Spring Break!

So this last week my kids have been home on spring break. If there is ANYTHING that will test your ability to continue a workout regime, it is having your kids home on break. Or maybe this only applies to moms like myself who have five kiddos between 2 and 9 years old? I am not sure. But one thing I am sure of: it took a LOT to keep myself moving everyday. Of course you are probably wondering, how can this be? You have five kids, surely you must always be moving. Well yes, but I am also accustomed to always moving. So the moving everyday really refers more to the working out beyond my normal activities.

Everyday of this spring break my children have slept until 8 am or later. Everyday I woke up and I was all WHO ARE THESE IMPOSTERS?!? Well they are awfully cute so they must be mine...

 We didn't have much planned for the break. Just hanging out around the house, reading books, visiting the park, and such. We had on trip planned, which was part fun and part business. Johnny had new more powerful, hearing aids waiting for him in St. Pete. So on Wednesday we drove over to Tampa to stay with a friend from college. The next morning we all got up and headed to All Children's hospital. She graciously offered to watch the kids in the waiting room while I went in to Johnny's appointment. Once he was all squared away we were off to the beach. It was so very relaxing!

We went to a church Easter event on Saturday and Easter Sunday we spent with family. Really it was so nice being able to get caught up on sleep, spend time with my babies, and just take it easy during this break. Tomorrow is the beginning of the application process for becoming a Mamavation Mom. Well I say the beginning, it's really just the end of the applications being accepted...and start of official hazing. So you can expect me to be pushing myself even more than I have been, and for good reason! I still have about 20-25 lbs to get to my goal weight. I am not positive exactly where I should end up, since I'm developing muscles I never had before, even at my lightest. But for now, my next lil goal, I just want to lose 5 lbs. That will put me in the 140's again. And I miss those numbers. I don't want to be best friends with them or anything, but a lil visit would be okay. I am really hoping to become a Mamavation Mom this go round, I think the boot camp will be exactly the butt-kicking I need to get me where I want to be. And I want to get there and stay there. No more yo-yo. No more slacking off in the summer. This is my new life. And it's gonna be awesome.

“This post is sponsored by RockMyRun & Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway”

A day at the Beach

Yesterday we were in St. Pete picking up Johnny's new hearing aids. So we decided to make a day of it and visit the beach. It was soo relaxing and nice. The beach normally totally stresses me out because the kids cannot wear their hearing aids or cochlear implants on the beach (I don't want them to be ruined by sand or get wet); and we are still learning ASL, so communicating with them is tougher. We are working on it though, and this is definitely a motivator for me to continue my quest for us to become fluent in ASL. It was a nice change from our beaches though. We live about 5 minutes from the beach, which is awesome. However our beaches have pretty rough waves and a strong riptide. In St. Pete the water was practically flat! We watched dolphins jumping in the surf, and the water was a gorgeous shade of blue.Here are a few pictures from our day at the beach. Enjoy!

Mamavation Monday: What Inspires You?

So today's topic is What Inspires You? Before I joined the Mamavation Community, I had tried repeatedly to become more active, and lose weight. Every time I got to a point that I began to see results, there was always something that would happen that would stop me in my tracks. I would allow it to totally derail me, and then I would be disgusted when I would see the weight come right back.

Back in January, I found myself back in familiar territory. Only this time was slightly different. Over the summer I had gained a few lbs back after working all during the school year to run it off. This past summer we didn't travel to Maine as we had in the past, so the kids and I were cooped up a lot more than normal. I'm a northern girl at heart, and these balmy Florida summers are more than I can handle. So when the school year began again I couldn't wait to get back into my daily runs! However, it just never happened. I got a few runs in each month, but never with much consistency. By the time the holidays arrived I noticed my pants fitter tighter. One day in January, my husband and I were about to go out to breakfast. I felt so stressed out every time I went to get dressed. It seemed like all in a week's time I couldn't fit into ANYTHING I owned. I had a mini-meltdown, crying, tantrum. My husband walked into the other room and waited. He knew better than to patronize me, but he also doesn't understand my frustration because he loves me, no matter what size I am. While I appreciate this (beyond words), sometimes I need him to understand that I need honesty when it comes to my size. A while back my scale had broke, and I hadn't weighed myself. So I went out and got a new scale, and when I stepped on it I was shocked. I was just 8 lbs lighter than my heaviest weight ever. The heaviest I had ever been was when I was 39 weeks pregnant (when I delivered) my 4th child. I was 180 lbs at that time. So here I was, now 2.5 years since having my youngest child and I was 172 lbs. WHY?!?!?! A year ago I had gotten down to about 137 lbs. Then I had gotten up to about 145 and hung out there for a long while. Then suddenly (though not really all that suddenly) here I was in territory I had only ever seen in late pregnancy, EVER. I was never, ever this large, EXCEPT when pregnant. I just couldn't understand how this had happened.

