5.5 weeks and just 400 miles away...

It's been a long long time... so to catch you up to speed...

It is hard to believe in just 5.5 weeks, my wonderful husband and I will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary.  So much in our lives have changed since July 6, 2013 and all of it has been nothing short of amazing.  Where to begin…

Once we were married, we settled into our quaint one bedroom apartment.  It was small, cramped, horrible storage plan, sketchy neighbors… and it was the closest thing to Heaven we had ever seen.  We had so many wonderful memories- leaving for the wedding, coming back from the honeymoon and unpacking- playing real-live “house” for the first time.  We had late nights, funny jokes, breakfast and bad tv in bed, movie nights, pizza nights, and date nights.  We were in walking distance to Publix, the bar, and Wal Greens (for our night post-bar).  It was there, 6 months later we got our first puppy, and beautiful 2 year old long-hair Chihuahua/ Australian shepherd mix named Sophie.  My husband had never owned a dog before and was skeptical about the idea, Sophie however was potty trained and “mostly” out of her puppy stage- she was an answer to our prayers. 

Time went on, I continued with school and teaching, he continued his job with the state.  We were happy and comfortable… until we realized that we were spending more time driving from Fort Myers to Tallahassee than we were actually in Fort Myers.  This realization nearly drove us insane.  Every weekend we were driving 12+ hours total going to and from our family’s home.  The travelling started to take a toll. 

Then December 2014 rolled around.  I graduated with my Masters in Health Administration and out of nowhere, a job offer that was the answer to our prayers rolled in.  January 2015, I moved back to my parents home and began working- and waiting for Brad to join me.  Finally at the end of February, he moved back to Tallahassee and we started a new life together.  Our new life… just me, him, and The Soph- well almost.

Back in fall of 2014, his dad bought a house and wanted to fix it up.  Turns out- that house would become ours.  Until it got done though, we had to live with our parents until the job was done.  This is where we are now… living with my in-laws, watching and waiting for a beautiful home to be ours.  At the rate I blog, it will be finished before my next post.  Alas, it is the end of May now, and I hope by the end of August we will be living in our new version of Heaven.  A home, in suburbia, on a lake… 3 beds, 3.5 bath.  No more walking home from the bar late at night, no more walking to Publix on Sunday mornings to get the fixings for mimosas and brunch… but we are gaining so much more.  More time for family, more space, more bathrooms- and more bedrooms (for God only knows what is to come in the future). 

The future is here, the future is now- and I am SO EXCITED to be living in it.  5.5 weeks and 400 miles away… so much change, so much hope, so much excitement.  

Be the change you want to see- or stop wondering why- An open letter to those who face teens on a daily basis

Are you the change you want to see in the world?  Look at a teen- then decide.
 

If you want to see the world in the eyes of a child- choose a teenager.  Right, wrong, or (often times) indifferent, teens are the window into our culture.  Teens are the mirror of society, and the reflection of our core values.  Being a high school teacher, this is so apparent.  It may be surprising, but nothing is more translucent than a teenager.  They are often times the harsh reality check that we need.  The paradox is, they are often times the voice of reason- in a very unlikely way. 

Stereotype of a typical teenager: dramatic, indifferent, hormonal, carries a unique fashion sense, and always attached to technology albeit, iPhone, headphones, and everything in between.  The reality about this stereotype is its true!  I see this on a daily basis.  Students are constantly spreading the daily gossip, talking in hyperbole over the simplest situations, and forever changing their alliances.  Then at times, the “lazy” epidemic will sweep over the crowd, halting dreams and aspirations. 

This is not new, the wave of misunderstanding teens will forever be the chanted mantra.  The difference is, everyone knows about it quicker- it is constantly in our faces.  With the advent of social media, mediums like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhoSay, and Tumblr, constantly parade the social injustices felt by our teens and by our society.  These problems are not new, they are just constantly in our face; they are a reminder to everyone who sees that there is unhappiness, restlessness, and a wave of misunderstanding. 

It is so simple to make assumptions about teens and leave it at that.  But, teens are the mirror of our society- what does that say about society?  Someone must buy the teen the iPhone, the $200 Beats by Dre headphones, the questionable attire… yet after all of that, society is left wondering- what is the matter with the teens of the world?  We are the matter.  We are buying it (therefore granting the approval of use), and then we get upset when they do use it.  What has that teen done to “deserve” a reward?  Are we granting wishes to solve problems?  Are we granting wishes to make them or ourselves happy? 

