Keeping Up With...Fitness Goals (Jan Recap & Feb Goals)

As I mentioned in my family goals update, this month flew by in a blink.  While I did pretty well with my family goals, these fitness goals didn't fair quite as well.  I have noticed a few trends though and am hoping to correct them either this month or next.  The biggest problem is that I derail myself every weekend.  I don't work out and I don't eat right.  So I basically undo all the good I did all week.  While I would like to change this pattern in February, it's a super busy month with lots of special days of eating so I'm not sure that will happen.  It will be a top priority for March.

The other thing I am having to adjust to with these fitness goals is the change in my exercises.  I have done so much Zumba for so long and that burns a lot of calories in an hour.  So I have gotten used to eating certain things everyday.  Now some days I do an hour of Barre class instead of Zumba and that burns half the calories.  So I ended up over my calorie goal more times than I thought I would this month.  Again, I will need to adjust for this by either exercising more or changing how I'm eating.  

Here are my specific goals for Jan and how I did: 
1.  Join Pure Barre for the month and attend a minimum of 3 classes per week (13 classes for the month) - I actually did 11 classes in the month which is not bad but obviously lower than my goal.  I had a few changes to my schedule (sick kids, interview, new classes that I'm teaching) that caused me to miss some classes.  And then I didn't get to any classes on the weekends.  Those two things combined accounted for me not hitting this goal.
2.  Do my baseline measurements and lose 1 inch from my body (any area & can be combined) - I did my baseline measurements on 1/3/17 and then measured again on 2/1/17.  I lost 1/4 inch on each arm & 1 full inch on my hips.  YAY!
3.  Do my baseline weigh in and lose 2 pounds per week (8 pounds for the month) - I did my baseline weight on 1/3/17, weighed in each Wednesday with the final weigh in on 2/1/17 and I lost 5 pounds this month.  Again, the weekends were my problem.  I know what I have to change to do better.  On a positive note, as Adrian pointed out if I do this each month, I'll lose 60 pounds this year, which I will take!!
4.  Learn 1 new Zumba song each week to bring to my classes (4 songs for the month) - I learned two new songs:  "24K Magic" and "Besito e Caramelo" and relearned/altered a few oldies "Party Time", "El Amor", "Nadie Como Tu", "Cha Cha" and "Portunal."  My classes have been new and fresh each week so I'm calling this one a win.
5.  Log my meals for 6 days each week and be under my daily calorie goal (24 days for the month) - I logged my meals on 18 days this month and was either under or within 100 calories each of those days.  I missed every weekend and a few other days here and there.  It wasn't a great month.  But again, if I missed that much and still lost weight and inches there is a lot of room for improvement!

Here are my goals for Feb:
1.  Maintain my weight for the month (0 pounds gained)
2.  Maintain my inches for the month (0 inches gained)
3.  Go to one barre class each week to continue to improve my skills (4 classes for the month)
4.  Learn 2 new Zumba songs to add to my classes (2 songs for the month)
5.  Switch up one circuit for my barre connect class each week (4 new circuits)

My goals are pretty low for February as I will be focused on celebrating all of the February holidays this month with my family.  I am hoping for a great month!!

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Feb 6 - Feb 12)

Wow!  For the first time in weeks, we stuck to our menu plan for last week!  We have no carry overs to this week.  Of course reading over it, it was a fairly easy week of cooking.  And I did shuffle a few things around to fit our real life better.  But I still cooked it all, even that gross Chicken Helper meal.

This week I'm also not doing a lot of cooking.  There is a lot of celebrating going on over here!  I'm also starting something new that another blogger I follow is doing.  I'm going to be using up all of the "stuff" I have in the pantry.  Actually this week I'm starting with the fridge.  There isn't much since that stuff usually goes bad, but I do have a few things I need to use up.  This week I'm using up our open coconut milk and egg beaters before they go bad.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - Slow Cooker Fajitas
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday
Wednesday - Gnocchi Alfredo and ice cream cake to celebrate Zak's birthday
Thursday - Thai Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts Gratin (to use up the coconut milk)
Friday - Jets Pizza and ice cream cake to celebrate Daniel's birthday
Saturday - Leftovers for me, Zak and Daniel.  AJ & Adrian are going camping with the Cub Scouts
Sunday - Veggie Omlets (to use up the egg beaters)

Water Flavor - Strawberry Mint (I have a few sprigs of mint to use up)

Keeping Up With...Family Goals (Jan Recap & Feb Goals)

So a month has gone by in 2017 already, and I feel like it flew by.  It was a relatively quiet month for us with a lot of routine, which we all love.  I have been working to try to meet my monthly goals, this is way more manageable than the yearly goals already.  I have seen what is working for both family goals and fitness goals and what needs to be adjusted.  I'm still excited about this year!  I pretty much hit all of my Jan family goals and the ones I missed I was very close.  I will not have as many goals for Feb as it's a busy month with two birthdays but I have a few things I want to accomplish.

