Friday, December 13, 2013

End of the Year Update - 2013

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? I'm doing really well, but I can't believe that Christmas is only 12 days away! EEP!

So I know I've been scarce, and with the holidays coming I'll probably be scarce until January - but I've felt the need to update on how things are going. First and foremost, my 18 credit hour semester is OVER!! I ended the term with 6 A's and one C (considering it was the hardest class I've ever taken, I'm thrilled I passed - but I've never failed a class before and I wasn't about to start now!!) I'd say that is pretty darn impressive considering that I am also working full time, married to an amazing man & parent to an awesome 11 year old. I think I did a good job juggling everything.

Due to scheduling conflicts at my current school, I am transferring to another school and I had to take an entrance exam in the middle of November. We only needed a 60% to pass, but my goal was an 80%. With some hard work (and a lot of stress considering I was in the middle of my 18 credit term!) I passed with a whopping 82%! Out of about 24 people who took the exam that day, I was one of only 2 people that passed! WOW! My advisor said he rarely sees scores that high so I'm thrilled! I am still working with him to get all my credits transferred over and I should be finding out today or Monday when my start date is.

The one thing that I've slacked on is my diet & fitness. Since I hurt my knee in July, I haven't really been able to do a whole lot and most days I feel like a chunky munky. I've maintained my weight throughout the year, but really haven't made much progress with the weight loss or training goals. Its really hard to maintain the level of fitness I had with a busted knee but I'm hoping to slowly make progress over the next few months to get myself back into shape.

Once I start classes again, I'm already working a solid routine into my schedule - woot! I'll be going to school at night 3 days a week and working in the earlier mornings, so in the gap between work & school I will be going to the gym 3 days a week. My plan is to lift for about an hour and then do one of their MMA classes for an hour before going to class. I'm also going to be buying a cooler to keep in my trunk so that I will be able to pack food with me each day. That way I won't be eating out & I can stay disciplined.

Okay - so that being said, how did I do on my 2013 resolutions?? Well some of them I met, while others I didn't (due to injury, etc)

Here's my resolutions from January along with my updates for how I did on each of them:

~ Continue to read for sanity - I love my books and can't wait to read (or re-read some favorites) in 2013
So far this year, I've read 308 books and over 59,000 pages (this does NOT include any reading I had to do for school) This is all "fun reading" which has definitely helped me maintain my sanity. Now that I'm done with school for the year, I'm sure I'll knock out even more books in the next 2 weeks

~ Set small & attainable goals - sometimes the grand scope of HUGE goals overwhelms me and I find I lack motivation to get started (or keep going)
This was the one mentality that got me through my crazy semester. I took each of my classes on a week by week (and sometimes day by day basis). Learning to slow down and not get overwhelmed by everything helped me survive many things this year & I couldn't be happier!!! 

~ Run a Half Marathon later this year - okay I know this isn't the "small & attainable" thing I was talking about, but this is the ultimate goal & I'll make little goals to get there :-)
Okay - so due to knee injuries, this one obviously didn't happen. I still want to run a half. I'd love to get back into running shape - but the health of my joints needs to stay a priority for me. I'm going to slowly work myself back up to running shape in 2014 and hope that I can keep myself there from now on. I desperately miss running and find that I can be a cranky b*tch when I can't get a solid workout in

~ Continue to get a better relationship with myself & food
The hubby and I have both made amazing progress with this. We have cut out sodas completely from our diet as well as any drinks with processed or artificial sugars (so no crystal lights, etc). We drink bulletproof coffee, teas and water....that's it. We've found if we drink anything else, we get sick. We've both stayed away from cigarettes for a whole year....I know this has nothing to do with food, but its still something to be very proud of! We have discovered a way of eating that makes us feel amazing and now we just need to be able to stick with it on a consistent basis! 

~ Accomplish new & amazing things - I need to work on not being afraid to try something new even if there's the possibility that I might fail or might not be good at it :-)
So this one is a big one. I went back to school in January and have survived some of the hardest classes I've ever taken. When I hit a roadblock, I didn't give up or get whiny - I took the initiative to get my butt transferred to another school WHILE still maintaining my grades at my current school. My current GPA is a 3.71 (and it will go up as more grades are being posted to my college over the weekend)

I joined a fighting gym. I never thought that I'd love that kind of a workout, but it makes me feel amazingly powerful and was one of the best decisions I've ever made. 

The hubby and I became full-time parents and we love it! Being able to see the changes and progress in our kiddo has been amazing and we can't wait to see what the future holds for all of us. 

So - I think that even though I might not be exactly where I wanted to be at the end of 2013 - I've accomplished a lot of other goals and proven to myself that I am capable of handling anything. I look forward to everything that I can do in 2014 and can't wait to see all the adventures that await!!! I hope you all have a happy holidays & I'll definitely start updating more as I get back into a regular routine!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Happy Food = Happy Self!

Okay - I know I've been scarce recently but I've got a lot going on. School is giving me a hassle about continuing with the program I've selected there, so I'm actually in the process of transferring to another school. Meaning I've got to have admissions interviews, transfer transcripts, prepare to take placement exams, take prior mentioned placement exams (which is on the 16th), etc - on top of my already crazy busy life of working full time, managing 18 credit hours and keeping up with my family. Needless to say, workouts haven't really happened.

