TGIF!

Friday! Woo--hoo! And the Friday before Thanksgiving, no less.

I've had a productive day so far (at 10:57am), and it feels good. Let's hope I stay this way.
My day so far:
-Drove Pat to work, Aidan to school
-grocery shopping
-Brennan snack
-Exercised, doing the 2 mile WATP
-Booked a sitter for TWO days!
-Ordered a delicious Dutch Apple Pie from our local orchard to bring on Thanksgiving (Pat will make the pumpkin pies)
-Laundry started
-Snacking now & about to play w/ Brennan

I love productive days!

I'm most excited about getting in some exercise. I've really gotten out of shape, and pregnancy is no excuse. I'm trying to get BACK into shape before this baby is born. I have roughly 14 weeks.
I also started to write down a food journal again. Not that I'm counting calories, but I've been bad about eating fruits/veggies.

Tonight we have some family fun ahead of us: it's the FEATHER PARTY!
We went last year and it was a great time. Aidan loved hanging out w/ all of his school friends.
I'm working from 5:40-7:40 tonight, then I'll get to enjoy it. We'll be going as a family & eating a delicious dinner there of hot turkey sandwiches. I love our parish/school!

So it's a good-feeling Friday. :)
I hope you're having a great one, too!

Do You Wanna Know?

All the junk I ate over Christmas break?

Seriously. I know that's an odd thing to bring up, but I think it will surprise many of you. Some of you seem to think I am a health-nut, so I'm going to share. Rest assured, I can pig out like no other, when I allow myself.
And of course I feel the guilt, but I'll touch on that at the end.

Are you ready? You may feel sick to your stomachs, FYI.

Over the break, I gave myself time-off of tracking my points and let myself enjoy food. We ate at my in-laws', enjoyed snacks from others, homemade baked goods, etc, so it didn't all come from our funding.

I ate:

• bacon-wrapped filet
• bacon-wrapped breadsticks
• loaded baked potato
• Vito's Pizza, the best on the planet (as in 6 pieces)
• prime rib
• Little Caesar's
• chocolate
• cookies
• Taco Bell, especially the chili-cheese burrito
• Moose Tracks ice cream
• an entire bag of Garden Salsa Sunchips, by myself
• bread rolls w/ butter
• wine
• Schlotzky's Turkey-Bacon Club
• Pasta. A crazy amount of white pasta.
• Bagels

That's not even all of it, I'm sure. 

But see? I pigged out like no other. That was in 2 weeks' time, people. Kinda gross, huh?

I don't do it all the time. I allowed myself that free range long enough for guilt to set in & pounds to come back on. Not a ton, but I could feel the difference. I very easily feel when I gain or lose weight. (I suppose years on Weight Watchers will do that for ya).

I enjoyed it, but now it's back to being disciplined until the next bout of it, probably over Spring break.

I am back to tracking, and I'm really trying to condition myself again, physically. 

If I happen to get pregnant this year (I am not pregnant, just planning ahead), I want to be in very good physical condition. I want to be the healthiest I have ever been.

And it's a tad vain, but I really want to see if I can get my weight into the 120's again. I am close, but have not reached it yet. It won't last, I am sure, but I really feel I want to challenge myself. 

For exercise I'm trying some new things (still love the shred, but want a break from it):

Cardio Max, level 1. It's On Demand, and oh my goodness, it is tough. The thighs & toosh are feeling it.

Walk Away the Pounds, Family Walk. It's 2 miles. I never got into WATP before, but I'm liking it. It's one I can see myself doing life-long. Easy on the joints, but still effective.

On Demand right now has a 10 minute Yoga for Core. I always thought Yoga was for the tree-huggers and probably easy. WRONG! Ok, maybe it is more hippy-type or something, but it is not easy. Boy was I wrong! My abs were definitely challenged, and many of the moves were things we did in dance.

I did these 3 last night, in this order. I plan to stick with this routine for this week & see what it does come weigh-in time.

It really is amazing how good you feel mentally after exercising. I dread doing it much of the time, but so glad I've done it once it's done.

Six Pounds Makes a BIG Difference

Much more than I thought.

You all know I've grown accustomed to doing the shred. What can I say? I love the work-outs and the short amount of time it requires. It just really works with my schedule right now.

I've done all 3 levels. Not to perfection, but I have done each level consistently since May.

I only had two 5-pound weights, so that's what I've used. 10 pounds total still made for a good stress on my muscles.

I was getting bored with level 3 (even though I was nowhere near perfection with it), and believe it or not I had skipped the shred for almost 8 days.

You can go ahead & pick your jaws up off the floor.

I have implemented my new plan. :)

See that? Ignore the dorky aspect of the picture (I was trying to look tough...ha!). I'm showing my 8-pound weights! 3 more pounds per weight, and I'm shredding now with 6 extra pounds than before. (oh yeah, and ignore the upside down 8)

I have started back to level 1 using the 8-pounders, trying to follow Natalie the entire time.

You can laugh at me now, because let me say I did not expect 6 pounds to make such a difference. WOW. I did it just once so far, and I am sore. Even my legs. Doing those darned squats with the weights, and my legs are yelling at me for a sauna or something.

I plan to start today without missing a day. I am back to counting my points as of today (took time away while vacationing), and I hope to shred each day. I really enjoy it, and my body is finally to a point where it craves exercise. I can say in all honesty I didn't think I'd reach this point again. I have not been to this point since I danced in high school.

Oh, and please note that the picture was taken after I exercised, so I'm sweaty and icky.

I do shower, I swear. ;)