workin on my fitness

A big part of my New Year's resolution was to lose weight. 

I've decided to keep myself accountable with monthly updates on my plan and progress.

**The Plan**

1. Work out in the gym 4-5 days/week for at least 30 minutes. On the days I don't go to the gym, I can substitute with walking, playing "Just Dance" on the Wii and every now and then... I'll just take the day off. The more pressure I put on myself the more I am likely to crumple and fail the first day I fall off the wagon. I've done the diet rodeo enough times to know that if I eat one cookie it's all over. 

2. I'm not counting calories because I lie about that anyway. I am not going to weigh myself everyday because I get discouraged so quickly if I'm not making amazing progress. Gain a pound and the gig is up. 

3. I am going to substitute one meal for salad or cereal and for breakfast I will have my green smoothie or jimmy dean d-light (I love the turkey sausage and egg white sandwich).


What's a green smoothie? Only the BEST thing I've ever discovered. I saw this recipe on pinterest and tweeked it a bit to make my own:

(Roll Tide is a must on this Championship morning!)

wanna see it close up?

looks gross doesn't it?

Well, it's not. It's green because it is loaded with spinach but I swear you cannot taste it. Joe wrinkles his face and refuses to drink it but that's because he is a child about green things, not because he can taste anything bad.

Here's my recipe and I put everything in the blender in this order:

• 1/4 cup crushed ice
• 1/2 frozen banana (sliced)
• 1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt
• 1 T chia seeds** (optional)
• 1 T PB2 powder or regular peanut butter
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1/3 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
• Stevia or Splenda to taste. 

That's my favorite, most basic recipe and I've guessed on all the measurements because I would never measure them out because it would take too long. Sometimes I use regular yogurt instead of greek which cuts out that bitter taste so you don't need to add sweetener. If I use regular yogurt I add a little chocolate flavored protein powder and it's yummy.

Other alternatives:

 Substitute Apples for peanut butter. I have tried strawberries and blueberries and didn't think it tasted quite as good although it wasn't bad. The peanut butter really takes over the flavor of the spinach well. Oh, and NEVER try to make this without banana. It gets funky real fast and I have no idea why. I just buy spinach and bananas from costco, wait till the nanas are ripe then slice them up and freeze them. 

Emmy likes the sliced frozed bananas in her munchkin mesh baby feeder or at least she likes to teeth on it until it gets mushy and wet and absolutely disgusting then she drops it on the floor.

**Chia seeds are a strange thing a coworker told me about. I'm still not too sure what they do but she said something about feeling fuller so I bought them and convinced myself I was fuller.

**The Progress**

So far, I've gone to the gym everyday before work and shop-walked on Saturday and played Just Dance on Sunday. I'm tracking my exercise automatically with this guy:

The Jawbone "Up"

It's basically a pedometer that tracks your movement "steps" and shows you a graph with your daily exercise patterns. It also tracks your sleep so you push this little button and it tracks how long it took you to fall asleep, when you were in a deep sleep and when you wake up. 

I woke up twice one night to slap my cat and toss him off the bed. It only caught one time so it's not perfect but still very helpful. The thing I like most is that it reminds me how sedentary my life really is. If I don't exercise on a weekday, I get less than 4,000 steps a day which sounds like a lot but the app suggested my goal be 10,000 and 40 minutes of exercise and half a day at the office and I'm only at 75% of my goal. It syncs with all iphones and ipads so it's very easy to plug it in and check your status. I love that I don't have to actively do anything to keep track of my calories burned (it even has a tally for active and resting calories burned!). 

Look at all the pretty color choices! 

I went with black because it was available at the local Best Buy. The bright blue is available there too and the black and turquoise are sold at Apple stores. The other colors aren't available yet but you can check jawbone.com for updates. 

I almost have Joe convinced to buy one so we can compete. He's waiting for them to have the android app ready so he can upload without having to use his old ipod. 

A few months before Joe and I got married I started working out a lot and I loved it. I continued until I found out I was pregnant and I started getting cramps when I was on the elliptical and I panicked. I did a few pilates classes and then stopped altogether. It's amazing how much better you feel when you have started your day with exercise though, it's definitely addicting and I really hope I don't give up on myself!