BUT - hubby and I have totally overhauled our food and we feel amazing! Right now, we're on day 2 of a nutritional detox and we feel really really good. Yesterday, day one - we felt a little junky, foggy & slow most of the day. But today, I am feeling super good & have boundless energy today which is awesome!

Now - before ya'll get on my case about "detoxes are bad for you & you're starving yourself for days for no reason!" - let me show you something.....

You see this....yes....ALL this.....In case you can't see it well, let me further explain. This is HALF of my kitchen counter and its filled (from left to right) with a flat of tomatoes, chamomile tea, organic baby kale, celery, lemons, french green beans, organic carrots, avocados, alfalfa sprouts, chia seeds, toasted sesame seeds, raw almonds, fresh parsley, cilantro, 2 packages of nori, unsweetened almond milk, 8 zucchini, 10 cucumbers, tamari sauce, fresh ginger, garlic, raw honey, apples, and some random other stuffs



Okay - now that I've explained how much food we have...let me tell you that this is enough food to feed my hubby and I 6 times a day for 6 days!! Trust me....we are FAR from starving!! In this case, the word "detox" is mainly meant to be a removal of overly processed foods & unnecessary sugars from the diet - and not some evil diuretic diet that could potentially harm us. 

Back to the original point - basically, we've made the shift to an 80% plant based diet, with the other 20% allowed for higher quality meats & dairy products. We both feel amazing and not deprived at all! In fact, last night it was almost a push for us to eat everything that we needed to before going to bed. I dropped 2 pounds overnight and feel really good today. My skin is already starting to look smoother/clearer & my hair is super soft today. Hubby is adjusting as well and is feeling better today than he was yesterday. 

My other test was making sure that we could maintain this diet/lifestyle change on the current budget we have. All of this food (trust me, it filled BOTH of our fridges!) cost about $100 (but I had to buy some one time things too)...so ultimately that's pretty good for a week's worth of food. We usually spend about $80 a week on food, so I think its all gonna balance out well. 

Anyways, that's about it for me. I'll update sometime this week with more information about how our new foods are treating us - but overall, we feel amazing and we're definitely gonna stick with it! I hope you all have a great day! I'll try to remember tonight & tomorrow to take pics of what I'm eating. I've totally spaced it so far, but I'll do my best to remember :-)

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

I finally got a lifting workout in! YAY!

Okay - so this past week has been a little crazy - its midterm time in school so I've got lots going on, but I've been really good at making time to workout this week :) 

Monday we all made it to the gym & did a kickboxing workout which felt really good. We ended up doing over 100 burpees and 400 high knees (while pressing dumbbells) over the course of the workout, so we got our butts kicked!

Yesterday, I forced myself to not be lazy after class & I did a lifting workout in the garage. It felt good, but I'm still experiencing pain in my left knee so some of the moves had to be modified. I did chair squats to ensure I was getting low enough on my squats and had to do elevated pushups because my knee didn't like the strain of holding plank

I know that I can lift heavier than this, but considering I haven't lifted in a while AND I have a knee injury, I kept the weights lighter than normal. Hopefully within a few weeks I'll be able to raise the weights back up

NROL Workout A:

Chair Squats: 15 X 45lbs, 15 X 45lbs
Static Lunges (slightly modified): 15 X 25lbs, 15 X 25lbs
2-Point DB Rows: 15 X 12.5lbs (each arm), 15 X 12.5
Elevated Push Ups: 15 reps for 2 sets
Swiss Ball Crunch: 20 reps X 25lbs, 20 reps X 25lbs

Overall not a bad little workout - took me about 45 mins. I'm still miffed about my knee & its lack of motion, but I figure I can keep modifying the workouts and I should be okay. Nutrition has been okay the past few weeks but weight has been steady & not moving downward so I'm hoping adding in the workouts will help. I changed back to an IF schedule since I find I sleep better if I don't eat heavy at night - so hopefully I'll start seeing some changes there

Today is a cardio day - either running or something else, not sure yet. Anyways, I'm just trying to get a balance between work, school, family time & working out. 

Hope you all have a great day! 

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

OMG I Ran Again!!!

So after months of being unable to run, I decided to brave the treadmill today. With a heavy duty knee brace, I managed to keep the runs slow but steady! I'm so happy! I'm gonna stick with this workout for a few weeks just until I feel strong enough to progress safely, but until then I'll be happy to just run!!

All walks done at 3.0 and runs at 4.5 - slow but steady :)

Where the HELL have I been???

