Birthday Bling

Yesterday was my birthday and one of my gifts was an abs ball...yes I actually asked for it. This is the "Setup" directions that came with it:

1. Remove the Abs Ball and workout DVD from box and check for shipping damage.

2. Your Abs Ball is now ready for use.

Good thing they gave directions, I don't know what I would have done without them!

I also got some cute new boots!

Jimmy wants to say "Hi"

Hello and good day, this is your child's principal calling...

No not really, I just lapsed into the weekly recorded message that we get from Delaney's principal to update us on the happenings...nothin' bad.

Guess what...I found an old pair of jeans that fit and they are two sizes smaller than the old baggy pants, whoopidy doo! Don't think I'm not strutting around my house making my kids and hubby look at my butt and me tell how good it looks - cuz I am.

So my house has been a bit like an old Seinfeld episode lately. Charlotte is pulling "The Jimmy" on us by referring to herself in the 3rd person, which is driving me nuts! "Charlotte wants milk," "Charlotte wants a hug," "Charlotte needs help"...mommy needs to be institutionalized...

I've tried to explain to her that when she is talking about herself she should use "I" or "my" and when I say "don't talk about yourself in the 3rd person," she looks at me like "wah?" I guess that's a little over a 4 year old's head. So I just say, "okay Jimmy" which irritates her..."I'm not Jimmy! I'm Charlotte" (didn't you just hear me say Charlotte wants a hug?)...

Hopefully this is just a phase. The Seinfeld episode doesn't stop there though, Delaney dances like Elaine...no joke. It's hilarious.

Baggy Pants and BadAss Blisters

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I posted...too busy working out :) I am definately back to my old smelly self. This is officially my 100th post, but I'm afraid it will be sort of anticlimactic - I don't feel creative today.

4 weeks into my Bootcamp regime and my pants are super baggy - I've lost 10 out of the 30 pounds I want to lose, plus I've gained a lot of muscle.

So my question is - When do I buy new pants? I will hopefully be losing the balance of my weight in the next 2-3 months, so it doesn't seem very frugal to be buying new pants now...but the ones I have are looking pretty pathetic.

A few other tidbits I've learned over the past month:

1. If you wear crappy socks when you are running you will get a blister -even if it is only 4 miles...and even though you may feel like a BadAss with blood in your running shoes, really you are just stupid for continuing to run after you felt the blister burn because the skin was ripping off.
2. Taking a hot bath with Peppermint Oil after you get your "BadAss" blisters, not a good idea - Holy Mama IT HURTS for hours after you get out of the tub.
3. Blisters take forever to heal if you continue to aggravate them every day with exercise and running - I still have them two weeks later and they are still tender. I have pictures, but they are pretty gross so I won't be sharing them.
4. Doing Jumping Jacks with a full bladder after you've had 3 kids is nearly impossible to do without pee leakage.
5. PMS is natures way of messing with your head when you are trying to lose weight.

Bootcamp Bootie

I've lost 7 pounds in two weeks with my bootcamp coach! Woohoo! This was done with Christmas, New Years, family visits and road trips - so really, since people usually gain weight with these events, it is more like 14 pounds. I AM EMPOWERED!

I don't feel like I'm on a diet, it has been more a changing of habits.

1) Smaller, more frequent meals. I can pretty much eat what I want, I just make sure the portions are within my calorie limits. I can still get my non-fat latte's but I get a tall instead of a grande to save calories, same satisfaction! I do stay away from refined carbs and white breads and pastas. I try and get a little bit of protein at each meal, like a 35 calorie Laughing Cow light cheese wedge or a tablespoon of hummus, this helps keep my hunger in control. I'm also making sure I get lots (8 servings) of veggies and fruits everyday.

2) Always carrying a water bottle with me to stay hydrated. This has made a huge difference for me. I am pretty sure I was walking around dehydrated the last 5 years. I always felt brain foggy and tired (signs of dehydration). I have way more energy now and my head feels much clearer. Plus, your metabolism works better when you are hydrated.

3) I am waking up early (between 5:30 and 6) to exercise and I am exercising 5 to 6 days a week. At first I didn't wake up until my coach called me, now I wake up before her phone calls. This includes weight training which I have always sucked at. I can do lots of cardio, but I've always hated weights.

4) Planning ahead. I plan my workouts for the week a week in advance. On days I work, I pack my snacks and lunch for the day. We had a road trip this last weekend and I packed my veggie, fruit snacks and water for the road and found a gym I could workout at before we left. I always have a stash of nutrition bars handy too...just in case. Also, if we are going out to eat I look up the nutritional information before I order.