9-11 month favorites

1. Britax Marathon (convertible carseat) - This is technically my favorite thing. We bought this with gift cards and extra money from Christmas. I was sad about taking out the infant seat for about 5 minutes. The straps are stiffer in a good way. I can get Emmy in and out quicker and she sits up a little straighter so she is paying attention to everything in the car more.

2. Baby Mum-Mums - I thought these were strange looking but Emmy LOVES them. Right now she prefers these over the puffs now and I do too because less ends up on the floor for the dog.

3. Cloud B Twilight Turtle - A good friend of mine bought this for Emmy. She only just got really interested in it and spends so much time staring at it and giggling.

4. Rectal Thermometer - We should have bought this already. After she started spiking fevers we bought one to get a better reading and it has been a lifesaver. I was nervous about doing this but it's actually very easy and I highly recommend it.

5. B. Parum Pum Drum - I bought this drumset at the recommendation of a fellow target shopper. Emmy is mostly into the drumsticks. She bangs them on everything and smacks the lid to the drum with her hands. She will grow into the rest of the instruments but in the meanwhile Joe and I shake them around to go with her banging. 

6. Vtech Learning Laptop - Emmy got this from Joe's aunt and she just loves it! We put it in her highchair while we fix her food and she almost looks like she's really working on a laptop. Until she snaps it shut to stare at the sparkly sticker on the top. It's still the small things for her. 

And then, there's this guy... the love of my life:

The Chicco Polly Magic High Chair. It is magic, you know. I didn't want to get a high chair. I fought it for months, feeding Emmy in her boppy and in a little booster seat. My mom bought this for herself for when the grandkids come over. I saw it and knew I had to have it. See all those wheels? They make rolling her around our kitchen, living room and dining room a breeze. We have what some may call an "open floor plan" or what we call a tiny room with everything in it. I was afraid it would take up too much space but it doesn't. 

The height is adjustable so we lower her when we eat in the living room and raise it back up to eat at the table or to give her snacks while I cook in the kitchen. The real kicker though? It reclines! We giver her 3 out of 4 bottles in it now and it is so easy to recline back we can do it really fast, even if she is upset about how long we are taking to prepare the bottle. 

My advice to new moms would be to spend money on things that make your life easier. Babies are easily entertained so there's no need to spend hundreds of dollars on toys. Emmy's most favorite things are remote controls and pens. Not such great toy recommendations but that's the reality so don't feel guilty buying things for yourself or your home, if it's easier for you it's bound to make your kid happy too! 

a resolution (of sorts)

I get kind of weird about new year's resolutions. I wonder what's the point and I don't believe half the people who make them have the slightest intention of keeping them.

 I get this way about giving things up for lent too. People do it for all the wrong reasons and then they inevitably fail. I start to think I'm too good for all that. This year, I kind of want a do-over. I want to make a resolution with myself to use a new year as a chance to start over and change a few things.  

What am I starting over? Everything kind of. 2012 was great, don't get me wrong. I gave birth (and rocked it), I have smiled more than ever in my life watching my little girl develop her personality, I've been more successful on the career front than I ever would have hoped and we were able to take care of some debt despite the $800/month paid to daycare. 

So, I want to start over myself. I was the only thing I didn't like about 2012. I didn't lose the baby weight like I should have. I didn't exercise. Like, ever. Maybe twice. I didn't cook as healthy as I know I can (I like to cook healthy food but I was just too lazy and cheap). And, most of all, I wasn't a good wife. I'm going to work on me and hope that Joe sees it. He thinks I'm too reactive and I get upset too easily so I'm going to work on that. Damn, that feels honest and embarrassing at the same time. 

I've already started and even though I began my day dragging loads of boxes to the street because I didn't want to nag Joe, it felt good that there wasn't a fight. I rejoined the YMCA and I am going to find time to go. I actually like exercising (as long as I am not cold, hot, bored or being yelled at). I'm getting my thyroid removed on the 14th. I'm going to focus on watching my body very carefully as I transition to synthroid to make sure I am not too irritable with others as my energy fluctuates. 

When I glance up I see a lot of "I's" but don't let that confuse you. I Me is going to be mostly focused on Emmy, Joe and work but I'm going to keep myself in the back of my mind, making sure I remember why my resolution to be healthier and more laid back will help me have more fun with my family.