Daaa! (like ta-da but w/out the Ta(ta's) lol)

Sorry for the extended silence! For the last week or 2 we have been very busy. So much has been going on. The Monkey Boy started potty training--fully and on his own, and we found a place to move to and have been moving things over for the past week (great exercise btw!). Yesterday I made my final trip and we are now completely moved in--one day ahead of schedule. The monkey boy even used his new pee-pee-in-the-potty skills in the new place!

Finishing with the move 1 day early means that we can go to a car show today (lots of great walking)! Once upon a time, I used to be into cars. I used to go to car shows and was in a car crew. Since getting married, having a baby-doll and focusing on a nursing career, all of that went on the back burner. My hubby is into cars, so it was inevitable that I find that interest again. I bought a new 2008 Scion XB about 2 months ago with drop springs, fog lights, upgraded radio and few other little things. I put new rims on it (love them!), and did a few little cosmetic things to it with vinyl (so fun!). I still need a spoiler and want new seats, but first I am going to change my headlights look angry (with halos) and am contemplating making them pink, as well as the console lighting and maybe the door sills if I can find them. I also need to get a.....you know, I'm sure none of you care, so I will just leave you with a picture. It's not the greatest, but that's it. lol.

Daa! like Ta-da but w/out the ta(ta's)
(as the Monkey Boy would say)

Anyway, I've been keeping up with my exercise, and have been logging it onto sparkpeople. For the past week and 1/2, I have been walking more than 10K steps, so that is awesome (on my day's off I usually get 1/2 that)! Yesterday I had over 15K steps down.

Last weekend I did some side lunges with the Wii Fit and killed my legs. I couldn't stand or walk for I was so extremely sore, it was ridiculous. I am not sore anymore, but I feel drawn to do them again lol. After we get the Wii all set up, I want to get back to my normal Wii routine.

The fun part about where we live is that the treadmill fits in the living room comfortably. I am very excited about this. I just hope that I follow through and use it. I have realized lately--well, since after 2009 (completing the 365+ days of exercise), that nothing stimulates my motivation the way I was last year. It's like my brain said "you did it, you proved you can do it, so...eh, whatever." I feel bored a lot, and so I need to reevaluate myself, my new found brain and goals and start-a-tweaking again.

Long term goals do nothing for me anymore. Last year they did. I think I need to chop them down, in order to follow through w/ them now. I think that stinks, but I am glad that I have the insight to know this about myself. If you know something that stands in the way of your goals, find a way to step around it. No one knows you better than you do, so you just have to find what works for you.

For me, I think doing 1 month goals, as a long term goal, is good (I hope lol). The 1st of the month is a good place to start, so there you have it. I am going to go for 30 days of exercise. Seems to pale in comparison to 365+ days that I just did, but it's a start. It's a good start to a great ending.

Have to go take a shower and wash my car.

Have a great weekend! Now that I have the internet up and running again, I will be blogging more often. Especially with my new 30 day goal.

I can do this. I was a star!

God is with us each and every step of the way...

Hi everyone! I hope you didn't think I would be gone for too long. Although I won't be blogging as constantly as I was before (daily) I still plan to check on and share my experiences with diet/exercise and life as a full time working mom/wifey.

Things are not good for us right now, but they could be worse. Totally unrelated to all of the financial problems, we have to move and we have 15 days to do so (such bad timing). Life has been stressful, but I still have a smile on my face, because I know that God is with us each and every step of the way. Money doesn't dictate whether I have a smile on my face, and it shouldn't (maybe at first it's scary but after He calms my heart, I see it is nothing). It's just paper and has no power in His eyes, so why should I give it so much power in mine? I am being completely public about it because I am not ashamed. I didn't do anything wrong. We don't live beyond our means. The state we live in sucks and my hubby's past mistakes haunt us both here (whether he lived beyond his means once upon a time before we got married, doesn't really matter anymore). The judgment against him affects me because I married him. For better or for worse, ya know? The fun part is that this is all new, and it can only get better! Who knows what may be at the end of this dull colored rainbow?

Anyway my "break" (I say that like Ross does on Friends--"we were on a break!) didn't last long. I think instead of calling it a break, I just needed to slow down for a few days and get my priorities together. Family is a priority. I just couldn't stay away from my cabana boy aka exercise for too long, no matter how hard I tried. I spent all year, last year committing to it and fitting it into my life, so it's too hard to just let go of it that easily.

I thought of exercise constantly (the "what to do" not the "ugh, I have to do") but it felt good to not have to do it for 2 days. Anyway this is what I have been up to:

Friday and Saturday were like the complete rest days--I didn't do much, typical everyday stuff including some heavy cleaning and I wore my pedometer out of curiosity on Saturday.