Here are my specific family goals for Jan and how I did this month:
1.  Finish the 2 books that I am currently reading (2 books for the month towards 14 for the year) - I finished "James & the Giant Peach" and got to about 90% of "Little Women."  That book is taking way longer than I though it would!  I'm happy that I have been reading just about every day this month, I enjoy reading and hate that I let it move to the back burner for other things.
2.  Have family dinner every Sunday night and use AJ's conversation starters during in (5 dinners for the month) - We had dinner together at least once a week this month, mostly on Sundays but we made the effort to move it to Saturday if we had other plans on a Sunday.  Here are the topics we talked about this month thanks to AJ's conversation starters:  books we're reading, kind things we have done, the best part of our week, challenging things from the past week & something we never told the others.  It has been really fun doing this each week! 
3.  Organize and declutter the play room and game closet (1 room for the month) - This was done on Jan 1st!  I didn't mean to do it all in one day, but Adrian and I got in a rhythm and we just kept going.  We got rid of at least 8 bags of stuff, some garbage and some donated.  And the room is still clean and organized 31 days later!
4.  Meal plan each week and cook dinner each night, no eating out (31 meals for the month) - I did 5 meal plan blogs for each week this month and followed it pretty well.  I cooked 29 meals for the month and we ate out twice.  Not too bad considering how much we were eating out in the past.
5.  Continue doing my week in review blog (4 posts for the month) - I did 4 posts, one for each week.  It is really working for me to do the recap paragraph each night and this just edit and publish it at the end of the week.
6.  Continue taking one picture each day and posting on Facebook (31 pictures for the month) - 31 pictures taken and posted!
7.  Have one family movie night and one family board game night (2 special nights for the month) - We did both of these this month.  We watched "Justice League: Gotham City Breakout" for our movie night and had a board game night on 1/28.  We also had a family video game night this month at the boys' request.

And here are my goals for February:
1.  Finish "Little Women" and read at least 50% of another book (1 book for the month towards 14 for the year)
2.  Have family dinner every Sunday night and use AJ's conversation starters during in (4 dinners for the month)
3.  Continue doing my week in review blog (4 posts for the month)
4.  Continue taking one picture each day and posting on Facebook (28 pictures for the month)
5.  Go see "Lego Batman" movie as a family (1 special night for the month)
6.  Have one family board game night (1 special night for the month)
7.  Survive the birthdays and Valentine's parties with as little stress as possible - this breaks my rule of a measurable goal but it's a huge part of our month and possibly my biggest focus right now.

Keeping Up With...Family (Weekly Wrap 1/27 - 2/2)

Friday (1/27) started very early with AJ up at 3am getting sick.  He thankfully fell back asleep quickly and slept until nearly 10am and woke up feeling slightly better.  I got up and got Daniel and Zak out to school and then came home and worked around the house.  Zak had an ice cream sundae party at school today that they earned for having excellent behavior for their subs while the teacher was out of town for 3 days.  He said it was a lot of fun to eat ice cream at school.  Daniel came home with a folder for AJ including some homework to catch up since he missed the day and his award certificate for A/B Honor Roll for the second quarter of school.

The day was a fairly lazy one since AJ was sick and we are always tired on Fridays after our long weeks.  Adrian left work a little early so I could go and teach my barre class at the Y.  One of my friends came to class so we hung out and chatted for a bit after class.  The rest of the night was spent relaxing, watching TV and playing video games.

Saturday (1/28) we were up and moving early for a busy day.  AJ and Adrian headed out to their basketball scrimmage first.  AJ played pretty well, he's starting to get the hang of basketball.  When they came home, I headed out to register AJ and Adrian for a Boy Scout camping trip in a few weeks.  That took considerably longer than I thought it would and I had to race home to be there in time for Adrian and Daniel to head out to their team's basketball scrimmage.  Daniel did really well and almost made a basket.  He was really excited about how he played!  I played Life with AJ and Zak while they were gone.  Finally I headed up to the church to volunteer to run the concession stand for basketball for the last scrimmages of the day.