Oh lord its been a busy month!! I'm sorry that I totally just dropped off the face of the planet for a few weeks, but now I guess I'm WAY overdue for an update. I'm gonna give you the Cliff's Notes version because I don't want to type a novel :D 

~ School is taking up most of my life right now. I'm managing a full 18 credit hours (as well as a full time job, full time marriage & full time parent!) and all of my class grades are currently A's or B's. I've got a demanding workload this semester: Microbiology & the lab, Anatomy/Physiology & the lab, Analytical Writing, Interpersonal Communications & French 1. It took me about 6 weeks, but I finally feel like I'm finding a groove with all my class work 

~ my knee has hit a major speedbump. All the progress that I was seeing before - well, that's all I saw. It stalled in its healing and is about the same as the last time I was on here. I have visited an occupational therapist who agrees with the hyperextension diagnoses as well as a tear in my lower quad (which caused all the initial bruising). Currently, my new best friends are painful deep tissue massages (to break down scar tissue in my quad), RockTape to support it in my normal activities and an uber-heavy-duty knee brace to support it when I work out

here's a pic of my super sexy black skull RockTape support (and the inside of my car) - oh, and if you wanna make a comment about my pale white-ness, go ahead, I know its blinding but trust me - I've probably already heard it :P 

~ we've been working to overhaul our house. so far we've attacked the office (and made it a comic toy display room, yeah....we're nerds), the living room, the home gym in the garage, the master bedroom & the inside gym.

Okay - I think that's about as simple as I can make things. Overall, life is stupid busy, but we're finding a rhythm with it all. Workouts have been scarce due to my pesky knee & lack of free time, but overhauling of the house has allowed for some functional strength training :) 

Now that we don't feel like we're scrambling, we're able to incorporate workouts into our schedule. Nutrition hasn't been bad, but it hasn't been on point either. I've maintained my weight over the past few weeks (which I'm honestly happy about!) but am ready to get back on the losing streak. I'm gonna figure out a schedule of workouts that will be able to fit into everything else. Right now, I'm working out whenever I can, but I need something a little more solid than that

Given how busy things are, I'll hopefully get updated progress pics and measurements up in the next 2 weeks or so *fingers crossed!* my wedding anniversary is coming up next week, so I might be a little busy, but I'll do my best to get them up ASAP :) 

OH - and I realized that I haven't posted a pic of myself on here in a while! So here's a recent pic of me with a friend - we went to Chippendale's & oogled the pretty men all night (I'm the one in the red top on the left)


Okay, that's about it for me! Have a great day everyone! 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Yesterday's Workout

So yesterday was a good day! Hit my calorie goals, had a killer workout & finally got a decent night's sleep last night. Now I just need to do that every day (mainly the sleep part) and I'll be good! 

Yesterday's Warm Up:
Pyramid Medicine Ball Jacks 14 lbs - 25 to 1
25 Jumping Jacks with OHP of 14lb medicine ball, then 24 reps, then 23, then 22, etc all the way down to 1
Bodyweight exercises done in between sets for 60 seconds: Squats, Burpees, Sit-Ups, Push Ups, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers (standing due to knee tweaking)

TOTAL: 325 Jumping Jacks with 14lb OHP

Workout:
30 mins of Kickboxing with calisthenic drills in between rounds

Abs: 10 mins followed by Cool Down

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Note: The sleep listed here is not from last night, but the night before

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Otherwise things are going well. Today is boxing with one of our fav trainers and trying to keep disciplined today at work. They're feeding everyone from a local BBQ place & I was a good girl and packed my own lunch instead. 

Have a great day! 

Monday, August 19, 2013

Another Workout! YAY!

Hey peeps!

So the knee is continuing to improve - I was able to get a 55lb squat the other day without much of an issue, so I'm thinking I should be good to start NR this week. I'm thinking my lifting days will be Wednesday and Friday/Saturday (I can only do 2 days a week right now with work, school & everything else)

The tattoo is healing nicely - but I'm not able to wear shoes & socks just yet so my Sunday workout was done barefoot at the gym. There were only 6 of us, so my trainer decided it would be fun to set up a conditioning style workout - which was totally awesome!

We ran 2 rounds as a circuit and then had 40 mins of hard boxing drills afterwards - it was awesome! Here's the workout as I tracked it on Fitocracy (thus why there's the points listed on the right side) - but I figured the screenshot would be easier to read

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I was stoked I was able to push an added 190lbs to the sled!! That was WAY more than I thought I'd be able to do with a recovering injury, so I was super happy!

Overall, burned 3310 Calories yesterday according to my BodyMedia. I'm adjusting my nutrition and increasing my calorie intake since I'll be adding in the strength training as well - so my daily goals are around 2100 cals with a 30/35/35 split (give or take) 

We've prepped a bunch of food for the week and are definitely looking forward to our next workouts! Today and tomorrow are boxing at the gym then Wednesday is lifting. Hopefully sometime this week I'll be able to get some progress pics posted & measurements done

Hope you all have a great day! 

Saturday, August 17, 2013

OMG!!

Discovered bulletproof coffee & oh sweet baby Jeebus! Where have you been ALL my life?!?!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Squatzz & New Tattoos!

Hey everyone! 

I know that I've been a little scarce recently, but life has been super busy. Finals are over at school & I have 2 weeks before fall semester starts back up again. So far, half of my grades have been posted and I have a B with 2 A's. I'm hoping the other 3 classes will post later today so I can see how I did. 

Last week, I started hazarding bodyweight squats with my knee & I did well. I've been able to knock those out pretty regularly - but I have to keep the movement really slow & controlled. Lunges are still a nightmare & impossible to do, but I think the ability to to squats is definitely sign of improvement! 

