Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
{not alone}
I sat down with the intention of writing a run-down of the ridiculous (albeit, not surprising) situations I have found myself in over the past 2 weeks.
But every time I tried to type something, something else stole my focus.
Really, just one something else.
About a month ago I shared the journey I had embarked on- the path to a healthier me. I started with a big goal, with a bunch of smaller goals along the way. Admittedly, I was doubtful. I wasn't sure I'd reach my overall goal or even my first little goal. I thought, I have carried this baby weight around for so many years, what if this is who I am now? I knew I was done with the lifestyle I HAD been living, but wasn't sure I'd ever get to the ME I wanted to be.
I started anyway, in mid-March. I first cut my calories, down to about 1500 or less (I am still breastfeeding), and a commitment to exercise every day, for at least 30 minutes. We have had an exercise bike for a while, so that was what I started with. I built myself up to an hour, in 5 minute increment boosts. In a month of doing that, I shed about 14 lbs.
But it got boring. As I was researching elliptical machines on craigslist, my friend Wendy heard me talking about it and said I could use their elliptical because it was just sitting in storage. Score! So I switched to that. I also incorporated 20 minutes of crunches, behind lifts, reverse push ups, and squats. Another month down, another 16 lbs gone, making my total loss around 28.
And then that got a little boring. (In all of this, I only took maybe 3 or 4 days off of exercise. I was scared to take rest days because I did not want to fall off the wagon.) Right about that time, I got an email w/ pics from one of my favorite old friends and saw that she looked ripped. The kind of leanness and tone, that I literally said WOW out loud. So I asked, and she pointed me to The Shred dvd.
I have been doing the DVD for 6 days now, and I have already dropped 3.8 lbs. I love it. It is ridiculously challenging (I seriously fell on my face during the 2nd interval of push ups on the first day), my inner ear is even sweating, it tones muscle groups that cardio was not reaching, and that I was only putting a dent in before, since I was not using weights. IT KICKS MY (slowly shrinking) TUSH!
Right now, I am almost 34 lbs down. I have a ways to go. But I am starting to believe that I will get there.
The thing is, I have not gotten here alone. I see women all over the place walking this same walk. All sized women, with completely different goals, but all of them plugging away. Some are mothers, some have not yet had babies. Some are trying to get to a certain size, some are trying to get back to a certain weight, some are trying to get definition in their arms and legs, and some are just trying to not be winded when they have to chase their toddlers. But all of these women, coming from different places, and doing it in different ways, are DOING IT.
It is the most amazing motivation. They have been my greatest source of encouragment and empowerment.
My husband being gone during all of this is both wonderful and awful. Wonderful because it is such a push to wow him the day he steps off the helicopter. It is an incredible motivation knowing that the wife he left is long gone, and the wife he will come home to is getting smaller and healthier every day. But it is awful, too. He is my biggest supporter. He is who sees me every day. He would be the one to help me, to tell me what I need to hear when I am wanting to just take a nap. He said something today while we were chatting online that blew me away and brought tears to my eyes. I sent him an email with a picture of what I looked like when he left, and I what I look like now. I guess he never saw it. So as tactfully and lovingly as he could, he was trying to let me know that he hadn't seen the difference as much until I sent him that email. He never saw me that way, he just saw Shannon, his wife. But now that he sees it, he couldn't stop telling me how proud he was of me. On a day where I was wondering if the difference is even obvious, it was all I needed to hear. He made me feel wonderful. And he also made me want to add 5 minutes to the elliptical tonight :)
To all of the women plugging away at this, YOU BLOW ME AWAY! You honestly BLOW ME AWAY! It is hard....so hard. And there are so many other things I would like to be doing most days. And counting calories and watching what you eat can feel like such a punishment when you see pictures of friends diving into cake and ice cream. It is HARD. But that will just make the end results even sweeter! Sweeter than any bowl of ice cream could taste!