After all of that all morning and afternoon we were all pretty exhausted.  We decided to order dinner from Piada for the adults and let the kids pick what they wanted.  After we cleaned up from dinner, we had a family board game night.  We played two games of Zingo (Daniel & I each won one), had a Fast Track tournament (AJ won) and played Forbidden Dessert (we lost).  It was pretty late when we were done so we put the kids to bed and Adrian and I watched a few comedies while enjoying some wine before bed.

Sunday (1/29) was not a very exciting day, it was a work day to finish some stuff up and get ready for the week.  We went to church and stayed for the planning lunch and meeting.  Then did stuff around the house while the boys played.  February is a very busy month for us so we tried to get some plans together for that.  We are supposed to get snow tonight and we are all crossing our fingers for a snow day.

Monday (1/30) started with none of us wanting to get up and moving.  I was really wishing we could blow off our whole day and stay in bed.  But I did the responsible thing and got up and moving and got everyone to school.  I went and took an awesome barre class and then did some grocery shopping.  Then I picked up Zak, we had a quick lunch at home and then ran to pick up AJ and Daniel.  AJ had his every 3 month med check so we ran to the pediatrician.  He said everyone looks great and we should keep doing what we're doing.  No problem!

When we finished at the doctor's office, we went home and played for a while.  The boys have been practicing Fast Track for our next family tournament.  So they did that while I prepped dinner and got ready to teach my Zumba class.  Then we went to the Y, did AJ's weekly run for Boy Scouts and I taught my class.  We came home, enjoyed an awesome dinner of homemade Thai food and then I ran to a PTO meeting.  I left early so Adrian could go to the church to play basketball.  Such a busy day!!

Tuesday (1/31) started slow again because Zak was up overnight complaining he didn't feel well.  I let him sleep in but got the other two boys up and out to school.  Adrian was really tired as well so he decided to work from home so I was able to go to barre class and then get some more shopping done.  I went to the dollar store to find some treats for the goody bags and found out they carry my favorite potato chips, yay!!

We spent the afternoon working around the house and waiting for the plumber to come and fix our pipe outside.  Unfortunately he wasn't able to fix it and will have to come back over the weekend to do more work...which will of course cost us more money.  Sometimes being a homeowner stinks!  After that we had a quick dinner, I taught my Zumba class and Adrian took the boys to AJ's Brain Balance appointment.  Zak has been fine all day so I'm hopeful we'll sleep all night tonight and then go back to our normal routine tomorrow.

Wednesday (2/1) we got a much better start, thanks to a full night of sleep for all of us.  Everyone got off to work and school and I came home to wait for our freezer that was finally supposed to be delivered...until they called to tell me they are still on back order and I won't be receiving my freezer until the end of February.  I'm so annoyed with Best Buy over this whole ordeal!!  And I won't be ordering from them ever again!

I salvaged my morning by doing a ton of things around the house and then picking up Zak from school and heading over to the new Red Robin for a free lunch.  They are training their staff and needed some people to be customers so I gladly signed us up for that.  The food was great as always and Zak and I had a fun afternoon together.  Before we knew it, it was time to pick up the other boys and head to the Y for my Zumba class.  Then we ran over to soccer where both Zak and Daniel did excellent in class!  We finished up with our normal Wednesday dinner of pasta, some TV and relaxing and then bed time for all of us!

Thursday (2/2) we got out very early and got everyone to school on time.  I was especially excited because I started teaching a new class that morning so I wanted to be there very early.  The class went great, everyone seemed to like it.  Now the true test is if they all come back on Tuesday.  After school, Zak and I played a game of Forbidden Island (which we won!) and then got dinner ready for everyone.  We picked the other boys up and got ready for our busy night of basketball practice for everyone and Brain Balance for AJ.  Daniel got in the car and said he had something bad happen at school today. When I asked what happened, he told me he got a paper cut. He was acting like he nearly lost his finger.  He said he wasn't sure if he could play basketball tonight, but he made it thru practice, as did his finger.

While AJ was at Brain Balance, I had his fourth progress conference with the director.  He has made some big jumps in the past few months and I really noticed how much he has developed since we started.  Some areas he was a 1 or 2 and is now a 9 or 10 (should be 10-12).  It's amazing how much this program has helped him and us.  We still have about 18 sessions left but since we miss a bunch for other things we'll probably be there until the end of April/beginning of May.  Then we'll evaluate if he will graduate or do another 3 months.  The one area he is struggling in is his gate and aerobic activity.  She gave us some ideas to help with that so we'll be adding those on to our home exercises.

