How I kicked my own butt....

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So, I've managed to keep my momentum since my last update. Monday I had to work in the office, but brought a healthy lunch and actually ate it instead of buying something. I even went with a lower calorie coffee from Starbucks. 

It's still early on, but I've managed to work out 3 days in a row. I've also managed something else "new". I've eaten only one bowl/plate of food and I haven't binged on anything. Again, I know, it's still early on, but I'm very proud of myself for the progress I've made so far. 

I decided to do cardio one day and weight training the next and keep alternating. Since, I went for a walk/jog on Sunday that meant Monday was a weight training day. As usual an obstacle came up to try and deter me from my path. I burned my left hand while making supper. It hurt so badly I was calling it quits, but my amazing husband went out to "get the paper" and came home with some burn cream. I watched House and then decided I could do my lower body weight training instead of the upper body training I'd had planned. 

My quads still hurt from these:

Dumbbell Squats (Q) with two 5 lbs weights 4x12

Dumbbell Sumo Squats (Q) with one 10 lbs weight 4x12

These exercises are so simple, yet very difficult:

Dumbbell Lunges (H) with two 5 lbs weights 4x12

Straight-leg Dead Lifts (H) with two 5 lbs weights 4x12

I already have fairly strong calves so I didn't do as many sets on my calves:

Standing Calf Raises (C) 2x12

One Leg Calf Raises (C) L-1x12 R-1x12

We had a family crisis at the end of my workout so I didn't do more, although I'm not sure I could have managed more my first time out. I did something right since my abs hurt today:

Crunches (A) 3x12

Bent Knee Leg Raises (A) 2x12

After my workout and my family crisis was over I laid down on the couch and promptly passed out cold. I woke up at 2:30 am and went to bed. It was the best sleep I've had in a long time.

Today's workout was supposed to be walk/jog again but it snowed here in Ottawa which later turned to rain. I considered going outside anyway, but looked up heavy bag routines. I came across this 30-30-30 routine and boy did it kick my butt. 

The first 30 seconds you hit the heavy bag with regular speed. The second 3 seconds is the hardest because you have to be quick. You lift your knees and hit the bag while rotating around it. All this is done as quickly as possible and with your knees as high as possible. The last 30 seconds is knockout punches - hit the bag as hard as you can. Rest time in-between sets can vary anywhere from 1 minute to 15 seconds depending on the workout you're looking for. 

I used my Cardio Trainer App on my phone to determine the 30 seconds. I'm not sure how many full sets I did. When I grew too tired of keeping this up I improvised and went between the three types of heavy bag exercises as I could handle. I started to get really out of breath and a stitch in my side so I ran/walked forward 4 steps and backwards 4 steps. I kept the last but up for about 5 minutes. I lumped this in as aerobics and my total workout was about 20 minutes. 

Date:      Tuesday Apr.27, 2010 06:36 pm
Distance:      1.14 mi
Duration:      00:21:46
Exercise Type:      Aerobics

Right now I'm trying to focus on building a decent routine, one that is reasonable that I can stick to. I feel good about this fresh start, but I've said that before. Well, I'm off to bed - g'night. 

My Unorganized Life

I've been thinking a lot lately. I know it's a dangerous past time, but thinking can lead to doing and that's what I was in need of. Every time I think about starting an exercise regime, I think of my lack of time. This line of thinking led me to the realization that I have a lot of wasted time during the day. I know I technically already knew that, but when you're "in it" it's hard to see things clearly. I also knew part of my problem is the utter chaos my house was in. 

While technically clean, my life has been a mess. Yes, I mean life, not house. The unorganized house is a reflection of my unorganized life. I know there are certain things that won't stay clean and especially as a parent life doesn't always go the way you want. However, there are things within my control that I can do to help myself. And yes, I admit a LOT of it is because of laziness, procrastination and a majority of the time from frustration.

I let go of so many things - like the clean laundry sitting on our bedroom floor that no one had gotten to folding. My night stand full of useless stuff and one of it's drawers sitting on the floor. It's been there so long I barely remember why. I think it as just too lazy to put it back in. Also, the basement that's supposed to be half office and half workout room. Instead it too had become chaos.  

How can I make a fresh start with my life in constant disarray? How can I even begin a routine when I can't even find my jogging pants? So, today was the day. I called off going to church set a time to get off my lazy behind and get to it. Riley got up before 6:30 so I decided 8 am was a good time to get moving. 