This past weekend, the hubby & I went out to Phoenix so my stepson could hang out with his family for a few days before school started. We had a great time - lots of shopping, eating WAY too much food, enjoying some chill nights at a local Scottish bar & avoiding the heat (it was around 110 this past weekend!) Even in the crazy heat, we still managed to get a lot of walking done AND we found a gym location near our hotel - so we were able to get a kickboxing workout done on Friday night! It was awesome! 

We drove back all day on Sunday & yesterday I was off work. I have a buddy who is an amazing tattoo artist & he wanted to give me a new piece as a birthday present! I decided to get a piece that I've been wanting for a while that means a lot to me and it was inspired by my favorite book series. 

Here's some pics I took yesterday during the happy tattoo process!

Tattoo started :-)


Progress Pic #1:


Final piece:

I absolutely love it & think its a super pretty tattoo! Its exactly what I wanted! I posted it on the author's FB page and I guess other people like it too - its had over 3400 likes, 200+ comments (all positive!) and 100+ shares. I loved the piece regardless, but its nice to know that others appreciate it as well! 

So - this week is going to be spent getting eating back on track from the food-fest this past weekend, healing from fabulous new tattoos and continuing to work on my BW exercises. Next week I'd like to have progress pics up and I'd like to start my lifting program. I don't think I'll be able to add weight to the squats or the lunges just yet, but I will do those BW until I'm comfortable getting into the full ROM of the movement. 

Anyways, I think that's about it for me! Hope you all are doing well & I'll catch up with you all soon!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Song of the Day!

Good lord - I've been playing this song on repeat ALL day & I can't stop!! Its such a killer song with beautiful lyrics!! Happy dance time!!! I've gotta find this artist's music tonight! Must. Download!




Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Knee is getting better!

Hey everyone! I hope you're having a great week so far! I've been enjoying reading all your posts and can't wait to get started on my new lifting program. 

My ROM is coming back to my knee, so I'm happy about that. I'm thinking that I'll start with bodyweight squats next week and see how they go. I'd really like to start New Rules sometime soon & if I have to modify the squats and lunges for BW to reduce my risk of reinjury, I'll probably have to do that for a few weeks. This knee has had me out of commission for about a month now, and I really don't want to hurt it even more

Anyways - I've been getting to the gym consistently which is good & not having to modify as much - which shows the knee is improving. Yesterday the A/C went out so we had a Bikram Boxing class - I was a sweaty mess when it was over! haha! Tomorrow is my birthday, so I'm looking forward to having a great day with my friends & family.

Here's my bodymedia burn for yesterday - I met most of my goals, so definitely happy with the way it turned out (deficit was a little high, but I had to make up for the Italian-food-carb-fest I had on Sunday as a pre-birthday dinner):

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Anyways, since having a gimp knee - I'm getting damn good at one-legged burpees & pistol squats....they are pure evil!

In other news, I've got 2 final exams this week & 3 next week - so I'm thinking I'll make a goal to get progress pics and measurements taken the week after finals are over. There's just no way I can manage it before then. We are taking a mini-vaca in a few weeks, but thankfully our gym has a location nearby so we won't be missing any workouts while we're gone. 

Anyways, hope you all have a great day! 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Happy Wednesday!

Hey everyone! I hope things are going well for you all! I'm doing well. This week began the end of the summer semester for me - so I had one final exam yesterday, 2 next week and 3 the week after that. Its gonna be a busy couple of weeks for me! I got an 87% on the exam I completed yesterday (for my psychology class) so I'm happy about that. Now I'm just focusing on getting ready for the other 5 finals I've gotta knock out in the next few weeks - I've got Biology & Lab, Chemistry & Lab and Nutrition all coming up :)

I got a kickboxing workout in on Monday at the gym and it went well. Still had to modify due to the knee injury, but I think I did a good job of it. Increased dumbbell weights from 10lb to 12.5lbs for rows, presses & flys (30-60 secs of constant work - which is why I'm keeping those weights a little lower) and was able to consistently do one-legged sit up/stand ups with pistol squats on my right leg for a minute - so I'm pleased.


Here's a screenshot of my BodyMedia burn for the day:

You can totally tell where my hour long workout was! haha! Anyways - I'd say that a 2600 cal burn for someone who works a desk job :typing: with a bum knee really isn't bad at all! 

Yesterday & today are usually rest days because I go straight from work that starts at 5am to school and I usually won't get home until after 6pm - but I think if my knee is feeling up to it today, I might try to hazard a small yoga workout just to get moving.

The knee has been feeling better recently & as of yesterday I was finally able to drive without much of an issue. I drive a standard (I love my car!) but it definitely makes things difficult when I've got a messed up left knee - so being able to drive without an issue is definitely a little victory! :yahoo:

Even though yesterday was a rest day, I do still try to stay moving consistently so my burn yesterday wasn't too bad either. 2230 cals burned on a rest day isn't too shabby at all

Anyways, that's about it for me! I am hoping that I only have about 1-2 more weeks of recuperation before I can start getting back into light workouts for my knee! I'm keeping my fingers crossed! 

