8/16/16 – Long time, no see…

Well, I think I last posted about how I just had a baby? Time flies when you’re neck deep in poop and vomit! I have a great reason for not posting in the last 18 months…it’s because I’m neck deep in TWO piles of poop and vomit! That’s right, another one came and conquered just as I last posted about all my new exciting personal journey to fitness adventures!

Life sure knows how to test your spirit. And “tested”, it did.

I’m so grateful for the amazing bundles of joy that came around in just 2 years. It almost felt like those two years were a blur…actually, it definitely was. I don’t remember anything besides two little humans popping into my life.

I do remember trying to have a conversation with someone, and trying soooo hard to stop thinking about my first little one…I can only describe the feeling as puppy love. It was like a genuine, authentic true love with sinking hearts, and butterflies, and gasps of oohs and ahhs…I was not able to function. Mix that in with lack of sleep and energy…you’ve got a dangerous combination of non-contributing-to-society human.

I hope now that I have gathered all the pieces of my mind and have successfully put it back together, I can pursue health and wellness once again.

So let’s catch up:

• I now have 2 kids. 15 months apart, my body and spirit has turned to mush.
• I still have my company.
• I moved cities.
• After I have conquered all the states in America, my new life goal is to visit all 59 National Parks. So far I’ve been to Great Smoky Mountains, Rocky Mountains, Acadia, Congaree, Bryce Canyons, Zion, Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Mt. Ranier. That’s 9 of 59. I’m going to hit Yosemite this year.
• I went to China this year, Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou to the Canton Fair
• Sold my house of 7 years.
• Finally moved out of a city I lived in for 10 years
• I recently started flight lessons this past February, but had to put it on hold in April.
• I went skydiving, dune buggying in the desert and took a helicopter into the grand canyon floor.
• I have fallen off the healthy eats wagon.
• I started flight training at GMU. I quit flight training after 3 months.

There’s probably more things that I’m forgetting, but I can’t remember them all.

8/17/16 – Shame triggers

Unusual title for a post about fitness! I know, but I really want to talk about it!

So since I had my newest baby last October, I have been feeling a lot of typical emotions post-pregnancy. Emotions on top of  physical stress, anxiety, and exhaustion – that’s a heady mix. That was a rough year for me. I was excited to sort of recover from the first pregnancy at about 6 months of not being able to do as much – and pretty much 3 weeks into making the commitment to my return to health and fitness – I found out I was 6 weeks pregnant already.

My husband and I kind of slapped ourselves in the face, and said a couple of cuss words out loud. Don’t get me wrong, our little girl is the best thing ever, and I wouldn’t change a thing. But it was just too soon. We just became parents, and knew those exhaustive nights are coming back.

That was the downward spiral bit for me. I started getting morning sickness, which prevented me from doing as much of anything I had set out to do. I was hardcore into hot yoga, but I had to quit that because of the heat, it wasn’t recommended for pregnant women. I think I might have just laid around in self-pity a bit. I did go swim more, but not for fitness but because my body just felt so much better floating in water than on land. I frequently reflected on all of my shortcomings. And I realize that I tend to do that a lot.

One of the shame triggers for me was “depending” someone. I relied on my independence for everything. My circumstance at the time was my husband was working 2 hours away, and all of my family lived 5 hours away, and my closest friends were all having their own familial issues.

I hated the idea of asking my employees or my neighbors for help.  I ended up hiring a nanny for my son, with the understanding that she may be my hospital help.

Fortunately, my daughter stayed in until the induction date, and we were able to schedule everything out. However, my mom and dad couldn’t stay to help, but they came for 1 day and left the next, and my husband was off the entire week, but then the nanny kicked in.

I remember crying knowing no one would be able to help me…and then cried even more when I felt ashamed that I actually wasn’t able to help myself.

 

 

1/20 – Food prepping, hot yoga, and more

I am currently, high on my latest favorite, the Flat White espresso coffee from Starbucks. I haven’t had much uninterrupted sleep in about a week and a half, cause my little one is having midnight fits lately, but, to counteract the fact that I’m damned from ever sleeping straight through a night ever again, I decided to fight fire with fire, and just stay the hell up. AND be fully caffeinated. Boo…yah….  Take that you insomnia SOB.

