Sore, Tired and Grumpy!

I had the BEST breakfast. It was better than I could have imagined. I usually try these great new things and end up thinking they taste like a sponge, I usually HATE the texture, and wish I didn't waste my favorite ingredients on it. Not this time. I found the recipe on Peanut Butter & Jenny and changed it just a little for me, cut it from 1/2 C oat flour to 1/3 C Oat flour but left everything else the same. I topped it with about 1 Tbsp Almond butter and some sugar free syrup. It was heaven. Exactly what I NEEDED this morning. Felt like a treat! I am sure I will be having this again, and again, and again :)

*update: I actually made this one more time today. I way over did it on my carbs but I really just couldn't get it off my mind. I left off the almond butter! Still delish!

Yesterday was terrific. I feel so good. I went to the gym in the morning and did my stepmill cardio routine, it took about 40 minutes and I was SWEATING like a maniac. I was drenched. Felt amazing. I came home and showered, got semi ready for the day, took the dog to get his shots, did some laundry, ran to Michael's to get a few items for my attempt at being crafty (pics may or may not get posted, we will see how it turns out), then I picked up the kids from school. Last night a friend of mine invited me to a Boot Camp class. Its free for the next two weeks so I asked my sister if she wanted to join me. I was thrilled that she said yes! It was AWESOME. Again, another sweat session, another heart pounding workout. Just what we both needed I think. Looks like we will go again on Thursday. Here's to two a days! :) My body is so sore that I ended up taking today off from the gym. I wish now that I had at least gone to my favorite body combat class but honestly, my legs are SO sore from the last two days. I also slept like absolute crap last night. Dumb dog. Anyway, today was my rest day. Tomorrow I will kill it!

I also blame my grumpies on the fact that I skipped the gym today. For some reason I have just felt off. I did however get a lot of cleaning done. And a couple of crafts. I can't wait for tonight, the hubby gets home and I am sure to sleep good again!

The Terror

When the hubby is out of town my kids always beg to sleep with me. I don't know why they want to because truth be told none of us get any sleep. This time around I haven't let them until last night. My son is one of those "talkers/walkers/scary sleepers". He speaks clear as day... and often times does VERY weird things in his sleep. One night I woke up to him sitting up staring at me, one night he was karate chopping my daughters legs, he has walked into our room and peed on our floor, and he always yells at us to get out of his space (usually I am already on the very edge of my side and Pajha is on top of me). Its never a good nights sleep. He started having night terrors at about 18 months old and they have finally started to ease up, we just have to deal with the other weird stuff. Ha ha, poor kid!

I am tired today, but I had a killer workout, and got to do my body combat class that always kicks my butt. I went to my old stomping ground (24 hour fitness) and worked out with my friend, he is doing the same show (assuming I do the Sept 24th show). Today we did quads and my legs were J-E-L-L-O by the time we finished. They are achy as we speak and I just know tomorrow I will be in a world of hurt! No pain no gain right? Owie!

I am looking forward to my new cardio routine (positive thinking here, if I say it maybe just MAYBE I really will enjoy it), some weights and a boot camp class tomorrow night with my sister! I am bringing it on FULL force! Ohhhh yeahhhhh!

So do any of you have any weird sleep habits? I don't. Nope I sure don't. ;)

Lucky number 7

August is a very busy month for Birthdays in my family. We have 4, 3 days in a row. Yesterday we celebrated my Mom's and my big brother's (they share their birthday's). I am one of NINE kids, so any time we are all under one roof it is absolute chaos. Organized chaos. HA! Not everyone could make it but between us kids, our own kids, and our dogs.... we had a full house and lots of laughs. I love my family! It is hard to believe that up until just a couple of years ago I was lucky if I saw them once a year. We have spent the last 11 years living elsewhere, and it wasn't always convenient to come home often. It really is nice to be back in Utah and close to them so that we can have these times together.

I have four sisters and four brothers. I am lucky number 7! Coming from a large family has its ups and downs (would you believe that I have a brother in law whose name is Uppsen Downs?) TRUE STORY! Anyways, the ups are there is always something going on. The downs are there is always something going on. ;) Really and truly I feel very blessed. Days like yesterday remind me of this. There is always laughter, always jokes, always good times.

