Old Woman

When my younger sister and I used to share a bedroom as kids, sometimes we would play a game called "old woman." She would be coming out of our bathroom, and her "side" of the bedroom was opposite from the bathroom door. She had to cross through my territory to get there. She would pretend to be an "old woman" and I would help her cross the "street" over to her side.

Weird. I know. My husband has shared with me some of the "games" he played with his sister and thankfully they are equally as odd. Guess it's one of those you-had-to-be-there things.

Today, my sister - the one that I used to boss around and force to play illogical games like this - gave me a great gift. She invited me to join her in the delivery room for the birth of her second child - a daughter. I have never been in a birthing room besides mine when I had my own children. I think she has an inkling of how much today meant to me, just because she knows me like that. I think she knows me so well that she invited me in just because she knew how much it would mean.

I am so thankful for the closeness forged between us in childhood that has now grown into an unbelievable friendship. The blessing of living near each other while raising our children goes beyond what I had ever imagined. She's always had a mind of her own - I've always irritated her in my own special ways - but somehow the bonds of motherhood and marriage and all those years whispering after dark have helped overcome our differences.

Over two years ago I surprised us both when I delivered my daughter naturally with no drugs. Ever since her delivery with her first child, she has talked about doing the next one naturally. Today she did - and her daughter weighed 11 pounds 7 ounces!

Today ranks as one of the best in my life. I am so thankful for the gift of sisterhood+motherhood wrapped up in one person.

Scale Obsession

I have an unhealthy obsession and love-hate relationship with my scale. I want to put it away and diligently do once weekly weigh-ins, but for some reason I can't. When the going gets tough food-wise, I like to step on the scale to be reminded of why I need to make good choices. I have a goal and the scale helps me to keep that in focus.

That being said, the daily weigh-ins kill me because simple things can affect the number. Sodium, water intake, the time of day I workout, whether I stand with all my weight on my heels, etc. Rationalizing a number that is higher than yesterday is tiring and I don't need anything in my life that makes me tired.

I don't know what keeps me from just putting the darned thing in the closet until Wednesday weigh-in time. I think I'll go ahead and do that today. I'll keep you posted. . .

Physical Pain Can Be Fixed

My husband is down in the dumps. Without taking 100289 words to explain the situation, he is 35 and unemployed and all his career attempts lately have failed. The latest endeavor was the biggest disappointment of all, and while it's not in the trash can YET. . . all that is left is for him to heave it over the rim.

I just asked him if I could pluck out the hairs under his arms or on his chest (because he has a lot of them) as a way to channel his negative energy into something useful. After all, physical pain can always be fixed. I have tried all evening to cheer him up to no avail, so I figure this tactic is next-best.

After the crappiness of this day (sorry for that classless word) my daughter and I set out on a bike ride. Her legs are short. We made it about 2 miles, and she was huffing and puffing ready to turn back. It was funny, though, she is so much like me. She put her head down, bit down on her lip and pedaled like crazy the whole time.

When we got back, my son who is the bike-riding champion of the world asked me to take him for a ride. I was feeling good, so off we went. He is more like his dad - riding slower, looking at everything around him, reading street signs, stopping to itch his leg. Since I was relying on momentum for some of the bigger hills, I had to push that boy to speed up. After all, nothing worse than realizing your legs are no longer rotating and then. . . ugh, gotta get this thing started again!

All in all, I rode 16 miles, burned 1000 calories and enjoyed a cup of ice cream when I got home. That, my friends, is 2 hours of awesome stress relief. Now to figure out how to cheer up and encourage the hubby. Going to get the tweezers. . .

Weekly Weigh-In

Wednesdays will be the day for weighing in and keeping up with the progress.

So - at the beginning of this journey I weighed 225. That was in April. I started consistently working out and tracking my food somewhere mid to late June.

Last week's weight: 203.5
**I was on vacation and this is the latest weight I recorded before leaving. I have also seen this number when peeking after returning**
Today's weight: 201.5

Loss of 2 pounds.

This was over more like 2 weeks, so I guess it's an okay number. I am just happy the scale moved in the down direction.

This week's goals:
1) Try some new recipes for dinner.
2) Get the early morning workout routine going again.
3) Avoid the scale until next Wednesday - EEK. (need to write another post about my scale issues)
4) Swim 3 times for at least 6000 yds total
5) 2 long bike rides with kids
6) Continue TurboFire plan

Identity Crisis

I have SO.MANY.POSTS in my mind. I want to record my thinking on a lot of things for my own remembrance. This is why I struggle with blogging. On one hand, I know my blog will be more interesting for people to read if I stick with one theme/topic. On the other hand, it is my little space on the web. I really don't like airing all my thoughts on things on Facebook. It's like my brain has been on overdrive lately.

Weight loss is going well. I am going to start doing a weekly weigh-in post soon to track my progress. I am so close to sub-200 and that feels really, really good. I can tell I am getting in shape. I am looking forward to continuing the journey to fitness.

I did do the 7-day yoga challenge I mentioned a couple of posts back. As a recap, I pretty much used Yoga Download, Jillian's Yoga Meltdown, a couple of Exercise TV videos, and one morning I just flowed through my favorite poses. It was a great experience, and I am trying to keep it up, though vacation has my sleep patterns messed up. I am up way to late and it's hard to get up early.

Next week school starts, so it will be easing into a new routine. I can't wait to have some one-on-one time with the birdie. She loves her momma - I want to bake with her and do fingernails (she says "finkernails") and play barbies and all the stuff she always wants to do but we never have time. The flower and the boy pictured with me above are going to be in kindergarten and 3rd grade. Wow. Time flies people. It really does.

That's all for now. Maybe some day I will get into a regular posting rhythm here. Mostly, I enjoy having a place to put my thoughts.

Back from Vacation

I am back from "vacation" (time spent at our family house i.e. the most relaxing place in my world).

I still have to do a summary post of my 7 days of yoga - which I thoroughly enjoyed. Also have a few more posts in my head.

Today I have to work writing questions (my day job) so I may not get a post in until Monday.

Lots to update. Things are going well. . .

7 Days of Yoga - Day 1

I am participating in Krissie's 7 Days of Yoga challenge/group. This morning, I woke up and decided to try a website I have heard a lot about:

Yoga Download is great because there are a lot of free workouts that you can download or watch/listen to and even the workouts that aren't free are still very inexpensive. This website would be a great way to ease into yoga OR add to your at-home workout regimen. I am not new to yoga, but I have not incorporated it regularly into my routine before, and I have mostly done more power yoga type workouts.

I arose at 5:30 am knowing that we have a busy day ahead. I have to take Flower for her kindergarten dr. visit (sniff, sniff) and we also have lots of house stuff to get to work on this week. I knew that a little morning yoga would relax me enough to be able to get my prayer time in and do a few chores before the little ones awoke.

I chose to do a beginner's yoga workout that was 20 minutes long. You can see in the window here that you have a lot of options even for beginning yoga. The 20-min version was free and fit in my time frame, so I went with that one.

This was an audio workout, and it included a pose guide pdf. I found it easy to follow, and the instructor's voice was very soothing. It was exactly what I needed to start my day.

For my 7 days I am focusing on using yoga as a source of meditation/relaxation since I already have my cardio and strength routines nailed down. After my yoga I enjoyed my breakfast, some much needed prayer and scripture, and got a few chores done before everyone got up.