Hiccup...Day 8

I feel good today. I woke up at 5:15 and did Ripped in 30, then did another 15 minutes of a Jillian Michaels ab video. But I have to admit, I skipped Tuesday and Wednesday. Boo. Boo on me. But you know what? That's ok, because I'm not stopping or quitting or throwing away the entire week. I'm sticking with it. I have bad days, but I'm moving forward!

I have been struggling with the issue of when to work out. In the evenings? But I just. want. to. relax. I go all day and after I put Weston down, I like to spend time with my husband, pick up my house, clean my kitchen, take a bath....not work out.

I could work out right when I get home. Yeah right. With a 4 month old baby who gets fussy in the evening? I can't squeeze 10 minutes of uninterrupted time in when Weston is awake, much less 45 minutes. And you know what? I don't want to work out when Weston is still up. I only get to spend about 2 hours with him in the evening and I'm not willing to sacrifice that time to workout, even if he were to sit there quietly. That's good quality mama and baby time and I eat up every second of it.

So how about lunch at work? Well....I guess I could work out then. And I did once. But then I'm all sweaty and have to scarf down my lunch. And I just feel like a hot mess for the rest of the day. Plus I use my lunch break to run to the grocery store at least once a week so I don't have to go after work. So...lunch isn't a good option either.

Mornings? But I'm tired. No, I'm exhausted. EXHAUSTED! 6:30 rolls around too early as it is. Why would I want to change that to 5:15?? I wouldn't. I don't. So mornings don't work either.

You see the pattern? Do you??!? No good time to work out. I wish I was one of those people who had a good time to work out. Wait...THOSE PEOPLE DON'T EXIST.

I (you...we) can make excuses all we want, but the truth is, you have to MAKE time to exercise. It's never going to be convenient, and you're always always ALWAYS going to have something you'd rather be doing. But I want to get stronger, healthier, and leaner. I want it more than an extra hour of sleep. I want it more than a bubble bath. I want it more than a chocolate chip cookie. I want it bad! So I'm going to continue to work towards it. One day at a time.


When do you work out? What do you use as motivation? How do you stay consistent and what do you do when you have an 'off'' day?

Day 5: A day off

I wasn't planning for Sunday to be my day off for the week, but Matt came home and we ran some errands, got home late (meaning 7:30, which is late in baby-time), and I decided to take the night off. I used the evening to prepare my lunches and snacks for the week. I made salads for each day of the week and put mixed berries into containers to take as afternoon snacks.

I have found that preparation plays a HUGE role in my eating habits. I can write out the menus, make the lists, buy the groceries, and plan on eating healthy all week, but if I don't go ahead and chop my veggies, make my salads, and even grill chicken ahead of time (for lunches), I find myself throwing a frozen pizza in the oven for dinner. Or I rush out the door in the morning without making my lunch and wind up eating a burger and fries. Boo. And spending $$ on that burger and fries. Double boo. Don't get me wrong, I like burgers and fries. And pizza. And mexican food and chocolate and chips and cheese. But I'm trying to get healthier. I'm trying to make changes that will turn into habits that will give me a healthier life.

So tonight, I reunite with Jillian Michaels.

Day 4 and a weekend with Weston

I'm 4 days in and don't mind the workouts nearly as much as I did days 2 and 3. I'm trying to make healthy changes to my diet too. I'm getting bored with week 1 of the Ripped in 30 series and am ready for week 2, where I'm sure I'll meet a whole new round of soreness. Onto more exciting (and cuter) things...

Matt was gone this weekend so it was just me and Weston. We ran some errands Saturday morning and visited my sister-in-law and Weston's cousins Saturday afternoon. Weston took his first dip in a pool and wasn't crazy about it. We'll try again in a month or 2. It was so nice to get to spend the whole day with my little man :) I can't get enough of this guy. But we missed his dad and can't wait for him to get home this afternoon!

Day 3

Day 3 is done! The workout isn't as bad as day 1, and I can tell my body is already getting used to working out again. Hooray! My muscles are still sore, but it's not unbearable. 3 more days of week 1 then I'm on to week 2! Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Day 2 and Some Extra Goodness

Day 2 is done! I am sore. And tired. And my jello-like arms can barely support my hands to write this post. But I finished. And I didn't have the same....issue as yesterday. Hooray! I did this workout. I also did 3 miles on the treadmill at work on my lunch break. I know working out is never easy, but I don't remember it being this hard. I don't mean physically, I mean finding the motivation. Fortunately I've got this blog and some great friends holding me accountable. My point is, however, that I know it will get easier. Once it becomes habit and routine, I like to think I won't dread it quite as much. Anyway, my sweet husband got home right at the end of my workout. He was impressed that I kept my lunch down.

Post workout. 

 With my bored dogs fan club.