Once I'm back to full ROM on my knee, I'm going to start a new lifting program along with my cardio. I created a profile at www.lift.net to help track my progress & I've started a blog there as well. I'll be using that one to post videos of my lifting for form checks, etc so feel free to swing by there and follow that as well! 

I hope you all have a great day!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Davey Joy!

Okay - real quickly....nutrition is spot on today so far! New motivation rocks!

But most importantly - AFI RELEASED A NEW SONG TODAY!!! OH HAPPY DANCE!!!

Davey Havok makes me so happy :-)




That is all - have a good day peeps!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Bad Habits Need to Die

Hey all! How are you doing? Things are going well here. I haven't worked out since Monday night (this is normal since I had class yesterday & today) but I've noticed some yucky habits that are popping up. First of all, when I'm injured - my nutrition goes to hell. I'm not as motivated to stay in line because I can't exercise. I feel like a lazy ass so therefore I am not as disciplined with my food. This is a pattern I've fallen into before & I refuse to fall into it again.

My knee is still exceptionally sore & I can't bend it all the way - so this is obviously an actual injury and not just a minor strain. Today I've got the compression wrap on it and I'm still gimping around instead of walking. That being said - I'm going to have to keep modifying my gym workouts, but I'll still be going (which is better than sitting on my ass at home) Since I'm not working out as intensely, I can't be as lax with my nutrition as I was before. Calorie burns according to my armband are about the same, but I don't want to rely on that to stay that way. They might level out with me being unable to do plyo, squats & lunges.

I refuse to feel sorry for myself - that's just not the person I am. I know people who get super whiney and claim they're "depressed" when all they really need is to stop bitching, suck it up & deal. I put myself in the situation where my knee was injured and now I've gotta get it healthy again. Its gonna put me back a few weeks in my training plan - but I'm not gonna let it derail me all together. The only person capable of reaching my goals is me - and I need to get myself there. However, I'm finding I need to change my motivation with my food. I've been eating higher calories again (right about maintenance most of the time) since I'm healing & that makes it WAY too easy for me to slip up and overeat. Granted, my weight has stayed the same over the past 2 weeks - but I feel squishy instead of strong due to the lack of workouts.

Also, I've been exceptionally tired the past 3 days. I've stayed up later than I normally do every night this week and the lack of sleep is finally getting to me. But I've noticed that lack of sleep PLUS kinda crappy nutrition has totally wiped me out. So tonight after my chem lab, I'm gonna head home & prep a bunch of food. Tomorrow, its back to my primary (almost paleo but not quite) diet of mostly protein & veggies. I'm gonna see if I can drop this water weight and start feeling better again.

I figure, even if I have a busted knee - that's no excuse to let myself go (not that I was going to) - but its also a sign that maybe I need to pay a little more attention to the way my body is functioning. Right now, its saying it needs better foods and starting tomorrow it will get them :-)

OH - and in other happy news - new tattoos might be in hubby & my future soon! Yippee!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

My busy existence!

Okay - so its about time I give you all another update from my world! Life has been super busy this summer but I'm loving every minute of it! School is going well, but its keeping me busy this summer since I'm taking a full 14 credits. We got our mid-term grades and I currently have an A in Nutrition, 87% in Psychology, 89% in Biology for Health Sciences, 88% in Chemistry, A in Biology Lab and a B in Chemistry lab. I'm super close to being at an A in psych, bio and chem that I'm trying to bring those grades up - but honestly, I'm thrilled with those grades! Biology & Chemistry are hard classes - so taking them both in the same term AND taking them both over the summer so the course is smashed into 12 weeks instead of 18 - well, I'm really pleased with my 89% and my 88% that I currently have in each of them!

I got registered for the fall semester and I'm super excited for my classes! I'll be taking Microbiology (which looks amazing!) & its lab, Anatomy & Physiology and its lab, analytical writing, communications and French 1. So once again, it will be a full course load - 18 credits this term, but I think it will be awesome. I've managed to coordinate all of them around my work schedule so I think its gonna work well & I can't wait to get started! Also, I'm only on campus 4 days a week and only for a few hours, so it won't interfere with my gym schedule at all! Yippee!

We've also been working on overhauling the house this summer too. Our spare bedroom had been a glorified storage closet ever since the roommates decided to trash it and move out. So a few weekends ago I decided to attack it & make it pretty again. So here's the "Before" of the extra bedroom in our house:



And here's the "After" - this took about 5 hours of organization, cleaning & the sacrificial death of our noble vacuum cleaner, but I absolutely love this room! Its now a display room for our comic toys, a library for all my books & a reading nook in the corner! I love it! And hubby was super surprised - I didn't tell him I was attacking the house....he just came home & it was done!


So, in other news - I've managed to keep up with a full-time job, 14 credits at school, reorganizing most of the house, spending time with the hubby and the kiddo & getting in at least 4-5 workouts a week. We go to the gym 4 days a week for classes and I have 1 day of yoga with one of my best friends on Wednesdays, which is awesome! Well, during some event during one of the things listed above, I tweaked the hell out of my knee about 2 weeks ago. At first, it felt like a hyperextension so I took it easy, but wasn't super concerned about it so I kept up with the normal routine. 