Saturday: 5656 steps
Sunday: 16,000 steps exactly! (work)
Monday: 15,485 steps (work)
Tuesday: 15,395 steps (work)
Wednesday: 32 Wii Fit minutes
Thursday: 33 minutes of just Wii Boxing (love it!)

Today: 13 minutes of just Wii Boxing and some of Turbo Jam Cardio Party (25 minutes)

I will be doing a lot of walking looking at apartments and such again today, so I'll update my pedometer reading (3865 steps--not as much as I thought it would be).

I think when things slow down after moving and the lawyers, I am going to start doing the photo/measurements, because it was a good source of measurement, from where I have been, to where I am going. It is a pain in the butt to do, but TOTALLY motivating and rewarding!

Oh! I almost forgot. Totally caved on the sugar thing, but if you know me, it was inevitable. I think it's something I really need to take baby steps with, to make sure it sticks, the way I did it with exercise. A big problem w/ it is, if I say I can't have it, I want it even more and seek it out. If it's allowed, I don't care so much lol (I guess it's that 3 year old in me). I have gone 15 days w/out soda of any kind and drink a ton of water again. I forgot how great that feels.

My son's 3rd birthday is on Sunday! I can't believe how big he is getting. My birthday is the Saturday after that. Oye.

Hope you all are well! Thank you for all of your wonderful comments and well wishes. You guys are awesome!

I can do this. I am a star.

It's time for a break

I need a break. I think that I bit off more than I can chew by trying to do 2 years of exercise in a row, and I think it's just too much. I talked to my family and they all agree. I just have so much going on, and instead of relieving stress, it's become a stressor. Over the past year I have learned what it takes to make a positive lifestyle change, and how to have the dedication and determination to do it.

This "break" doesn't mean that everything will stop. It means that I need to give myself the chance to do it on my own, and not because I have to (that's the difference in my mind with this resolution). So yesterday, I took a much deserved break. I didn't exercise. I exercised for 365 days in a row and then some. I proved to myself that I can do it, so I will never say to myself again, that I can't. It hung over my head like I was forgetting to do something all day, but at the end of the day, it felt good to let go.

Yesterday I still watched what I ate, and I wouldn't really call it, "watching" because it's just what I do now. I am so used to knowing to look for the numbers and that's a good thing. It's apart of my lifestyle change, and I don't find myself craving calorie filled junk anymore, like I used to. Knowing those numbers makes it hard to enjoy the food. I also want to focus more time on the Sparkpeople plan. It teaches some great stuff for lifestyle change, and I just want to do the whole thing over again, w/out any added disruptions. I think I had too much on my plate to fully absorb the great info (I learned a lot, but I can learn SO MUCH more).

I also still plan to keep up the no sugar/no soda thing. It's so hard with the no sugar, but easy when it's not around (it's those "around" times that are a pest!), and I will still continue to talk about that, because so many people struggle with it too, but the no soda thing I think I have in the bag. It's more like a soda/strange chemicals ban.

Anyway I didn't weigh myself or do my measurements, like I said. Sorry. I spent a lot of the day trying to recover financial damages (so stressful). In 2009 I started out at 215lbs and at my lowest I got to 183. I have since gained 10lbs but I'm not upset because it will eventually be lost too. I now weigh about 193lbs. Having this goal made me obsess over my weight more so than usual, I think, because it was measurable by that number. I still plan to lose more weight this year than last, but I won't and can't obsess over it because I have other priorities that are more important.

Work and exercise is hard. All of you working peepz out there know this. I was spoiled at the beginning of my resolution because I was a stay at home mom. I had A LOT of time on my hands, more so than now (even on my day's off because I'm playing catch up). Once I started working, the exercise thing got hard, and I stopped enjoying it. It became a chore.

Anyway, I still struggle and am still going to blog when I can, but I think I need a rest from blogging daily, and trying to catch up on the days that I didn't blog. It's just too much.

I hope you all are well! Thank you again for all of your support!

I can do this. I am a star.

A twofer

Well, yesterday stunk. It started off a good day--got my pray on, work on and exercise on (14,821 steps). I had accomplished almost 6 hours of work before 10:30am--it was a great start to a day...

then I got a series of strange text messages from my hubby. Strange and almost frantic. I could feel his panic in his words.

"I am really freaked out, please call me."

"We are broke, no money is in our account as of now."

What the heck is going on? I didn't get these texts until almost 2 hours after he had sent them (I am one of those rare people that leaves my cell phone in my purse at work). What happened?

So many things ran through my mind as the phone rang while I was trying to call him back. Was it my car? Insurance? Did the rent check go through? Something we forgot? Zero? How on earth do we have zero (we are not bad with our budgeting)?

It turns out that we don't have zero. We have less than zero.