So….update on food prepping. It went well, until I decided I didn’t want to eat what I had prepped. Just ain’t feeling those flavors, ya know. It’s like, the idea of prepping the food was WAYYYYY more exciting than actually eating it.

I’m at day 20…it’s a struggling point to stay on track. Water consumption has taken a nose-dive….but I was traveling this past weekend. Went to Vegas for a few meetings, parties, tradeshows, events…etc. It sort of prevented me from hydrating like I normally would. But it’s just an excuse…I’m trying to get back on track. Today, I had to skip yoga because my nanny was not able to pick up my little one before the class started. So decided to skip it and focus, FOCUS, SUPER FOCUS on the most important task I have been given. Which is increasing my stress level, thus needing me to get some yoga in. I am working hard on it…

I have realized, that I need more intense workouts. Yoga is great, but it’s only a supplement for a real workout. I noticed that I am “slimming” but not building the muscle that I want, nor am I getting that much leaner. I feel that after the workouts I used to do before I got pregnant, I’d feel like a beast and could lift everything. But now, I feel like a slug even after a super yoga class.

Like I said, day 20 is breaking point. I’ve stopped eating the original cabbage soup plan. Have resorted to low cal days and lots of protein…basically microwaveable meals, for the convenience and portion control. I am constantly fighting with myself on my strong desire to lose this baby weight, and get back to the way I was.

I know my husband loves me just the way I am, but I don’t love me this way. I don’t want to buy more jeans/pants…I like the ones I have, and I would prefer to just lose the fat/pounds necessary to get back into them. I wear yoga pants or stretchy pants all the time now, cause these last few pounds make my pants tight. I’m not trying to be skin and bones…I just want to fit my original pants!!! I love the clothes I had, and I just want to wear them again!

Anyway, that’s my update. I am a strugglebus right now and could use some sort of encouragement that the hydration, the portion control, the yoga, and blah blah blah are paying off. It’s a lot easier to maintain than it is to lose the first initial pounds. I know that I have gotten on the scale 2 days in a row last week and the scale showed I lost 4 pounds from Jan 1st, but 4 pounds has not had an effect on the pants…that’s all I care about…fitting into my old clothes. Ok, no more complaints!

Food prepping – my newest fitness adventure

I am so intrigued about this. My preconceptions are that it will get old fast and if I travel, I’ll blow it off altogether. What I forget about doing this is that the second half of the week of the meals are frozen so even if I am traveling one day, the meal is still good, even to the next week.

I want to explore the best meals to prep. I’m not as particular about what I eat but even if it’s not a favorite meal, as long as I know it’s healthy I’m more likely to eat it.

I’m going to research some meal prepping plans and try them out. Sunday’s are good days to prep and Saturdays are good to cheat. I enjoyed a lot of pizza, Thai food, Mexican food, even junk food these last few months post partum. Time to tighten this mama body back up. Wish me luck.

This is me my whole life.

1/4 – Hot Yoga and Mind Body Connect

Well, yesterday I needed to have some me time. I booked a hot power yoga class on Mind Body. Mind Body is a website that connects you to wellness businesses like yoga, group fitness, gyms, and massage/spas. Basically what I use it for is to find a workout when I travel. So it’s pretty awesome how you can sign up for class and ensure you have a spot when you get there. Also you get to learn a little about the class and instructor.

https://www.mindbodyonline.com/connect

It felt so amazing to get a class in. I wish I were able to take a class everyday of the week. The heat just really relaxes your muscles and allows it to work at the level it should be working. Yoga that is not hot, is a much different experience when your muscles are not warm. Cold yoga just hurts to me.

So thankful my hubby was able to watch our baby while I get 75 glorious mins of hot yoga in and I returned the favor afterwards so he can run for 2 hours.

1 gallon of water challenge is truly a challenge. I must admit, I still haven’t been able to put away a gallon. It’s like my body is rejecting the last 24 ounces. I have a quart size bottle that I keep filling up and I struggle just to get the 3rd quart in. So getting to that 4th quart has been insane. My throat is rejecting the water. I feel like I’ve failed but I think it’s bc I’m not as active. Perhaps when I am doing more I’ll be able to “need” more water. We will see. I will report.

