Reclaiming My Space

As some of you may . know from previous posts made many moons ago the Great basement Flood of 2012 took place in my basement. Darn sump went out and the rest is history. There was no major damage structurally, no molding or any of the real pain in the butt problems that can come with a basement taking on massive amounts of water. Though we did lose hundreds of books and Pat lost a ton of paperwork. the rest of the stuff that was ruined needed to be purged anyhow. The real issue was the wet basement odor that took months to get rid of. During clean up a ton of stuff was moved to my workout area that I was not using at the time and it never made it back to where it belongs. then the treadmill was moved down there and became a shelf and the Christmas stuff only made it to the bottom of the steps where my workout space is conveniently located. Soooo, I will not be walking the next few days, all of my down time will be devoted to reclaiming what was once mine. Workouts won’t happen unless I have somewhere to do them so it must be done. Plus, with all of the lifting, moving, purging, and putting in new carpet I will get enough exercise to make up for not walking.. right? If not oh well, there are not a ton of moments to do what I want with Ian, Emma, the house, meals, pets and all that fun stuff. Sometimes choices have to be made and I choose to do this for myself so I have an area to get things back to as they were and get back in shape.

Today I have been working on teaching Ian to nap in his crib. He is so used to me always being with him. He naps in whatever room of the house I am in. So the bassinet, swing and bouncer are what he is used to. If he can happily nap in his room in his crib maybe he will nap for a little longer with it being dim, quieter and he can get used to me not being present. even in a dead sleep he knows when I leave the room. That wakes him up more so than light and noise, the little bugger will sleep through the vacuum  tv and the dog barking. I have had to go comfort him quite a bit but the time in between is getting longer. It may sound gross but I placed one of my breast pads in his crib this time so he has my scent there. Maybe that will make a difference and I can gradually move it out of his room later. We will see. I am hoping for more consistent napping so I will have a consistent and fairly set amount of time to squeeze my workouts in.

Workout area before…

 

Workout area after… UGH! What a mess!!!

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Nice weather = walking!

Now that the weather is nicer it is time to get to walking daily. we have ventured out a couple of times but this Michigan weather keeps flip-flopping around on us. Not that it is a shocker, that’s just how things go here in the Mitten. It seems that we are going to have a nice streak of warm weather and given the time of year I am hoping that it doesn’t cool down to much anymore. Starting today Ian and I started our daily walks. We made it just over a mile today. When we were about to start another loop around the subdivision someone revved up his motorcycle as he rode past us. Ian was not a fan of the sound and so it ended our walk. He decided he was done. But for our first official day it was a decent distance. Hoping for double tomorrow at least.

Relaxing in the stroller enjoying some fresh air

2012 The Zombie Dash Recap

Last weekend was The Zombie Dash in Grand Rapids, MI. It was definitely an experience. Mostly fun, a little annoying. But all in our entire entire group decided we would do it again in the future.

We got to Grand Rapids pretty early in the day because we were not quite sure where to go, all we knew was that on the map our hotel looked really close to where the race started. It was! It was right across the street. So that worked out perfectly.
After we checked in we hung out for a few then walked across to the park, it ended up being on the grounds of the Gerald Ford Museum so we took a minute to check out the grave site, figured out where check in would be. Found a metal sculpture of a football player and of course that means it had to be climbed on, humped and pretended to ride it like a bull. Unfortunately I just stood by and laughed because I shouldn’t be climbing statues being pregnant and all. Then we found the big button and took fun pictures with that. Finally we decided to do what we went over there for. To find out where registration, the bathrooms and the start and finish line were as well as check out some of the route. After that we went back to the hotel for some lunch and chilled until check in started for the race.

We went to check in as soon as it opened, so there were no lines yet, it took an entire 3 minutes for a group of 9 to get our shirts, numbers and life strips… Not bad! So we wandered to the hotel once again got tutu’ed (I think I made that word up) and numbered up, watched some Harry Potter and wandered back to the park closer to start. We hopped on an earlier wave just in case we needed extra time. I certainly did.
Once the race started I started out at a jog, once the cold air hit my lungs I was done for! I pushed on for a short distance then decided that it was hard to breathe and I should just walk it. I did not want to push myself and hurt myself or the baby. Not worth it, and even walking I knew that it would be fun either way.

