK.
******
In other news, today is the first day of no binky for Avalon. She really needed it in the past, but now I’m realizing it’s becoming much more of a hassle than a help. I’m convinced that she’ll sleep better without it after she learns how to self-soothe in other ways. Going in her room all the time to re-plug her when it falls out is getting really old, and I really do think that she’ll sleep much more soundly without it. I know that it only gets harder the longer you wait, so for us today is the day.
Does anybody have any advice on how to do this? On how not to lose your mind? Do I just need to suck it up, put some earplugs in, and ride it out?
I need a Xanax already.
It was really ironic when just a couple of minutes ago I called my sister, Courtney, and our conversation started out with her describing to me the way she’s doing a big Life Overhaul and I was like OMG! Me too! Giggle giggle giggle!
For some reason when I woke up this morning I decided that things were going to change around here. That I needed to slap myself around a little bit and get myself back into shape. That I needed to start eating healthier and working out more often. I knew this day would come eventually, ever since I got pregnant and began to see the numbers on the scale get higher and higher, and alas, the time is finally here to do something about it.
So this is what I’m going to do: I’m going to share it all on my blog! YES! Won’t this be so INTERESTING? And so original!? Another person wanting to share their personal weight loss goals on her blog – REVOLUTIONARY!
But here’s the thing: this is in no way meant to be narcissistic or whatever…although I’m not really sure how admitting your weight and size to the entire world is narcissistic, maybe better described as desperate? Ludicrous? All I want to do is hold myself accountable and stick with my goals, so this is what I have come up with.
Here are the things that I’m going to do.
1. Workout five days a week. I’ve realized that I really have no excuse. I have everything I need in my basement, from my bike/trainer, to a kettlebell, to yoga and Pilates DVDs. I have so many options that there is just no way out. Not only that, I also belong to a kettlebell gym just minutes from my house. And lastly, there’s my parents’ exercise room which has so much equipment that it could rival our local gym.
2. Eat healthier. This is where I stumble, and hard. I would so much rather have my butt kicked in the gym than watch what I eat, but I think I’ve come up with a compromise for myself. I decided that I would closely watch what I eat during the day and then allow myself to eat whatever I want for dinner. I love to cook, and I love to cook dinner especially, so it’s really important to me that I allow myself to eat what I make even if it includes sinful ingredients like butter and cream.
Also, in regards to eating ‘heathier’ (because really, how vague is that?) I’m going to do that by eating REAL food. Clean food. Organic fruits and vegetables, nuts, lean meats. I once heard a nutritionist suggest shopping only around the perimeter of the grocery store where the fresh foods were and to avoid the middle aisles where all the processed, packaged foods are. What a gem that piece of advice is, right?
Also, I’m going to to quit drinking. (Wow, did that just make me sound like an alcoholic? I’m really not. I don’t drink much at all, actually, but we do know how much I enjoy my bloody marys and martinis from time to time.) However, if I want to drink socially on occasion then I’ll allow myself a glass of red wine, and that’s it.
3. Run a half marathon. I did it once during my junior year of college with my mom and there’s no reason why I can’t do it again. I wish I loved running (HATE IT!) and I wish I was good at it (TOTALLY SUCK!). Nonetheless, I guess I will admit that there were moments – few and far between, though – where it was kind of enjoyable, which was mostly after I finished a long run and was able to sit down to a big, greasy breakfast and eat it all guilt-free.
Yes, that was definitely nice.
For the past couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about signing up for our city’s race this summer and have been staring at a picture on my desk of my mom and I at the finish line of my first half marathon with our medals around our necks wondering if I should do it again. Finally I decided to just buck up and do it. It’s at the end of June which means, holy crap, I better start running.
Also, WAHHHH.
4. Drink ahelluvalot of water. I’m really good at drinking Coke Zero, but not so good at drinking water. There are somedays when, at the end of the day, I’ll think back and realize I never even had one glass of water. Horrible. Just horrible. So I intend to change that and am aiming to drink 8 glasses of water a day. Why is this so hard? I don’t know. But it’s gotta happen.
******
So that’s my new and improved Life To-Do List. Here’s the point where I interject and make you all fully aware that although it would be wonderful if I was doing all of these things just to generally improve myself, but that would not be completely true. No, there are REASONS and GOALS that I need to achieve, which are the result of growing and birthing my precious baby.
With that said, here is exactly what I want to accomplish with this new way of living:
1. Get back to my pre-baby weight of 125. I think i gained a total of 33 pounds when I was pregnant, and a lot of it came off right after I delivered. But of course, as almost every mother knows, there’s always those pesky last few pounds that just keep hanging around. I’m officially sick of them and am more than ready to knock them off.
I’m going to make Sundays my weigh-in days, so I’ll post my beginning weight (**shudders**) this Sunday. Then every week after that I will follow up and document whether or not the numbers on the scale are decreasing. And if they don’t I’m going to hide in my closet with a bag of peanut butter M&M’s and just forget about the whole thing.
2. Fit back into my size 4 clothes. This really isn’t about a number but rather about that entire closet full of clothes that don’t fit me right now. I miss all my clothes and I am tired of only wearing 1/8 of the clothes that I own. Also, I’m not a huge fan of weight but care more about how I look and feel in my clothes. This is always the biggest indicator to me of whether or not I’m losing/gaining weight, so until the day comes when I fit back into my David Kahns I’ll be crying into my kettlebell.
******
There it is. All written out for the entire world to see, and hmm, this makes me really wonder if I might be crazy?
Oh, and one last thing to mention: I’m purposefully not putting an end date on all of this. A date where I intend to lose X amount of pounds by X date. I’m not really into that. I’d rather just do my thing and end up wherever I end up whenever it happens.
So here’s to change and The Disappearance of the Remaining Baby Weight.