1/03 – Cabbage souping…ugghh

I’d like to think of this whole “MUST LOSE 10LBS!!!” as a temporary, bust a gut move, to really trim the water weight…. I know, I know, fad diets are stupid. BUT they do work. I’m not looking to lose quick and expect it to stay off when I stop “cabbage souping”, a new term I coined, when I do crash diets…

LOOK: This diet is terrible…butttttttt….I really like cabbage soup, and this recipe…well…isn’t all that bad. I had to modify it because it did not allow protein, which is a NO-NO for me. I prefer a high fiber/protein diet. Ya know, I think I’m just tricking myself into losing 10lbs by “cabbage souping”. What I think I’m actually doing is going back to eating healthier again…and working out, and drinking lots of water. Ok, but fad diets are kinda fun. I remember doing them with my girlfriends back in high school. We were all thin anyway…maybe slightly puffy, but never overweight or anything. We would do the “candy” diet…where all you eat is candy…and literally, all you eat is candy. And water. Needless to say, that was stupid. There was also the “sweat” diet…where you wore a lot of thick clothes that make you sweat. There was also the diet pills diet. STUPID.

Ok, enough about my stupid ideas from high school. I am so glad they are over as I would never ever ever want to go back.

1/02 – A gallon of water is insane…

Whoever decided to do this must have a bottomless pit of kidneys….I tried, and boy did I try…and by midnight, I’m forcing myself to chug the last 12 ozs and it was just a struggle. Unfortunately, I was short by literally a can of soda. 12 baby ounces. 12!!! I just felt so bloated with water, and peeing 27 times, I had to just let my bladder relax.

Despite the side effects of drinking a ton of water, the other side effect is that fully-hydrated-body feeling…so hydrated you can feel a detox from the peeing, and the hydration spreads to your skin and it just feels soooo good.

So, doesn’t matter how many times I gotta pee in a 2 hour period….my face is hydrated…and the toxins are removed…and that…feels….so good. 🙂

23 Easy Paleo Crockpot Recipes – PaleoGrubs.com

I love simple! These recipes are literally so simple, that it will blow your mind.

A favorite of mine is called the  “Stank-a-Dank” Crock Pot Pork Spare Ribs
Your entire household will know when these ribs are cooking because their aroma seems to permeate everything. But that’s OK because they taste as good as they smell, and that will bring everyone rushing to the table. These are Asian-inspired and come out ready to eat right off the bone. Can’t get more caveman than eating meat off the bone. They say that these work well when served over a variety of foods including bok choy, or a rice substitute like cauliflower. You simply must serve them with a veggie to account for their meatiness.

1/01 – 2015 is Here! Resolutions!

New year’s resolutions are stupid. At least that’s what I tell myself when I have weak moments, and then fall off the wagon entirely.

What I love about resolutions is acknowledging that SOMETHING has to be done with bad habits, and at the very least, a promise to myself to change is the bare minimum to jump start the year with some positives.

Hello, 2015.  Your predecessor, 2014, went by super fast, or super slow depending on how many sleepless nights I had incurred between being pregnant and becoming a new mom. Last year, was a defining year. It was filled with so much love, so many new feelings, experiences, and events. I have never felt so whole and fulfilled.

I’m excited to focus on a new me this year. A me that is now a MOM (most awesomest job ever!), and someone who’s even busier than before. Last year, I was on a new adventure that had me completely unfocused on my fitness, yet fully committed to learning how to raise a child. So I slipped last year, and instead of focusing on exactly what I was going to eat, I worried about what I couldn’t eat; instead of worrying about what workout I was going to get in, I worried about all the activities I couldn’t do anymore (there is A LOT of stuff you can do while being pregnant!). I loved going to the gym with a giant belly and do weights. I exercised until I was 30 weeks pregnant. By that point, I was so big that walking any distance, made me feel like my side muscles were pulling to the ground, therefore, I took that time in life to just relax, and enjoy being beautifully pregnant. I had a fantastic pregnancy. I only put on 30 lbs – the recommended amount, which was perfect for my little frame. My baby boy was very precious born at 6lbs 15ozs. He was so perfect when I met him. I feel so blessed to be his mommy.