So I am walking along (half of my group was really far ahead of me and some were even behind me) and I get to an area that is riddled with zombies. I decided I would do a slow jog and see if I could get through with life strips. I was surprised that I was able to! So I learned that I could dodge a zombie horde if I really wanted to. But then the whole I can’t breathe thing started again so back to walking for me. This lessened lung capacity because of my growing uterus is kind of annoying. Once I get to the bridge there was another horde, I decided I was just going to walk. Life strips are not more important than my personal comfort and safety. Once I am about half way through one of the zombies was a little too grabby. I got angry. There was a very clearly stated hands-off rule. Just said some words and kept going, he surprisingly did not get my life strips though. Then I heard someone yell “Watch Out!” I turned around and he was behind me and got all grabby again and got a strip, no biggie. But I don’t like strangers touching me and I signed up for an event that was supposed to be “flag” style. O well, I didn’t let it ruin my mood. The next part was a stroll through the woods then I came to Kill Hill. You had an option of an easier paved way up or a grassy, steeper shorted way. I chose the hard way. Holy cow was it steep. I stopped for about 15 seconds in the middle and looked to see if I could see any of my comrades and a nice little boy zombie came up and asked if I needed help. He was so cute and thoughtful.

After getting through the hill I was pretty pooped out for a minute, but I recovered quite quickly and went through this cardboard zombie “city” it was pretty neat actually. Then we looped back around to where the first zombie horde was encountered. Once again one of them decided to get rough, really rough actually. Yanking on my tutu and grabbing my arm. I turned around and hand him my life strip. I was over it. Unfortunately I got a little filthy mouthed and said to him as I handed him my life strip “Here, I am to “f***ing pregnant for your bulls***” Not good on my end but once again, strangers should touch me and there was a rule against it. The rest of the race went well, Pat found me and walked with me the rest of the way, I found another person who was walking and chit chatted with her. We decided that as long as we finish we were good. And I did. My time was an hour and 5 minutes, not bad for walking and talking and all. Unfortunately one person in our group was hurt by an overzealous zombie and had to see a medic. They thought her finger was broken but it is looking like it was just sprained. Either way it should have never happened, they should have been hands off. But she still said she had fun.

After the race they had snacks and beverages of course, a beer tent (I didn’t bother with that), live music and it was nice but COLD! And The Fetus was yelling at me to eat so we waiting for everyone to meet back up hung out for a few and then went and had a nice dinner and some delish cheesecake. We all went to our rooms after warmed up and got some sleep. We meet back up in the morning convoyed to a restaurant, had a yummy lunch and headed home.

All in all it was fun and i will do it again. The organizers, Michigan Adventure Racing did a great job with the race. I also don’t blame then for our zombie issues. Some people just don’t listen and how can you monitor everyone where there are 1,100 runners and almost 500 zombies? You can’t. But maybe those zombies will read this and feel ashamed of themselves.

My Pregnancy: Week 15 (Bump Pic)

Today marks the first day of week 15 of pregnancy. Only 25 weeks to go, 25 weeks seems like FOREVER!

The internet has all kinds of fun, interesting and even some questionable information to offer. I read up on each week each Monday. How is it that so much has changed since being pregnant with Emma? It seems like there are so many more rules and so many strong opinions now that seem to cause a ton of anxiety for expectant moms. I have read that some mothers-to-be are freaking out over having mints because they didn’t know until they read an article online that they couldn’t have them and are now panicked that they have done something to harm their unborn child. Pure mint oil is thought to be a uterine stimulant and this is what is left out of the information these women are given. Who the hell just sits around sipping or consuming large amounts of pure mint oil? No one I know of. Most mint gum, breath mints, mint cookies and such don’t even have mint oil and are artificially flavored. And if they are flavored with mint oil how much could possibly be in one tiny mint or piece of gum? I drink lots of organic mint tea, it helps with my nausea and helps clear my sinuses (Allergy season has me all clogged up) peppermint leaves have been deemed as “likely safe”, good enough for me. And my doctor doesn’t seem to have an issue with it. I think more women need to not get their information via the internet and take it word for word. If you really want something that random website #53 says is bad just ask your doctor. Not everything on the internet is true, or is just over-exaggerated.

Any-who, let us move on to some week 15 information:

• Baby is about 4 inches long, so about the size of an apple.
• Approximate weight is 2.5 ounces, the approximate weight of a jumbo egg
• Lanugo growth has begun (a very fine hair)
• Baby can sense light but the eyes are still closed
• Taste buds are forming
• Babies this age start sucking their thumbs

As far as exercise today I got a bit of walking in. Better than nothing J, I have not eaten much but not feeling to great today. Sometimes it is a task to eat, I had some cottage cheese, string cheese and a corn muffin. Don’t worry though I am making pork medallions with roasted red and yellow peppers, cucumber salad (not the mayo kind) and herbed mashed potatoes for dinner.