To my friends who inspire me, who cheer me on, who motivate me, who push me to stick to the course, who give me tips, who pat me on the back- THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Sarah, Elena, Sherri, Jenni, Angie, both Carrie's, Annette, Michele, Kacie-- you guys are amazing! And to my husband, who is amazing and loves me regardless of the number on the scale and makes me feel beautiful every day, I love you more than all the ice cream in the world times 10 plus 7.
the email pictures I sent (that I cannot believe I am sharing with blogland)
But every time I tried to type something, something else stole my focus.
Really, just one something else.
About a month ago I shared the journey I had embarked on- the path to a healthier me. I started with a big goal, with a bunch of smaller goals along the way. Admittedly, I was doubtful. I wasn't sure I'd reach my overall goal or even my first little goal. I thought, I have carried this baby weight around for so many years, what if this is who I am now? I knew I was done with the lifestyle I HAD been living, but wasn't sure I'd ever get to the ME I wanted to be.
I started anyway, in mid-March. I first cut my calories, down to about 1500 or less (I am still breastfeeding), and a commitment to exercise every day, for at least 30 minutes. We have had an exercise bike for a while, so that was what I started with. I built myself up to an hour, in 5 minute increment boosts. In a month of doing that, I shed about 14 lbs.
But it got boring. As I was researching elliptical machines on craigslist, my friend Wendy heard me talking about it and said I could use their elliptical because it was just sitting in storage. Score! So I switched to that. I also incorporated 20 minutes of crunches, behind lifts, reverse push ups, and squats. Another month down, another 16 lbs gone, making my total loss around 28.
And then that got a little boring. (In all of this, I only took maybe 3 or 4 days off of exercise. I was scared to take rest days because I did not want to fall off the wagon.) Right about that time, I got an email w/ pics from one of my favorite old friends and saw that she looked ripped. The kind of leanness and tone, that I literally said WOW out loud. So I asked, and she pointed me to The Shred dvd.
I have been doing the DVD for 6 days now, and I have already dropped 3.8 lbs. I love it. It is ridiculously challenging (I seriously fell on my face during the 2nd interval of push ups on the first day), my inner ear is even sweating, it tones muscle groups that cardio was not reaching, and that I was only putting a dent in before, since I was not using weights. IT KICKS MY (slowly shrinking) TUSH!
Right now, I am almost 34 lbs down. I have a ways to go. But I am starting to believe that I will get there.
The thing is, I have not gotten here alone. I see women all over the place walking this same walk. All sized women, with completely different goals, but all of them plugging away. Some are mothers, some have not yet had babies. Some are trying to get to a certain size, some are trying to get back to a certain weight, some are trying to get definition in their arms and legs, and some are just trying to not be winded when they have to chase their toddlers. But all of these women, coming from different places, and doing it in different ways, are DOING IT.
It is the most amazing motivation. They have been my greatest source of encouragment and empowerment.
My husband being gone during all of this is both wonderful and awful. Wonderful because it is such a push to wow him the day he steps off the helicopter. It is an incredible motivation knowing that the wife he left is long gone, and the wife he will come home to is getting smaller and healthier every day. But it is awful, too. He is my biggest supporter. He is who sees me every day. He would be the one to help me, to tell me what I need to hear when I am wanting to just take a nap. He said something today while we were chatting online that blew me away and brought tears to my eyes. I sent him an email with a picture of what I looked like when he left, and I what I look like now. I guess he never saw it. So as tactfully and lovingly as he could, he was trying to let me know that he hadn't seen the difference as much until I sent him that email. He never saw me that way, he just saw Shannon, his wife. But now that he sees it, he couldn't stop telling me how proud he was of me. On a day where I was wondering if the difference is even obvious, it was all I needed to hear. He made me feel wonderful. And he also made me want to add 5 minutes to the elliptical tonight :)
To all of the women plugging away at this, YOU BLOW ME AWAY! You honestly BLOW ME AWAY! It is hard....so hard. And there are so many other things I would like to be doing most days. And counting calories and watching what you eat can feel like such a punishment when you see pictures of friends diving into cake and ice cream. It is HARD. But that will just make the end results even sweeter! Sweeter than any bowl of ice cream could taste!
