Thursday, May 30, 2013

Work Out Wednesday

This past week has been all over the place.  We had strep throat come thru our house, fun times!  I haven't been feeling 100%, but I haven't felt sick either so I've just been doing what I can when it comes to working out.  All things considered, it was a pretty good week.  Eating was not so good.  I think between the stress & my hormones I just kinda gave up.  I gained 3 lbs in the week.  Sigh.

Tomorrow marks the end of May...the end of one challenge, the beginning of the next.  My one big challenge for May was to burn at least 500 calories from exercising every day.  I was no where near everyday, but I did hit the total overall for the month so I'm happy for that.  For June I have a few new challenges, but they all work together.  The one I was doing in May will continue to June so I'll be continuing to burn at least 500 calories per day.  To help me do this, I will be doing the 30 day shred program finally!  I have started & stopped this many times.  This time I'm determined to finish it.  The 3rd challenge will be between friends in my weight loss support group on Facebook.  We each picked a goal for weight loss, paid $10 & whoever meets their goal splits the pot.  My goal isn't set yet, but I'm thinking either 10 lbs or 5% of my current weight (which would be 11 lbs).  I'll wait & see where I weigh in on Sat morning & decide.

In addition to those challenges, I will be starting training for my 10 mile race in Aug.  Not sure what that will look like, but I'm so happy to have a fairly big group of walking friends to meet up with on the weekends.  Most of them walk a little faster than me so they are always pushing me.  I also just signed up to take Aqua Zumba with my new workout buddy Kim.  I'm SO excited to try this!!  I hope I have a bathing suit that fits...

As always, I'll keep you updated on how these challenges are going.  Here are my workouts for last week:
Thursday, 5/23 - 20 minutes Zumba, 10 minutes of squats, crunches, various strength exercises - 335
Friday, 5/24 - rest day
Saturday, 5/25 - 90 minutes of walking (6 miles) - 743
Sunday, 5/26 - rest day (I overslept & missed my walk, boo!)
Monday, 5/27 - rest day (it rained so my walk was cancelled)
Tuesday, 5/28 - 60 minutes spinning class, 30 minutes Zumba - 1,116
Wednesday, 5/29 - 60 minutes Zumba, 790

Total calories burned so far in May - 15,897 (goal is 15,500) - yay!  Made it with 2 days to spare in the month  :)

Monday, May 27, 2013

Daniel's Last Day of School

I can't believe a whole school year has gone by.  Seems like I was just figuring out what to do for the boys this year for school, and then it was the first day, and now it's over.  Daniel finished his first year of preschool last Thursday.  He did such a great job this year & I think he really started to come out of his shell.  He learned so much & I am so impressed with the job that Eastpointe Christian Preschool did during their first year.

On Thursday, they had a little ceremony for all the kids.  They got to bring their favorite stuffed animal to school with them for the day.  Daniel picked Tigger, of course.
Ready for the last day of school!
AJ was home sick that day (we had strep throat all week, not fun) so he joined me & Zak for the ceremony.  We got there & the class was having circle time and reading "Going on a Bear Hunt."
Daniel & his class listening to the story
After she finished the story, Mrs. Washington called up each student & gave them a folder and a little gift as a memory of their time in the class.
Daniel getting his award & memory book
Daniel got the book "The Talking Crayon Box" with a very sweet letter from his teacher in the front cover.  He also has a beautiful memory book with pictures of his first year in preschool and a star student certificate.  And he had his final evaluation, as well as copies of all his previous evaluations.  It was great to see his improvements thru the year!  He did such a great job at his first year in school!  This summer we will work on writing his name & continue his crafting.  Next year he will be back in Eastpointe three days/week.  I'm sure it will be over again before I know it.
Daniel & his certificate

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Zachary - 15 months

Zachary has had a busy month of getting into everything!!  He is really keeping us on our toes.  His favorite activity right now is climbing on everything.  He uses the step stool whenever he can.  He climbs up the kitchen chairs & onto the kitchen table.  He has also started trying to climb down the stairs...he tries to go head first!

