Week one done!

We did it!  We made it through week one!  Just finished Kenpo, tomorrow is a rest day or we can do the stretch.  I'll be doing the stretching for sure, my poor body is going to be SORE.  I will say, it has made a huge difference working out together.  Last time we were taking turns, one would do it and then the other, because Emberlyn wasn't sleeping so well.  We decided this time to workout together and what a world of difference it has made.  The hour goes by so quick, we get to joke around with each other and push each other to keep going.

I highly recommend a workout partner because of this.  I've always read that having a workout partner is a great way to stay motivated, but I didn't think much of it.  But I'm a believer now.  So do it, find a partner, make it a priority, and get moving!

Now to go enjoy a beautiful, sunny day.

Much Love!

Bring It!

After a bit of a hiatus (three months is only a bit, right?), we have restarted our journey to physical wellness with P90X.  Steven and I have been busy.  I don't mean kinda busy, I mean birthdays, anniversary, family vacations, trips, reunions, starting my own business, major event at work busy. Which means we didn't make our health a priority.  We put it on the back burner.  We slacked.  Majorly.

Please understand, I'm not making excuses by saying we were so busy we couldn't find time to exercise.  Because that would be lying to you.  There is ALWAYS time to exercise, if you make it a priority.  But we didn't.  We made sitting on the couch at the end of the day a priority.  Video games and TV shows, Facebook, web surfing.  Those were our priorities at the end of our days for the past three months.

Yesterday we pushed play.  We did it.  We got off the couch and pushed play.  And it felt goooood.  Really good.  We didn't make it all the way through the first workout.  But we pushed play and we brought it as hard as we could.  We pushed play today too.  My legs are like jello and I'm tired, but we did it. 

Steven and I have decided to both do the classic P90X workout instead of me doing the lean version.  So the last two days we've been done our workouts together and I have to say, it's a lot more fun having a partner right there with you.  I think this will be an added bonus for us.  It gives us something to bond over, look forward to together, without the kids needing us or wanting to be a part of it.  I'm loving it.

So while we took a hiatus, we are back.  And we are going to push play, every day.  Even if it's 20 minutes a day, we will make this our priority.

You can do it to.  Make your health a priority.  Make your spirit a priority.  Just do it.

Oh it's been a while...

EEK!  Hi there.  I'm feeling a little sheepish right now since my last post was on April 6th.  It's amazing how easy it is to fall off the wagon.  We took a bit of a hiatus on our work-out, but I'm proud to say we are back!  Life gets busy and some reason, working out took a back seat to everything else.  So we were off schedule for a week and a half, but started back again on Monday and have been bringing it ever since.

I will say though, that while we may not have been working on our physical wellness, our journey emotionally and spiritually was (and is) still going strong.  I went to a two-day leadership conference for nonprofit organizations which was AWESOME, my work (Volunteers In Medicine Clinic - check us out at http://www.vim-clinic.org/) held our annual auction event which had me running and raised over $250,000 AND Steven and I have been working together as partners really, really well.  So while p90x took a back seat to life, the rest of our journey moved forward.  And that is success in my book.

I don't have a lot else to report right now.  Work is super slammed right now, life is moving quickly with upcoming  birthday parties for both girls, our anniversary and of course Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day, so my head is spinning. 

All I can say is... make time for yourself.  That is one thing I missed about working out.  It's an hour for myself.  Just for me.  Me and Tony Horton telling me what to do (that bastard!).  I love that hour and I'm glad I'm back into it.  And also... if you do fall off the horse, get back up.  You'll be proud that you did.

Much love!

Chef's Night Out

What an awesome night we had last night!  I was given tickets to Chef's Night Out, which is an annual benefit for Food For Lane County (check it out here http://www.foodforlanecounty.org/).  It's an event where over 50 area restaurants, wineries and breweries come together and provide samples of their food.  All proceeds go to Food For Lane County and let me tell you... it was AMAZING.  Steven and I had an absolute blast!  You would think we ate a ton, but since all the servings are a single bite (or two maybe), and we made the concious decision to stay away from pasta, we actually didn't eat any more than we would have had at dinner.  But every bite was delicious (minus a weird smoked fish taco that tasted like tobacco... won't be going to that place anytime soon).  We even skipped majority of the desserts, and those that we did try, we only took a single bite instead of eating the whole thing.  Huge steps!

Here we are on our way out:

So after our rest night (and a fabulous, fun one at that!), tonight was the start of week four.  After three weeks of this journey, I'm really seeing a difference.  Not only in my physical appearance, but in my mental and emotional state as well.  I'm calmer, I'm more patient and I'm happier.  Not eating all the crap, taking care of myself, and working hard are really changing my life.  Steven feels the same way.  We've got a long way to go, but I'm pretty happy with the path we are on.

Oh... and getting up early in the morning?  Yeah... really not my style.  Did it twice, hasn't happened again.  A snuggly baby and a warm bed keep me firmly anchored until the final buzz of the alarm forces me out of bed.  But that's okay. 

Push forward, whatever goal you have.  You can reach it.  We are, a day at a time.

Much Love!

A beautiful day!

Nothing like the sunshine to bring out the smiles all across town!  After a month straight of rain (per the newspaper, we got at least a trace of rain every single day in March), I was so happy for such a gorgeous day.

The past two mornings I've been getting up early to work out and it's been fabulous!  But this morning I bailed on that idea because after a rough week of teething for Emberlyn, she finally had a good, solid night of sleep and I was enjoying it right along with her.  But around 7:00 tonight, the realization that I had a workout to do was starting to weigh on me.  You see, we took Emberlyn swimming today, then went to an amazing fundraiser Susannah and her 7th grade class put on to help Japan (Susannah even got up and spoke, I was so proud I cried!) and then after all the excitement we came home and Steven headed off to the batting cages.

