GirlCrush

I love Jillian...bona fide girl crush. I heart Bob too, and my husband, and my kids...but currently Jillian is kicking my ass and helping me get my head in the right spot so I can be a healthier me...so she is my fave. I've been listen to her Sunday podcast, reading her book Master Your Metabolism, and have incorporated her 30 Day Shred into my workouts. So she should love me too cuz I'm helping pay for her car, house, food, etc.

You know what I like about her, is she is just so real and honest. She cuts all the crap out and calls people on their self-justifying bullshit. I haven't been plateauing the past couple months...I've been half-assing it. It's not easy losing weight, it is hard work. I'd rather sit on a floatie in the pool than run 5 miles when it is hotter than Hades. I'd rather have a glass of wine in the evening rather than my 3rd 32 ounce bottle of water...but I'm not going to get where I want to be with my health like that.

My attitude has been refreshed. I have been logging all my food since Monday on my Iphone app and keeping my calories between 1300 - 1400. Working out strong, I did my bootcamp Tuesday, ran and did 30 day shred Wednesday, another bootcamp tonight :) AND I have been drinking lots of aqua - 80 to 96 ounces a day, and keeping my sodium intake below 1,500 mg.

As a consequence I've dropped about 4 pounds this week...pretty coolio. I rock a little too.

Must Have Air Conditioning

It is freaking hot here. It was over 100 degrees on Sunday - it is MAY for heaven's sakes...ugh.

This is why I have a gym membership, it is the only way I can work out in the summer on these hot days. Unless of course I'm swimming in our pool (which I'm more of a floating with a glass of wine kind of girl, so it isn't really working out) or kayaking on the lake.

I haven't worked out since last Thursday! I'm so bad, every day I have the intention and every day it gets put off! The heat hasn't helped!

So I'm writing down my exercise schedule for the week so I have a little motivation to keep my butt in gear this week.

• Tuesday: Bootcamp (strength and cardio)
• Wednesday: Run and 30 Day Shred
• Thursday: Bootcamp
• Friday: Run and 30 Day Shred
• Saturday: Bootcamp
• Sunday: Rest
• Monday: Bootcamp

I know, a little crazy with the bootcamps huh? Honestly, I'm burned out on my bootcamps. Next Monday is my last "free" Bootcamp session - and I have to say I've pretty much wasted it...but I'm ready for them to be over. I have been half-assed in my food logging so I've not lost much more only maintained. I'm not going to resign up for that group - because I think the summer will be hard for me to want to go to those workouts when it is 110 degrees outside. Anyways, that is why I have 5 days in a row of pretty intense workouts so hopefully when I get my final measurements next week I will see some sort of difference. Nothing like waiting till the last week to get serious, huh? I'm a procrastinator!

So after next Monday, I will probably refocus on my running (which I still love) but I will still be doing my Saturday bootcamps.

I've signed up for a couple races for this year. On July 26 I will be running the Wharf to Wharf from Santa Cruz to Capitola with my BadAss Dad (who has been known to run a half marathon in his jeans). It should be a fun and scenic 6 mile run...and much cooler than where I live!

I re-signed up for the Lake Tahoe Marathon on September 27...This was my first half marathon I did two years ago so it will be fun to see my improvement. It isn't an easy race though, it is at a high elevation (my body is used to pretty much sea level) and has some killer hills.

I'm hoping to incorporate the half somehow into my training for a full marathon (which I really want to do but don't really want to take the time to train for). I need to decide what I can do and may either do the California International Marathon in December or Cowtown Marathon which is October 4 (one week after the half)...I guess I could do the half as part of my taper for the full, but I'm not sure if I want to be training for a marathon in the summer months here. So I might just use the half a jumping off point for training for the CIM in December.

Frog Tale

This little frogman recently took up residence in our pool. He's quite the friendly little fellow and will swim up to the girls when they are in the pool. They love him and will play with him for hours. He will swim away for a while, but he always comes back and plays with the girls...kind of weird.

The girls wanted "froggy" to spend the night, so I told them they could let him stay overnight in their fish tank on Saturday. On Sunday I told them to take him back out to the pool. Well it seems that it is pretty hard to hold onto a frog at the same time as holding your swimming Ariel doll because Froggy jumped out of Delaney's hand and immediately scuttled under the refrigerator on her way out to the pool. BTW - I need to clean under my refrigerator. We couldn't see the frog under there...so we gave up on seeing Froggy again.

Late last night I found him, with my foot...walking barefoot across the kitchen I felt something cold and slimey under my foot. Luckily I didn't step all the way down and smush him. So we still have our pet frog.