Something needed to change. I don't know if it's my age, or lifestyle, or both. I feel like I am mostly healthy, pretty active. But there are always ways to improve anything we do. So I didn't drink soda....well now I only drink water. So I ran a bit here and there? Well now I run even more, plus do strength training exercises 6 days a week. So I was a vegetarian? Well now I'm trying to eat as clean as possible, eating more than I did before, and trying to make sure my diet i more balanced.  There are definitely ways to improve everything I was doing, to achieve the result I am after.

So back to that little bit about what inspires me.

THIS:

These lil cuties are mine all mine! And they are my inspiration and reason for being. I want to be in the best shape of my life because I want to be the mom they deserve. I want to set the best example of how to live and treat your body that I can. I want them to never know the feelings I have felt about my body. I want them to be active and healthy, so that they never have to struggle the way I have recently.And I want to have the energy needed to always be able to keep up with them, and be happy for them. No one wants a grumpy mama. These babies are my happiness, I want to be theirs.

Two Week Challenge Results!

So today was the ending of the Mamavation Two Week Challenge. I had completed all of the workouts during the challenge, I made sure I hit at least 10,000 steps every day (except for one, I only had 8851), and I tried to do extra things, like running, boot camp workouts, and some pre-Mamavation-Mom-Applicant-hazing workouts. So I have been pushed to the brink these last two weeks. There were days I couldn't lift my arms, and days I could barely move my legs! It has been amazing.

I purposely did not weight myself during this period (aside from taking initial measurements) because I wanted to see what my results would be, without constantly checking on the scale. I also was afraid if I wasn't losing weight I would lose focus and slack off. The first week was the hardest. These workouts are intense! Then, this last week happened. I went to meet up with some other mothers I know, we were working out together, and someone asked if I had lost weight. Well yes, I have! Seventeen pounds! But I have been losing it slowly, not overnight, so hearing it was exciting. I wondered if maybe I had lost more? Things began to fit differently. I don't feel like I am busting out of my own clothing anymore. I am starting to feel progress!

So this morning I took my measurements, and while at first I was a tad disappointed, after a bit I realized that these are actually great numbers! See for yourself: 

 Start weight: 154.2 lbs                End weight: 154.6 lbs
 Start waist: 32 in                         End Waist: 30.5 in
 Start Hips: 38.75                         End Hips: 37 in
 Start Thighs: R: 23 L:22.75        End  Thighs: R: 20 L:18.75

So while I was at first disappointed that I GAINED 0.4 lbs in the last two weeks, I LOST 10.25 inches!!! This is crazy!! So perhaps I didn't lose a ton of weight. But clearly I built muscle this week. Which is something I have been working towards. Part of my goal, is to have my best body ever. It's not just about the number on the scale, but also about building my body into the best shape it can be. That means eating right and building muscle. It was amazing to see such great results in the last two weeks. I am so excited about the results I will continue to see if I keep pushing myself this way, which I fully intend to do of course!

Which reminds me! The deadline for applying to be the next Mamavation Mom is April 1st! I have already applied, and would love to see others, like myself, find success through the Mamavation community. If you have a minute I'd love if you would show some support by Tweeting this out"
"Hey @bookieboo! I want @LaundryDayBlues to be the next #Mamavation Mom. She has my support! http://bit.ly/aorv3Y "

Week Two, Day 4

Today was a pretty intense day fitness-wise. When I first awoke I saw that I had a notification on my phone that I had been tagged in the Mamavation forums. As requested (by myself) +Leah Segedie had assigned me 100 burpees to do as early hazing Part of the application process to become a Mamavation Mom includes hazing, wherein the applicants are given various assignments ranging from burpees, pushups, jumping jacks, etc. Clearly 100 burpees is pretty intensive, so I broke it up into sets of 20. After each set I did another chore, then went back to doing the burpees. Before I knew it I had done 100 burpees, and picked up the morning mess. Then it was the pyramids from the Two Week Challenge. So by the time all was said and done my arms were about ready to fall off!