Well, the knee wasn't happy with the normal routine and it swelled up to the size of a cantaloupe for about 4 days! As of last Tuesday, I took a hiatus from the gym and tried to be as lazy as possible to heal myself up. However, since a body in motion tends to stay in motion - I went absolutely batsh*t crazy & got super fidgety because I couldn't get any exercise in! I managed to stay off it for 5 days and then went back to the gym as of Sunday (and again yesterday). I was able to modify my workout to be mostly upper body with no strain on my knees and it worked really well!

So now, I'm back at the gym 4 days a week - modifying my workouts to accommodate my bum knee. It feels amazing to get moving again, even if I'm not 100%. I've got my knee wrapped in a compression bandage & I'm not kicking any bags. I'm substituting weighted arm exercises for squats & lunges (so my arms are gonna be thrashed once my knee is healed!) and with making those modifications, I can keep up with the rest of the class really well. Yesterday I had 90 mins of activity on my armband, so I'm guessing I did something right :-)

This has become a familiar sight on my couch recently! I'm gonna keep up with the modified workouts until I get my full ROM back in my knee & continue to wear the compression wrap for additional support and protection during my workouts. Little by little, I'm getting better....even if ice packs are my friends on a consistent basis :-)



Well, bum knee aside - I'm not letting it slow me down (much). I was a lazy X-Box playing brat for a few days but now I'm back to my normal active self....even if I am wobbling around a little bit when I walk. On Friday night, hubby took us all out for a fabulous dinner at the Brazilian Grill I've mentioned before - they send out birthday cards that give you a free meal, so we went and used mine since it's my birthday month! I decided I didn't wanna feel like a shlub with a bum knee, so I decided to dress up a little bit. I wore my fabulous grey cordoroys & this amazing new red top that I bought. I thought it was fun & I was getting compliments on my tattoos all night! haha!


Okay, so let's recap - summer is busy but awesome, got a 3.33 GPA in school with TWO science classes & labs, looking forward to fall semester, busted my knee but still managing to get workouts in and stay on track, I'm down about 15 pounds in total so far and I'm gaining muscle like crazy, so something is working right, we're redoing lots of areas in the house so I'll post pics as more of that gets done (the living room is next!) and overall - life is good! The hubby is fabulous & I adore my kiddo so things are awesome!

OH - and P.S. if you haven't seen Warm Bodies yet....DO IT!!!! That movie is amazing! Its seriously one of the best movies we've seen in a long time! I enjoyed it so much that I ordered the book, so I'm looking forward to reading it once it gets here!!!


Saturday, June 29, 2013

Oh Sweet Baby Jeebus!

So I had some time between classes today & went to the gym to kill time. I was planning on doing treadmill, weights, etc type stuff. Well, little did I know there was a conditioning class that started at 10am & I got talked into it!

I've never done a conditioning class before & it definitely kicked my ass!

Here's the workout. Basic concept, 50-40-30-20-10 of both exercises in line 1 before you go to line 2 and continue...for an hour...non-stop! I managed to get through the dive bombers set before the time was up. Considering those that got the farthest hit the star jacks, I'd say I did pretty well today!!

Friday, June 28, 2013

I had fun with the camera today!

Okay peeps, so I had some fun with the camera today - I am noticing some new separation & definition with my biceps and I tried to get some pics of it and ended up playing around with photobucket for a little while. But basically - here's what I saw...note the awesome red arrow! haha!
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Overall, I think I got some fun pics & I'm gonna post them too!
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 I absolutely love my shirt! YAY!
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Okay, that's enough effing around with the computer. I've got a psychology test today I gotta get ready for

:-)

OH - and because I think its f*cking amazing when someone combines bagpipes, leather kilts, mohawks, tattoos, fire & AC/DC...I'm posting this here too! Take 2 mins of your day to enjoy all the badasserythat this Australian guy oozes!



Happy Friday Peeps!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Date Night!!

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend!! We totally did! Last night, the kiddo had a sleepover with some friends, so the hubby took me out on a fabulous date night! Once I got out of class (chemistry! yuck!) he took me to a local amusement park! We rode roller coasters, log rides, the giant swinging Viking ship thingy and had a marvelous time! I even splurged and got a hot fudge sundae made with orange ice cream - it was divine!!! Here's some pics from our adventure!



Me being smiley!

 My fabulous hubby!

 Here I am sitting on a bench while hubby was in line for another roller coaster - Yes, I was a pansy :-P


Us being silly - and yes, I'm totally rockin' my Goonies t-shirt!! haha! Never say die!!!!

 After the amusement park, he took me to a fabulous dinner at a local Japanese restaurant that we love! We shared 3 sushi rolls that were SUPER yummy! We also shared a teppan filet and chicken combo and we had a blast! They had Stella on tap so we had a few of those too and boy were they great!

 All in all, we had a fabulous night! It means a lot to us to be able to get out and spend time with each other as a couple! After a solid night's sleep, we rolled out of bed this morning & headed to the gym. Eric, our trainer this morning, totally whopped our butts! My quads were SO sore after class! haha! We went to a great lunch at the Asian buffet (best place to get nothing but meat & veggies!) and we walked around the mall! I got a super cute new bikini from Old Navy & I'll post pics of it later this week! The hubby got new shorts and I was so proud of him - they are a size 32!!! He has been doing such an amazing job!! 

