Tighten Up

It's Tuesday and I am back from the land of grapes, wine, sun and fun! It felt great to take some time off, drink a "few" glasses of wine and rejuvenate! Now that I'm back and my summer full of vacations has come to an end, I am ready to tighten up again so my pants don't tighten up, you know what I mean??? Fall is here, cold weather means comfort food for me, so I will be sharing all my favorites with you along with favorite songs, workouts, gear, you name it, we can share it here!

Starting with the all time #1 reason we all succeed or fail. DIET. Ugh. Too bad we can't live on candy and diet coke. Instead I found this handy little info graphic from my favorite calorie counting website myfitnesspal.com, and am sharing it with you! Really I just think it's a cute little picture, but the main message-calories in, calories out. Burn what you eat, eat what you know you will burn. That's what I tell myself. I am not in the habit of saying no to the occasional office donut or a late night DQ run, as long as I account for it (and don't make it a daily habit...) and plan to work it off!

Workouts:

Monday - early morning fusion mix + evening walk home from school

Tuesday - early morning fusion mix + Girls on the Run (will tell you about this soon!)

Brand New Day

Normally I dread Monday, however after the not-so-wonderful week we've had, I welcome this Monday with open arms! Plus its a cool 60 degrees so the fall boots are out and I am headed to San Francisco for a girls getaway weekend on Thursday!

I saw this on instagram and had to share it

 If you want to change your body you have to work for it. If you want to eat DQ Blizzards for dinner (yep, that's what I had last night...) then you have to pay for it by double dipping the workouts this week or skipping dessert a few nights in a row. The ball is in your court. This what I am telling myself as the fall season gets underway and the mornings are dark and cool and great for laying in bed and skipping the gym...

Workouts:

Saturday - light cardio and lots of walking

Sunday - circuit interval class

Monday - early a.m. fusion class + evening walk/jog (if the rain stops!)

A week from...

Wow. Talk about a rough week. You think you have it all figured out, we were going to have a fun-filled week without daddy, spend the last few days at the pool, work outs over my lunch break, and then everything hit the fan (horrible allergies, very sick kid, traveling husband, no sleep, busy at work... that's just the short list) and that leaves me tired, cranky, hungry (craving caffeine and carbs, eek!) and just plain worn down. Not to mention no time for the gym :( I guess that's where we have to do our best to remain flexible and make up for it next week. The best laid plans...

I am channeling my inner super woman to make it through the end of the week, planning to rest all weekend and maybe next week will be better. I'm sure of it.

The bright spot for the week, the weather is cooling down and fall is coming soon which means outdoor workouts again (without worrying about melting!) and fall boots and sweaters, yippee!

Workouts:

None :(

Check back Monday.

Have You Ever???

Have you ever gotten a babysitter so you could go workout? That sounds insane, I realize. I do it, not all the time, but sometimes... guilty! I use it so I can do housework and grocery shop too. Last night I had grandma sleep over so I could hit an early morning bikini boot camp. What I didn't realize was my oldest was going to get the flu and I was going to spend all yesterday and last night waiting hand and foot on him, cleaning throw up... all that fun mom stuff. But I had already organized the babysitter, so what's a mom to do? Go anyway, sleep in??? Well, I made the decision to go anyway, probably should have slept in, but I was proud of myself for going. And bought myself a new tank top from the gym gift shop as a reward. I'm all for self-rewarding :)

I got a great quote from a fellow fit working mom and thought I would share. Seems to be a good fit for my day, week and pretty much life.

Workouts:

Today - early a.m. bikini boot camp

Hungry.

I am hungry ALL the time. Just plain starving. Probably from working out so hard early in the morning, or running around all day at work, or chasing children around. I keep track of my calories for the most part and I'm sure I eat enough (too much most of the time) but man, I'M HUNGRY! I'm not a big supplement person, powder kind of grosses me out and I like to try my best to eat real food but maybe it's time to mix it up. So I am attempting to add a little protein powder to my mornings. Going to drink it right when I get home from the gym, probably chug it fast since the taste grosses me out. I realize everyone does this, this is not new information... but it's new for me. Will see if it helps with my unstoppable urge to eat.

Tried out a new workout this morning! I ordered these DVD's awhile back but have yet to try them. Waking up with Jillian is a great start to the day. This one was her Ripped in 30 workout, not the hardest thing I have ever done but better than sleeping in!

Workouts:

Today - DVD + 10 minute walk on the tread

Tomorrow - early a.m. bikini boot camp (thanks to my mom spending the night!)

Maximing the Day

As usual, Monday has come too fast and here we are at it again. I have a traveling husband this week so doing my best to cram it all in while on my own. So I'm back to the idea of the lunch-break workout. I find it funny that I am reading the last few chapters of Maxed Out while cramming a fast workout in over my lunch break then eating lunch while catching up on missed emails at my desk... I guess we do what we have to do to get it done :)

What made my day extra special? Packing a new pair of kicks in my bag to test out today. I have been on the hunt for good shoes for awhile now. Let's hope these are the ones!

Workouts:

Weekend - REST!

Today - 40 minutes, intervals on treadmill, stair climber, elliptical

It's not what it seems.

Back to work after a long, fun-filled holiday weekend is always a challenge. I didn't get all my laundry done, didn't make it to the grocery store, my house is a mess... the list goes on and on. But all worth it to have a fun weekend at the lake with my family enjoying quality time with each other, celebrating my 10 year wedding anniversary and just relaxing (well, as much relaxing as you can do with small children...)
 

I started a new book this weekend. I read a little blurb online about it and thought it sounded like a quick read, its called Maxed Out. Sound familiar? Well, I won't go into details other than to say that the author is pretty much spot-on in her description of the struggle of balancing it all as working mothers with working husbands and busy children. If you like to read and want to feel like you are not alone in the busy world of working motherhood, oh and IF you have time to read... this one's a good one (in my opinion)!

My biggest takeaway, there are so many other moms in the same situation as me, stretched to the max, pressed for time, and I am just going to keep doing the best I can. Some people make it look easy, but you never know, some things are not what they seem. And getting up REALLY early is never going to go away, or at least until my kids are in college.

Workouts:

Weekend - NONE. Oops. Vacation :)

Today - early a.m. fusion class