Finding my healthy self after 2 kids page 4

[teach2183]

So yesterday I didn't do much and was tired. Ended up taking a good nap in the afternoon but wasn't too tired at bedtime. Stayed up to see the women's olympic gymnastics team chosen at 10pm. Woke up at 6:30 before either of the kids and felt good.

Got in some sprints this morning while it was just 80 out. With 80% humidity it was HOT. Both kids were drenched in sweat just from playing at the park while we ran. But it felt good and I was really trying to push myself. Will monitor energy levels today, have to tutor this afternoon so not much opportunity to nap if needed.

I'm wondering if I just need to start the day with some physical activity to keep energy levels up. If I feel okay today I may try a long walk tomorrow morning after breakfast. This would likely help with my weight loss goals as well. But for now I'm focusing on energy levels. If I have enough energy to keep up with life, then from there I can tweak things to get to my goal weight.

I took a look at some pictures last night and the mere 13.4lbs I have lost since January is very evident. Nice to see my stomach shrinking and a more athletic look rather than the blob I was before. A lot of my old clothes are fitting now as well, even though I weigh a lot more than when they fit before. All my honeymoon clothes fit except 1 tank top. And the only place that it doesn't fit is my boobs - hard to stuff H/I boobs into a shirt I bought when I was a D/DD when it doesn't stretch!

[teach2183]

Continuing my experiment with energy levels. Slept horribly last night, but mostly due to some very vivid but bad dreams. Went for a long walk this morning with the family. It is SO hot outside and we have tons of hills. More of a workout than I anticipated, pushing a stroller with nearly 60lbs of kid on it. Played in the pool for the rest of the morning. Well, the kids did and I sat in the grass. I so wish we knew someone with a REAL pool, although then I'd be stressing about the kids being safe. Worked through nap time, but didn't feel the need to nap myself anyway. I've got a new project for work to get started on Thursday. It will be nice to have something to work on that I can a little bit of each day. Had DQ this afternoon and I don't think my body liked it. Felt kind of sick, light-headed afterwards. I had really been craving ice cream too. I'm thinking I might start researching a real ice cream maker to make it at home. Although then I worry I'd eat too much of it. But if I could control the ingredients, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I don't know, they're pretty expensive anyway. Went for our usual after dinner and it was still 98 outside. I can't wait for this heat to break on Saturday!

Got lab results back from the doctor I saw Friday. Everything came back "normal", with my TSH 0.832. That's down from 1.04 in February. I'm not sure if he ordered the T3 and T4 or not. Still waiting to hear from my gynecologist about the urine culture he did last Tuesday. Will call Thursday when they're open again. Starting to say who cares about all of this again though, because I have enough energy to function. Going back to my gyno 7/11 to discuss the whole exercise leakage issue though. Wondering if he'll have anything to offer about that.

I think DS is just about done nursing, at least at night. He latched for like 5 seconds last night and just gave hugs tonight. Still pretty serious in the mornings though. It'll make soccer and just evenings in general a little easier to manage once he's really done at night. DH and I might even be able to *gasp* go out to a real meal and have someone else put the kids to bed. I suspect that won't be for a while though since in about a month DS will be getting a big boy bed and that will be a huge sleeping transition.

My dad mentioned today that he might be interested in taking us and my sister's family to Hawaii next summer. He would pay for it, as we obviously are nowhere near affording that. Our plans were another trip to WI where the whole thing costs about $450-500, including food. It would be amazing for all the kids to spend time together. Crazy to imagine 5 kids - 3, 4, 5, 5, and 8 all together for a week. But DD keeps asking about seeing her cousins and my sister. If I could lose another 10lbs by then I would be happy as well. Getting down 20lbs would be fantastic. Maybe I can use this as extra motivation to stick with the eating and ramp up the weights.

God, thank you for all these blessings lately!

[teach2183]

Lifted heavy this morning. Going to try and build some strength. I enjoy seeing the weight go up as I go along. I'm not following any program because I'm sick of following other people's programs over the years. But I think between lifting weights once a week and Mark's body weight program, I should see results over time. Both take 20-30 minutes to complete and I feel fatigued afterwards.

