I wish I could say it was MORE of the same

Life just never stops. And for as many times as I've learned this lesson, I forget it all over again and constantly am in a state of shock when life gets in the way and my goals seem to slowly come to a stall.

Well, the last several weeks have been no exception. Between visiting my family in Montana to adjusting my mindset to the move we'll have to go through in January, my visits to the base gym have been few and far between. I've been telling Scott more and more often lately to help motivate me by kicking me out of the house in the evening once we've got Violet's last bottle feeding under way. And his attempts have been successful for the few times I request his actions. I guess I'll have to have him do this EVERY night (or at least every other) rather than just when I remind him. But motivation comes slllllooooooowww.

Last night I did go out to the gym and spent half an hour on the bike, which, sadly, is the longest time I've spent doing cardio in a very long while. The media distractions helped tremendously. There are tv's available at every bike, elliptical and treadmill and I was able to flip on the Raiders/Broncos game.

The last little boost I got was the last song to play on my iShuffle. I love Weezer already, but this song really makes me happy =)

Get on your bikes and ride!

During yesterday's workout, I decided to change it up and try out the stationary bike rather than the elliptical machine. After that, I did some ab crunches and something that can be compared to a row machine, without the sliding back and forth and only works the arms/back. I feel pretty good about the hour workout, being that I REALLY didn't want to go. I'm not a emotional eater, I'm not one who can run or bike for miles to work out whatever inner turmoil I've got - what I am is someone who wants to just be still and be left alone when I'm down. But, being that I didn't want to derail my idea of going only twice to the gym this week, I channeled my inner personal trainer and got my butt to the base.

I've been slowly refining my workout music and I've found the most motivating music I've got can also be labeled under 'guilty pleasures'. Along with a whole bunch of songs by Black Eye Peas, Daft Punk, early-to-mid-90's dance music and a handful of Pussycat Dolls, I also rock to:
- Avril Lavigne "Girlfriend"
- Erasure "A Little Respect"
- Ace of Base "Beautiful Life"
- Bjork "Big Time Sensuality"
- Missy Elliot "Get Your Freak On"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers "Higher Ground"
- Brittany Murphy/Paul Oakenfold "Faster Kill Pussycat"
- Crush "Jellyhead"
- Blu Cantrell "Hit 'Em Up With Style"

What music goes with your workout?

Mama's got a brand new goal

I no longer have the wedding celebration in the spring of 2012 to lose all of my weight, but I do have to keep in mind a goal of some sort in order to keep myself motivated. There is a wedding in Austin for one of Scott's old high school buddies that takes place in October. That gives me 3 months to lose as much weight as I can.

I just got back from a week in Kentucky while we visited my in-laws. Now, it's literally crunch time. I have been running around paying visits and moving our home. Far too many things have been distracting me and giving me excuses to not going to the gym. Now I have to get myself disciplined.

Comment on the run

Moving is hard work. So is doing a massive top-to-bottom-clean-up of the house.

But at least I don't feel bad that I haven't gone to the gym. I've still managed to lose a little bit of weight!

Back to the boxes....

Back from the land of no portion control

I'm back from my week long stay in Colorado and I am happy to report that I didn't loose my battle of the weight (by much) while at my mother's house. She has a hard time not over-preparing for meals, so I was thankful there were 6 other people in the house to help eat 'my' share of the food.

I did not get any time to go to the hotel gym as I had imagined. It was a foolish pipedream and I should have recognized the fact that my sister, her two girls, my parents and my brother would take up much more of my time and energy than I thought. I mean that in a good way.

We did get to walk around all over creation, and I did a fair share of walking up and down the flights of stairs in my parents' house. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I generally don't need to climb stairs being that I live on a single floored house (at least for now - details on our move to a house-to-be-determined can be found on my other blog.)

I don't know how often I'll be able to go to the gym on base int he next couple of weeks being that I have to now concentrate my thoughts and energy to packing up and moving (for those who want to keep count, this will be the 3rd move in the last year and a half), but luckily packing will be exercise enough for me.

Long time, little progress

I haven't had a chance to blog in a long while because things got a little hectic around here. Ever since the beginning of April, there have been trips out of town and visiting family that has prevented me from really concentrating on blogging.

But I am happy to say that with the light exercising and the better care I've been taking with what I eat, I have lost 7 pounds since I've really kept an eye on my weight. It's not a miracle shedding of pounds, but at least it's going the right direction.

I'll be going down to visit my parents again and I get to go with my husband this time. I'm going to make sure to take advantage of the fitness room at the hotel and I'll continue to be very good and stay away from my Mom's temptation drawer (she has a kitchen drawer full of chocolates and other snacks, mainly for my sister's kids.)

Hopefully after this next trip, I'll get back to the daily exercising and blogging here and on my other online journal. I feel like I've been neglectful of keeping both conversations going.

Found a possible routine

Found the following suggestion here:

Workout #1 (Day One) Exercises
Chest Press Machine: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Pull Ups (Can be performed on a pull-up station with assist or a traditional pull-up bar): Perform as many pull-ups as you can for 3 sets.
(Substitute Exercise: Cable or Lat Machine Pulldowns)
Seated Overhead Shoulder Press Machine: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Seated Leg Press Machine: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Seated Calf Raise Machine: 15 Reps for 3 Sets
Bicep Curl Machine: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Tricep Pressdown Machine: Perform as many dips as you can for 3 sets.*
Back Extensions (performed on 45 degree back extension bench): One Set of 15**
Swiss/Stability Ball Ab Crunches: 20-25***
Rest and Recover for at least 48 hours.

Workout #2 (Day Two) Exercises
Dips: Perform as many reps as possible for 3 sets*
Cable Rows: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
(Substitute Exercise: Seated Machine Rows)
Cable Front Shoulder Raises: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Smith Machine Squats: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Smith Machine Standing Calf Raises: 15 Reps for 3 Sets
Cable Bicep Curls: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Cable Tricep Pressdown:  8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Back Extensions (performed on 45 degree back extension bench): One Set of 15**
Hanging Leg Raises/Roman Chair (Abs): Perform as many as you can for 3 sets***
Rest and Recover for at least 48 hours.

Workout #3 (Day Three) Exercises
Pec Deck Machine: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Lat Cable Pulldown: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
(Substitute Exercise: Lat Pulldown Machine)
Cable Side Shoulder Raises: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Smith Machine Lunges: 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Seated Calf Press (Performed on Leg Press Machine): 15 Reps for 3 Sets
Reverse Bicep Curl Machine (Palms down): 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Cable Press Downs (performed with palms up on the bar) 8-10 Reps for 3 Sets
Back Extensions (performed on 45 degree back extension bench): One set of 15 **
V-Crunches/Jack-Knife Sit Up (Abs): Perform as many as you can for 3 sets.***


*  As it becomes easier to perform dips with your body weight, add additional resistance by holding a light dumbbell between your feet (in the case of parallel bar dips), or have someone place a light plate across your legs on bench dips.
** Increase resistance on back extensions by holding a light plate or dumbbell over your chest during the movement.
*** Increase resistance progressively during ab crunches by holding a plate or dumbbell across your chest. For hanging leg raises/Roman Chair leg raises or V Crunches, place a light dumbbell between your feet.