In addition to getting into everything, Zak has also become quite a clown.  He routinely cracks up all his friends at the gym with his antics.  He will take a toy & throw it into an empty bucket & then crack up at himself.  The other kids think this is hysterical & the whole place is laughing before you know it.  He does the same thing at home cracking up his brothers.  Zak also thinks pretty much anything AJ or Daniel does is hysterical.  Lots of laughter these day!!

Zachary had his 15 month well check this week as well.  Doctor says he is doing great, exactly where he should be.  He did tell us we need to stop the bottle, but then Zak caught strep throat from his big brothers so we're waiting until everyone is better to change anything.  We're not sleeping enough in this house this week so we certainly don't need a change in routine too!  Zak is measuring at 26 lbs, 2.5 oz & 32 inches long, both 75%.

Here are some pictures of Zak being silly the past month:

Zak shaking my cherry pits.  He laughed at his for like 30 minutes!
Early morning smiles
"Helping" with the laundry
Checking out at Aldi.  He was having a blast riding the belt...and cracked up 1/2 the store

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Workout Wednesday - Trying New Things

So this week I pretty much killed it, both eating wise & exercise wise.  :)  I had slipped a little the 2 previous weeks & gained back 5 lbs.  But I weighed in this morning & I'm back down to 216, lost all 5 lbs, yay!  My goal is to at least maintain this weight all summer.

I tried two new workouts this past week.  Last Wednesday I got to the gym to take my normal Zumba class & the instructor decided to have class outside since it was so nice.  It was the same class, just a different experience.  I had to be a lot more careful with my footwork and I felt the whole routine more in my leg muscles.  I'm thinking it was a combination of the floor not giving & the slight slant that I kept trying to avoid.  I was also dripping with sweat after the class, much more than usual.  It was a ton of fun & I would do it again!

Then Sunday night I was planning to take the class at my gym with my new friend Kim.  I don't normally take it because it's Zumba Gold, which means it's lower impact.  But one of my favorite teachers was subbing in so it would be a normal high impact Zumba.  I found out Saturday morning that she would be teaching Sentao which is Zumba with chairs.
My dancing partner!
The class was so much fun!!  And a really different workout, I worked totally different muscles which are still sore today (3 days later)!!  It was a great leg, butt & core workout.  I hope my gym decides to buy some chairs so we can do it again.  If not, I may be doing it off YouTube in my living room!


It was fun to step out of my normal routine & do some new things.  I'm going to keep looking for opportunities to do that over the summer.

Here's a run down of my workouts for the week, and my calorie burn for the challenge I'm doing for the month.

Thursday, 5/16 - 50 minutes Zumba, 10 on elliptical - 864
Friday, 5/17 - 20 minutes on bike, 60 minutes Zumba - 1,090
Saturday, 5/18 - 60 minutes Zumba - 790
Sunday, 5/19 - 60 minutes Zumba Sentao - 934
Monday, 5/20 - rest day!
Tuesday, 5/21 - 20 minutes on bike, 60 minutes Zumba - 1,090
Wednesday, 5/22 - 70 minutes Zumba, 20 minutes on bike, 1,234

Total calories burned so far in May - 12,913 (goal is 15,500)

Sunday, May 19, 2013

My Day in Daniel's Class

This past Thursday I was invited to Mother's Day tea at Daniel's preschool.  We had so much fun!  I got there & took a picture with Daniel and then we had a snack together, muffins & "tea" (water or iced tea).  We then got started on our craft...making a butterfly magnet.
Daniel being silly with the coffee filter for our craft
Finished Product
After we finished our crafts, we went to the floor for circle time.  Each child had filled in 2 forms about their Mom.  Mrs. Washington read them and we had to guess which Mom/child pair the sheets were about.  Some of them were hilarious!  Love the mind of a 3 year old.  Here is mine & Daniels'.  His answers are in bold & our comments are in italics.

Let me tell you about my mom.
My mom is 16 years old.  favorite child!!
She likes to work outEveryone guessed me with this line.  I love that that is how Daniel & all of them see me.
The best thing she cooks is saladBecause Daddy likes it, not Daniel.
Her favorite food is ? Maybe he just couldn't narrow it down to one.  ;)
Her favorite thing to do to relax is watch TVtrue story
We like to play video games togetherI don't actually like it, but they do so I do it for them.
She is really good at taking care of me and my brothers Seriously, favorite child!
As you can see, my mom is special because she loves me!  :)
My Mom is as pretty as a flowerAww
She is as sweet as candy and ice cream Either of these would have also worked for favorite food.
She is as smart as The Flash Um, OK.
But most of all, she is as special as Dad!  No longer the favorite, what did AJ make me for Mother's Day??  ;)



Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Workout Weds & Cap City Recap

So this race wasn't supposed to be about me.  It was going to be Adrian's first 1/2.  He trained for over 4 months.  I was gonna walk the 1/4, then hang around to see him (and some of my other runner friends) cross the finish line.