The Fetus is about the weight of a jumbo egg this week!

I found this image and thought it was super creepy.
Week 15 The Fetus is the size of an apple

Baby Bump week 15.
Still in the cheeseburger stage

Sources:
babycenter.com
babyzone.com
americanpregnancy.org

LMP Round 2 Phase 1 Schedule

As you all know I have started Round 2 of Les Mills Pump. There is no hybrid Schedule out there that I have found that incorporated Running as well as the Les Mills Pump Ultimate Cross Training workout plans. Using the Round One Phase One Schedule I added the Running, UCT workouts, The Yoga I like to do on rest days to reset myself as well as a couple other things that I just plain enjoy doing. I kept the weight training segment part of the schedule exactly the same as it was before and just switched out the walking days with other things and added runs and other workouts seeing I am at a higher fitness level now and can push myself harder than I could when I started Round 1.  Just to keep myself accountable here is my Round 2 Phase 1 schedule.

PHASE 1: TE WERO: The Challenge

 

Today is Day two, So….. it is time for me to get my Yoga in and I will run later this evening once it starts to cool down. I have found that I really like running and walking outdoors at night. It is serene. Happy Friday everyone and have a great weekend. I have a weekend of house guests again so it should be fun!! I am glad they don’t think it is rude when I disappear on them to work out. I have even gotten some of them to work out with me!

Ohh Yeah!

I can’t make a decision!

Today I am going to go totally off topic. Nothing new in fitness to report for me minus the fact that I added in a 9 mile late night walk last night with my friend mentioned in yesterday’s post

I am in the process of getting things on the wall in my living room. I have a grouping of pictures, canvases, metal art, wood wording and a shelf. I just can’t seem to find a way to group it that I want permanently hung on my wall. These are the layouts that I seem most fond of but am still unsure. What do you think? of course the spacing would be more even and the pieces wouldn’t be crooked.

I started out with fewer things but just thought the wall was too big for just the canvases and frames so to the craft store I went. I spend some time last night painting the A, words, shelf and bird house, the metal bugs are actually outdoor decorations that were on sticks for your garden, I removed the sticks and decided they are for inside now.

 I was even thinking I could move the canvas by the R up and move the word dream below it too. I don’t have a pic of that though.

And don’t worry, just because I am not posting about my workouts doesn’t mean it is not happening!

 

The Best Kind of Cardio

IS SHOPPING!

It is getting warmer out and I of course had nothing to wear. Everything from last spring is too big and most of it has found its way into the consignment shop. So my dear husband gave me some mad money to get some things for spring. I think he got tired of me complaining about only having two pairs of pants and no tops that I like that are weather appropriate. I got some great outfits and it is always more fun to shop when you are looking for SMALLER sizes! I could have used some shorts but I am not ready to brave shorts yet. My thighs are still pretty big and lumpy. I would rather have a gut than huge legs (is that weird?). I did find a great dress for an upcoming wedding too. Anyhow here are some pictures of my finds. I wish I could have gotten better pics but I am still stuck using my cell. Canon’s customer service still sucks. Over $300 for a camera that randomly stops working in 3 months. Ugh. I’d like to take my camera and shove it up their butt!

Whew last day of week 9!

I am about to start week 10 of Les Mills Pump. I also started C25K and Fitterbetterstronger’s squat challenge, so this post will update all three.

Les Mills Pump: 

I have never gotten in-depth on what the Les Mills Pump program is. Here is the best way I can explain it. It is a hybrid of cardio, strength training using low weights and high reps and a side of yoga. They call it The Rep Effect. Does it work? YES! I am consistently challenged by it, and when certain areas get easier to do it is easy to up the weight a bit or just dig in a little deeper (as they say in the DVD’s “Dig In!)  yesterday I struggled a bit with triceps, my elbows hurt. Wondering if it was due to bad form or what? Maybe it was just an off day. I always struggle with the lunges, but I am getting better and making it through lunge tracks, it took weeks for me to complete and entire lunge track, they are tough! Now squats, I love squats, and I also really enjoy the Clean and Press. Would I recommend it to my friends and loved ones? In a second. Honestly if i hadn’t found this I would more than likely be in the position I was before I started Pump. Today is a cardio day with Pump, I already did c25K, but I really want to keep each program separate so I don’t slack on one or get confused as to what I should be doing what day. So I am thinking some low impact aerobics this afternoon. far more interesting than walking for 45 minutes. I’d like to go to Zumba, but I can’t go to group classes alone, I am a chicken and don’t like to make a fool of myself unless I am in company of friends.

