I haven't posted anything in a while. My family is going back into school schedule mode, where we start to go back on a crazy strict routine.
6am - Bf gets up for work and I slug out of bed myself
6:30 - I wake the younger beast to get dressed and brush up before he falls back asleep on the couch. Meanwhile, I take the dog out, feed him, and prepare a school lunch.
7:20 - I escort the child out of the house to catch a ride with our very kind neighbors whose children also ride to the same school. Then I watch the news and consume coffee to start my day.
I make the beds, gather the laundry, wash dishes (if any), wipe, clean, sweep...normal housework. I also make my appointment calls and monitor our weekly events before moving on to exercise. On Mondays, cleaning is an all day process that I count as my cardio. However, on most days, Clorox wiping the house doesn't take that long.
While doing cardio, I read semi-scholarly news articles, dietary information (live strong seems to be my favorite), and investigate things I've seen on the news. Then I move over to my aerobics and strength training, which I do for however long I can stand it. That's usually 1-2 hours with tons of water.
I pull out dinner to defrost around noon, finish up the laundry (if any), dry up dishes to be put away, and skim the house before the kid comes home.
4 - I wait for the kid, go over his homework, and start to prepare dinner. If dinner isn't served between 5:30-6:30, the boy will scavenge for junk. I try to wait for bf to get home, so that his meal is hot too, but that's not always feasible with his versatile schedule.
7 - Bath time for all, with the kid first. Then youtube videos for the boy until 8:45. Then bedtime.
Mondays are cleaning day.
Wednesdays are skate night.
Saturdays are family errand and/or outing day.
Sundays are church day.
We have a hefty routine once school starts up, so that's why I haven't been posting in a while.
My Birthday Plans
I'm really excited about my birthday weekend! I'll be 32 on September 19th...and probably dead on my feet by the following Tuesday. The plan is to spend that Froday as a family at our local street fair. We've planned to meet one of the boy's friends up there with her mother, so it's a guaranteed good time. Then my mother is babysitting the kid that Saturday, so I can host a small party of maybe 4-6 adults max that will last no later than 1am. The evening will start at 7pm with grilled food, followed by cake of course, then some mixed drinks. I don't expect most of my friends to show up and those that do probably won't stay until 1am, but I've never needed a buddy to party. I do just fine on my own lol. Here's where it gets interesting - That Sunday, I will be participating in my very first 5k at 2pm. I have an appointment the following Monday and the boy has blood work on Wednesday to check his nutritional levels. Ah, just another typical day around here.
My Iron Levels
I have not been taking the iron supplements that were prescribed by my physician, nor have I taken the OTC iron. Instead, I have been increasing my intake of iron rich foods. I'm actually eating the whole 4 ounces of steak I cook, using beef fat to flavor rinsed black eyed peas, having raw baby spinach...I'm also working on increasing the amount of healthy foods I eat. My private diet record shows that I'm not consuming 1,200 calories on days that I avoid fast food or other unhealthy options. I'm about 25% below my 1,200 calorie a day requirement by the end of the week. I have been sneaking sodas and coffee, but only for flavor. My main and most often choice is clear water, but the cold weather and early rising has thrown a few caffeinated beverages in there.
My Current Weight
I have been bouncing between 110 and 112 pounds. I have just recently noticed a huge increase in my endurance and stamina, which I blame entirely on my recent dedication to aerobic activities or "Derping around" after my cardio. Basically, I do different kinds of squats, push-ups, lunges, stretches...whatever feels good to the beat of a song for about an hour. I've also increased my elliptical training to 40-50 minutes, whatever it can handle. Reading helps me a lot to ignore the buildup of sweat, the time spent thus far, and it stops me from pulling with my arms because I'm constantly checking posture.
I have recently noticed that my back has a crease in the middle. I don't know what this is, but it doesnt jiggle so I assume its muscle. It doesn't seem fair that I have a back-crack and love handles. Are love handles just something that happens to short girls? When I'm doing my squats, I'm finding that 'these lumps' make my tummy look like Lumpy Space Princess, so I have decided to make light of it and perform 'these squats' to the song pretty much every day. My tummy is so flabby that it's kind of pathetic.
Here's a link to my favorite workout song to do squats to:
I have tried to invest my time into an abdominal routine, but crunches make me SO sad (and sore). Instead, I have been focusing on performing squats. When I started going cardio, I couldn't do squats, so maybe once I'm a bit stronger in my back, I'll be ok with crunches. I do lots of belly dance moves with my squats. I jump a lot too. I've done plenty of aerobics courses (they were mandatory 3x a week on catholic school), so my dancing is several reps of jumps, lunges, and controlled holds. I call it dancing, but it's more like monotonous controlled movements. I'll hold left for 8 beats and right for the second 8 beats, squat and jump repeatedly through a chorus, speed up during a techno crescendo...it's not really dancing, but I do sweat. I remember when I got off of my 20 minutes of treadmill to do 10 minutes of hulahoop and now I'm dong 40+ minutes of elliptical with and hour of aerobics. I'm happy with my dedication and determination even if I've only lost 8-10 pounds. I look tons different. I can't even show a before picture because I've never liked my chunky thighs. I'm hoping the squats (combined with healthier foods) will do something to begin strengthening my abdominal muscles over time thereby making crunches a little easier for me to approach.
Spending money?
Note to self: I need a squishy yoga mat for when I do palates and yoga moves in front of the TV.
I still want to buy a weight set. I'm thinking I will invest in a set of 10 pound weights next time I go to the store. They're about $10-$12 a piece and the only reason I haven't purchased them yet is because I don't feel like carrying them a mile with groceries in my hands. I have a set of 5 pounds, but they're not that heavy to me unless I do 10-25 reps in a row and even then it only bothers me for a few minutes. I think I'm ready to lift a little more than 5 pounds in each hand. I found a weight machine I wanted, but my workout room has such a low clearance that nothing fits down there. Poor bf can't even use the elliptical because he'd bang his head on the ceiling.
I really want a weight system that I can use by myself without worrying about it falling on top of me. It needs to be under 80" tall and under $500 unless its at Sears, in which I can do just under a grand on a payment plan. I have been investigating my options, which I think will broaden once we get closer to Christmas.