I think am ready to face this week. It is going to be exhausting. I have my new diet plan and cardio program (I am terrified of it too) and I am ready to get this body ready for a bikini! I talked with the lady who is doing my meal plan last week and she thinks that we can have me ready for the competition that is on Sept 24th, eeeeeeeeeeeks... I am just going to do what she tells me and see what happens. If I don't feel ready, no biggie... because two weeks later is the show I had planned on doing anyway! Here we goooooooo!

Update: After two days of "sipping" on the Synergy drink I got at Whole Foods I have developed a taste for it and I think I kinda like it ;)

29... again!

Yesterday I woke up to "Peyton you look like a dork!" coming out of my daughters mouth. I said "excuse me, why would you say that?" and she said very simply "because look at him, he doesn't even match!". Oh. Em. Gee. He was still in his pajamas. So now we not only have to match when we pull weeds but we also have to match when we sleep. Gotcha! What am I going to do with this child of mine? I obviously told her that what she said was really rude and she needed to watch her mouth or I was going to beat her wash her mouth out with soap.

After the gym yesterday I made a trip to Whole Foods. I don't go there often enough. Or often even. It just isn't down the street so getting there takes a little more effort than I have lately! But... I have been dying to try Mama Chia ever since Mrs Healthy Diva has been talking about it. I have to say... pretty darn tasty! I am impressed but at $3.50 a pop I don't know how often I will allow myself to have one :( Super yummy though!

I also picked up a couple of these:

They were on sale 2 for $5 and I have never tried them before. Eh... that is all I can say... its okay. Mama Chia is way better, but that's just my opinion! What else did I get? Oh, a salad from their salad bar for lunch, a couple of packets of Justin's Almond butter (I have to buy it in single servings otherwise I don't know when to stop), a new salad dressing, some blueberries and I think that is it. No major shopping today, just a few things I NEEDED :)

Yesterday also happened to be my birthday. My husband is out of town. Luckily my best friend squeezed me into her busy life. We have been friends for a bazillion years. We met in beauty college. I didn't like her when I first met her and she didn't like me. I was the instructors daughter, and I was quiet, and way too cool obviously. She was just a snob. I kid! I don't know why we didn't like each other and to be honest I don't even know when we started to like each other. We joke that it was when her mom paid me and my mom paid her for us to be friends. The payments sure would help now! But we have been best friends ever since. Then I dropped out of beauty college. Yes, I am a beauty school dropout. I don't even know where I am going with this. Let me get back to the point. Oh yes... my best friend and I are going out. Guess I already made my point. Ha! Oh and I love her!

Anyway, meet Teresa... she is the best. But she is mine. You can't have her! My mom paid good money for her!

Funny story. My husband called me in the afternoon (like I said he is out of town). We talked very briefly. He didn't give me any birthday wishes. I mean... it isn't a HUGE deal or anything (my birthday). I mean you only turn 29 once (every year) right? Well... I let it go and thought oh he will call me later. TEN PM rolls around... still no call from the hubby. So I called him, he was asleep. I didn't care. I said "ummmm... soooo... do you have anything that you want to say to me?????" HELLO I am throwing you a bone here buddy! He says "uhhhhhhh.... I.... love you?" and I said "well...... thank you but not what I was looking for!" and after a minute he says "OH CRAP... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"... MEN! Good thing I have a sense of humor, I am building the dog house as we speak ;)

Lessons Learned

Have you ever just had one of those days? You know you have. We all have right? RIGHT!?! I seem to have them a lot. Like for example today I was super excited about this recipe I found and couldn't wait to make them because everything in them I can actually have without feeling guilty and they smell sooooo good baking and look good enough to eat but when you put it in your mouth you realize that the texture is awful and can't finish it. So, you have 18 "muffins" sitting on your counter and no one will touch them. Yeah.

Then to add to the wonderful-ness of your already sad tummy your son overhears you saying a bad word (dammit!!!!) and looks at you in disgust and storms off to his room crying because HOW COULD you speak that way around him. I honestly don't know where he came from.

Oh and lets not forget Miss fashion police that lives in my house. She is always pointing out the obvious. Listen little girl... I KNOW I don't match today, I realize that what I am wearing may be a big no-no in your world but I am just pulling weeds. Mmmmmkay?