At 8 I started the dishes, I decided to get the big stuff out of the way because it always looks worse than it it. I'm not the kind of person who can start with one thing and well finish just that one thing. I washed only the big stuff - pots, pans, cutting boards, lettuce spinner etc. Then I moved onto cleaning my espresso machine because well I hadn't had any caffeine yet and we all know how I love my caffeine. This led to me going downstairs to finally organize my office/work out room. I finally got the biggest of the basement organization done. There's still a closet under the stairs, but for now it's out of site. 

I ended up back in the kitchen, not to finish the dishes, but to organize the tall cupboard that's  been driving me crazy. I even moved the stove out and swept and mopped under there. I never did do the rest of the dishes, Ben ended up doing them later this afternoon. 

Somewhere between the basement and kitchen I managed to sort the laundry and get Ben to take the giant bucket of clean clothes to our bedroom. This led me to going into our bedroom to try and sort out THAT mess. I'm proud to say I did! I started with the clothes on the floor and worked my way to the bucket. I even folded and put most of it away. There is of course a lot more laundry to come, but at least caught up with myself. 

Now I'm sure you're all wondering when I'll stop talking about cleaning and I'm almost there. I just wanted to share how one thing leads to another with me. I made a fairly hefty to do list:

• move office
• organize basement
• set up temporary work out area (we're getting a home gym from my grandmother)
• laundry (which of course was in two parts) continue laundry and finish folding stuff from bedroom floor
• kitchen - organize tall cupboard, finish dishes, make curry (never made it to the curry we had BBQ instead)
• bedroom - finish folding clothes, put away misc crap, hem pants and sew stuff (also part of misc crap) 

 

I managed all of my list plus other stuff along the way. After that I decided to get some errands out of the way before going for my walk I was determined to go on. So, I went looking for someone who does shoe repair and ended up at Payless where I bought new shoes and a purse for $38! 
   

Aren't they pretty? (Yes, I'm one of THOSE who has just one purse regardless of what color she's wearing...sorry Dre...I know you'll be teasing me for this one.) I was so excited when I got home and a little nervous because I spent money I technically shouldn't have but I did NEED the shoes for work tomorrow. When I got home Ben was doing the rest of the dishes I still hadn't managed to get to and he was completely fine with my purchases of $38. He was worried I'd come home to say I spent hundreds because I was gone so long. 

I played with the kids for a bit before making supper and then I went for a walk. I planned only on walking but I did jog off and on on the second 15 minutes. I was surprised at myself and hurting for it now. My goal is to walk/jog every other day and to do weight training on the off days. I need to remember to bring my 1 lbs weights with me on my next walk/jog.

Oh! After all that I forgot to tell you one of my big epiphanies - I spend way too much time watching tv. So, I'm giving it up. Well, not entirely I still need to de-stress from time to time or want to watch my shows here and there. Instead, I'm going to try and finish all of those things I say I don't have time for. That's another list for another time.

All in all, today was a very productive day for my house and for my soul.

The Race Is On

Well,Wednesday night was our annual GEMS and Cadets Pine Car Races. Each of the kids designs their own car and then everyone gets together and races. This is always a huge event, lots of people and so much excitement.

I let my husband go out, so my mother in law came with the kids and I. She took care of Riley while Dale and Joey played with their cars and friends. At one point my mum in law took Riley outside for a walk...I should be more specific...Riley took her Nana for a long walk! Apparently, it took a while to coax her back toward the church.

I had a great time announcing the racers of each race. It's funny because I was always afraid of public speaking and now you can't shut me up!

The night dragged a bit near the end with the last of the heat races. Finally it was time for the awards to be announced. Dale won 3rd place for the Best Looking Car on the boys side. We didn't stay past this as it was already 9:30! 

All in all a good time was had by all. Oh, I forgot to mention my pink car that looked a little like a phone receiver was probably the slowest car on the track! How embarrassing! Ah but it was all in good fun!

Here are some of the pictures:

Here's the beginning of the track

My boys, Dale and Joey, hamming it up

Here's Riley. Look at all that hair? Isn't she adorable?

Dale receiving his trophy for 3rd Place - Best Looking Car

Joey misappropriated Counselor Ron's jeep. I'm pretty sure he was only supposed to have it for the races. 

Dale with his car and trophy

The Toe Blogger

Cover of The Pain: When Will it End?

What is with me and toes? So, I did it again. I hurt one of my toes. This time it's not broken or dislocated (that I know of). 