After we picked up the kiddo, we got salads from Dion's for dinner & now are totally being lazy watching old episodes of the Biggest Loser on Hulu - the kiddo absolutely loves that show! I'm looking forward to a fabulous week starting tomorrow but for now, its time to be a lazy ass :-P

Good night everyone!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Time for a Progress Update!!

Hey everyone! Its been a while since I've posted any actual progress updates, so I figured it was about time! I've been working hard at the gym, but not really seen much movement on the scale which can be super frustrating. Today, I took pics & measurements and was super happy with what it showed! In a month, I've lost 12.5 inches from all around and about 6 pounds in total (though some of that was probably water)!

I'm seeing muscle definition where I didn't have any before and I'm getting stronger in my workouts! Those evil burpees are paying off! I'm happy to see progress in my workouts and I look forward to each and every class!!

Okay, so here's the pics - the ones on the left were taken sometime in late February/early March - they were obviously pre-peacock tattoo on my bicep, but I don't remember the exact date. The ones on the right were taken this morning - I'm really pleased with the differences I'm seeing! My tummy looks flatter & leaner from all angles!

OH - and I'm totally sporting my new bodyrock bra & shorts in today's pics! I absolutely love their clothes and totally plan on stocking up on more soon! And yes, I do have a Thor case on my iPhone, just in case you're wondering! And I'm not gonna post my weight since you all probably won't believe it anyways - I'm one of those women who looks a lot smaller than the scale actually says she is....and honestly, I'm not really caring about the number anymore, I just focus on how I'm feeling overall and how my clothes are fitting
Front:


 Left Side:


 Right Side:


 Back Pic:


So overall, I'm seeing lots of progress & I think I need to be patient - changes are coming even if they aren't as fast as I want them to be. Our new gym is amazing and we've made lots of new friends. One of the trainers there is gonna work with me on nutrition, so I'm totally stoked about that. I've adjusted everything I can in my nutrition but sometimes its a struggle to drop weight - even when I'm consistently at 1600 cals for months - so hopefully he'll be able to help me out!

Today is gonna be a fun day! I took off work and the hubby is working a half day. We are gonna head to the gym for the noon boxing class today so I'm super excited! After that, we're meeting a friend for lunch at a new place that just opened up - I'm looking forward to it! I'll take pics if I'm not absolutely ravenous! hehe! Then this afternoon we are all heading to the Albuquerque Comic Expo for some fun times! Maybe we'll get some fabulous new artwork for the house and I know the kiddo is gonna have a fabulous time!

In other news, the semester is about halfway over and classes are going well! My current grades are a 100% in Nutrition, a 96% in Chemistry, A in Chem Lab, B in Biology, A in Bio Lab and an 88% in Psychology. I've got a full plate this term, but I think I'm handling the workload well! I'm managing to juggle the full time job, 14 credits at school, 5 workouts a week at the gym, spending time with my amazing hubby and the great kiddo AND managing to keep up my sleep schedule! I'm also keeping up with my personal reading which helps maintain my sanity - I'm at 191 books so far this year! Woot! Overall I'd say things are going well!

I think that's about it for me! I've gotta go pack my gym bag so I've got clothes to wear after the workout & get ready to the gym! Hope you all have a great day!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Holy Hell!!!

Ran through this beast twice!! Oh - and this was just the warm up!!! We still did 40 mins of boxing & abs AFTER this!! I kinda feel like a bad ass today :-)



Sent from my iPhone

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Where the Hell Have I Been???

Hey peeps,

I know I haven't posted in a few months & I'm sorry about that. Life has been super busy, but super rewarding as well! The last real post I made was in April & I showed you all my new peacock tattoo! Well he's finished & I love him! I got the colors to really pop and added some flowers (in the same style as my backpiece) around him. Maybe I'll try to sneak a picture later today & upload it. I also have plans for my left bicep, I just need to get some free time to sit down with my artist & plan it out!

I ended my Spring semester at a 4.0 GPA and am now taking 14 credits over the summer so I've been super busy. I'm in classes Tuesday-Thursday nights and almost all day Saturday but its going to be worth it. I'm working towards a double degree right now and its gonna be really rewarding once I finish. I am thinking I can finish the first one within 2 semesters and the other won't be too much longer after that! Lots of good things to come!

In addition to school, I'm still working full time as well. Gotta love those regular paychecks! The hubby and I are working to get debt paid off little by little and things are going well. We've also got the kiddo here for the summer - so both of us are in total "parent mode" which is super fun.

About 6 weeks ago, the hubby and I joined a new gym and we absolutely LOVE it!!! The environment is amazing & the classes are all taught by professional fighters so we're learning a lot!!! I'm totally loving it! Right now, with school I'm managing to go 4 days a week and then 1 hot yoga class on Wednesdays. So, honestly 5 workouts a week along with a full time day job and 14 credit hours of school - I'd say that's pretty darn impressive! And we got the kiddo a membership too so he's coming to class with us as well! Its super fun!

