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.