More and more, my husband will be out a restaurants and see small children with their tablets, or smart phone watching something at the dinner table- 12 years later, we wonder why the teen is incapable of holding a conversation, maintain eye contact, or why the lack the general respect expected to be in a public place.  We have stopped teaching it.  There is no longer fear of authority, because at an early, kids can block out what they do not want to hear by resorting to their next gadget.  Where has the core family values gone?  Where have the morals gone?  Why has the apathy returned?  Why does laziness sweep the nation?  Look through a teen’s eyes- we have fostered it. 

From day 1 we have given them countless methods to entertain themselves so we would not be bothered, we have bought privileges, and failed to explain the limitations to it, we have given in to questionable attire without explaining the ramifications.  People may not like it or agree, but stereotypes exist for a reason.  That is not to say that every person who fits in a particular category should be painted with the same brush, but it is saying alliances and allegiances are made at a young age, and science has proven time and time again that those with similar interest will inherently gravitate toward each other.  It’s basic biology.  Darwin noticed that.  Surprised that the teen is acting the way they do, dressing the way they dress?  Have you examined what they are surrounding themselves with?

Teens are a reflection of a culture’s values because they enjoy pushing things to the next level.  Teens always have, and always will.  The result is it in our faces more, and while some may see that as a problem, I believe it can be used to reshape the way our world is going.  We do not want to live in a world where face to face communication is rare, and working problems out in person is a thing of the past.  That has failed to work.  My challenge- look at teens.  Observe how they are viewing the world, then reflect on why that could be.  Teens are like sponges and absorb outside influences- and they mirror what they are taught- and do it in extreme fashions.  Are you doing everything you can to mirror the world that you want to live in? 

“If you suffer your people to be ill-educated and their manners corrupted from infancy, and punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded but that your first make thieves and then punish them?”          

Derailed!

 A surely as a 213 degrees can power a locomotive, anything less, can stop in dead in its tracks.  212 degrees is the temperature at which water boils, 213 is the temperature needed to produce steam.  Steam powers locomotives that are thousands of pounds and carries people and supplies across a country.  1 little degree can make that big of a difference.  One degree. 

In July when I started my health kick, I was pumping at 213 degrees.  Everything was full steam ahead.  However, with the start of August came the start of school, work, wedding season, and football season.  August started my last semester of grad school, it started teaching 8 out of 8 classes, and coaching swimming- resulting in 10+ hour days regularly.  Wedding season meant long trips, fun receptions and copious amounts of alcohol.  Football season meant the same.  It also meant traveling every other weekend (some months every weekend).  Before I realized it, my 213 degrees had simmered down to a luke warm bath- barely recognizable by its steaming predecessor. 

My train was derailed. 

Now I stand at the heaviest weight of my life.  My clothes fit (or don’t fit) differently, my complexion no longer glows and my mood swings are grand.  This isn’t what I signed up for.  Not one bit. 

On December 1^st I started to see a lot of chatter on social media about the Advocare 24 day challenge.  I need something to keep me on track this holiday season.  On December 2^nd we started. 

It is now day 5 and it’s tough.  It is definitely easier than Whole 30- however, the time of year makes it tough.  I graduated on Friday with my Masters and my sweet husband had a whole evening planned… which included drinking and red velvet cake- a Michael Kors watch and a dozen roses… how was I supposed to say no to that??

After Friday night we got back on track.  Even had an Advocare compliant meal at Chipotle in the midst of our Christmas shopping. 

This is not where I wanted to be at this point.  However, sometimes you just have to turn the heat back up and start that boil again.  And that is what I am doing.  That locomotive will move, I will be powerful, and I will take control back.  Nothing can stop me.  At times, I may be slowed down, my progress may come to near halt, but I will not falter in meeting my goals.  I will make my dreams come true, and I will give the next generation a role model of fitness that they can aspire to. 

Stay tuned…

 

Weekend Wrap Up

Happy Monday... here we are at week 2 (51 to go!).  Last week, it was really important to find my motivation.  It was important that I find the love back in my body.  This week it is time to get serious, and start to set goals and achieve them.  

Let’s review the weekend.  I know that my struggles are not isolated in my home alone, and I know that by sharing my struggles, as a community we can come together and rally around each other.  Friday night, my husband and I were insanely  bored.  We are saving up for a weekend trip to New York in a couple of months so we do not have much money to spend- however, we did find a gift card to the movies that we had not used yet.  It has been YEARS since my husband and I went to a movie in the theater.  How could we resist that Icees and popcorn?  We couldn’t.  We splurged.  We shared popcorn and I had a giant blue Icee and loved every minute of it.  If the movies are a once a year event (if that), I am not in danger of making this habit.  