These workouts are amazing - I've gone from kinda out of shape to being able to do 15 full on-my-toes pushups in about 6 weeks. They're butt kickers & I love every minute of it!! I actually look forward to going to the gym every day & that's a rare thing to say! Its become as much of a priority as everything else in life & there's no way I'd make excuses to miss a workout!

The hubby and I have totally overhauled our nutrition. My weight has been pretty stable since January, but I'm ready to start cutting down on the extra chub that I've got going on. So a few weeks ago we cleaned all the junk out of our nutrition and are both feeling SO much better! We've cut out processed junk, sodas, all fast & fried foods, almost all sugars & are eating lots of whole healthy foods. Its been amazing how changing a diet around can help with everything from crabby moods to insomnia! I'm sleeping SO well these days! Both of us have also been completely smoke free for a long time now so we're really enjoying all the happy health benefits from that as well!

So I think that's it for me - lots of brief updates but unfortunately not a lot of time for other things. If I'm scarce for a few weeks, its because I'm juggling work, school, gym, hubby, kiddo, sleep & sanity (and loving every minute of it!) but I'll try to be good about updating while I can. I think I'll be updating from my phone a lot more in the future because its easier than trying to update from a computer :-)

Have a great day everyone!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Thank You Lady in the Red Car!!

OMG the coolest thing just happened! The lady in front of me at the Starbucks drive thru just bought my drink! Total stranger doing something really cool! So I paid it forward & bought the drinks for the guy behind me! Thanks lady in the red car, you made my morning!! Guy in the white truck, happy Saturday!

Sent from my iPhone

Friday, April 5, 2013

About time I post a darn update!

Okay peeps, its been a while so I figured I'd update. Life has been stupid busy but hopefully it will calm down in a few days. I wrapped up my after school program yesterday and it feels awesome to have that finished!! I'm still in school and getting ready to wrap that up at the end of April. I registered for 14 credits for the summer semester so I'm gearing up for that as well. A few weeks ago, the kiddo was here for Spring Break and we had a blast! Its always great to have him here!

For multiple reasons, I haven't been able to keep up with my workouts (with the exception of my classes) as much as I've wanted to. The week after I ran my 5K, I tweaked the hell out of my knee and was pretty gimpy for about a week. After that I've been in healing mode and "busy surviving life" mode. I've kept nutrition in line as best I can, but weight has been maintaining - not losing, so I'm just kind of "eh" about the whole thing. I'm looking forward to hitting the workouts hard again.

Why was I healing you ask?? Well, other than my gimp knee - the healing process was self inflicted!! Behold, my new fabulousness on my right upper arm! We got it done in 3 sessions (one marathon of around 9.5 hours - I exhausted the artist, one of a little shading at 2.5 hours, and the last about 6 hours of color) and I couldn't be happier with my beautiful new peacock! It symbolizes love, passion & good luck and I think he's just amazing! He beautifully matches the shoulder part of my backpiece that wraps around to the front (you can see it in the middle frame of the first pic) and I love the way it all flows together! I've been getting compliments every where I go on him and he makes me smile :-D

Hubby got fabulous new ink as well, but I won't update a pic of that one until its fully completed - its currently still a work in progress :-D

So here's what it looked like after session #1 - fully detailed lining and partial color:

And here's what it looked like after session #3 - fully colored with 4 different blues & a fabulous bright green!

I still have some more plans for him in the future, so he's not quite done yet - but hopefully within the next few weeks I'll be able to finish up all my plans. I'm gonna try to take a better pic of it now that its all healed up and looking fabulous - but free time is a little short this week. Its my mommy's birthday, a friend's bachelorette party, another friend is visiting from out of town and have a crazy exam for school - and that's JUST my plans for tomorrow! EEP! Its exhausting just to think about it! I'm seriously looking forward to the next time we're able to sit around, be lazy & watch Vikings (or something as equally fabulous on Hulu)

So - in other news, now that my after school program is over, I am now 100% in control of my workout program again! I haven't been able to do this in YEARS! for the past 2.5 years or so, I've been teaching fitness classes that I've had to plan my workout routine around and for the past few months it was just exhausting to try to keep up. I've been looking at lots of different workout options and I'm anxious to try a few of them out! It will be nice to get back to consistently working out again!

I'm down about 13 pounds this year so far (mostly from nutrition only - eating about 1800 cals a day) so I'm looking forward to kick-starting that in the next few weeks and hopefully continuing to see progress. With the healing tattoos, workouts have been minimal (except for required classes) so I'm feeling exceptionally squishy. I'm looking forward to getting back into running - I totally miss it (and I know my hubby does too!) Not being able to work out definitely makes us antsy and cranky! AND to make matters worse, I forgot to grab my running shoes before I left the house this morning and I'm all twitchy....I totally need to run today. I'm gonna hit the weights on my breaks and hope its enough to tide me over until I get home where I can run a little bit!

Alrighty, that's about it for me - not much else is going on in my world. I'll update the workouts as they come! Hope you all have a great day!

Total Miles Ran in 2013: 32.57 miles