Indulgent Weekend

Saturday we were supposed to go to my brother's house for a family celebration of all the January birthdays. Unfortunately his wife got sick; really sick. So it was canceled. But my mother decided that the girls needed to spend the night at their house (they had an absolute ball, btw!) and Bill and I were to have a night out.

So off to the gym I went and walked 3.5 miles. I jogged a few times in there but did not do the interval thingy all the way through. I was on the tread mill for 50 minutes. When I got off my feet hurt so bad. Turns out that my shoes have this bar like thing running under them between my arch and heal. Today I am still in minor pain from it. But it took about 2 hours for me to be able to walk on my feet after the work out. It did not hurt at first, but after I drove home and got out of the car I could hardly stand up. Not good. Today I purchased new shoes. Here is hoping they are better!!

Anyway, I got home, showered and changed, and Bill and I went to a movie and out to dinner. I decided I would have a little bit of popcorn, but not much. I am not a big popcorn fan so this was easy to say No to. But we then went to Blue Fin ... a Japanese Steak House. I ate. and ate. I would be willing to say that the food was not that bad calorie wise, if you only eat a small portion. I ate: 3 spicy tuna sushi roll pieces, 3 grilled shrimp appetizers, grilled veggies, a huge helping of noodles, almost all the fried rice, and about 2/3 of the steak. burp. It was not my intention to eat so much, but I guess I was not really paying attention and it was so damn good.

Today it is now 9:30 and I should go downstairs and work out. But my feet hurt. So I am taking a day off. It has been 2 weeks since I have taken a day off. I feel a bit guilty! Especially since I was planning on working really hard and being extra good this week. Oh well. The best laid plans.

I want to get serious about doing this C25K program on the treadmill. I think it will take me a few weeks to get up to speed on the first week. I will have to push myself harder than I have been too. I hate running, have I mentioned that before? Not sure why I decided to do this, but I know it will be good for my body, so .....

Well, I keep ya posted on my running progress. Tomorrow back to normal workout schedule!

Milestones

I have been working out virtually every day since Dec. 26th. I think I missed 3 days in there. Some days were definitely light on the effort meter, others were quite heavy. But all in all I have been dedicated. This is only the second time in my life that I have been so consistent in working out on my own. The other time I was going to have surgery, and decided I did not want to weigh in over 200lbs for surgery, so my but got moving! And it kept moving for two or three months!

I did join the gym w/Trish. (well, I have a free week and then I will join) We met up last night, and while it was not the hardest of workouts, it was a decent effort while I got used to the equipment and facility. I found out just how weak my upper body really is. Ug - and I used to be so very strong. Oh well, we can change that too.

Anyway - my milestone today: I have lost 20 lbs since Dec. 26th. I have a few too many of those 20lb milestones to go still, but YEA! One is gone. The gym is in my daily reach, and soon I'll be running a 5K race. (Har har har!)

I think next week I will seriously get down to training for my 5K run. And I just might add an extra week here or there to help me get into shape. Oh god that sounds like such a long distance to run .... since I've never ever run more than one mile w/out stopping. and one has always been pushing it!

Dare I Say This...??

My friend Trish and I both are feeling the pounds of time and need to get into shape. We have been encouraging each other for a few weeks now, and today I think we may have committed to a HUGE step in that direction!

I committed to training for a 5K run! (not actually run it, because I am not a runner, have no endurance at all) And Trish just may be along for the ride with me! Yea Trish!

Today I downloaded these Runner Interval Podcasts that really will help motivate me towards that end. The idea is you take 9 weeks to ease yourself into 5K shape. You run for 60 secs, walk for 90, run for 60 ..... each week you increase the running times. I did the first week's workout today ... in the house. It was really not that hard at all. In fact, I've been working out harder than that all month. I'd love to try it on a track or outside where my stride would be more normal. (But I'd have to wear shoes -ouch!)

Anyway - I'll keep you posted on how this goes. The podcasts (love my ipod!!) really help keep you going without using a stop watch, which I tried this fall and found cumbersome so I stopped.

Eeekkkkkk

It Has Been Awhile!