Last night I went upstairs to start getting the kids ready for bed. Both rooms were trashed and while the boys were cleaning their room I went into Riley's to fix it up. Well, her bed had been moved all around the room. It's one of those wooden frames with the 3 drawers. In the process of her bed being moved the vent cover ended up underneath the frame. I lifted the bed up quickly moved the vent cover out from underneath and promptly dropped the wooden bed frame right onto my toe, the index toe for lack of better description. I literally screamed in pain and yes I bawled like a little girl. I couldn't stop! It hurt so badly! And I thought dislocating my baby toe hurt...apparently having your toe squashed by a bed hurts even more. At least I didn't weep like a baby the last time. 

The one thing that boggles me, other than my sheer klutziness, is even though my to was squished it the very front of the toe that hurts the most not the top. What is up with that? If this keeps up I'm going to forever be remembered as The Toe Blogger.

Stumbling Through Life

As many of you know I am a GEMS counselor. The purpose of GEMS Girls' Clubs is to help bring girls into a living, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. 

This year's season is quickly winding down and I didn't have anything planned. From time to time winging it seems to really pay off. I quickly put together a few activities from one of our resources and I think I managed to provide a powerful message. 

The main  activity we did was to be blindfolded and maneuver through an obstacle course of chairs to get the ball on the other side. The idea was to show the girls that when we try to do things on our own we often stumble and fall. When we take the time to listen to God and follow the path he has laid out for us we often get exactly what we need.  

Each of the girls took a turn and at the end I decided I should go through as well. While blindfolded the girls decided to use my phone to take a video. The quality isn't great, and please keep in mind that I didn't know I was being recorded.

I think it really helped the girls and myself to tangibly see or rather feel how difficult it is to navigate through life. Even though we cannot always see the path, if we take the time to listen to God he will always steer us in the right direction.

Early Morning

Image by drocpsu via Flickr

Sigh...it's 5 a.m. No way am I getting up. Oh Laura...you should get up and go for a walk. Nope, I'm going back to sleep. Sigh...you're up now might as well get up and go. I need clothes...got them. Hmm, where's my sweater? It's so dark in here...stupid phone won't stay lit so I can see. Can't find it, gonna check downstairs. Okay...I'm going...as soon as I find my sweater...oh wait breakfast. Ugh! Drinking hideous Slim-Fast shake...ugh! That's gross. Now, where is that sweater...not the main level or basement...back all the way upstairs....nope...Okay get your shoes on dummy. You do this every time. You focus on one thing and when that doesn't work out you just don't go....Oh, just grab any sweater from the laundry room...Wait...what's this? HELLO sweater! I've been looking for you. I didn't even know you ended up in the laundry. Okay, shoes - check...Ready to go....

Well I did it. I went for a walk this morning. I can barely believe it! I went for 30 minutes. I feel pretty good that I accomplished something. I admit before I even made the half way mark I wanted to turn around and go back to bed, but I marched on. I didn't go as far as I'd have liked, but that will come with getting out on a regular basis. For now my goal is just to get out there at least 3 times this week.

Date: Wednesday Apr.14, 2010 05:23 am

Distance: 1.86 mi

Duration: 00:29:52

Kids, Sleep and Caffeine!

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What is it with kids and getting them to sleep? I just don't get why they have to fight it every step of the way, even with a set routine kids just HATE going to sleep. It's like they're going to miss something phenomenal like what? Folding laundry or doing dishes?

At this stage in life I'd do just about anything to get more sleep. I think we as adults maybe have it all backwards. We should introduce a daily nap to our lives! Instead we rely more and more heavily on coffee and caffeinated products. Have you tried the new Red Bull Power Shot? Instead of the normal can you get this little shot that is supposed to do you for 5 hours. By the way...the answers are Yes, I did and Yes, it worked. 

The more caffeine we consume, the more we need to get that jolt we're looking for. We're all a bunch of caffeinated junkies. And we all go through the I think I'm drinking too much coffee so I better cut back phase. We end up with headaches and being extremely irritable only to eventually give in and start the process all over again. I must say though as a parent I don't think I could function long term without caffeine. 

In fact I love caffeine so much that the espresso machine I got for Christmas has replaced my coffee maker and gets used about 2-3 times every day (more on a "bad" day). Apparently most people who get an espresso machine and use it once or twice and then let it collect dust. I no longer spend huge amounts of money on fancy coffee at Starbucks or Second Cup. I've been able to create my own peppermint mochas with way less fat/calories/money!