Then the sickness hit.  Daniel got it first the week before, followed by AJ & Zak.  It was pretty miserable here that week, and I was just trying to get us thru the week & let Adrian get as much rest as he could.  Then I got it Thurs night.  I felt horrible when I got up Fri morning & immediately called out of work & cancelled my day.  I rested all day (as much as I could) and started feeling better around dinner time.  It was a lot of mind over matter on my part, convincing myself that I felt better.

 I also had a mental boost...I was able to fit into the race shirt from the race 2 years ago.  I was SO excited!

It fits!!

We got everyone to bed early & were getting ready to head up ourselves when it happened.  Adrian started complaining he didn't feel well.  We went to bed hoping for the best.  Then Zak was up around 11pm.  After an hour of taking care of both him & Adrian, I was exhausted.  We needed to pull the plug for one of us, and it was pretty clear Adrian would be in no shape to run.  I left the sickies & headed to the couch to get a few hours of sleep.

I got up around 5:30 and started getting ready to head out.  I was running late getting downtown since I had to do some things I wasn't expecting, like driving, parking & finding the start line alone.  I finally get all situated and got to the start line & into my corral around 7:20.  It was super easy to meet up with my other walker friends, much better than last time.

It was a beautiful day for a race!  It was a little cold, but I prefer that over too hot.  We heard the announcements, the moment of silence for Boston & the Star Spangled Banner.  Then they were off.  The runners started going out in their waves & we crossed the start line about 15 minutes later.  I love the energy of this race!!  I even got to see Bobby Carpenter at the start line...Adrian would have loved it!

Tammy & I started off quickly.  I was really tired but my adrenaline started going & my legs followed.  Before I knew it, we crossed mile 1.  We always have great chats & this race was no different.  Plus there was a ton of music & bands along the course.  We split off from the 1/2-ers around 2.5 miles & met back up with them around mile 4.5.

I got a little upset around then because as we turned the corner I nearly smacked right into the pacer for 2:20 group.  That is where Adrian planned to be.  I would have seen him on the course!!  How cool!  But I put it out of my mind & finished up my race strong.  When we hit the finisher's shoot, I heard a ton of people cheering for me.  I love how this race puts your name on your bib so strangers can cheer for you.  I was joking that I must have looked tired because it felt like everyone was cheering me on. 

We crossed the finish line with a final time of 1:44:32, 7 seconds faster than we did the last 1/4.  I was SO happy!  I had been thinking about a PR during the last few weeks leading up to the race, but when the sickness hit, I refocused & just wanted to finish.  We were in a huge crowd when we crossed, it was the last big push of 1/2 marathoners going for a sub 2 hour race.  Very cool energy.  You can see my official results here.

We got our medals & fought our way thru the crowd to get water & a bagel.  Then headed into the finisher's party, possibly the best part of this race.  We got our free champagne, free beer & free chocolate milk.  What more could a girl ask for??

Tammy & I toasting to a great race!
I needed 2 drinks after the week I had  :)
This race will always have a special place in my heart since it was the first one I did 2 years ago.  Plus it is just such a fun race!!  I'm already thinking about doing it next year.  The big question is 1/2 or 1/4?  And Adrian??  He spent the whole weekend in bed, and missed a day of work.  He was still struggling most of last week, but seems to finally be over it now.  He went for his first run in almost 2 weeks today & is planning to train again & do the Columbus 1/2 marathon in Oct.