I've been behind in all my blogging as of late. Oh well; I only do this because it is fun, and also to help keep far away family and friends up to date on what is going on in our lives. They can holler if they feel a need for an update!

So what is new in my personal life? I have made the commitment to get into shape and loose this excess weight! It is going to be a long road, I know. But I feel committed to the process and hope that at least 60lbs will come off! That is a whole glob (literally and figuratively!) of weight to loose!

My friend Trish & I are cheering each other on. I am seriously thinking of joining the gym with her. That way we could meet up a few times a week and work out together. Great excuse to see each other, and better way to help a friend be healthy!

In November I enrolled in a Power Yoga class, and while it kicks my butt, it is fun-ish. But I need more than one day of working out per week. We got a Wii in Sept., and for Christmas we got the Wii Fit Plus. It is fun, and if you are creative you can get a decent cardio work out in on that. But after 3 weeks I am getting a bit bored with just that.

Bill and I also talked about investing in a treadmill. Not sure about the final outcome of that conversation, as it was very brief. But living in the land of rain and snow it would make working out easier in foul weather.

Today I did a workout I developed last fall - but did not stick to for more than 10 days! It is an interval training ... walk for 5 mins to warm up, then run stairs for one minute, walk laps (around house) till recover (usually 3-4 mins) then do stairs for another minute, walk till recover ... etc. until I have 20 mins of elevated heart beat. I can use my wonderful ipod as a stopwatch, and now I know my splits, so I can see over time how my recovery time is improving! whoo hoo!

Weight loss wise, I have actually lost 13lbs since Dec. 26th. The Wii board consistently weighs me in at 20lbs more than my bathroom scale. sucks! I'll just have to work at getting that 20 pounds off of me. And then some ............

Life is Crazy

The beginning of the school year always leaves me in a fluster ... I can't imagine working full time and trying to do all these "beginning of the year" activities AND keep up with the house and kids life. sheesh, talk about super moms! I just spent an hour "finding" my kitchen after a really busy week ... and I was semi-caught up before that hour. I spent another hour today cleaning the living room too. And I spent about three hours bitching about Girl Scouts with the Queen of GS. Not the most productive day, but it is what it is.

And now our dog is barking outside. Ug. Well, my life is crazy and I do not seem to be keeping up very well. That is where I am in the grand scheme of things right now.

but its all good. the girls and Bill and I are enjoying eachother and learning and growing together.

Sew, Exactly What Have I Created?

In less than a month I have created the following items for the girls and their dolls. The scary thing is that I have more projects on the cutting board. I have many wonderful ideas of things to make still. This freedom to design my own is addictive!

2 blue t-shirt dresses
2 yellow t-shirt dresses
green pants and shirt for Abby
Red rain coat for Abby
Blue daisy dress for Ivy
Yellow apron for Ivy
Pantaloons for Laura
Pantaloons for Ivy
red rain coat for Barbara
Black t-shirt dress

13 items and no patterns. This is what I like to do now. ....who'd ever a-thunk!!

From T-Shirt to Dress

The girls LOVE to wear Bill's t-shirts, and he has a ton of them (thanks in part to my grandfather, who gleans free UofM t-shirts at all the sporting events he attends - which is a lot!) One day, when the girls had no pajamas to wear, I got the idea of making one of the t-shirts into a nightgown for them. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I loved the concept.

Well, one day a few weeks ago I snagged two blue t-shirts from Bill and created my first masterpiece! The girls love them (they are easy to wear) and actually wear them as dresses. I have since made 3 more dresses (each one a different style) and really enjoy this! eeekkkk!!

The sewing on all the dresses is, ummm, primitive at best, but I have learned a bit about sewing, and actually am getting better as each project is attempted. My last one involved quite a bit of cutting and re-sewing, and t-shirt fabric is not easy to work with because it rolls over and is hard to line up properly. BUT, I love the looks of the finished garment, and am going to attempt to sew on out of regular fabric this fall!

I am actually really enjoying this creative sewing venture. No patterns, no rules, just my imagination and vision to guide me.