Ten Things I Love About My Daugther

Today is Ladybug's FOURTH birthday! Where have the last four years gone? Here are ten things that I love about her (there are more, of course, but I'm keeping it succinct for the reader's sake!)


1. She remembers everything, even getting a scrape at a friend's house ten months ago.

2. She has grown from a curious toddler to a confident preschooler in the past year.

3. She prefers Scooby Doo and Looney Tunes to  Handy Manny.

4. She loves to say, "When I was a baby, __________." And she'll tell us something totally random about being a baby.

5. She likes to write "notes" for us. They usually have "Mama," "Dad," and her name on them, then she'll tell us what else she wrote too.

6. She's very generous, when she wants to be. "Here, Mama. You can have my peas."

7. She has the absolute BEST laugh!!

8. Because we tell her she has to stay in bed until 6:00 am, she thinks she HAS to get up at 6:00. She doesn't get the concept of sleeping in yet.

9. She gets excited about the little things, reminding me to not take the little things for granted.

10. She says the best prayers: "Thank you for my sister, thank you for everyone, thank you for my family."


For more great Top Ten lists, visit ohamanda.com.

Knock Out the Fat Week 3

Best laid plans of mice and men. I was finally starting to feel good about the George Foreman Knock Out the Fat Weight Loss Challenge and all the extra requirements, and my plans and schedule went up in smoke. The need to be Mama first, weight loss athlete second, came into focus when my girlie came down with a stomach bug.

Two nights of 4 hours of sleep are not conducive to sticking to a workout schedule or meal plan. The theme of the week became "Roll with it."

I did have fun experimenting with my George Foreman grill this week. I used the bake plate to make pancakes, which turned out wonderfully. And I grilled bacon for BLTs - amazing how much fat drips off!

Fitness: I did cardio on 5 days out of 7, for a total of 136 minutes. Up in the middle of the night with a sick girl meant I was more tired than usual. I just had to roll with it. To make sure I was getting the fitness circuits done (a requirement for the #KnockOutTheFat challenge), I set my phone alarm for 2pm every day to remind myself to get them done. That worked well!

Monday: walk/run 15 minutes; lower body fitness circuits
Tuesday: exercise bike 22 minutes; upper body circuits
Wednesday: running 28 minutes; cardio/core circuits
Thursday: rest day; lower body circuits
Friday: walking 20 minutes; upper body circuits
Saturday: running 51 minutes, no circuits (she gave us an extra day off!)
Sunday: rest day

Nutrition: It was a decent week in the nutrition department. Snacks that I pre-packaged were a life saver on busy days. Being tired made me crave (bad) carbs, but since we don't keep those in the house anymore, I couldn't indulge. I did have a small serving of dessert at Bible study, and I also had a cupcake at Ladybug's birthday party this weekend. But, those small treats are just that; treats. We enjoy them for special occasions.

Here's my healthy, grillin' menu plan for the week!

The Scale: Down .4 lbs for the week, bringing my total for the Knock Out the Fat challenge to 3.2 lbs. My total weight loss since January 2010 is 37 lbs. My BMI is currently 36.8.


Disclosure: I am one of 10 Brand Ambassadors in the George Foreman Knock out the Fat Weight Loss Challenge. I was sent a George Foreman Grill for my participation in this challenge and will be compensated for my time at the end of the 90 day challenge. HOWEVER, ALL opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own.

Just Give Me Jesus

I sang this song at my Grandmother's funeral in 2001. I heard it this morning while I was exercising. It still brings me to tears. My prayer is that we would all learn to live this simply.

In the morning when I rise, in the morning when I rise

In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus, you can have all this world, just give me Jesus.

When I am alone, when I am alone,

When I am alone, give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus, you can have all this world, just give me Jesus.

When I come to die, when I come to die,

When I come to die, give me Jesus. 

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus, you can have all this world, just give me Jesus.

Knock Out the Fat Week 2

alternate title: A Week Full of Struggle
alternate alternate title: But That's Life, Isn't It?

This was a rough week. It was more of an emotional struggle than anything else. I had several bouts of the "I don't wannas."

I know y'all comment about my consistency, but I realized that I'm consistent because I get to do what I want to do. I work out at the time of day that suits me best. I do the kind of workouts that I enjoy. With the George Foreman Knock Out the Fat Weight Loss Challenge, in addition to what I want to do, there are extra requirements. With extra requirements comes the need to be flexible. I realized this week that I'm not very flexible, at least mentally.

So my goal for this week is to work on the mental aspect of healthy living. I'm doing good with the fitness & nutrition aspects. Time to reprogram the brain!