To my friends who inspire me, who cheer me on, who motivate me, who push me to stick to the course, who give me tips, who pat me on the back- THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Sarah, Elena, Sherri, Jenni, Angie, both Carrie's, Annette, Michele, Kacie-- you guys are amazing! And to my husband, who is amazing and loves me regardless of the number on the scale and makes me feel beautiful every day, I love you more than all the ice cream in the world times 10 plus 7.
the email pictures I sent (that I cannot believe I am sharing with blogland)
then:
now:
 |
| still a ways to go. sorry for the cell phone pic and the messy room! |
Monday, June 6, 2011
app happy
This morning, while I should have been mopping and folding laundry, I was checking out my blog roll and doing a little reading. I came across Raechel's post about iPhone apps her little one loves, and thought I'd do a similar post and share some of our favorites!
First, just as she mentioned, my kids aren't walking around with my phone or my iPod constantly in hand. It's a special occasion when they are allowed to use it. Because honestly, with a deployed husband, I am not wanting to let go of my phone for fear of missing an email opportunity with him. I usually break out the gadgets and share with the kiddos when we are stuck waiting somewhere (doctor/dentist), when their patience has worn out (post office line-ugh!), or when I am simply trying to distract or deflect from what I see coming and let them play for a bit.
Evie's only interest in my phone is using it as a chew toy. She is fascinated by the lights on the screen, but then she just tries to put it in her mouth, so no favorite apps for her yet!
Jack's Top Three:
1) Dance Star Mickey pretty self explanatory....when you touch the screen, Mickey busts out his best dance moves! Entertaining for my little guy!
2) Talking Tom Cat Actually, this is a fave of all 3 older kids. They think it is funny to get that cat and hear the noises he makes. He repeats what you say in his funny cat voice- always a laugh producer for my crew!
3) Monkey Preschool Probably my favorite of Jack's favorites, because he is actually getting some education from it. He likes matching the fruit and learning colors!
Kaiti's Top Three:
1) Touch Pets Cats This app lets you feed and play with kitties, pet them, and take care of them. They purr and make noises. Not a lot to it, but it makes her happy!
2) Olivia Paints Kaiti loves anything arts-and-crafty, so this one is right up her alley. Plus, she gets to combine colors to create her own vibrant painting!
3) Carnival Games Very much like the Carnival Games for the Wii, this is just a compilation of fun games.....both Tyler and I like this one, too!
Tyler's Top Three:
1) Dinos I think the full name is Dinosaurs Unleashed, but on my phone it just says Dinos. Tyler is really into dinosaurs, and this one is full of facts for him to absorb. Cool bonus: it tells you how to pronounce the name of the dinosaur and makes a dino sound.
2) Game of Life Tyler got the board game, Life, for his birthday and loves it! So this app is just the mobile version of his favorite game!
3) Lego Ninjago This is his newest favorite! He loves anything Lego, and this scavenger hunt game lets him practice his 'spinjitzu' :)
I will share some of MY favorite apps in a later post! I'd love to hear if you've got any favorites we should check out. We could use a little spicing up! My top picks are always changing.....I wrote about some of my favorite apps in January, but I have more to add to the list since then! And if you're curious about apps for the 1-year-old crowd, be sure to check out Raechel's post HERE!
Happy Monday! And also, HAPPY 5 MONTHS DOWN TO US!!!!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
let them eat cake
This precious baby girl
will be turning ONE at the end of this month!! Bittersweet in so many ways.
But we're banking on more sweet than bitter. Really, who doesn't love a reason to dive into some cake? I've been planning her party in my head for a while, and my sweet friend Stacy is helping make my vision a reality!
Aside from being an adorable and super-devoted wife and mama, Stacy has a wonderful eye for design and beauty! She has a lovely shop called Olivia Grace Studio-- you can see her Etsy shop HERE!
I finally settled on a location for Evie's party so I sent Stacy the info and here is the finished invitation! So cute!!!
If you have an event coming up, check out Stacy's etsy shop, or go directly to her website HERE! She's just so talented and creative- her party goods will make your event extra special!
LinkWithin