Saturday we got up and worked out and did a killer treadmill workout (again, thank you Pinterest!).  Saturday evening, my brother and his girlfriend were over and I had prepped a roast in the crockpot but when it got down to it- that was just not what I was craving.  I caved- pizza it was.  And it was good.  I made an effort to eat till satisfied and not overly full.  Next came the drinks… of course there were drinks.  Vodka, and orange juice- my favorite.  I sipped slowly, and overall controlled an indulging evening which could have been much worse.  It was an inward battle of “right” and “wrong” between me and my body.  Finally I just let go, had some fun, but attempted to keep in moderation, which I believe I succeeded in.  

Sunday was a rest day and we were back on track as far as nutrition goes.  I even forwent my poolside drink (BIG DEAL= BIG WIN).  Every win counts right…??  

Here we stand at Monday- time to get some concrete plans in place so I am not floundering at the gym, which I found myself doing at the beginning of the week last week.  I have put together this tentative plan, and will try to stand by it as much as possible.  However, I do not want to get myself in such an OCD rut that if something derails, I become panicked and ready to give up.  Sounds crazy- but I am sure I am not the only girl who has this issue.  This plan is merely to keep me on some sort of guideline when I go to the gym.  There may be some days that I feel like switching it up, and my goal is to accept it, and do whatever it takes to stay motivated.  The pictures (from Pinterest) are what I did this morning. 

   

o   Monday

§  Arms with weights

·         Cable bench

·         Triceps

·         Shoulder exercises

·         Bar hang

§  Lower body cardio (see 2 pictures attached; I did them in picture order)

·          

o   Tuesday

§  Legs with weights

·         Squats

·         Inner/outer thigh

·         Leg extension

·         Hamstrings

§  Body weight arms

·         Pushups

·         Burpees

·         Planks

§  Cardio

·         Elliptical

o   Wednesday

§  Cardio

·         Choice

o   Thursday

§  Arms with weights

·         Incline bench

·         Shoulder exercises

·         Lat pull down

·         Bar hang

·         Triceps

·         Biceps?

§  Lower body cardio

o   Friday

§  Legs with weights

·         Squats

·         Inner/outer thighs

·         Extension/curls

§  Body weight arms

·         Burpees

·         Pushups

·         Planks

§  Cardio

o   Saturday

§  Cardio  

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

This is day 5 of 365… I am sore, but I feel great.  I have dropped 3lbs in 5 days- but truth be told, probably slightly more than that because I was too fearful of getting of the scale initially.  So that “before” number is a few days after working out- quite an astronomical number… but still it’s going down.  After my workout this morning, I thought my waist looked smaller- and I measured and inact, it was down 1 inch, and my hips were down .5inch.  Now I should clarify, this past weekend I was in Nashville where the drinks and food flowed quite easily so perhaps I was “bigger than normal” when I began this.  Nevertheless progress is progress, and it is a motivation. 

Last entry, I wrote about the weekends.  As today is Friday, the weekend is upon us and already we are starting to make plans (we love the weekends).  Unfortunately for our bank accounts, but fortunately for my health, we are broke (too much fun in Nashville) and therefore our going out will be heavily limited.  Nevertheless we have plenty of alcohol and mixers to make a great weekend at home… which could prove to be devastating for the scale.  The trick in all of this must be to find a balance.  I refuse to stop acting my age, and I refuse to refuse having fun and living my life because of goals that I have.  That is not real life- because what happens when it’s over??  Do I go back to the way I was eating before?  That is my biggest fear- so what I am doing right now, is trying to create a lifestyle that I live with on the day to day. 

3lbs down, and an 1.5inches down… we are on our way.

Today’s workout consisted of some high intensity work.  This week I have tried to alternate my “heavy” lifting days (with cardio following) with heavy cardio days with more body weight exercises.  Today kind of combined the two (cardio and body weight exercises).  There was LOTS of jump roping, tuck jumps, jump lunges, jump squats- and hang grip.  One of my goals is to be able to do a pull up, I know I need to work on my grip strength so whenever I get a chance down at the gym I try to do three good hangs and hang for as long I can.  I must tell you that my grip strength in nil.  Even in my best shape, my grip strength never even made it onto the charts—I suck at this.  But among my other vows, I vow to get better at this.  Yesterday I hung for 8 seconds; today my longest was 10 seconds.  Again, it’s slow (and sad) but it’s progress. 

This is how my workout started out (thanks Pinterest- and PopSugar)

• 60 seconds jump rope
• 50 jumping jacks
• 30 seconds jump rope
• 20 alternating lunges (I did 20 on each leg)
• 30 seconds jump rope
• 15 tuck jumps (this exercise makes my heart go insanely high)
• 30 seconds jump rope
• 20 squats
• 30 seconds jump rope
• 60 seconds high knees run
• 30 seconds jump rope
• 15 jump squat
• 30 seconds jump rope
• 15 burpees(I had to break these up in groups of 5... I was gassed)
• 30 seconds jump rope
• 50 jumping jacks