It turns out that a past debt of my husband--almost 10 years old before we got married came back to haunt him...us. There is a legal hold on the money in our bank account and we will probably never see it again. It's really too much to post here, but I will just say that I have had to get a lawyer which we have an appointment with after my hubby gets off of work, to get this taken care of. The company bugging him, got to me because in the state of Nevada, his debt is mine, and mine is his (although I have none). Hopefully we can get this taken care of.

I am so annoyed at this, but feel blessed at the same thing. Things could be so much worse! We got most of our bills paid for for the month, so we just have to play catch up for a little while and pay the bank back. At least we have jobs! There are so MANY plus sides that for me it's hard to be smoking angry. My hubby might have to file for bankruptcy (and I might have to also, according to a bankruptcy lawyer I spoke with yesterday) but that would be a good thing, because then nothing he did in the past can haunt him or again. We don't own a house so they can't take that. The fact that we were never given notice of this happening is also a plus on our side. They didn't send us a letter or anything. I just pray that something can be done. Thank God for family.

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(now for today)

All this being said, my measurements are the last thing on my mind. I hate to say it, but so is exercise. I'm sure it shows. I haven't been shoving food into my mouth but the last 2 days have been hard because we have to do w/ what is in the house, and that isn't a whole lotta healthiness (at least I haven't had any sugar or soda, which is good because I could REALLY do w/ a candy bar or ice cream right now). I have spent the entire day so far on the phone trying to fix things. The measurements are going to have to wait until Saturday or until my hubby is in the mood to help me with them.

I walked away from this blog for a little while to help the Monkey Boy with some stuff and I thought that what I need to do is make a list. An exercise to-do list, of doable things, like quickfire challenges (a few sets equaling 100 throughout the day), so that I at least get exercise in for today. I wont lie, I'm not in the mood for cardio or even the Wii Fit. When I am done, I will update and put "(done)" next to it. Here it is:

Seated Knee Lifts with Chair

Pushups

Jumping Jacks

Standing Back Extension with an Object

I guess this is all for now. Don't want to over due it.

Sorry for venting, for flaking on my daily affirmation to blog each day. Sometimes it's just not possible. It doesn't mean that I am throwing in the towel though :).

I can do this. I am a star.

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I am selfish...

Today was my day off (have to work again tomorrow) and I got up early to exercise. As soon as I go on the Wii Fit balance board, the Monkey Boy woke up. I had the volume turned all the way down, so he definitely didn't hear it. He just has that, "mommy-selfish-dar," he knows when I am being selfish.

It's so hard to be in "selfish mode" with a toddler around. Yes, exercising is selfish. It totally should be because it's about you and no one else. You may choose to exercise to look pleasing--we don't see ourselves the way others do--literally...we aren't a third person (duh). We may (should) choose to exercise for our health, so that we may be around for generations to come. Any reason, we have to do it ourselves, no one else can do it for us (awe man!).

So because I know now that it's getting hard for me to exercise when The Boy is awake, I am going to tweak my goal. You have to tweak your goals to be successful at them, if you see that no doing so will compromise your success. I still plan to blog/exercise early everyday, but I think putting a 2pm limit on it, is hard. Some days my son doesn't even take a nap until 4pm. I also know that exercising when my hubby is here is A LOT harder, so I think I am going to make his ETA my new goal mark. He usually gets home around 5:30pm. I know if I haven't exercised before he gets home, I resort to squats and/or push ups before bed, when he is already in bed. I think this tweak to my goal is more realistic and will help me to stay successful with the new changes I am trying to incorporate for 2010.

My son took a small nap and I was able to get 32 Wii minutes in on the Wii Fit. I did the skateboarding one and the obstacle course, both, over and over again. I also did an hour of heavy cleaing.

Staying away from sugar is SO MUCH easier at home than it is at work. Home is a controlled environment and I just don't have it here. At work, everyone has it around so it's tough. Today I haven't thought about wanting it at all, so that is good progress. Cutting out the soda has helped me to re-own an old goal of drinking a lot of water a day.

As the fresh beat band sings...it was a great day, the very best day, and nothing could be better.

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

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At least we didn't crash...

Today was so much busier at work than yesterday. We had 5 discharges almost back and then 3 admits almost immediately after. The day went by quickly, which was a blessing both because I was able to finish everything on time and because my body is just so darn tired.

I got home and checked my pedometer to find 4 steps; I left it sitting on my bed. Lovely :). I'm just gonna call it the same as yesterday although I know I walked a heck of a lot more today. All good. I hope I don't forget it again on Wednesday. It makes me so mad when I forget it!

I had a common theme today and it was kinda funny to me--driving at work. Everyone that I transferred in a wheelchair today mentioned my "driving." I guess being a fast walker w/ a wheelchair isn't as fun as I thought it would be? lol. One guy even asked me if I had gotten my license back back from my DUI cause I drive crazy. lol. It's not that bad. (totally joking as I say this next part) You know old people. Everything slows w.a.y. down for them, so they ALL over exaggerated. My response to all of them were pretty much, "at least we didn't crash into anything, right?"