OR that time when two bubbly young teenagers show up at your door, you know the ones, selling magazines. You are already having a really really bad month day and you are sitting there listening to their "story" and thinking that you would rather be anywhere in the world but there listening to them and then one of them says something that just hits the spot and you have a total meltdown right there on your porch with two strangers holding you while you sob. No? Not happened to you before? Yeah, me either!

My point is... we all have crappy days, days that just make us want to march back up to our beds and start over but what we learn from these days is whats important. Like for example, I will not make those muffins ever EVER again. I am sure glad I learned that. I also won't say dammit around my son EVER again, and when I pull weeds... I will make sure that I look presentable just in case! And when two bubbly teenagers show up at my door I might have to hide because that was the most EMBARRASSING moment in my life!

Lessons learned.

Seasonal depression!

Feeling better today, but also sad because I had to kiss my husband goodbye for another week or two. I hate that he has to travel so much for work but what can ya do? The funniest part about him leaving is that he is seriously STRESSED out that I might not remember to DVR the Denver Bronco's game (GASP!) for him on Saturday. Me? Forget? Football? NEVER. LOL! He is a smart man. I am sure he will call me every hour on the hour just to remind me. At least that gets him calling huh?

Speaking of Football... how many of you are about to become Football widows? I always get a little "depressed" when Football season rolls around. He gets "depressed" when it ends. Let us refer to it as seasonal depression! Ha! Between the fantasy football, and game after game after game.... I get a little loony! So here's to another dang season of Football... and here's to becoming a widow again for the 11th year in a row!

Today's workout was pretty intense. I found this circuit on Bodybuilding.com and just changed a few of the workouts to better suit me this is what I did.

1. DB Goblet squats x 20
2. Mountain Climbers x 50
3. DB Swings w/squat x 20
4. push ups x 10
5. Split jump lunges x 20 (10 each leg)
6. DB side lunges
7. DB Push ups w/row
8. DB lung w/core rotation
9. Jump squats

I went through this 3 times with minimal rests. By the third time I couldn't do as many as I did the first two times, but I was a sweaty hot mess by the time I finished. I also did a few abs afterwards.

My meals today have been pretty basic. I had protein pancakes for breakfast, lunch was a turkey and avocado sandwich on a sandwich thin with a half an apple (shared with the hubby), snacks were hard to get around to today because I was out and about but I did have a small handful of dry cereal, and a protein pumpkin muffin, dinner was my favorite salsa chicken on top of salad w/low carb tortilla!

I have a circuit planned out for upper body tomorrow :)

We've been....

A little under the weather around here... :( It started on Sunday, Peyton complained of a stomach ache (which IMMEDIATELY put me on alert). Last week we spent a lot of time with cousins who ended up with some flu bug, so I was SURE we were getting it. My husband started feeling "off" and I was just feeling exhausted. So, we skipped church and had what we called a "lazy day". I did not get out of my pajamas ALL day, it was awesome! I did however feel like a total bum and the lack of energy had me very nervous about this week. Monday we all woke up feeling much better (thank goodness because it was the first day of school!). I made it to my two gym sessions and all was well. Today... another story. I felt okay when I woke up, then the lack of energy smacked me in the face like a ton of bricks. I do not want to do anything. Part of me is saying "listen to your body"... the other part of me is saying "Get your booty to the gym, you have to be in a bikini in 6 1/2 weeks!"

Sigh.

I am going to hit up the Boot camp class this evening. I haven't done the one at Golds so I hope it is good, and I hope that I can find some energy to pull that out and hit some weights for my upper body! Wish. Me. Luck!

Back at it!

You know... a couple of weeks ago my appetite was non existent. NOW? I can't seem to get enough food in me. ARGH... it is so frustrating. I feel so hungry all the time! Does that mean maybe my metabolism has finally gotten the boost it needs or what????