After a while a new assignment was given. Two sets of 25 lunges per leg, and three sets of 50 jumping jacks. Maybe this is just a mom-of-five thing, but jumping jacks make me have to pee!

This morning for breakfast I had plain oatmeal, well it wasn't completely plain. I did add about a Tbsp of honey to it, which was delicious. I was very busy after that. With all my workouts and housework, I totally skipped right past lunch. Which stunk, because I had a good lunch planned, and by the time I realized it, I needed to get the kids. I drank a ton of water today, which might be why I didn't feel as hungry. But by dinner time I was definitely feeling it. I made a small salad of greens topped with tuna fish, salsa, and peppers. Then I had a few slices of tomato with avocado on top, and a side of steamed green beans. It was a wicked good meal. 

Tomorrow I plan to run a 10K in the morning. Hopefully the weather is in the mood to cooperate! It was absolutely gorgeous today and would have been great running weather if I could have found the time.

Two Week Challenge, Week 3 Day 3

Today's workout is Ab blaster. O am going to be doing it very shortly. Again I am doing the more challenging set of exercises. I REALLY want to see some results! I am trying to push myself in all that I am doing.

This morning we got off to a great start, I met up with some of my Moms Run This Town (MRTT) running buddies and we ran the Jelly Bean 5K. There is a 10K also, which I am planning to run on Thursday evening. Grayson enjoyed his ride in my double jogger, and I had a time of 37:30 which is not bad considering I was pushing my double jogger. He even ran a little bit himself.

For breakfast this morning I ate very light, just a banana, as I cannot run on a full stomach.For lunch today I made a smoothie with 8 oz soymilk, protein powder, a frozen banana cut up, and a Tbsp of natural peanut butter. It was so good. Dinner was more roasted veggies and a salad, topped with avocado. It might seem odd to some, but I actually hate salad dressing. So I love putting things like avocado or tuna/salsa or even a boiled egg on my salad to add a lil extra something. I ended the day with 16,085 steps today. Not too shabby! I am hoping to complete a 10K Friday and then the another Anywhere5K on Saturday.

Two Week Challenge, Week 2 Day 2.

Today I decided that I would increase my workouts by switching to the more challenging set of workouts for the Two Week Challenge. I did Burn It, and boy did I! Thankfully no one was home aside from my 2 year old, who was napping at the time. I was so disgusting and sweaty by the time I was done. This of course is awesome! I has a lovely salad with tuna, avocado, and tomatoes for lunch. And for dinner I had some roasted veggies (sweet potatoes, zucchini, carrots, broccoli) and it was so good! I swear it was like eating candy. I had intended to incorporate another protein in there but I got sidetracked and totally forgot it. I ate an apple for a late snack. All in all it was a good day. My steps ended up just barely over 10K but I did at least hit that goal.

Mamavation Monday:

Today is day one of our second week in the two week challenge. Last week left me feeling exhausted and sore EVERY DAY. I loved it though! Having yesterday off was wonderful and relaxing.

 I spent the day with my husband and kids, taking out a couple hours to do a 2 year old's birthday photos. She is such a lil cutie pie, and is near and dear to our family as well. Like my son, Joseph, she wears cochlear implants to hear. Our families have grown close over the last year or so, and I find it a privilege to take pictures marking such a special occasion for them! Actually, right now she is in the midst of a contest to be featured as a model for MEd-El (the manufacturer of her cochlear implants) and could use a few more votes. So if you have a spare moment and can go and "like" this photo on FB, I know her mama would be thrilled! Here is the link : Click Here and go "Like" this photo! 

When I returned home I whipped up dinner and some "pupcakes" for our wonderful dog, Bailey. Yesterday was Bailey's first birthday. She loved her special treat, and so did the kids. And the best part of it was that it was totally healthy! I found the recipe here: RunDMT's Peanut Butter Pupcakes!  My kidds approved of the cupcake portion, but the icing was more than they could handle. Bailey, of course, LOVED them. Today Bailey is at the vet having her leg examined. A few days ago she started limping off and on and favoring her left rear leg. I'm worried she has torn her ligament, or injured her hip somehow. We hoped a couple days rest would improve the situation, but it hasn't, so off to the vet she went. So if you could keep her in your thoughts, we'd really like to have a non-surgical outcome! Thank-you!