Squats: 8@95, 7@100, 8@105 - start at 105 next time, aiming for 3x5 eventually once I sort out the weight and grip
Bench: 8@65, 7@70, 8@75 - start at 75 next time, wrist strength will be an issue here, get to 3x5
Dead: 8@105, 7@110, 7@115 - start at 110 next time, grip strength an issue, get to 3x5
Lat Pull: 8@45, 7@70, 9@72.5 - start at 75 next time, aiming for 3x5 @ body weight

My overall goal is primarily to just increase strength. Squat/Dead would be great to get to body weight. A ways to go for that since I'm 181lbs right now, but will be an easier target as I lose weight. That feels like cheating though. Not sure of a good goal for bench, maybe lean body weight? That's about 110 right now and with my goal weight/BF goal it should stay there. I could probably already do that 1 time, but regurlarly lifting that would be good. I'm hoping lat pull downs will help me be able to do a pull-up. So I guess my goal there is body weight. We'll see how things look as time goes by!

[teach2183]

After lifting on Wednesday I realized how much I miss lifting actual weights. So I'm putting PBF on hold for a while and going back to lifting true weights. As suggested by some others on here, I'm going to give Starting Strength a try. My goal will be 3x/week until DH goes back to work, but I will be okay if I only fit in 2x/week. My plan is going to be Th/Sat/M for lifting, since I have soccer on Wed nights and don't want to be sore for that. I did the first day today, which was mainly determining starting weights. I am doing this barefoot in the basement. I read a book between sets since the kids are at the store with DH. It took quite a long time to get through this initial workout, hopeful the others will be shorter since there won't be so many sets. Started at 45lbs for all 3 lifts and worked my way up until the bar slowed.

Squats: 95lbs - paying close attention to going low enough
Bench: 85lbs - sometimes I feel like I'm cheating because my boobs are so big, but I can't go lower than them
Dead: 125lbs - setting the bar higher than on the ground (aka what a 45lb plate would be) makes it much easier to lift!

It's nice to see these starting numbers so high. It's going to be interesting for me to see how high I can get before stalling. I gained a pound today, but I blame that on all the sugar I ate this week. I'm going to try a new strategy and only allow sugar/ice cream on days that I lift. That way I'm eating in during the 24hr metabolic advantage from lifting, and it's motivation to get in 3x/week. If that doesn't work, I may just say the heck with it until the fall when the weather is cooler. Ice cream calls my name when it's so hot out (96 today)!

[Gadsie]

After lifting on Wednesday I realized how much I miss lifting actual weights. So I'm putting PBF on hold for a while and going back to lifting true weights. As suggested by some others on here, I'm going to give Starting Strength a try. My goal will be 3x/week until DH goes back to work, but I will be okay if I only fit in 2x/week. My plan is going to be Th/Sat/M for lifting, since I have soccer on Wed nights and don't want to be sore for that. I did the first day today, which was mainly determining starting weights. I am doing this barefoot in the basement. I read a book between sets since the kids are at the store with DH. It took quite a long time to get through this initial workout, hopeful the others will be shorter since there won't be so many sets. Started at 45lbs for all 3 lifts and worked my way up until the bar slowed.

Squats: 95lbs - paying close attention to going low enough
Bench: 85lbs - sometimes I feel like I'm cheating because my boobs are so big, but I can't go lower than them
Dead: 125lbs - setting the bar higher than on the ground (aka what a 45lb plate would be) makes it much easier to lift!

It's nice to see these starting numbers so high. It's going to be interesting for me to see how high I can get before stalling. I gained a pound today, but I blame that on all the sugar I ate this week. I'm going to try a new strategy and only allow sugar/ice cream on days that I lift. That way I'm eating in during the 24hr metabolic advantage from lifting, and it's motivation to get in 3x/week. If that doesn't work, I may just say the heck with it until the fall when the weather is cooler. Ice cream calls my name when it's so hot out (96 today)!

It's super hot out here as well and it also makes me crave ice cream so bad. I was walking around in town and without thinking I constantly walked automatically towards ice cream trucks etc.
So I bought an ice cream maker today

[teach2183]

Day 2 of Starting Strength today. No, I didn't actually read the book, but that website gave me everything I need to know with my background of having been a college athlete. Not too bad for my starting numbers on the second set of weights. Squat up to 100 as the program dictates. I did super set squats and press. I just get too bored to wait long enough in between sets. Maybe I'll feel different as I'm lifting heavier, but I doubt it.

Press 70lbs
Power Clean 85lbs

No soreness tonight and I was only mildly sore after Saturday's workout. Day off tomorrow, but the kiddos have gymnastics in the morning. So I'll be chasing DS around the gym. And then Wednesday night I have soccer. I wonder if I'll see any difference in my game as I build some additional strength. A lot of the women I play with are already afraid of my shot. Perhaps I'll be able to throw past midfield by the fall, that would be kind of cool. In any case, looking forward to playing and might go out with the team afterwards to hang out. I've been able to stay up a bit later lately so I should be too dead after a 7:45 game. Really enjoying the slightly cooler weather too! I wonder if this week will bring a loss or not on Saturday. I really should do measurements again.