On a baby note, I tried cereal with Weston tonight. It was cute, but mostly just messy. He ate quite a bit though. And smeared almost as much all over his face.

And then looked so cute I could have kissed him for hours after his bath. But he is in a moody phase these past few days so I snuck in about a minute's worth of sugar then called it quits.

By the way, I work out after I put my little pumpkin to bed. I think a lot of people have chill babies who just sit there and entertain themselves for 10, 15, 30 minutes at a time. I don't have one of those babies. He has a 2 minute attention span and is quite verbal about his need for someone to hold/carry/play with him. Because of this it's difficult to work out, cook, clean, go to the bathroom, and/or relax while little one us up. I enjoy it since I don't get to see him all day while I'm at work, but some days it's just plain exhausting. Babies are hard, by the way. In case you didn't know. A whole post on that to come.

Day 1 of 42

Day one was rough. I realized just how awfully out of shape I am. You would think I'd already know this, since I haven't worked out consistently in....excluding the month before my wedding....err years. But nope, it came as quite a shock last night when, 25 minutes into my 35 minute workout video, I had to stop and go hurl. True story. I won't go into details because a) no one really want to hear the details and 2) it's rather embarrassing that the situation occured at all. I did go back in, rewind my video, and finish the workout. In the future, I won't work out right after dinner. Bad idea.  I won't let myself get this badly out of shape either. Also a bad idea.

I am doing Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 series. My friend Whitney showed me this website where you can view tons of workout videos for free (yippee!). So at least I got my big butt kicked for free.

I started thinking about the last time I was really confident in the way I looked in a swimsuit and I dug up a picture of close to that time. This is before my junior year of college when some girlfriends and I went to Destin, Florida for some fun. I worked out enough, but I didn't develop the healthy habits I'm working on this time. I read something good today. It said, if you want to change your life, you have to start by changing your lifestyle.

I'm on the right....that's my gorgeous skinny friend Tabitha on the left.

P.S. I want to go back to Florida. After I get in shape.

Six Week Challenge

Eeek. Here we go. So you know how I had a baby? That happened on February 8th. 19 weeks ago....133 days ago. You know how many times I've worked out since February 8th? Probably 5 times. Drat. And I've got about 58 excuses (legitimate ones!) for why I haven't worked out. But I'm OVER these last 7-ish pounds of prego weight. Ok, chick-fil-a and taco cabana played their part in those 7 lbs, but like I said, I'm over it.

I used to work out regularly and I felt better, had more energy, slept better, and ate better. There is some creepy effect in me where my body wants to eat healthy when I'm working out. That desire doesn't usually exist. And if the desire does pop up occasionally, it's usually gone by lunch. Just sayin. And I've been pinning workout tips, tricks, and moves that will give me a rock hard this or that, toned arms, or skinny legs. But I don't actually DO them....that seems to be my problem area...going from virtual exercises to actual exercises. Gotta work on that.

By the way, while we're being honest, I'll go ahead and admit that my tone high school body wasn't around before I got pregnant. That gal has been gone for quite awhile. I miss her. I think my husband does too.

With that said, I'm starting a 6 week challenge with one of my best gal pals. There isn't a weight loss goal (for me), but I'm just challenging myself to work out 45 minutes, 6 days a week for 6 straight weeks. This is going to be hard for me. I feel like every minute of my day from 6:00 AM to 8:30 PM is taken. But excuses aren't going to get these love handles handled, now are they? I seem to work better when I'm held accountable. (Don't we all?) So this blog is my accountability. For the next 6 weeks I'll post my workouts. I'm not saying it will be interesting, but it will hold me accountable. I've taken "Before" pictures, but I'm not brave enough to post them. Not yet at least. For now, this gem (taken January 23) will have to do.

Do you guys work out regularly? What keeps you motivated? Why do you usually stop working out? If you read this and want to do the 6 week challenge with me, please do! It's 42 days....piece of cake. Yumm....

This Little Light of Mine

I've been sitting on this blog for a month now...wondering what I wanted to write about. The baby? The husband? The job? Cooking, or clothing, or dogs, or healthy living? Well I intend to cover all of those topics and more. Eventually. For now, i'll start with a moment. A moment I want to remember forever and ever.

I was putting my puddin' to bed last night, same routine as always...bath, bottle, rocking and singing to him. Now I count it as a win if/when Weston doesn't scream when I rock him. Last night was a good night. No screaming, no crying. He finished his bottle and laid in my arms as I sang "This Little Light of Mine." My sweet little boy reached up and put his dimpled little hand on my cheek and 'sang' back to me. It was the best. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. It only lasted for 15 seconds, but it was enough to make the last 4 months of 24/7, round-the-clock, sleep-deprived, hard, HARD work worth every minute of it. I love that boy. And you know what? He loves me too. My mom says this moment is one of many more to come. I can't wait.