Here's my weekly recap:

Fitness: I did cardio 5 days out of 7, for a total of 190 minutes. I did take the extra rest day on Thursday because of a sore throat & a poor night of sleep.  I'm struggling to get @fitmomtraining's fitness circuits fit into my day. I love a schedule, a routine (hence, my lack of mental flexibility) so I am scheduling those circuits for 2 pm. I think if they are on my schedule, I'll have a much better mental attitude and I'll be able to avoid the "I don't wannas."

The highlight of the week was meeting up with Heather G. (@runfastermommy), a local marathoner and twitter/daily mile friend, for a power walk on Friday. We had never met IRL before, but we realized that we used to be neighbors! Like, 2 streets apart neighbors! It was awesome to chat while we got our sweat on.

Note: I am not counting the fitness circuits as part of my cardio; I count them as strength training.

Monday: running 32 minutes;lower body fitness circuits
Tuesday: Pilates 20 minutes, power walk 10 minutes; upper body fitness circuits
Wednesday: running 28 minutes; cardio/core fitness circuits
Thursday: cardio rest day; lower body fitness circuits (I think, didn't write them down)
Friday: power walk 50 minutes; upper body fitness circuits
Saturday: running 50 minutes, full body fitness circuits
Sunday: rest day

Nutrition: It was an okay week in the nutrition department. The Knock Out the Fat challengers had another full week of menu plans from Alysa (@InspiredRD) and I started doing some tweaking to fit what I need and what our budget can handle. We keep things pretty simple around here.

My fun experiment with the George Foreman grill was to grill our pizza dough to make flatbreads in personal pizza size. We had friends over on Saturday, and we all got to make custom pizzas on the flatbreads - yum!

This week, Alysa has set us on our own to make our menu plan. Check out mine & let me know what you think! I've already filled my snack bags with my favorite on-the-go snack, dried fruit & almonds, so they are ready to go out the door with me when I'm busy.

The Scale: The mental & emotional struggle showed on the scale this week. I'm only down .6 lbs from last week. My cumulative weight loss for the Knock Out the Fat challenge is 2.8 lbs. Total weight loss is 36.6 lbs in 17 months. My BMI is now 36.9.

A special thanks to my Mamavation sistas for their extra pep talks this week - I really needed that!

Disclosure: I am one of 10 Brand Ambassadors in the George Foreman Knock out the Fat Weight Loss Challenge. I was sent a George Foreman Grill for my participation in this challenge and will be compensated for my time at the end of the 90 day challenge. HOWEVER, ALL opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own.

Guest Post: DoxaSoma

I am so pleased to share with you a guest post from Angela Doll Carlson, whom I met a Blissdom in January. We didn't have a long conversation but we did exchange business cards. When I got home, I checked out her site and was so intrigued to learn that she is not only a gifted writer but also the developer of DoxaSoma yoga.

I know some Christians are leery of trying yoga because the meditation techniques used and their tie to Eastern religions. However, I think yoga can be a valuable tool for fitness and stress relief, and it shouldn't be overlooked. I know that some Christians are more sensitive and might find "Christian yoga" more appealing.

Thank you, Angela, for sharing how the development of DoxaSoma came about. Readers, I encourage you to check out her website and try DoxaSoma if you are looking for that mind/body/spirit connection in your fitness routine.

 

___________________________________________________

 

 

I developed DoxaSoma because I have a yoga body and I ran into a brick wall while on the road to becoming a yoga instructor.

 

My first yoga class I felt as though someone had flipped some long hidden switch inside of me.  The 90 minute class flew by. I found I was able to be fully signed into the class, was challenged by it even as I felt some accomplishment in the poses.

 

It was the first time perhaps in my life I wasn’t watching the clock while in a fitness class. This is a strange thing to hear from a certified personal trainer, I admit. Don’t get me wrong, I do love kick boxing and I love weight training yet in each of these programs there has always been a kind of disconnect for me. I get bored, quickly. In my mind,  exercise was a thing to be “done” not a way of being.  In yoga class, though, it wasn’t only my body moving, sweating, stretching. I felt a deep stretch in my mind and spirit as well.

 

That’s when I knew I had a yoga body. It was a combination of elements- I loved the movement, I loved the setting and I felt as though I was moving in conjunction with my body, rather than trying to convince it to come along for the ride.