C25K:

Today was my third day doing C25K, I really thought I would hate it but I don’t. Couch to 5k or C25k is an interval training program that is designed to get you from the couch to running a 5k in nine weeks. I put in my 30 today and was feeling pretty good so I did another half hour making a total of 4.5 miles. I tried it in the morning for the first time also. I am a workout in the afternoon and evening kind of person. Never have I been a morning person so morning exercise is not something I would normally consider. My mind was changed today and I will start putting in my time on the treadmill in the am and do Pump in the afternoons. I am glad that I gave the mornings a shot.

Fitness Challenge:  210 Full squats:

Fitterstrongerbetter posted a blog challenging others to do 30 full squats for seven days in a row. Why not join in I thought so here I am at day two. yesterdays 30 were a bit harder because I had already done a billion squats with 35lbs of weight during my Pump session. I did them in one go with a 10lb plate. Today I did them after C25K with 20 on the bar in one setting. Easy peezy. I have to do some many squats with Pump I am turning into a pro squatter

In a nutshell those are my thoughts. Now onto some food prep, I’ll post about that later.

Week 7 Check in and Bonus Recipes.

First of all thanks for the shout outs maranack http://marianck.wordpress.com/ and lose it bighttp://loseitbig.wordpress.com/ . My wordpress/blogger support group is the best! Check out their pages when you get a change. Good reads ya’ll.

Oh joy, it is once again Tuesday so I once again am required by some law in my own head that I should babble on about random topics and then tell the world what I weigh and how many inches I measure. But I don’t mind. It has now become more of a habit than a chore for the most part.

So what shall I babble on about today? I think I will start with the status of The Color Run (my first 5k) I went on at the assigned time to register to find out they moved the registry two more weeks away. Meh, I was slightly peeved for a second then realized it was a silly thing to be bothered by. Then later I found that they moved the date and there is a HUGE difference. That would cut off 5 plus weeks for me to get used to the running distances thing. So I better get on it. And given the date half of my team has to drop out. That gives me a huge sad face.  With it being in the midst of wedding season I have a wedding to attend as well as a Bridal shower to which I am the Matron of Honor both the day before the 5k. Still figuring out how I am going to pull off doing both then running. But I am sure I can figure it out.  I always do. It’s one of those things us moms are good at. Spreading ourselves super thin and needed to be two places at once and end the day basking in the awesomeness of success! I am still doing the 5k; it may be more inconvenient, but hell. I said I was going to do it so there is no turning back. I can’t fathom being a quitter before I even start. That kind of attitude will put me back in those size 20’s I wore last year.

I thought that I started Pump Extreme yesterday but it was actually a walking day so I did 35 minutes of step aerobics, walked for 10 and did about 10 minutes worth of abs on the stability ball. I love that thing!  So today is Pump Extreme for real. I am excited to see how it is. Every time I move up to a harder workout I really have to push to make it through but I always make it. Sometimes i cry while working out because it is hard, and it hurts and I am in terrible shape (but working on it). I say those tears are just me shedding extra water weight so bring it on. I am so glad Les Mills Pump is now available for the home. It was just what I needed to get started on sculpting the new and improved me.

Ooo Look, something shiny!

Last nights Dinner

You like that? I so distracted you so you wouldn’t notice I was going to change subjects on a whim. Now let’s move onto one of the most important things in the world. Food!  I have a habit of cooking food and then posting pictures of it on my facebook.  Last night I made Mock Chicken wings, Cheesy Quinoa Bites, Avocado Ranch and Crudités or people who don’t want to sound all fancy schmancy, cut up vegetables.  I was asked for the recipes so I was thinking what better place is there to put them other than my blog?

Mock Chicken Wings:

Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into nugget size pieces

2 Tbsp whole wheat flour or rice flour

1/4 c milled flax

2 Tsp garlic powder

1 Tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tsp

1/4 – 1/3 c Franks Red Hot

3/4 c panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix all dry ingredients minus Panko in a bag. Coat chicken strips in mixture. Put Franks in a bowl and coat floured chicken. Put Panko bread crumbs in a bag and coat chicken. Bake for 25 minutes.

