Disguised workouts, Doctors, "Moo Cows", Pilates, Princesses, Green Hamsters, and Sexy Me

(a message that was supposed to be posted yesterday but my computer went BIZZERK!!)


Been gone for a minute but guess what?... I'm BAAAACK!!!

Bwa ha ha ha hahhh, just when you thought I had gotten quiet?  Never that!! :0)  Alrighty so here's the scoop, aside from running around, like a chicken with my head cut off, since I last posted I did my workout on the pilates machine and then the boys' birthday was the following day (Tuesday)... I didn't do much of anything on that day except for cuddle the boys ** Oh wait!  I did a dance off with the children and that broke a sweat, I forgot that I disguised my workout by having them dance with me.  That was fun!**  Oh yeah and then I did some cooking and cleaning. 
    Then Wednesday I was dragging four kids out the house for the twins' 2yr. doctor appointment, fortunately Mom was able to come with me and we successfully had the visit (a shot in the leg for each boy but Nate didn't cry at all and Ishy cried for maybe two seconds and then he was like "huh, is that all you got?")  To celebrate the success we went to "Moo Cow's" as the kids call it (Chick-fil-a) and smashed our faces when we got to the church building.
    Spending some much needed time with Mom was really good for us and we were sad to have to leave... By the time we got home it was almost five and I made everyone rest in their beds so that I could at least stretch out for a few.  Then it was dinner and then it was SLEEP.  Days like Wednesday are so full that they are a workout in and of themselves!!!
    Thursday I did some working out on the pilates machine in the afternoon and some leg lift repetition.  (Step 7: Indoor workouts are mandatory if it's just me watching the kids- naptime is primetime to git-er-done!!)
    Friday Mom came to visit us at the house and then she watched the boys for me so I could take the girls to a Princess themed birthday party (of course you know that the girls were all decked out!  Callista wore Ariel's wedding gown and shoes - courtesy of Mom :0) and Ariana wore Tiana's green gown and shoes - courtesy of Mom :0) and they were covered in bling - courtesy of Ishmael and myself)  It was a team effort!  When the girls showed up they were blinking and blinging and catwalking and stylin'  LOL
    Saturday I was sick as a green hamster and comforted myself with a shot or two of Pepto Bismol

and Sunday I put forth the effort to show off the fitter (taking better care of myself) me - decked out from head to toe and even gave myself a cute faux-hawk hairdo.  (Definitely a hairdo I'll repeat in the near future!!!)  Just me bringing back the sexy on a whole-nutha-level LOL


So WHAT A WAY TO FINISH THE WEEK!

Now, let's bring it to this week...  Monday I rested.  (Hey, if God took a day to rest... surely I can take a hint that rest is a good idea!)

Today I cleaned the entire house, did laundry, organized, de-cluttered, dusted, swept, mopped, took care of kids, ACTUALLY FOUND TIME TO EXERCISE W/ MY SISTER, more laundry, rearranged the upstairs living area's furniture (because I wanted a fresh take on life LOL), took care of an under the weather daughter and all of her demands, made business phone calls, WHEW!!!, made lunch, and stretched out for two seconds before Natey woke up from his nap!!!  Crapola, no rest for the weary, and I'm still doing loads of laundry LMBO!  Anyone else have a day like this where it seems you haven't stopped moving since you woke up, jumped out of bed, and your feet hit the floor?  Well, there's no seeming here!  I've been moving all day.

I was going to try jogging with Ishmael today but since I already caught a mid day workout and have been non stop all day, I figure I must have burned more calories by not staying still at all - than I ever possibly could by jogging for what would probably be one minute LOL well, that's pretty pessimistic, I'm sure I could have jogged a minute and a half LMBO!  But it's better to not kill myself all in one day anyway, otherwise when would I ever want to exercise again???
Step 8:  Know when you've done enough for the day!!!
Oh!!! I forgot to say step 9, it was mentioned earlier, but I didn't highlight it.  Step 9: Dress like a beast... that means put in some effort to dress up, do your hair, and get dolled up to show off what you're workin' with and what you're workin' on!  Yea!  GET SOME!  Confidence makes getting fit - SEXY LOL  :)

XOXOXO

~Steph

Walk Date :)

    Hey hey hey!

    So today, I went on a walk with the hubs @ the cool of the day.  We left at 7pm and returned at 7:20.  That's right!!!  I did the same walk that I did last week, only ten minutes faster!  I think two of the major differences were: 1) it wasn't noon, so the sun wasn't its hottest and highest in the sky... and 2) I had Ishmael kickin' it with me and talking / laughing was great distraction from the burning calves.  Today the calves felt better and I'm shockingly not exhausted.