 

So I did the natural thing a personal trainer might do…I began a certification course.  The first program was great and focused on mechanics for the most part. It was not until I got deeper into my practice that I began to feel like something was absent. My practice was no longer as fulfilling as it once had been. I found that I was working hard on a spiritual level, to do what felt like “translating” the spiritual aspects into my own particular language of faith. Being a strong follower of Christ I wanted the language to echo my faith walk. It was important to me to have that integration.

 

For this reason I sought out a ‘christian’ yoga class but found nothing that really spoke into me the way I had hoped. Either the physical practice lacked or the spiritual focus lacked.  Nothing seemed to fit. No matter the bending or shifting of the yogic practice it always felt contrived, makeshift.

 

And so I developed DoxaSoma to fill a need I had, myself. My body loved the deep stretch, my soul longed for the integration of my faith. When my back ached from carrying small children around I moved into a wide leg forward bend, placed my hands on the ground and realized where my “Foundation” was really rooted. I breathed in the peace of knowing that there was a release for that stress, that I had a firm foundation. 

 

It was in this way that the practice developed…movement and spirit married…the realization that everything we do in the flesh also presents in the spirit and vice versa. The goal for me is integration.

 

So yes, I developed DoxaSoma because I have a yoga body but more than that because I have a deep desire to be whole, to glorify God with everything I am. DoxaSoma is the integration of faith and functional fitness- prayer and practice.

 

DoxaSoma....fitness for the mind, body and spirit

www.doxasoma.com

What Do You Do With Guilt?

I was in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch today when Ladybug (almost 4 years old) came running into the kitchen crying. I picked her up and asked what was wrong. She said she didn't know.

I walked back into the living room with her. We sat down, and I continued to hold her. She cried some more. I asked what was wrong. She didn't know. I asked a few more questions. No answers.

I didn't think much about it.

Until bedtime. Ladybug helped me clean up toys then she got ready for bed. After she was asleep, I started to straighten up couch cushions. I picked up a cushion and I think I found the reason for the earlier tears.

Hidden under a cushion was my bracelet that I had worn this morning. But I had taken it off and let her play with it after lunch, and it was now broken. It's just a fake pearl bracelet on an elastic band. The elastic was broken and there was a pile of beads laying there, strategically hidden.

The bracelet isn't a big deal. It was just costume jewelry. But what do I do with Ladybug's guilt? She obviously knew that she did something she should not have done. But she couldn't admit it to me.

She understands that when she does something bad she needs to tell God that she's sorry. She also knows that she has to tell Mama or Daddy that she's sorry when she is punished for wrong-doing.

How do I teach my daughter to trust me with her confession of wrong-doing now so that she'll come to me with the really tough stuff later in life?

Knock Out the Fat Week 1

What a week! The first week of the George Foreman Knock Out the Fat Weight Loss Challenge had it's share of challenges, but it was a good week overall. I struggled to find time for everything. I battled fatigue, especially in the latter part of the week. I know that was from adjusting my nutrition plus adding fitness circuit workouts. But it was still a struggle.

However, when I stepped on the scale, the struggle was worth it.  Sorry for the teaser, you'll have to read my week in review before I show the scale. :-)

Fitness: I did cardio on 5 days out of 7, for a total of 172 minutes. I had been doing 6 days of cardio, but this week I also begin training for my upcoming 8k race. That training schedule calls for an extra rest day, but I didn't think I could "allow" myself an extra day off. However, by the time Thursday rolled around, I was ready! I still did all of the additional circuit training for the Knock Out the Fat challenge.

My struggle with doing my own cardio schedule plus the fitness circuits was a matter of scheduling. I do my cardio, whether running or cross training, first thing in the morning. Then, most days I'm busy out of the home in the mornings. When I get home at lunch time, I'm ready for lunch. Then I would have to let my lunch settle before I could tackle any exercise. So I would try to do both the a.m. circuit and the p.m. circuit in the afternoon. Yikes. That was tough. The couple mornings that I was home & able to do the circuits separately, I felt much better and had more energy.  I'll have to work on fitting everything into my schedule.

I'm also still trying to figure out proper nutrition and hydration on humid days when I run for more than 30 minutes. I have had some killer headaches, including one this past Saturday, about 3 hours after running when the humidity is up. I'm trying different things, but I really want to get it figured out, because these headaches are doozies. No fun.

I am not counting @fitmomtraining's fitness circuits in my cardio minutes; I am counting them as strength training. If you'd like to see what the circuits consisted of, check out this post by @JustHeather, who posts them after Steph shares them on Twitter.