Sorry this got a little long.  Thanks for reading to the end.  One more thing, here is a quick rundown of the workouts I got in the past 2 weeks, since I missed last week.  And the calorie burn for my monthly challenge.
Weds 5/1 - 35 minutes Zumba class, 15 minutes elliptical, 40 minutes yoga - 813 calories
Thurs 5/2 & Fri 5/3 - rest
Sat 5/4 - Cap City 1/4 marathon! - 857 calories
Sun 5/5 - rest
Mon 5/6 - 45 minutes Zumba, 20 minutes bike - 831 calories
Tues 5/7 - 60 minutes spinning, 30 minutes Zumba - 1,066
Weds 5/8 - 60 minutes Zumba, 10 minutes bike - 843 calories
Thurs 5/9-Sun 5/12 - lazy days! (celebrating Adrian's birthday & Mother's Day...more on that soon)
Mon 5/13 - 60 minutes circuit training - 702 calories
Tues 5/14 - 60 minutes spinning - 733 calories
Weds 5/15 - 60 minutes Zumba - 766 calories

Total calories burned so far in May - 6,611

Sunday, May 5, 2013

My Day in AJ's class

A few months ago AJ came to me with tears in his eyes asking why "everyone else's Moms" come into his class & I never do.  I never thought about going in to volunteer in his class since I had the other 2 boys to take care of.  Then I asked Adrian if he would take off a day so I could go in.  I emailed AJ's teacher & volunteered for Feb.  My mom was in town so she watched Daniel & Zak, so I volunteered again for March.  We have been blessed by our friend Tammy offering to watch the other 2 boys while I go in once a month now to volunteer...and Adrian has been able to save his days off for fun things.

My day in April was Monday the 22nd.  It was Earth Day & the start of "Write to Read" week.  When I got there Miss Fish apologized that it was a very busy day & she didn't really have anything with the kids I could help with (I normally do assessments or help with a center).  She gave me so busy work to help out with.  It was kinda nice to be doing some mindless work, I got to watch the class more & see how AJ does.

The class read a poem & talked about how to help our Earth & then did a craft with the same theme.  AJ even raised his hand & answered a question...he never does that!  After about 30 minutes, it was time for us to go to the library to meet a local author!  AJ was so excited to walk the halls with me, telling me all about where everything was.  We listened to the author and then the kids "wrote" their own stories.
AJ (in green) listening to the author
I learned so much about AJ during this 90 minutes in school!  And he has talked so much more to me about things that are happening in school since this day.  I found out that he loves "Pete the Cat" books, so we got some from the library & ordered him the newest one (Pete's Big Lunch) for a reward that he earned.  We also talk all the time about ways to help the Earth...the two big ones being walk or ride bikes instead of driving & turning off lights/water when we're not using them.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to go into the classroom & see what is going on.  I am going in again tomorrow to do end of year assessments & celebrate AJ's birthday (since it's in June he wants to celebrate before school ends on the 30th).  Adrian will get the opportunity to go to field day since he still has a ton of vacation time to use.  And we will all go in to see the Kindergarten celebration on the last day of school.  I can't believe this school year is almost over!  And I can't believe how much AJ has learned & grown this year!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Workout Wednesday

So I'm tweaking this a little & changing my weekly workout posts to Wednesday.  It seems to make a little more sense to me, especially since I weigh in Weds mornings as well.  My workout week kinda goes from Weds-Weds.

Last week was crazy busy for us.  We had all of our normal stuff plus a bunch of extra play dates, errands and I got some extra work.  We ran like crazy & the boys hit the wall on Friday.  They were so worn out that we had to cancel a planned McDonald's play date that afternoon.  I barely got AJ to school & Daniel didn't want to go shopping.

After the crazy week, we woke up Sat to a sick Daniel & just general tiredness & crankiness.  It changed the whole plan for the weekend, but we still ended up having some fun & getting some stuff done...just no exercise for me.

This week wrapped up my April challenge.  My goal was to stay under my calorie goal for every day in April.  I did it for 26 days & on the 27th (Sat) I gave in to the temptation of an easy dinner (pizza).  I slacked off again on Sun, then was right back to tracking calories on Mon.  I didn't lose any weight this week, but finished the month with 13 lbs gone. 

Now that it's changing to summer & schedules will change again (plus all the bad food opportunities) I will change my focus a little.  I'm still going to try to work out & eat right, but I'm not going to be super vigilant about it.  My goal is to maintain my current weight thru Aug.  I know some weeks I'll lose, either weeks I'll gain.  I'm going to try to be OK with that.