The Birthday Girl!

So back to the wonderful Two Week Challenge, today is Pyramids. I LOVE these. When you start them, you think, not so bad. But then as you continue on it gets increasingly difficult. They are so very effective too! I am about to get to work on that as soon as I publish this post.  This morning for breakfast I had a bowl of oatmeal, with just a touch a honey and a bit of soymilk. It was pretty good. I had a banana for a snack. Lunch was tuna fish again with a tbsp of salsa on top of a small salad consisting of lettuce, tomato, and carrots. Still trying to decide what will be for dinner tonight since I will have my ASL class final test. Wish me luck!


“This post is sponsored by ReUsies™ & Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women. I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway”

Two Week Challenge- Week One Overview

So week one of the two week challenge is complete! I was so utterly exhausted on Saturday that I failed to get on here and post, but I felt that the week was pretty successful! Saturday's workout was Ab Blaster again. It was definitely a great workout, and I was ready to give up about half way through, I was so tired! I did not give up though, and once I pushed through and got done I was so relieved to be done. I finished Saturday off with a nice 4.7 mile run over the causeway. It was beautiful out, the temperature was 68 degrees and there was a warm breeze blowing. My time was 57 minutes and 38 seconds. This has been the pace I've been keeping lately and I am so proud of it. Am I super fast? No way. Am I super proud? YES!! Before I joined Mamavation, I was running the same distance in about 1 hour and 7 minutes, obviously taking more walking breaks along the way. Since my first time applying to become a Mamavation Mom, I have incorporated more strength training into my routine, and it seems to be helping my running out in way I never imagined. I cannot wait to see how my body responds to this two week challenge. If the sore muscles are any indication, I should see some great results next week!

2 Week Challenge Day 5

Today's workout was again Burn It. Oh man did I. By the time I was halfway through the workout I was ready to give up. All of my muscles were burning for sure. But I pushed through, and I was so very glad when it was over! I didn't start my work out until about 3:30 pm today. I got in 11, 327 steps today. I again forgot my pedometer while doing the workout on the beach this morning, but I hit my goal regardless, so it was not too big a deal.

Of course, it might not have been as difficult if I had not already worked out this morning. Oh who am I kidding, it still would have been hard! I think every muscle in my body is aching right now. And I LOVE it. It is that sore, ache. The kind that means good things are happening. At least I hope they are! This morning in our beach boot camp we worked on butts and guts. I failed to write down what the exercises we did were, so I don't have a breakdown today. But there was a lot of squatting and of course about a dozen ab specific exercises. And suicide runs, my absolute favorite. We started out with a grid of 9 exercises. We had to pick three, do 25 reps of each, then run one suicide run, then do 75 criss-cross jumps. Next we picked two exercises, did 25 reps of each, ran 2 suicide runs, and then did 50 criss-cross jumps. And then 25 reps of one more exercise, 3 suicide runs, and 25 criss-cross jumps. We then did a 20 minute times workout making the rounds of various exercise stations. And finished things out with something the trainer called "Bob's Challenge". Apparently it is taken from the show, "The Biggest Loser", I've not watched anytime recently...but it was hard!

Today I ate much better food than yesterday. For breakfast I ate a little granola (only 120 calories worth) and a banana.  For lunch and dinner both I had salad (lettuce, tomato, carrot, snap peas, tuna fish, salsa). It was simple and fulfilling. I chose to eat it for lunch and dinner mainly b/c I didn't think I'd eat the tuna the next day and I didn't want to waste it.

I was kinda in the mood for a run tonight. Last night, as sore as I was, running actually felt really good on my legs. And I am still very sore, so I was just picturing how good it would feel to run the causeway, headphones on, just me and the pavement. But I have to get up tomorrow and bring the kids to a surfing competition and my husband will be working, and I am so tired and sore. So I opted instead to take the night off, I did work out twice today afterall! and I will run tomorrow night instead. Today was a good day.

2 Week Challenge Day 4

Today was a not so great day. But it wasn't all bad. Today was a struggle because I failed to manage my time properly, and b/c of said failure to manage time, I wound up eating crap!

