Maybe She Isn't So Bad After All

Last week I was cursing Jillian Michaels. Her 30-day shred was kicking my butt. I was in all sorts of pain. So, I took the weekend off to let my body rest a little. The bad thing, though, is that while I was not exercising, I was making really poor food choices.

After a weekend full of bad eating (Olive Garden Alfredo on Saturday and all sorts of junk yesterday at the Super Bowl party), I was nervous to step on the scale today. Good news/bad news is that I didn't lose any weight. BUT I didn't gain anything either.

I admit that I was a little disappointed about not losing, but very grateful that I hadn't gained any after the weekend. Then I got out the measuring tape. Last Monday I took five measurements: bust, waist, hips, left & right thighs. And guess what? I lost a total of 5.25 inches over those 5 measurements! I am ecstatic!! I even cried I was so happy.

I worked so hard last week. I had sweat pouring down my face after each work out. I absolutely HATE sweating, so that was a big thing for me to overcome. To see actual results from working so hard gives me the motivation to keep going and work even harder this week! I know the likelihood of losing another 5 inches this week is very slim (no pun intended), but I'm excited to try.

AND. . . . .

I have committed myself to running a 5K race in June. I'm a little (okay, a lot) nervous because I've never done anything like this before. Any tips for training from all you runners out there?

Highlights of My Day

In no particular order:

Spending the whole day with Kasey. We just ran errands and did chores around the house, but I loved just having him around me. I miss him so much when he is gone.

A very sore me chasing a very naked Ellie around the house while she giggles, "Look Dad! I'm naked!"

Watching Kimberly learn how to stand up by herself. I love watching her stick her little bum in the air before she carefully lifts her hands off the ground, regains her balance, and takes off after her sisters as fast as she can go. So Cute!

This one is from a few days ago, but it stills makes me smile. I made bread bowls to eat our chili in on Monday night. All through dinner Makayla kept exclaiming, "This is so cool, Mom!" "What a great idea!" "Can we eat these every night?"

Jillian Michaels, I Loathe You!

Every muscle in my body is screaming for mercy right now! Yesterday I started Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. Oh man! She is brutal! BRUTAL!!

Muscles ache that I didn't even know I had. Even the muscles in my face hurt from twisting and contorting in pain from the rigorous workout.

Reaching up to get a cup out of the cupboard is torture. Squatting down to get a mixing bowl? Pure agony.

I want to quit so bad! I want to curl up in a ball on my bed and weep for the next 3 days until I feel better.

BUT I know that if I keep going, keep working through the stiff and sore muscles, that I will get stronger and thinner and healthier. So my goal for this week is to keep up with my workout even though I may want to quit. My regimen, which is pretty intense, goes like this: Monday, Wednesday and Friday work out with the ladies at church from 9am-10am. We jog/sprint, run ladders, lift weights (in the form of our 20-lb babies. haha) and work on our abs (at this point the only proof that I have abs is that they hurt so dang much!). Monday-Friday I do my 20 minute Jillian Michaels DVD with a friend. I'm undecided about working out on Saturday. On the one hand, it would be nice to have a 2 day break. But on the other hand, exercising on Saturday would get me to my goal that much faster. Any opinions on that?

Oh, and since I suck at getting to bed by 10:30, let alone 10, I am going to keep working on that for this week, too. I will probably need all the extra rest I can get!!

Sisters

My girls share a room out of necessity. That's what happens when you live in a 2-bedroom apartment with three children. They have to share.

But you know what? I think even if we did have more space I would still want them to share a room. There's just something about listening to your little girls giggle themselves to sleep that is priceless. And I would never want to take that away from them.

I know they probably won't remember it at this age, but I hope that they each have a whole childhood filled with memories of giggling themselves to sleep. And playing Barbies together. And dressing up in their best dress-ups for their all-important tea parties. And doing each other's hair and make-up. And staying up late to help each other with homework or to talk about boys.

I grew up with sisters and understand just how awesome all of those things are. I am so grateful that my girls get to grow up as sisters. Sisters are the BEST!!