[teach2183]

Who needs to workout? This morning we went for a long family walk. Stopped at the river for a while and watched a deer and egret playing on the opposite bank. It's so peaceful by the river on a weekday. Amazing how much harder it is to push the kids from last fall though. At first I thought I was getting weak, then I realized - DUH - they are growing kids and so now the stroller weighs another 10lbs, easily. After the walk, DH wanted to work out so we all headed into the basement. DD has been SUPER into gymnastics lately. In fact, she was invited to join pre-team this fall. We're still mulling that over, but leaning towards 1 more year of rec since she couldn't compete until 6 anyway (she's 4). Anyway, we started with her doing about 30 back walkovers on the exercise ball we have. I hold it steady so she doesn't tip to the side. Then we did some handstands, taking turns. She started doing what looked like a handspring. So I pulled the futon mattress onto the floor and we started working on them. First I showed her how to do a handstand into a backbend. I did it twice, fairly impressed with myself on that one. But I could feel muscle pulling and I have soccer tonight. So we went to working on her handsprings with me heavily spotting her. I don't know how many she did, easily 25 or 20. And my arms were getting tired towards the end. Helping 35lbs fly through the air is tiring! It's so much fun to see how excited she is though. After I called it quits because I was holding her up well anymore, she tried the handstand into backbend and did 3 of them completely on her own! This is one amazing kid. If anyone has any experience with competitive gymnastics, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[teach2183]

Had a great time playing soccer last night. Felt pretty good, although my shoulder did hurt a bit after half-time. Went out with the team afterwards and it was nice to relax with them. Didn't get home until after 10:30 though and had trouble sleeping. So I've been up since about 6. Been battling a stomachache on and off. Did lots of walking today when we took the kids to a children's museum. It was awesome and they loved it. Makes us want to move even more.

Did my third day of lifting today. Up to 105 on squats, 90 on bench, and 135 dead. Felt good to lift heavy and have 45 plates on for dead. Will likely be pretty sore tomorrow I'm betting though. Tomorrow will be a definite day off, although we might head over to the beach. It will be good to forget about the horrible news I got from our real estate agent today. We just want to move to somewhere that is walkable to places without emptying our bank account in order to sell!

Ah well, off to work since we were gone all day.

[teach2183]

Feeling pretty depressed today as I feel stuck in this house. We want to get out and move to a more minimal place where we can enjoy the surroundings (with sidewalks). And yet it feels like we'll be stuck here for a while unless we want to pour our savings into paying back the mortgage. I hate how we play be the rules and get screwed. It looks like 2 houses sold on my street this week though, both foreclosures. Maybe if we're lucky all the foreclosures will go this summer and we can get out early next spring. I really want to be in a new place next summer to enjoy. But it's out of our hands really.

No exercise really today. Spent part of the morning yelling at Comcast because the internet was down and I needed to work. Then got some paperwork signed at the bank and then played at the beach for a while with the kids. I'm thinking we might need to go to the beach more often as the summer progresses. A great place to stay cool with this awful hot weather and the kids can run around. There was nobody else there, even though it was 90 by the time we came home. DS is a total water kid too. It would be awesome if the kids could get real comfortable in the water by the end of this summer. Might be able to skip swimming lessons then even. Went for our usual after dinner walk as well. Will be lifting again tomorrow.

I'm starting to see muscles when I flex my arms. I can't wait for the fat to start melting away too. I think what I really need to do is figure out a week or two of meals with no dairy to see if that makes a difference in my belly fat. But it's so easy to fall back on cheese with lunch. I do have almost constant congestion when I wake up each morning though. It's looking like we have a bunch of zucchini and squash that is growing, so maybe the week that those are ready to harvest would be a good time to try it. I saw a couple green beans today too!

Ugh. Maybe my scale will have good news tomorrow morning.

[teach2183]

Another day of starting strength. I must admit I'm not following the warm-up protocol. I've never been one for long warm-ups. Just enough to get the blood flowing and the muscle used to the movement. So I've been doing 2 sets of 5 and 1 set of 3, each set with increasing weight. Have no trouble completing the exercises with full weight. Perhaps as I lift heavier the warm-up will be more important. I am also super setting the first 2 lifts, but ensuring to take at least 3 minutes between lifts of the same type. It's somewhat amazing to me that changing the weights, doing the other lift, then changing the weights back takes only about 2 minutes. Anyway
Squat - 110
Press - 75
Powerclean - 90
Press felt real heavy, squat felt light and powerclean felt good after the first set.