All I wanted to do was relax.  Maybe space out on some TV.  Fall asleep early.  You know... be lazy.  I thought about skipping my workout.  I'll be honest, it didn't appeal to me in the least and I thought "what can it hurt, it's just one workout".  Steven got home from the batting cages and I told him I was tired and didn't think I was going to do my workout.  I kind of expected (hoped) he would say "that's okay, we did go swim for an hour, just skip it, relax".  But he didn't.  He instead pointed out how great I would feel when I was done (yeah... right) and how I should just get up and do it.  I hated him a little at that moment.  Then he said "and look at you, your belly is shrinking, you've already started to thin out and it has only been two weeks!"  And that my friends is what got my lazy, sit around and do nothing, fall asleep early butt off the couch.  He was right!  I have already lost inches.  My stomach is smaller.  My abs are getting back in shape.  My hips don't hurt anymore.  This is good stuff!

So here I am, at 11:00 on a Friday night, just having finished my workout.  Guess what?  I feel amazing.  Awesome.  Energized.  Accomplished.  It was totally worth it. 

Now, a quick note about the fundraiser tonight.  I'm a professional fundraiser.  It's what I do for a living.  I also give my time to charity.  Since Susannah was very little, I've shown her both by example and by having her help me, what it means to give back.  When her 7th grade class was asked by their teacher if they wanted to do something to help, Susannah jumped right in to take on not just a coin drive, or a bake sale, but a "Concert for Japan".  We are talking donated pizza, a bake sale, a coin drive, three bands and a dance crew.  Flyers, press releases, the works.  Susannah and I go through a lot.  She's a moody 12-year old girl.  We butt heads.  A lot.  To see her take the lead on something so big and important, to see it be successful and to know that she has learned that from me... well I can't even put into words how it makes me feel.  I am beaming with pride.  It's like she really does look up to me.  And that is one of the best things a mother could ask for.

It was a beautiful day today. 

Much love!

It happens sometimes...

Last night was our "rest day".  We could have caught up to what we had missed on Friday and not had a rest day until next Tuesday, but we took the easy way out.  We decided to truly rest.  I was in bed before 9:00.  But... our rest day also came with a horrible eating day for me.  Instead of making something delicious and nutritious, I made something delicious and filled with fat and carbs.  I shredded chicken, mixed it with jalapenos, cream cheese and cheddar cheese, baked until bubbly and then we used tortillas and chips as the serving mechanism.  It was amazing.  Delicious. Decadent.  And horrible for us.

I woke up this morning and boy did I feel it.  I was super bloated and felt like utter crapola.  I had heartburn (which I haven't had since before we started) and I looked like crap.  On top of it all, I was dehydrated.  It was awful.

But guess what I did?  I woke up at 5:30 this morning.  A full two hours before I usually wake up. And I worked out.  And I drank water... lots of it.  And it felt AWESOME. 

Yes, you read that right.  I woke up at 5:30 this morning and it felt AWESOME.  Not only did it feel great, but Emberlyn slept soundly curled up next to Steven while I worked out.  I didn't have to stop a single time in the full hour to nurse her back to sleep.  It felt so good, I'm going to do it again tomorrow!  The realization that: one - I can wake up early, two - it won't kill me and three - I have my whole evening free now is an awesome motivator to continue getting up.

That and I kind of wanted to prove myself wrong from my last blog post.  I am a morning person.  I wake up smiling every single day.  Why not just wake up two hours earlier?

So while I blew my day yesterday, I woke up bright and early this morning and made up for it.  I've already made healthier choices today (I was getting a bit lax about what I eat during the days) and I've already kicked butt on my workout. 

Never give up.  Never say to yourself that because you messed up one day, the rest of it is blown.  You'll feel better when you get right back to it.

Much Love!

You go first... no you go first... no, I insist...

Our biggest challenge right now is finding time to workout.  Steven and I do the same workouts but are unable to do them at the same time because of Emberlyn.  You see, we co-sleep.  Emberlyn likes to have one of us near her while she is sleeping.  When we first get her down at night, it takes a while for her to get into a deep sleep, so if we are both out working out, jumping around, making noise, she will wake up.  Which means we have to go through the bedtime routine again and again.  It's just easier for one of us to hang out in the bed while the other one works out.  Which is where I am right now as she falls deeper asleep.

The challenge is... who goes first? Because whoever goes second is going to be working out until 10:00 or later.  Now you might be saying to yourself "hey dummies, why not work out in the morning?  Just get up early!"  Umm yeah... we aren't morning people.  At all.  Now, we could be morning people.  That is just another challenge we would have to get past. One that neither of us find particularly appealing.  So we find ourselves each night saying "go ahead, I'll hang out with the baby while you work out" and the other one insists the opposite.  You see, we both love our workouts, but we love each other more.  We don't want the other one to stay up super late working out while we are unwinding from our workout.  It makes us feel guilty.

We don't really have a set in stone solution.  Tonight we are trying Steven first.  He's been unselfish enough to let me go first lately, but Emberlyn tends to want me in bed with her when she wakes up.  So far, so good.  She's falling deeper asleep while he works out.  Let's hope she stays that way so I can make it through my workout with having to stop to nurse her back to sleep.

It's a challenge, this working out stuff.  Especially as a co-sleeping, nursing mama.  But it's a challenge I am willing to face every day, because I feel better and better with each workout.

What challenges do you need to overcome?  What solutions work for you?  Give it some thought.  If it is important enough, you will find a way.

Much Love.