Monday - running 35 minutes; 2 fitness circuits
Tuesday - Pilates 20 minutes, walking 10 minutes; 2 fitness circuits
Wednesday - #easactive 2 cardio workout 25 minutes (t'storms kept me inside); 2 fitness circuits
Thursday - cardio rest day; 2 fitness circuits
Friday - Pilates 20 minutes, #easactive 2 full body workout 20 minutes; 2 fitness circuits
Saturday - running 42 minutes, 2 fitness circuits
Sunday - a very much deserved rest day!

Nutrition: First week with the new nutrition plan by @InspiredRD went well. I made the necessary adjustments from the plan I had been following. I did notice a dip in my energy level but don't think it was entirely from the nutritional changes, maybe only part of it.

My George Foreman grill arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and we were so excited to start using it right away! We grilled turkey burgers, chicken, steak and veggies on it. I even experimented a little and "roasted" chickpeas using the bake plate (my grill has 2 plates - a grill plate and a bake plate). I tossed the chickpeas in olive oil, salt & garlic powder, scattered them on the bake plate and cooked for about 15 minutes, stirring them a couples time to make sure they were cooking evenly. So yummy!

The Scale: Woohoo! I am down 2.2 lbs this week! My BMI is down to an even 37.0. All of my capri pants are falling off me and I'm wearing shorts that I haven't worn since before pregnancy #1! What a great feeling! My total weight loss since joining Mamavation is now up to 34 lbs in 16.5 months.

I'm really enjoying the Knock Out the Fat Challenge so far. I do need to learn how to juggle everything, but I know that will come in time. If you have any questions about the challenge, just ask!


Disclosure: I am one of 10 Brand Ambassadors in the George Foreman Knock out the Fat Weight Loss Challenge. I was sent a George Foreman Grill for my participation in this challenge and will be compensated for my time at the end of the 90 day challenge. HOWEVER, ALL opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own. 

Hail!

We had a freak hailstorm yesterday. I heard the first few hit the house, and the only thing I could imagine it to be was birds hitting the house. The largest hailstones where BASEBALL sized!

Conversations

I'm so thankful for the conversations that I have with my precious Ladybug (almost 4 years old). They are random, thought-provoking, and sometimes silly. She is learning so much and I'm sure her brain is swirling with her new-found knowledge.

I have to be ready at a moment's notice to be deep and theological. (Some days require more coffee.)

This morning, for example:

LB: Why did Jesus have nails in his hands?
Me: Because He had to die on the cross for us.
LB: Why did He have to die?
Me: Because He loves us very, very much.
LB: But I don't like it that He had to die.
Me: Me either, sweetie.
LB: But we can all be together in heaven because Jesus died, right?
Me: That's exactly right.

It's that simple, isn't it?

New Challenges

Just a week ago, I was needing a challenge. So I set out a training plan to prepare for an upcoming 8k race. I was feeling invigorated and ready to tackle the training schedule.

Then ... the announcement came that I am one of ten bloggers chosen for the George Foreman Knock Out the Fat Weight Loss Challenge! You can read the details over at Mamavation, but starting today I have a new nutrition plan including cooking with my new George Foreman grill, additional fitness circuits to complete each day, and other various assignments. The challenge runs through August 6th.

So last week was a week of preparation. And it was a good week.

Fitness: I did cardio on 6 days out of 7, for a total of 185 minutes. My running legs felt strong, I jumped in and started doing Steph's fitness circuits just to get myself acclimated, and I adjusted my cross training to fit the new training schedule.(I didn't count the fitness circuits in my cardio minutes; they are over and above my "normal" cardio schedule.)

Monday: running 35 minutes
Tuesday: Pilates 20 minutes, exercise bike 10 minutes, upper body circuit
Wednesday: running 28 minutes, cardio & lower body circuits
Thursday: Pilates 20 minutes, 2 upper body circuits
Friday: exercise bike 30 minutes, lower body & core circuits
Saturday: running 42 minutes
Sunday: rest day

Nutrition: It was a good week in this area as well. We ate out twice this week, but I knew what healthy options were available before we went, so my choices were easy and I wasn't distracted by all the greasy foods.

My new nutrition plan from Alysa (our Mamavation dietician) is only slightly different from what I've been following, and I'm excited to shake things up and see how my body responds. I love that our nutrition plans for the George Foreman Knock Out the Fat Weight Loss Challenge are based on real food and has meals that are easy to prepare. I'm excited to try the new recipes on my grill as well.

Here is my before picture: 

The Scale: One of the requirements for the GF challenge is to post our toes-on-the-scale picture each week.(I discovered that my smart phone does not have a zoom on the camera app!)