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Jan 30 - Feb 5)

After the few tweaks I made last week to our menu plan, things ran smoother this week I think.  The one thing I forgot to factor in when I made last week's meal plan was what the boys wanted to eat.  They are used to having pasta on Weds nights after a very long day of school, YMCA & soccer.  So I switched that in last week and bumped a meal from last week to this week.  I also was exhausted on Saturday after a busier than expected day so we picked up dinner.  I'm hoping to stick with my plan this week!

This week kicks off our month-long birthday craziness.  Two of the boys have birthdays in February, plus we have the Superbowl, Valentine's Day, my niece's birthday and two (at least) of their friends have birthdays.  Plus there are days off, probably a snow day or two and our normal crazy schedule.  I will be updating my monthly goals later this week, but I am giving myself lots of grace this month and very light goals so I can enjoy it all and not stress out.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - Thai Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts Gratin
Tuesday - Italian Wedding Soup and Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Potatoes
Wednesday - Pasta
Thursday - Lemon and Herb Chicken Helper with LOTS of veggies - maybe I will actually make it this week, LOL!
Friday - Leftovers for the guys & I'm going out to eat with a friend
Saturday - Zak's birthday party!!  We're having pizza and cake there.
Sunday - Superbowl Sunday!!  We'll be having meatball subs

Water Flavor - Orange Mint (again because I have enough to do it another week and it was really good!)

Keeping Up With...Family (Weekly Wrap 1/20 - 1/26)

Friday (1/20) was a rough morning, no one was getting ready in a timely manner and we had places to be.  I somehow managed to get everyone to school on time and get to my interview with a new fitness center where I will be teaching some Silver Sneakers classes.  After that I met my friend to pick up the workout pants she made for me...and pick out new fabrics for her to make me more pants.

After school we all headed to the Y for my Barre class and then Adrian took AJ to soccer.  When we all got home and had dinner, we were exhausted after the week so we watched TV and relaxed.  We did have an interesting conversation about the inauguration and the new president. AJ (age 9) said "I heard there are some people who are not happy that Trump is our president because of the things he said." I braced myself to answer some tough questions and asked him what he heard. "He said he was going to clean up a swamp but I'm pretty sure there are still alligators in it."  Haha!!  I love the childlike innocence (and am thankful I didn't have to answer hard questions tonight).

Saturday (1/21) was another jam packed day with us needing to get a lot done.  It started with AJ and Adrian heading to AJ's first basketball scrimmage.  He played pretty good, even got an assist for a basket.  Then they came home and Adrian switched out kids and Daniel headed to his first scrimmage.  He also did really well and got a rebound.  Both boys had a lot of fun, which is our main goal for this season.

While they were at Daniel's scrimmage, Carl and Isabelle came over for a bit.  Isabelle played with AJ and Zak while Carl and I looked at our crushed pipe in the front yard.  Then all the kids played in the back yard while I cleaned up our messy deck.  After Carl left, we had lunch then the boys had some video game time while Adrian and I got some stuff done around the house.  And then I took AJ and Daniel to Engineering for Kids for their Minecraft/Pokemon night.  My parents gave them money for Christmas to be able to do this.  They had a blast and were so excited that their progress from the last time they went was still saved.  They want to go back again soon.

We finished our day with some frozen pizza and wings and a movie night.  We watched one of Daniel's new movies, Justice League: Gotham City Breakout.  It was pretty silly to me and Adrian but the boys loved it.  Adrian and I kept our minds busy by playing games on our tablets.

Sunday (1/22) we all woke up in a bad mood and no one wanted to do anything.  We pulled it together (somewhat) and I headed to church to  volunteer.  Then we got a few things done around the house and then headed over to Carl's for dinner and football.  It was great to be able to play in the yard and grill our dinner in mid-Jan!  I wish the football game had been more exciting, but it was still fun to catch up with Carl and Sarah.

The highlight of the night was when Carl taught all the kids how to shoot Isabelle's bow and arrow.  He shot a bunch of really high shots that the kids loved chasing.  Then each kid got to shoot them as well.  They were running all over the yard chasing them.  I think AJ would like a bow and arrow set now.

Monday (1/23) was back to our normal routine, finally for a full week this time.  I got everyone up and out to school and then headed to a killer barre class.  I ran a few errands and then picked Zak up from school.  We did a few puzzles in the afternoon, then he watched some TV while I did a few things and prepped our dinner.  Then we picked up the big kids and headed to the Y so I could teach my Zumba class.  We enjoyed a yummy dinner of homemade Chinese food together and then Adrian headed out to basketball while the boys and I got ready for bed.  Ready to do it all again tomorrow!