Little Copy Cats

I remember when Makayla was between 12 and 18 months old I started having trouble with her throwing tantrums. I relied heavily on my friend Amanda's experience with running a daycare to help me navigate my way through these uncharted waters of parenting. Some of the best advice she gave me, advice that I continue to use 5 years later, is to provide her with the words that I want her to use.

At the time, it never occurred to me that she couldn't communicate with me because she lacked the vocabulary to do so. Makes sense, though, right?

As an example: when my children point and grunt, I supply them with the words, "May I have that, please?" Or when they get frustrated because someone is doing something they don't like, I have them say "I don't like that. Please stop."

I'm amazed at how well it works! But lately, I have been noticing that Makayla and Ellie use this on each other. I'm sitting in the living room, listening to them interact in the kitchen. I can't help but laugh as I hear this conversation between them:

M: Ellie, do you want me to help you color?

E: No. I can do it all by myself.

M: But I could help you cut it out, if you want.

E: No thanks. I can do it.

M: No, you are supposed to say, "Yes, please. I need some help."

********************
This happened another time that just cracked me up.

My parents were over for a little visit. After dinner we had root beer floats. Ellie asked my dad, "Grandpa, do you want a root beer float?" When he didn't respond immediately, she helped him find his words. In a whispered voice she said, "Say 'No thank you.'" When he countered that he did, in fact, want a root beer float, Ellie said, "That's not what I said. You are 'posed to say 'No thank you!'" It was classic!

I love that they are learning, but it definitely makes me very aware of the words I use with them.

Rethinking This Goal Thing

So, it turns out that going to bed before 10 o'clock every night is extremely difficult and I have not succeeded even once since I set that goal 4 days ago. *sigh*

I am, however, getting closer. Tuesday night I didn't get to bed until 12:30. Wednesday night was a little better at 11:45. And last night (Thursday) I would have been in bed by 10 if I hadn't been on hold with my cell phone company for over 2 hours trying to get the problem with my texting ability resolved. Can I just say that going from texting over 100 times a day to texting not at all is really difficult? I'm very grumpy about it. But I digress.

A few positive things have come from my attempts at an earlier bedtime. 1. I have infinitely more energy in the mornings and, consequently, throughout my day. 2. Because I'm not willing to give up my "me" time after the girls go to bed, I am getting better at doing my housework during the day. I used to just wait until the girls were asleep to do dishes, fold laundry, etc. But now I have found that cleaning is not nearly as difficult to do with children awake as I had always thought it was. (It helps that Kimberly is walking a lot now and can keep herself semi-occupied for a short while with the help of these two amazing toys.)

I want to keep going with this goal, but getting to bed by 10 o'clock is kind of pushing it for me. So I am giving myself a small allowance. The revised goal is to start getting ready for bed at 10 and to tuck myself in by 10:30. I think that extra 30 minutes will be just what I need to accomplish this goal.

Goals

I've been thinking about goals a lot over the past few weeks. I'm really good at thinking of things I want to accomplish. What I am not so great at, however, is writing them down or following through.

I have read on several blogs lately about other people's goals. (It's the new year. Go figure.) What I like most about what I have read is a weekly goal. I love that idea. A week is such a manageable time frame. For one week I focus on something very specific that I want to do or learn to improve myself. Seems easy enough.

So that is my resolution for this year: set a weekly goal and work my hardest to accomplish it. I know there will be weeks where I will probably fall short. In that case, I will extend that goal into the next week.

By doing this, I hope to become a better version of myself. More self-disciplined. More learned. Hopefully, I will become a happier, healthier person. That's the goal, at least.

My goal for this week is to go to bed before 10pm every night. This one will be a hard one for me. I have a bad habit of staying up way too late. Especially when Kasey is gone. Last week I only got to bed before midnight one night. Three of those nights it wasn't until after 2am. Yikes! I have felt extra tired and extra grouchy. And my brain is processing information at a sluggish pace. I am hoping that by getting more rest I can remedy some of these problems.

Wish me luck!