    Yesterday was a great Father's Day.  We went to visit my ex-stepdad for about an hour (as a complete surprise - he had no clue we were coming) and then we went home, passed out, woke up, and then made dinner.  Beef-Pepper-and Onion Kabobs w/ Chicken Rice-a-Roni and it was really good and really healthy too to grill.  Yeah.... :)  I'm not worrying too much on the foods I eat because I don't eat that many calories in the day, my main focus is on getting out of the inactive rut that I have been in for so long.

(not an actual pic but pretty close)

    Back to today though...  I was initially bummed out because I thought my sister was going out early today and I missed my noon walk - and then she never did actually go out.  But when Ishmael came home we did the walk together.  Walking isn't my idea of the most exciting thing in the world, but it's feeling SO GOOD!  I can actually say "oh yeah bay-bay, I used my muscles today"  LOL...  Not everyone feels like walking, but when there's opportunity take it!!!  "Need motivation?  Go into the bathroom, look in the mirror, and give yourself a pep talk."  I can only motivate myself.

    If my husband were to ask me if I went for a walk (and I hadn't) and I told him that I hadn't and he asked me if I was going to... I would probably zap out on him.  Not that he wouldn't have a good point, but I'm smart enough to know that I need to workout...  So my plan is to usually not leave my workout to the end of the day.  I plan to do my walking midday so I can tell him about how awesome I am and how I motivated and toughed it out myself.

    What step are we on?  Step 6:  Motivate yourself.  Even if you think you aren't in the mood for it (I'm learning that my body has been waiting for this!!!)

    Not counting yesterday's busy busy busy business... that's how many days straight of working out?  Whoah, I think I'm well on my way to making this a habit :0)  Are you making any cool new stuff a habit and what's working for you???

(not me, and I'm more chocolatey LOL)

 

xoxoxo

~Steph

Day Date - Sun Beat

    It's the close of the day and I'm sitting in the room with the hubs thinking about Father's day.  Wow, Father's Day used to be such a drag for me.  But now I get to celebrate the kids having Ishmael as a dad and that totally rocks.  As a pre-celebration, we enjoyed a day out and about.  We went to the Orioles vs. Nationals baseball game today... so funny when Ishmael yelled "GOAL!!!" and all the diehard baseball fans were mentally twisting around in their seats trying to choke him out.  LOL.  I think we must have had the hottest seats in the whole stadium... and no, I don't mean the hottest location as far as being closest to the field with the best view.  I mean, we were in some good seats (special thanks to the Air National Guard for the free tickets) but the sun was frying us all like turkeys out there!!!  I saw women in tank tops, skin just blazing red... and redder still.  "That couldn't feel good," I imagine.  But, c'est la vie!
    I literally melted in my seat.  When I got up, my capris were sticking to me and I looked like I had a "wee" little accident.  And the camel-back that we carried in (that the fans surrounding us had hoped we were cool enough to smuggle booze in with) was disappointingly filled with only ice water (since neither of us drink)... and man, the water ran out real quick.  :)
    So, even though the sun cooked most of my energy out and probably helped me lose some water weight, I figured "what the heck, let's head out of here and walk around the mall for a while."  I was really proud of myself for thinking about a place indoor, with air conditioning, that you can walk laps around... and for even having the desire to walk it.  **Step 4: malls are free places to exercise, just don't be stopping in the stores LOL**
    Did my walk for today!!!  Despite being sun-toasted-beat-tired... and so ends day two of my mile walks!  I'm going to press forward in my goal to making a good mile walk part of my daily routine! 

xoxo

~ Steph

Nap Time is for the Birds

    Today is day one of my "Nap Time is for the Birds" policy.  I don't need to curl up like it's winter and I'm Yogi Bear.  This lady is over-napped and I just don't know it.  I read that it is possible to wear yourself out with too much sleep.  I need energy, not sleepies!
    At noon the kids are going down for a nap and I'm putting on some jogging sneaks so I can... walk?  LOL we'll see how long I successfully jog :)  (Gotta ask my sister to hold down the fort just in case somebody starts to stir before I return.  So, step 1: always have a babysitter.)

** To be continued ** Gotta run!

    So getting out of the house immediately was impossible.  I had to first change a poopy diaper that Nate created, as a protest to going to bed, and fill up my camel pack, and then Ishy started to cry for some reason or another.... But I tucked Nate in and said aloud, "I'm going to do this whether I get cooperation or not."
        Step 2 (after step 1: get a babysitter): Address distractions and then go out anyway!!

    Alright, so now that I returned to the house I'm pumped!!!  It wasn't a jog, it was more of a speed walk, lmbo... it was like my muscles said, "who you foolin'?" so I kept a steady pace and speed walked it 1.07miles in 30 mins. so I was moving maybe 2 miles an hour?  Not bad for a first day..
        Step 3: Accept your pace.  Trust me, you'll be glad you did!