Tuesday (1/24) Well, it finally happened...we were late to school this morning!  It was the first time all year and we have made it more than half of the year so I am pretty proud of all of us.  The worse part about being late this morning was that it wasn't that I was running late but the boys would just not get their butts in gear.  They acted like they had no idea how to get ready.  They each got a punishment for their behavior and Daniel was really upset that he can not get perfect attendance this quarter now.

After that rough start, the day went pretty well.  I went into school to volunteer in both AJ's and Daniel's class.  In Daniel's class I did a quick sight word review with a few kids and then moved on to helping them better understand money.  Daniel said he was surprised that I was reviewing money and excited because he wouldn't have seen me if I only did sight words.  In AJ's class I continued to work on my book binding project.  It is such a long and tedious process, but we are making progress!

I finished up at school and went to pick up Zak.  We made a quick trip to Kroger and then came home for lunch and some play time.  We did more puzzles and he helped me put away some groceries.  The afternoon flew by and soon we were picking up the other two boys.  They all went to play together in the play room so I got a few things done then headed out to teach a Zumba class.  Adrian made tacos for all of us for dinner and then headed out to Cub Scouts with AJ and Daniel.  AJ got his Bobcat badge tonight, it's the first badge every scout earns and they do a ceremony for it.  Thankfully one of our friends snapped a picture of AJ for us.

Wednesday (1/25) After yesterday's horrible start, today was like a dream come true.  Everyone got up and got ready and we got to school with no problems.  I went and ran an errand and then taught a Zumba class while they were all at school.  Then tonight I picked them all up from school and went to the Y to teach another Zumba class.  And then ran everyone over to soccer for the night.  Zak and Daniel both did fantastic tonight at soccer!  Zak has been having a few rough weeks at soccer but today he did awesome.  His coach and I were super proud of him!

Thursday (1/26) was another rough start to the day which involved lots of yelling (me) and lots of tears (them).  We somehow got out the door on time and they went to school while I went to a Pure Barre class and then for a much needed eyebrow wax.  Zak and I came home and did our normal afternoon stuff (TV, dinner prep, shower, puzzles, etc) and then went to pick up the other two.

AJ came home with a bunch of homework today so we had to alter our evening plan.  He had to go to basketball because it was team pictures so he missed his Brain Balance therapy.  He got all of his homework done and even had time to watch two episodes of his new favorite TV show, Beyblade.  Daniel also had basketball practice and pictures tonight.  It was a busy Thursday for us!

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Jan 23 - Jan 29)

So I'm noticing a few trends with my weekly meal plans.  First, I do great on Monday and Tuesday and then just about every Wednesday the wheels come off and we have leftovers or pasta.  Probably because we don't get home until close to 7 and we are all just ready to eat.  I want to try to do a better job of prepping on Wednesday this week so we can stay on our plan.

The other thing I'm noticing is that the weekends tend to go off the rails.  Part of this is because we are very busy on the weekends and don't have the same schedule like we do on weekdays.  I'm also usually catching up on things I didn't get done during the week and trying to get a jump on the next week so I often don't feel like cooking a big meal.  The other part of this is because I have not been working out on the weekends.  And I feel like once I didn't work out, I can just eat whatever I want.  I know that sounds ridiculous but it's that "cheat big" mentality.  I think I'm going to remedy this by making one night a leftover night and then cooking on the other night.

The meals I did cook last week were awesome!  We loved pretty much everything, especially this Island Pork salad.  Plus bonus for me, Adrian cooked the pork & made the dressing while I was teaching a Zumba class.

There are a few carryover meals from last week that I didn't get to make and then a few of the boys' choices as well.  There is not a lot of food shopping for me to do this week which is nice.  Next week will be a big haul between end of the month coupons and starting to get ready for our two February birthdays.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - Orange Chicken and Fried "Rice" (carryover from last week)
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!! (boys' choice)
Wednesday - Pork Chops with Sauerkraut and Buffalo Brussels Sprouts (carryover from last week)
Thursday - Lemon and Herb Chicken Helper with LOTS of veggies (I hate Chicken Helper, but we have a box in our pantry.  I am trying to use up or throw out everything that we have had in the pantry for a long time) - this was supposed to be made 2 weeks ago & I keep pushing it.  I really hate Chicken Helper, LOL.
Friday - Meatball Subs (meatballs with zoodles for me/Adrian has happy hour so he's eating out)
Saturday - Italian Wedding Soup and Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Potatoes
Sunday - Leftovers

Water Flavor - Orange Mint