I have tomorrow off, but I have to go back again on Wednesday.

I did good with the sugar and soda although I had HUGE temptation w/ the sugar at work. It was in my face all day and I even went over and started at it for a while. I picked it up and read the ingredients and put it down (first one was "sugar"). A co-worker even teased me for doing that. I'm just glad I was able to push passed it. I really thought for a second I was going to cave. That's all it would have lasted too--a second of fruity-chocolately goodness and a year of guilt.

I am so tired. I fell asleep twice during Heroes, so thank goodness for the DVR.

Off to bed. See you in the morning, hopefully bright and early!

DLTBBB!

I can do this. I am a star.

Short 'n sweet...

Today was a long day and I have to do it all over again tomorrow.

I worked today and am about to jump in the sack. I am exhausted.

Gonna make it short 'n sweet...I walked 14,679 steps (6.95 miles) and did my work thing.

I did well with no sugar/soda today, but there wasn't really any temptation at work. Yaay.

Ok see ya'll tomorrow after work! Take care!

I can do this. I am a star.

So far so good...

I am really making an effort to blog/exercise early. It's not before 2pm, but we have been pretty busy all day. At least I'm blogging at 3:30pm. When I said "before 2pm" on my day off, I know it's something I am going to have to strive for, rather than a "no sugar or soda" or "exercise everyday" type thing. The fact that I am here now, is progress lol.

I just did 30 Wii Fit minutes. My plan was to do more but the hubby is barking at me because we have more errands to run. I will get back on and finish what I started when we get home from the store and my mother's house. I also want to get on the treadmill.

So far so good on the no sugar/soda thing. Soda really isn't a problem for me, so it's kind of a freebie (?). It doesn't bother me like sugar, but it's a good thing to cut out nonetheless. We even went out for breakfast and my first reaction was to order "the same" as my hubby (diet soda) but I remembered and ordered an iced tea instead. Not my fav, but I used some Splenda and a lemon and it was tolerable (lol). I also had whole grain whole wheat pancakes w/ sugar free syrup, turkey bacon and egg whites.

My plan is to lose more weight this year, than I did last, so I am motivated.

I'll update later with what else I do.

Have a great Saturday! Make it count and don't give up on your goals! Just adjust them to make them "doable" and build from there :).

I can do this. I am a star.

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Day one...MUCH easier said than done

Today was a workday and I walked 14275 steps (6.76 miles). About an hour before my shift ended, they asked me to go be a "sitter" with a patient from the ED, who was a major fall risk. Sitting w/ a patient is nice and all because I get a chance to get off of my feet, but it's so boring mainly because you are watching a sleeping patient (sounds creepy, huh?). I took advantage of this time and quickfired some standing side extensions-100 total broken down into 2 groups of 50 AND some seated leg extensions (also 2 sets of 50). TOTALLY proud of myself. Exercisin' at work.

In regards to my new resolution, to cut out sugar--I failed miserably today. It was Day 1, and MUCH easier said than done. Sugar really is a problem for me. I hate to admit that (I feel so stupid!) but it's true. I wasn't even 10 hours into the new year and blew it. My excuse? I forgot. lol. Seriously! Sugar does that to me. It's like beer goggles but with sugar. We had a pot luck at work for the new year and so everyone brought something. I walked into the break room around 10 am this morning, and as I walked in, the room paled, and this bowl in the middle of the table got extremely bright, kind of like heavenly angels were all sitting in that bowl. FUDGE. My immediate response was to eat a piece, which I did. It was sickly sweet (not the kind of sugar I like) and smacked me back into reality. Then I remembered the resolution, felt bad and called my hubby. He laughed. He knows.

I guess that means 364 days of no sugar? It's really going to be a struggle for me. I really pray that God gives me the strength. It's going to be hard with work--there is ALWAYS something sweet there. That's so hard for me. I really thought that with completing 365 days of consecutive exercise, this no sugar thing would be a piece of cake (no pun intended). I was wrong. How does the song go? "If at first you don't succeed, brush yourself off and try again."

I did however have no soda. I don't think the lack of diet soda lessened the sugar cravings though, although I'm not quite sure if it was more sugar reflex or craving. I'm thinking (and hoping) for the first.

Anyway, I think I did enough counting in 2009. I will keep some sort of a running tally at the end of my blogs or something...I don't know, just for me, cause, well, I'm anal.

That's it! I'm off tomorrow so I plan to start fresh and new. Isn't it funny how it's another day, nothing new, same old, same old, yet my brain acts as though it's the start of something new? lol.

Hope you all had a great New Year. Make some goals! They're good for ya!

I can do this. I am a star.

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