Cheesy Quinoa Bites (I pinned this but ended up making changes to make it work in a 400 degree oven and to my personal tastes and make them a bit lower in calories):

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa

3 egg whites

1 cup shredded carrot

3 stalks green onion, diced

1 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 c sharp cheddar

2 Tbsp whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix everything together and put into greased mini muffin tin, it took about a tbsp each. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Avocado Ranch Dip/Dressing:

Ingredients:

1 Avocado pitted and removed from skin

1/4 c olive oil mayo (I am sure you could use FF Miracle Whip, but I can’t stand the stuff)

2 Tbsp parsley

1 Tbsp dried dill

1 clove garlic

3 green onion stalks chopped up

1 Tsp dried basil

1 Tsp pepper

2 Tbsp skim or rice milk

1/2 Tsp sea salt

1 juice of 1 small lime

Put everything into a food processor and run until smooth, if dip is too thick add more milk until it is the right texture for you.

And if you cannot figure out how to make Crudités you take some veggies and cut them with a knife into pieces and serve raw.

So that was my dinner last night. And, if I must say so myself it was pretty darn tasty! It really helped squash my chicken wing craving. I reheated leftovers and we ate the mock wings and quinoa bites for lunch, both reheated wonderfully. I think I will make a huge batch of both and wrap up small portion for a quick “frozen’ snack to reheat when I don’t feel much like cooking.

Now onto what you all come here for on Tuesdays… the results are in!

• Chest: 36 inches  (- 0 inches)
• R Arm: 12 inches  (- 0 inches)
• L  Arm: 12 inches (- 0 inches)
• Waist: 34.5 inches (- 1.0 inches)
• Hips: 42.5 inches (- 0.5 inches)
• R Thigh: 25 inches (- 0 inches)
• L Thigh: 25.5 inches (- 0.5 inches)
• Weight: 173 pounds (- 1 pounds)
• Pant Size: 12
• BMI: 33.4

So I am down a total of 2 inches and 1 pound this week, now I am getting closer and closer to my 90 days. I am excited to see what the overall totals will be! On to week 9! Now I better get moving my cat has been staring a hole through my head for the past half hour. I think she is ready for some kibble. I did hear once before that you should feed your pets. Guess I will give it a go.

Gearing up to paint the town, I mean, paint myself, RAINBOW!

I have never been one to run but I figure I would give it a try. I know quite a few people who have been taking up running and getting into many local events. But it all just seems to bore me. I have felt that if I wanted to run or jog in a straight line for freaking ever I could do that on my treadmill. But then again, I get bored so the treadmill never gets much use. I need something new and exciting to draw me in. I have the attention span of a 6-year-old when it comes to straight cardio. That is why I fare better with aerobics or dancing. Less of the same thing for 30 to 60 minutes. I like having different movements and routines. I like for there to be more of an element of fun. Wow I am picky and demanding. But hey, I know what I like and I have been getting in all my workouts so at least I have found a way to make this fitness thing work for me.

Now onto the 5k, this will be my first. I am actually excited for it. Registration is next week on 4/9, the race is on 8/5. and I have already found plenty of first time runners to form a team with me. So I won’t be the only 5k virgin in the group. This is The 2012 Color Run. I am doing the Ann Arbor, MI one. So basically this is what it is. You wear lots of white and start the race looking crisp and pristine. Each kilometer of the run is assigned a different color and there are color zones at the end of each. When you hit the color zone you get doused in a color and you get a new color each kilometer so you end up going from white to having five different colors all over you by the end. This is more of a fun run than a race which I like. Low pressure, so that is good for me being a first timer and it is not timed so no need to rush if I feel a bit winded.

I guess I better start the Couch to 5k program and use that in place of my aerobics for cardio a couple of days a week. I know I will not go balls to the wall with training for this but maybe I can build up a bit of endurance in preparation. Plus I know doing some actual walking, jogging and running would be really good for me seeing I never really do it. Maybe while I am on the treadmill I can think of a name for my team.  and do we want to wear tutus? Rainbow colored ones?

I am glad that I started Les Mills Pump, without it I wouldn’t have even thought to participate in an event like this. I better go switch my laundry so I have some shiny clean workout clothes and then get onto my first go at Pump Revolution.

Anyhow if anyone is a runner or just has tips to share with me leave me a comment. I am new to this whole thing so any words from all you experienced or semi-experienced runners would be great! Have a great day everyone.