Anyway, today marked my first day back at the gym on my NORMAL routine. Kids started school (FINALLY, ha ha ha) so I woke up at 5:15 to hit up my favorite 5:30 am class, home by 6:40 and got the kids up and ready for school then I was back to the gym for weights by 9 am! Today was my leg day. Here is how it went:

Leg Extension- 4 sets 12, 12, 10, 10
Lying Hamstring Curl- 4 sets 12, 12, 10, 10

Leg Press (wide) 3 sets x 12

Ball hamstring curls, with some holds for 20-30 seconds included, 4 sets

Donkey kicks with a 10 pound dumbbell behind my knee (could have done more weight next time I will use 20 pounder!) 4 sets

I didn't do as much as I wanted to because my legs were still a bit weak from the cardio class this morning but it felt SO good to hit those bad boys again! Can't wait for tomorrow, upper body! Whoop!

You Trader!

Winner.. winner... I was a winner :)

Can you tell I am excited about that? The one thing I miss the most about California (well besides of course my AMAZING friends) is Trader Joe's. I could spend hours in that place. Well... when one of my favorite blogs was hosting a giveaway with a bunch of Trader Joe's items I was STOKED. So... I entered thinking, I will never win but I DID! The package came on Thursday and when I saw it sitting on my porch I wanted to jump for joy! Thank you Katie for making my week! Here is what I got...

A couple of delicious (saving for post competition) dark chocolate bars, and the Sugar, Chocolate, Coffee bean grinder EVERYONE has been talking about..... SO STOKED!

And.... Trader Joe's salty and tart trail mix... whoop whoop... these I am having a hard time staying away from. I put them in my freezer along with the chocolate bars but I am not going to lie... I keep sneaking in for a handful! I also got a single serving of Justin's Hazlenut butter, all in this cute little bag! Thank you so much Katie. Now if Trader Joe's would set up shop in Utah that would make my year :)

The tooth shall set you free!

I have struggled with what to blog about the last week. I have TONS of ideas floating around in my head but getting them out of there seems to be a problem.

It has been a busy week for us around here. My husbands brother and his family are here visiting from Vegas before they move overseas to Cyprus (where we actually lived for four years). I am sad to see them go so far away, JEALOUS that they are going because I miss it so much, and excited that their 3 little girls will have an opportunity to experience another country, culture and language. When we lived there my kids were young. My daughter had just turned one, and my son was four. My daughter learned to speak Greek pretty fluently. She would always talk to the locals at the grocery store, or our neighbors in Greek. I remember just hiding in the corner where she couldn't see me and listening to her play with her Barbies and it was all Greek to me ;) It was such a neat experience. The people there are so friendly, we made so many friends. Friends that I will cherish for a lifetime. I miss it more than I thought I ever would and really hope that while our family is living there we will be able to save up some money and go visit them! I am just dying to eat at all of my favorite places. The food was incredible!

In other news... my daughter finally lost her tooth... now you are probably thinking, who cares... whats the big deal? Well let me just tell you. IT WAS A HUGE DEAL. That damn tooth (this definitely deserves a damn) has been looooooooooser than snot for MONTHS (at least two ago I started paying attention to it). This isn't her first lost tooth either, she has lost three others and all of them have been DRAMA, but the drama queen kid is TERRIFIED of losing teeth. Anyway, this tooth, her top front tooth has been literally hanging by a thread for the longest time, she won't eat certain things because oh my gosh what if it makes the tooth fall out? The tooth had even started to turn black. I tried getting her to let me pull it out (which makes me gag like no other just to think of it). Her dad tried, she pretended to try, I even had thoughts of getting her to play catch with me, throwing the ball right at her mouth and knocking the sucker out... what kind of mother am I???? FINALLY (insert singing Angels) last night while I was enjoying some Bunco with some friends she said she just bumped it and it just fell on her tongue, and isn't that just amazing? Halle-freaking-lujah! Guess what the best part is? She will eat again (until the next one). She talks funny and that is probably her favorite part, and her smile is no longer filled with a dead tooth. My little Princess is back!

8 Weeks out

Anyone out there follow the Paleo diet? I am growing more and more interested in this the more I hear of it. I am curious if anyone has had success or has any idea how practical it really is.

My food has been pretty boring. Well... not boring... just the same thing everyday. I made myself a big pot of my crock pot salsa chicken on Monday so that is what I have been eating for lunch and dinner. I either throw it on top of lettuce or in a low carb tortilla. It never disappoints. Ever. Its my favorite. Breakfast has been egg whites for the most part, some days I have had Oats, and snacks have either been almonds, or protein shakes. Sometimes I throw an avocado in there. See? Boring.