        WHAT I WAS FEELING: whoooooo, I walked until my calves were on fire and then I walked some
        more... and I didn't stop until I reached the international food store and continued around like I was on
        the track&field track.
        WHAT I WAS THINKING: "Come on girl!  In the words of J.T. ' I'm bringing sexy back!' Earn your
        rest when you get home!"


LOL well I'm pooped, time to check on the kiddos and tell the girls "you better go to sleep!  Don't you know I can hear you playing in there!?  Last warning!"

oy!

xoxo

~Steph

FED up!

    Wowy wow woah... I'm completely tired of this new body.
If anyone had told me that I would have popped out four kids and dragged my body through the trenches of mommyhood... I would have said, "Oh get outta here!"  I've noticed the fluffier midsection and the new rolly-polly feeling when I get up and move around but sheesh, I saw my body in front of a wall of mirrors when I was at a resort (on vacation with the family).  This wall of mirrors was placed behind a sexy hot tub in a very spacious and luxurious bathroom.  I winced for a minute and took a second glance... "OMG, that's not a sea cow in some sort of moving 'sea-themed' mural... that's my actual body!  Unholy hell!!!  Now that ain't sexy!"  I gulped a major gulp and grew closer to the mirror, "darn this unflattering lighting!" noticing the dark circles under my eyes and my skin was pasty white and what was even worse... my stretch marks looked like a subway map was paper mache'd to my abdomen.  "Rats on bats!"  I felt horribly disfigured and I thought to myself, "if I could just chop this off, and pin that up, and hide that away... and oooh what the hell is that?"  It was like all this time I still saw myself as that college student with the skinny body... and then I fell into a time portal and found myself 40yrs. in the future!
    So I'm crazy motivated now.  I am going to work my butt off, literally, to get myself as back to I was as possible.  I hope I can keep the boobies though... the boobies were a marvelous, unexpected gift from pregnancy number one (pregnancy number two made them a little bit flat) and then good ol' pregnancy number 3 rectified the situation!  I wouldn't even mind keeping some of my lovely lady lumps (as I believe Fergie stated) but the majority of this mayhem needs to go!  Where does a mother of four young kids find time for a workout??
    I'm going to have to get on the ball.  I need a schedule that works for meeting the needs of all four kids and at the same time, leaves room for my own personal improvements.  Like what about dance?  Did I forget that I love to dance?  Nope, I just got busy... busy, busy, busy!  And tired!  Oh so very TIRED!  i don't think I like to run, I don't remember the last time I ran just for the heck of it LOL oh man, what happened to me?  "Okay, think back...  What did I like before one too many episodes of Dora the Explorer and Yo Gabba Gabba fried my brain cells?  Oh yeah, that's right!  I loved to dance, draw, sculpt, act, bowl, write poetry-memoir-journal, go out with people older than age 5... it's starting to come back to me now.  Oh, that's right and I hung out with my close friends, well, that was before they all dropped off the face of the map because I grew up... got married... grew a family... and they thought that my new responsibilities meant that I was no longer the same Stephanie."  But I digress.  "That's right, even farther back in time (before I got my awesome first car) I actually enjoyed walking everywhere with my then-boyfriend-now-husband... and that was really awesome to just be out in nature, running around and making out behind bushes and stuff."  Wow, whatever happened to that girl?
    So I've figured out that I still enjoy doing all of those things and there's no reason why I can't do a "walk around" date with the hubs again.  Maybe work them into a routine where we park somewhere and walk as far away from the car, lose the car, and then try to find it again.  I've gotta make life less convenient for me.  "Oh no, we're out of milk?  Maybe when Ishmael gets home from work I can go walk and get some?  Would that be too, old school?  Too 'pre-car Steph'?"  Nah, that would be awesome, that would be like me having to use my legs again long distance and even some longer short distances would be a vast improvement to my daily activity.
    What now?  Well, I went walking with the hubs on Monday and did some working out on the pilates machine... gotta step it up.  I really want this really really badly.  I'm so far from pregnancy and post-pregnancy excuses.  If I were to stay fat, it would be like saying, "oh well, that's just the way the cookies crumble."  Or rather, "that's just the way the cookies plump me up."  So I'm completely, totally, past the point of return... FED UP!
    This blog is about me finding myself again, after the dirty diapers and kiddy shows completely brain washed me into thinking I was Momma-milkyboob-bags.  I'm so much more than that and in this process to de-fat-ifying myself, you and I will have the pleasure of sharing more laughs and you can be sort of an accountability partner who checks in on my journey to a new, improved me :0)
    I will be journaling about what I eat, what I do to workout, what works and what flops, what I feel and all the bounces along the way!

xoxo

~Steph