5) I've gone public. I've always hidden my weight loss efforts from my family and friends - except the people I live with of course. Telling them helped me a lot over the holidays because when I was offered drinks or desserts or whatever - I just said "I'm trying to lose weight so I'm gonna pass" and everyone was very supportive.

6) I love having a coach/personal trainer. She helps me through the hard stuff, not just giving me a workout program and food plan...but I can call, email, text her anytime with any questions or if I am hitting a mental block. When we were visiting family in Oregon and my grandma wanted to take us out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant (one of only two restaurants she will go to) I texted my coach - "What can I order?" and she promptly texted back with tips.

So there you go - I'm kicking bootcamp bootie.

Bootcamp

So Saturday was my first day of Mama Bootcamp and I'm sore! We did an hour and 1/2 workout with lots of core and strength training plus about 20-30 minutes of cardio. It was tough, but fun and I am totally digging this program so far.

I actually met with the owner/coach on Friday night for my intake, at a Starbuck's in the middle of a Border's book store. That meeting was kind of rushed (she was running behind), but it ended with her taking my measurements and calculating my body fat and taking before pictures. A little awkward being in the handicap stall half naked with another women sizing you up. I told her it was weird, but not as bad if she had done it in the middle of the coffee shop. I didn't cry though! Probably because we were so rushed I didn't really have time to talk about my issues.

I'm pretty stoked though, my actual coach is different than the owner. She is super fun and I think she will really help me stay on track. I told my coach that I had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning to do my workouts, so she said she would call me to get me going! So low and behold I got a call this morning at 5:30 telling me to get in gear! Pretty awesome huh? I guess this is what a personal trainer is like? Plus, she went through the bootcamp herself so she was showing me her before and after pics, which was neat to see.

Anyway, the way it works is you go to your bootcamp every week and turn in your homework (daily food logs and workout log) and they give your workout assignments for the next week. I'm suppose to stick to 1200-1400 calories a day, no refined carbs (white bread and sugar), 8 servings of fruits and veggies, and 80 - 100 ounces of water. My coach told me that you don't burn as many calories when you are dehydrated, which I didn't know! Even if you are just 2% dehydrated you would only burn 400 calories when you would normally burn 600 - what a difference!

My homework this week is to do 4 cardio sessions and 2 strength in addition to the bootcamp. I am meeting with my coach again to write out my goals - she told me I she could make me look like a Barbie if I want! HA! I would make a hilarious Barbie! Not for me.

this and that

We had a great weekend last weekend. It was my sister's birthday and we and several of her friends surprised her with a limo and a trip to some wineries close by. It was a blast...plus no kids.

I think I'm ready for Christmas, but with all the recitals, performances and Christmas shows I have been to this week it has been quite a whirlwind. I guess I'm about 90% ready, I just need to wrap and do a dry run on the stockings to make sure they are good...oh and I need to sew a couple skirts for my girls, but those are simple.

I'm caving in in my weight loss efforts. I can't do it myself. I start a boot camp class on Saturday and I meet with a coach tomorrow night for an intake to a 12 week program to try and get back in control of myself...which I really haven't been in the past four to five years. Oh, I can do okay a few weeks at a time, but the big picture is not good. Hopefully this works. After I made the call, I felt a big relief...I don't know why? I think there are a lot of emotional things going on that I'm not really aware of. I'm pretty sure I'll cry when I meet with her tomorrow, but I cry easy. I hope I don't freak her out. I'll post more after our meeting.

Quote of the week: Charlotte at Delaney's piano recital (after I've explained to her that we need to be on our best behavior so Delaney has a nice recital) with a devilish grin on her face, "I like messing things up." Hmmm, this one is going to be fun to raise.

Rocking It Char Style

Remember this ragamuffin hair style?

Well now she's sportin' this cute cut...

For a full view of her outfit. Yes, that is knee high boots with overall shorts.
She comes up with at least one new ensemble every day, but usually 3 to 4. I was telling my babysitter I need to start keeping pictures of her outfits. She replied, "Why, do you think she's actually going to grow out of it?" One of today's outfits: Strawberry Shortcake top, pants and skirt layered, soccer shin guards (no she doesn't play, they are just an accessory) and flip flops.

Its freezing cold out too, but she still manages to find the spaghetti strap tops that I've tried to hide.
The other day she had actually used a marker to give herself full sleeve "Christmas" tattoos on her arms and legs. She had to wear a short sleeve shirt because she didn't want to cover them up. It takes a lot for me not to make her change into outfits that actually match or cover up tattoos.

When I tell her "Char that is quite an outfit, you look...(pause)" She chimes in "Absolutely Adorable!" Yes, you do.