Training has been good though. I have managed to hit up a class everyday at the gym to get my cardio out of the way, but weights have been something that I am struggling with. SO not the norm for me. I LOVE lifting. The problem is that my kids are still out of school and the day care at the gym is WAY too young for my almost 8 and 11 year old. SO.... that means getting an hour at the gym a day is sometimes asking A LOT. I have to work around my husbands schedule and he has been out of town A LOT so geez lou weez... its just been difficult. I am however hitting the gym tonight to do some damage to my legs. I know it won't take much. I did a few different tricep workouts on Tuesday and I was sore from that. The classes I have been doing are awesome though, lots of legs going on in there :) 8 weeks out... eeeeeeeks! Time to kill it!

No Guilt

This is going to be a quickie. It has been a busy week and weekend. I don't know where the days have gone but clearly they have vanished. I am really excited about what's ahead. I am meeting with a lady on Friday who will be doing my body fat and giving me a nutrition plan to follow for the next few weeks (more on that later this week). I am anxious to see where I am at. My eating has been really good, yesterday I did allow myself some treats but they were healthy ones. I made Chocolate Covered Katie's No Guilt cookies, and her Cherry Crumble bars for a family dinner and ate a few :) I probably had more fruit yesterday than I should have.

I am about to head out to a morning Body Combat class at the gym. I love it. I swear I leave soaked and feeling like I had the best cardio workout ever from some of the classes at the gym. It is just more motivating to me to do my cardio that way.

How do you like to get yours in? Do any of you have a favorite classes at the gym? I am DYING to try crossfit, anyone do that???

Where did it go?

Has anyone seen my appetite? It seems to be MISSING. I don't know what is going on with me but I have literally had to force myself to eat the last few days. I just am NOT hungry. This is a first. Maybe its the heat, I just don't know. Anyway, when I have forced myself to eat my meals have been pretty boring. For example today's meals were:

• Breakfast: 3 egg whites plus one yolk in a low carb tortilla with a laughing cow cheese and salsa. Mighty good btw.
• Lunch: I just wasn't feeling it, I was hot and cranky and not in the mood to make a thing so I had a protein shake with 1/2 of a frozen banana, a couple tsp of SF FF butterscotch pudding, 1/2 C cottage cheese and a scoop of designer whey protein powder.
• Dinner: BBQ chicken (using zero calorie BBQ sauce) cooked all day in my crock pot, salad and brussel sprouts
• Snacks: I had a handful of dried cherries, and some grapes, oh and I did sneak a little teeny tiny handful of chocolate chips.

Last night I went and did the Bodypump class at the gym. I haven't been to a class in a long time and it sounded fun, and mindless... I just wasn't in the mood to put much thought into what I was doing. Some days taking the guess work out of it just makes perfect sense. I am a little sore today. My hammy's are tender. I like that feeling. Today I spent the morning cleaning, vacuuming the house from top to bottom including stairs (workout in itself) and tonight I will do some weights at home. My daughter has been bugging me to do a workout video with her so we might do some kick boxing too :)

Whats on your agenda tonight? Big Brother fans out there? I honestly just started watching it because the hubby is out of town and I was bored out of my mind and now I am hooked. Dang reality TV.

All for a great cause

“Please consider purchasing a bag of delicious Warrior Crunch to support my friend, Susan, who has Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Nuts About Granola & Cancer Warrior have teamed up and created this tasty granola for a good cause. All proceeds from sales of this granola will go to Susan! Read more about it here:http://wp.me/p1B7vY-9Bg”

Reality?

Come on admit it... you love reality shows just as much as I do! :)

Like for example...... The Bachelorette!!! (If you have yet to watch, do not read!) I have to say, I wasn't a HUGE fan of Ashley in the beginning but towards the end of it I think she seemed more "real". I cried when Ben left. I felt like he was SO confident and I knew the second he started walking towards her, the look on her face just said it all and I was already hurting for him. BUT... I am totally a fan a JP. I thought they had something pretty amazing. I hope they last! They will make some cute babies!

Is it pathetic to admit that I was giddy all day knowing I would get to put my kids to bed and go watch it? Yeah. I thought so!

Who's excited for Bachelor Pad next week? Whoop Whoop!