I have been having the hardest time with my exercise motivation lately...I don't know what is going on there. I've been doing it, but not wanting too. I'm still doing my bootcamp, but I'm not all there. So I have been maintaining the last couple months and not losing any more...at least I've been maintaining and haven't gained back...I am happy for that. I've been listening to Jillian Michael's a lot the past week, reading her book, doing her 30 Day Shred workout - and this has been helping me feel more focused...but there are things about my current program that I have been resenting and feeling obligated to do. I'm hoping May is a turnaround month for me so I feel much more comfortable in my summer clothes.

Yo Mamma

Day in review:

6:30 am – Woke up when I heard Delaney pop out of bed (who was up past 11 last night watching a movie)…she is such a morning person and always wakes up happy, it can be really annoying when you want to sleep in.

Charlotte woke up a little while later, at this point I stayed in bed listening to a Jillian Michael’s podcast while Chuck and the girls made me breakfast.

8 am - I was served two eggs over easy, toast, Canadian bacon, a small serving of country potatoes, and fresh strawberries, along with my favorite sections of the newspaper and a non-fat latte…my favorite breakfast, yum. Too many calories for one meal…but I’m not stressing over that today.

I also got the biggest Mother’s Day card ever (about 3’ by 2’), the smallest Mother’s Day card ever (about 1” by 1”), a really sweet homemade card, and a recorded card from Elli that made me cry…not that it takes much to make me tear up, I’m a sensitive soul.

9 am – Got a pedicure from a 4 year old and a manicure from a 6 year old. Even though I was asked to pick my favorite color, they managed to lop on 3 extra layers of sparkle polish “cuz it’s pretty Mom.”

After this I did some Mom stuff - a little tidying up, started some laundry, and sewed a button on Chuck’s shirt.

10:30ish - We went to a local outdoor mall that has a cool fountain “Bellagio style” – the fountain is choreographed to the music that is playing. It is very relaxing and the girls can stare at it for hours. We browsed some of the shops and the girls also played in the water fountain playground - Charlotte got soaked!.

12 pm – Had lunch at The Counter and had a pretty good Veggie Burger. The service was poor though. Our waitress forgot our appetizer order and blamed the slow kitchen even though our regular food had been served??? Then she forgot our waters that we requested, I asked if that was because of the slow kitchen too…Chuck was so upset with the service he refused to compulsively stack the dishes when we were done (I have never been to a restaurant with him where he hasn’t done this to help the wait staff out).

1:30 pm – Went to the nursery and got some bell pepper plants and various seeds to plant – including pumpkins. I always forget about pumpkins until August and then it is too late to plant them. This year I remembered, yeah! It will be fun to grow our own pumpkins for Halloween.

3 pm – Sat by the pool and watched Charlotte swim while typing this post and a ladybug crawled up my leg.

4 pm - Called my mom and grandmother.

Still to do today – Plant my bell peppers, start the seeds and some other gardening when it cools off a bit, dinner, exercise (30 day shred and maybe a light run).

Overall, two thumbs up for the day. The only downside was Elli was with her dad, which blows but I know she loves me and I didn’t want to get into the trading weekends drama. I ended up not doing the Race for the Cure yesterday, and I have no guilt. I had not solicited any sponsors so I wasn't letting anyone down, only avoiding a crowd - I hit my bootcamp workout instead.

Hope everyone else out there had a great day and weekend too!

I Don't Like 'Em

I signed up for the Komen Race for the Cure 5k this weekend - and I'm just not feeling it. Its not that it isn't a great cause - it is. It's not that I'm not capable of running the distance - I am.

I just hate crowds, and running in crowds is not fun for me...

I feel like a bit of a hypocrite, because I will encourage anyone who wants to try running to sign up for a 5k...but I personally hate 5k's. Well I guess I hate crowded 5k's...my first race which was a 5k was not crowded at all and it was a great little race. I just don't like crowding up in the starting area with a bunch of people pushing strollers and chatting with their buddies, when all I want to do is get past them and run...dodging through strollers and bouncing kids is dangerous and I'm sure I will fall and biff myself (I'm clutzy that way).

So I don't think I will be doing the race this weekend...I'll just let my entry fee be a donation to the cause and I'll work out at home.

Hotel for Snails

What do you do when the rain has subsided...and there is nothing else to do?

Build a Hotel for Snails of course!

Designed by the young Architect Delaney...

But then there was a tragic incident, where one of the snails just didn't want to live anymore" and climbed to the top of Hotel for Snails, causing it to topple. He heroically threw himself under the rock to saves the others.

So the Hotel was remodeled to a one story version, where the snails could be trapped inside.

Hours and hours of entertainment. I am never buying my kids toys again.