New month brings new challenges.  This month I'm doing three, but two I'm pretty much already doing.  The new one is the The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans monthly work out calendar.  This month it's a squat challenge.  The second one I'm doing is the 500 calorie exercise burn.  I pretty much do this every day I exercise anyway.  I will be challenging myself to get it done every day.  I may actually have to get up early & exercise a few of the days (gasp!)  The last one is an extension of the photo every day challenge I'm already doing.  I'm going to follow The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans photo a day challenge where they give me a work every day to inspire my picture.  Should be a fun month!

Here is the wrap up of what I did last week.  Starting next week I will also post my calories burned & my cumulative calories for the month.  My goal is 15,500 in the month of May!

Wednesday - 40 minutes Zumba class, 15 minutes on bike
Thursday - 60 minutes Zumba class
Friday - 60 minutes Zumba class
Saturday - unintentional rest day (sick kiddo)
Sunday - rest day (I was exhausted after a rough Sat)
Monday - 45 minutes Zumba class, 15 minutes on bike
Tuesday -30 minutes on bike, 20 minutes on elliptical, 30 minutes of Zumba class

My first picture for the month of May - sweaty!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

April Goals Update

April was a really good month for me goals wise!  We had a very busy & also very fun month.  It flew by & I can't believe May starts tomorrow.  We only have one more month of school & schedules left, not sure if I'm excited or terrified about that.  :)  Here is the update on my goals for this month.

Exercise Goals
1.  Do 13 races in 2013 - I finished three races in April, the virtual 5 by the 5th, Scioto Miles Race #2 & Spirit Sprint, bringing my total for the year to 7.  Halfway there & 8 months still left in the year!
2.  Exercise 5 days/week - I killed this one this month...I exercised 28 of the 30 days in April!  I'm super proud of myself for getting so much exercise this month.  Really hoping to keep this up as the summer months start.
3.  Do monthly challenges - In April I decided to focus more on my eating that exercising for my monthly challenge.  I wanted to be under my calorie goal for every day in April.  I did really well with this & was under my goal 28 of the 30 days in April.  I also did the Eat Your Veggies challenge this month.  I got at least 5 servings of veggies every day except 2 days (seeing a pattern).  I even tried new veggies including fennel & purple cauliflower.  And I started cooking with onion!  Yes family members who are reading this...I am cooking with onion now.  It's just a little, but it's enough.  :)

Weight Loss Goals
1.  Stay under my calorie goal for the day for 13 out of 14 days - Again, I killed this goal this month.  I was under every day until April 27th.  We had a very busy weekend & sick & cranky kids so we caved & had pizza & ice cream cake.  So worth it!
2.  Lose 1-2 lbs/week - I killed this one as well, probably because of the good diet & exercise (duh!)  I gained 7 lbs in the last 2 weeks of March, then in April I lost those 7 plus 6 more!  That's 13 lbs total lost in April, yay!!
3.  Get under 200 lbs by my birthday the 1/4 marathon the end of the year - I'm currently at 216.  I keep changing this goal time frame, which I think is healthy.  I'm not getting annoyed when I don't hit the goal, I'm just readjusting my goal.  I will get to one-derland one day...

Family/Personal Goals
1.  Declutter this house - This is still kinda by the wayside, but I'm kicking it up in May!  I intentionally put it aside to finish something for AJ's school and I'm happy to report that I did that.  I also did a quick declutter of my closet & gave away a bag of clothes that were too big.
2.  Read at least 12 books this year - I finished 1 book in April:  "To Have & To Hold" by Jane Green.  I really enjoyed this book, which is not surprising to me.  It was light, chick-lit with a happy ending.  That brings my total to 7 for the year - more than half way there!
3.  Take one picture each day - This has been a super fun challenge so far!  Not like I needed to take more pictures, but it is a really cool way to chronicle the year.  You can check out the pictures on Facebook.  Still going strong with this one, haven't missed a day yet, although some days are harder than others.
5.  More consistent blogging - I did quite a bit of blogging in April.  I did all my training updates, race recaps, updates & the boys & am updating this on-time.  I also did a blog post about Easter.  Hope you're all enjoying keeping up with us!

How are your goals for 2013 going??