I'm down 1 lb from last week, and down 31.8 lbs since I joined Mamavation 16 months ago. My BMI is currently 37.3.


Disclosure: I am one of 10 Brand Ambassadors in the George Foreman Knock out the Fat Weight Loss Challenge. I was sent a George Foreman Grill for my participation in this challenge and will be compensated for my time at the end of the 90 day challenge. HOWEVER, ALL opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own.

Who Am I?

Ladybug (almost 4 years old) had a "Muffins for Mom" event at her preschool today. The children decorated pretty flower pots for their moms and the teachers planted flowers in them. The teachers also helped the kids fill out a questionnaire about their moms.

This is me, according to my Ladybug:

I Need a Goal

I really struggled this past week. I struggled with fatigue, with the right post-humid-run nutrition/hydration, with motivation. I know I'll adjust to running in the humidity, and I know I'll get the post-run stuff figured out. Maybe I was fighting off a cold last week too. Whatever it was, I was SO tired. Tired enough to set snacks on the kitchen table so that I could lay down & allow Ladybug to help herself without making me get up.

I also realized that I was suffering from runner's envy, and without a race on which to focus, I didn't have the same drive to get a sweaty, intense workout in. So I came up with a plan. Thanks to Janice & Greta for the inspiration and conversation this weekend. I'll be tackling a BIG goal, and I know I have your support! (Go read to see what my goal is ;-)

Even though it wasn't a great week, here's the recap ...

Fitness: I did cardio 6 days out of 7, for a total of 160 minutes. I only did strength training once. Blah. I'm feeling tons better this week, so I'll be doing my push ups and lunges three times this week, along with other miscellaneous strength work. Gotta work those MamaGuns!!

Monday: running, 30 minutes
Tuesday: exercise bike, 25 minutes; push ups and lunges
Wednesday: running, 30 minutes
Thursday: #easactive 2 cardio workout, 18 minutes
Friday: exercise bike, 15 minutes
Saturday: running, 42 minutes
Sunday: rest day

Nutrition: Because I didn't feel well, I struggled with nutrition. I wanted comforting carbs. I know I didn't get enough protein.  I also slacked off on keeping my food journal. Even this weekend when I was feeling better, I still had a case of the "I don't wanna's" when it came to my food tracking. Just not feeling it right now. I'm also very busy right now, so taking the time to enter everything on SparkPeople is too time consuming. I might switched to paper/pen for a while.

I haven't had a chance to work on my menu plan yet. I'm very excited that our local Farmer's Market is open again, so I'll be stocking up on fresh produce!

The Scale: In spite of the struggle, the scale was kind. I'm down .6 lbs this week, for a total of 30.6 lbs in the last 16 months.

Congrats to all the Sistas who ran races this past weekend - y'all are inspiring!! Thank you everyone for your continued support & encouragement - can't do this without you!

Runner's Envy

It's spring running season across the country. Many of my running friends ran in races from 5k's to half-marathons to marathons this weekend. And I have to admit that I'm envious!

My last race was April 9th. I was okay with not having any other races in April. It was a busy month, especially with spring break and Easter. But now that May is upon us, I'm feeling the itch to race. However, due to family obligations and activities, I don't have a weekend free until June!

I'm finding that because I don't have a race looming on the schedule, I'm not as committed to my workouts. I still workout daily (I battled a lot of fatigue this past week), but the intensity hasn't been there. I need something (a race!) to keep me focused and motivated!

So, it looks like the next two races are: June 11th, Susan G. Komen 5k in Raleigh in support of a blogging friend; and a possible local 8k on July 2nd.

Right now, the thought of an 8k (5miles!) scares me spitless. At my current pace, that will take me over an hour. And it will be July, when we have overnight LOWS of 75 degrees with 1000% humidity. Even though I'm struggling with the humidity and running right now, I hope I have it figured out by July. Or this is going to be a L-O-N-G summer without this Mama getting a good run in.

So endurance and humidity are the big issues for me. The 8k is in nine weeks. I'm considering following a 10k training plan which is an eight week plan. I've got a week to decide.

I am currently running three times a week; 2+ miles on Monday/Wednesday and 3+ miles on Saturday. So the mileage in this plan is tough. But the cross training will be a huge task as well. I do cross train, but only 20-30 minutes on Tuesday/Thursday/Friday. I would adjust the days of the week on this plan, since I do my long runs on Saturday (cannot on Sunday as we are busy at church in the mornings) and the day of the 8k is a Saturday.

Any words of wisdom for me? How do you deal with runner's envy?

Photo Credit: stock.xchng