Today is New Year’s Day. I did not want to waste time so I jump-started my year by resolving to do the following:

(I will forgive myself if I give in, but I will also try my best to document my experience, as I truly believe that documentation reminds me of how hard/easy it was and only gives me more strength to stay strong)

• Drink a gallon of water each day. I will stock my office/home/car with water, and reset every day with a new gallon jug. In order to drink that much water, I will need to reduce my intake of other fluids such as sodas and teas. I will still continue my single cup of coffee each morning. I will allow myself coconut water and powerade for flavored hydration.
• Lose 10 lbs in the first month by all means necessary. I have maintained about 10 extra lbs since the birth of my son, and I have no more excuses to eat junk food and sweets. Today I started a modified cabbage soup diet. Unfortunately, the soup as-is is not sustaining. The single thing it’s missing that could make this soup sustaining for future meals is protein. I truly believe in a high protein, low fat, low carb diet. And not diet in the sense of a fad-diet….but a normal every day diet. I made the soup the way the recipe states, but added low sodium chicken stock, low sodium veggie juice and 95% lean ground sirloin for protein. Now, this soup is not missing entire food groups. I plan on consuming this soup every day for the next 7 days – according to diet. Again, this is not sustaining, so I don’t plan on doing this much longer than 7 days, however, my goal is to lose 10lbs in water weight, fat, or whatever, and start 10lbs lighter as my baseline. When I get to that point, all of the focus for a leaner body will be physically obvious. I hate working hard on muscles, and not be able to see them because I’m bloated.
• Begin a weekly or daily fitness routine and STICK with it. In December, I bought a new client month long membership to a hot yoga place in town, and I have loved every single class I’ve taken! I’ve never loved yoga before, mostly because it’s actually pretty painful when your muscles aren’t warmed up. With bikram, the heat feels amazing, and I feel such an amazing detox with all the sweating. My plan is to start my day off at the gym by packing up the baby at 7:30am, heading in and doing about a 30-45 minute workout. Then meet up with the nanny by 8:30 or 9, and having her take him and then head to work. I like this plan, because it’s a convenient solution, and a routine that works unless the baby has trouble cooperating. I wanted to continue my yoga practice by occasionally doing Hot Yoga on weekends, and make it a treat instead of a routine, since it’s much more expensive than a membership at the gym.
• Limiting sweets to once a week. This one will be hard. I decided to throw out all junk food and sweets that I have collected over the last 6 months. I am so weak when it comes to ice cream, but I must admit, I haven’t had any in weeks and didn’t even think about it. Until now….gosh.
• Accountability partner. Scott’s on a mission to lower body fat, and so am I. He and I will work hard to stay focused this year, as he’s got some big events coming up towards the end of the year.
• Try new fitness plans. I decided to take up yoga and hot yoga for it’s gentle nature. But I want to pick up swimming again, pilates, crossfit, tai chi, rock climbing and muscle plus. I’m excited to just try new things and keep a fitness variety.
• Hate Pizza, hate pasta, hate fries. I used to HATE these foods, but in the last 6 months, I’ve really just started enjoying them again. I want to hate them again. I hate they way they make me feel, I hate the way they stick to my body. I just want to hate them again.
• Follow the paleo and whole 360 diet. I learned about some amazing paleo slow cooker recipes that will fit this new me way better. I have done paleo before, not as strict, but I love the results of a leaner body. Also, with a clean diet, I felt so much better each, refreshed, and healthy. I’d definitely like to jump back on that.

My resolutions are really simple. I just wanted to set strategies for this new me, and not just make blanket statements like “I wanna lose some weight, stop drinking sodas, eat better, etc…” I really wanted to lay down the roadmap to fitness, like I have before in 2012 and 2013. The best part about all of this is that I have done it before. So the hard work is already done. I just need to follow through.

Ah, I am truly excited for this year. It will be absolutely amazing. A few things on my bucket list that I plan on fulfilling is skydiving, dune buggy chasing, and hitting a new National Park.