For breakfast I ate two eggs scrambled with a tablespoon of salsa, and a banana. Off to a great start! Then I left the house, forgot my pedometer when I had to change into warmer clothing, and didn't get home until 4 hours later. I ate a grilled cheese for lunch.  Not the best choice. Not even a good choice. But it get's better..or is it worse?? I completed my pyramids, laundry, floor cleaning, all while helping the kids do homework. We had to deliver a cub scout fundraiser to someone on our way to girl scouts, so dinnertime was rushed. I  made the kids pancakes b/c I hadn't planned dinner. As we left I ate a pancake. Just one, with no butter or syrup. My planned dinner was salad with tuna and salsa on top. Sounds weird but it's yummy. But again...time management. Ugh. So no salad for me. I left girl scouts at 7:45 pm. Had to run by the grocery store to get something my husband needed for work. then went home, put my daughter to bed, changed again, and off to the causeway I went to run with my running buddies at 8:45.  We ran 4.7 miles in just 1 hour and 7 min. Not a great time but if you consider that we walked about a mile of it, not bad. So it has been a long, long day. Oh, and I ended the day with 14, 368 steps. So it was not a great day, but it was okay.

The Mamavation 2 Week Challenge!

So as I mentioned, yesterday was the beginning of the Mamavation 2 Week Challenge. Everyday there is a new workout to perform. Yesterday we did what was called pyramids. Each assigned strength training exercise is performed first with one rep, then two, then three, and so on until you have completed 10 reps...thus completing the pyramid. It sounds soo easy..HA!

Today's workout is called Burn It. And let me tell you, it did! This is a breakdown of the workout today:

Burn It

All Weeks

Daily Goal:10,000 steps

Warm-up: Foot Fires 1 minute

Workout:

Burpees x10

Alternating Lunge x16

Squats x10

Kick and Lunge x10 each side

Burpees x12

Alternating Lunges x20

Squats x12

Kick and Lunge x12 each side

Burpees x12

Alternating Lunges x20

Squats x12

Kick and Lunge x12each side

Burpees x10

Alternating Lunges x16

Squats x10

Kick and Lunge x10 each

side

Yesterday these were my meals:
Eggs on a plain English muffin

Lunch was terrible since I was out running around and didn't want fast food. I grabbed a banana when I got home. Dinner was amazing, I tried a recipe (which I tweaked) for garbanzo bean soup. I will post the recipe later this week.

I am not sure where I ended up with my steps for the day . I was using a pedometer on my phone before but forgot to turn it on. I had to return a defective pedometer to the store...so I didn't start tracking with that till 2:30 pm...and I had 2543 when I sat down for the night.

2 Week Challenge Day 3

So today was day three of the challenge and our assigned workout was the Ab blaster. But before I completed that I went over to the beach and worked out with a group. We did the following exercises:

We completed each circuit 3 times, doing each exercise for 50 seconds then 10 sec break, then next exercise. After each circuit we had a 30 sec rest for water. After everything we did some cool down stretches. This workout was a focus on legs....and boy were they sore after! And my butt was too! 

Circuit 1:
Step Ups w/plyo
Calf Raises
Burpees 4, 4 tuck jumps, 4 high knees

Circuit 2:
Repeater Knees
Walking Lunges w/weights
Jesse's Jumps (touch ground, jump up, crossing legs in then out)

15 Min Challenge:
Weighted Curtsy (10 on each side)
Prisoner Get-Ups (15)
Jump Ups (like box jumps?, 15)
Pop-ups w/weight (20)
Sprints (4) 


For the Ab Blaster workout I did the following:

Daily Goal:

10,000 steps

Try to complete this entire routine in one

session

(take short breaks if needed):

Warm-up:

Foot Fires 1 min

Workout:

Sit-ups x10

Plank 30 seconds

Crunches x10

Side Plank (Right) 25 seconds

V-ups x10

Side Plank (Left) 25 seconds

Leg Lifts x10

Sit-ups x12

Plank 35 seconds

Crunches x12

Side Plank (Right) 30 seconds

V-ups x 12

Side Plank (Left)30 seconds

Leg Lifts x12

Sit-ups x10

Plank 30 seconds

Crunches x10

Side Plank (Right) 25 seconds

V-ups x10

Side Plank (Left) 25 seconds

Leg Lifts x10

This was definitely a touch workout. I am not the best at planks, but I tried to hold them for the full time. I was drenched in sweat by the time it was over! I ended the day with 10,341 steps. My food was crappy today. I skipped breakfast then ate a granola bar. For lunch I ate leftover garbanzo bean soup which was delicious. And for dinner I ate red pepper soup. Also delicious. Tomorrow will be better!