All the Sun For You

A mom, two boys, a husband, and a whole lot of adventure!

Monthly Archives: August 2015


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Complete: Last 8 Weeks of Summer Fitness

It’s been a great 8 weeks! I was super focused on getting my body back into tip-top shape in preparation for the fall when I’ll have to move most of my workouts indoors. Let’s face it, running outside 5 days a week isn’t going to be doable. Bring on the kickboxing and INS.ANITY workouts!

I knew going into these 8 weeks that weight loss would be hard. I’d crept up to 146.4 in June and seemed to be hanging out there. I’d lost track of food and as we all know, you can’t out-work a crappy diet. That weight is still well within normal for my height and build (5’7 with a medium-large frame, BMI of 22.9), but it was feeling uncomfortable knowing that fall was around the corner. It was time to step it up.

I set goals for core strength, but I was meeting them almost immediately, so I dropped them. I set goals for cross training, and failed miserably. But in calorie consumption, mileage, and activity time goals, I exceeded all expectations… and they were lofty expectations! 1330 net calories a day, 5 hours a week of exercise, and 20-30 miles a week of running (or hiking or very brisk walking). As far as I’m concerned, these last 8 weeks have been very successful and I’m super happy. On top of meeting/exceeding those goals, I managed to drop a very solid 4.2 pounds (my wake-up weight today after no rigorous exercise yesterday and a rather unhealthy dinner last night) and I lost 1.0% body fat (which is 4.4% of the body fat I was carrying). I also dropped a collective 1.75 inches from my frame.

Going into the next 10 weeks, I have three simple goals… I must weigh 145 pounds or less every Wednesday, my body fat cannot go above 24%, and I want to keep doing 5 hours a week of vigorous activity. I chose Wednesday as my weigh-in day because my body has always corrected itself by then from the weekend before. Since I’m truly in maintenance mode (my rib cage is a solid 31 inches measured just below my breasts, and the doctor says it is impossible for it to get smaller, that this is how I’m built), a mid-week weigh-in makes sense. I’ll create a boring page for tracking purposes. I love tracking information!!!

Here are my stats from the last 8 weeks:

Summary (07/04/2015 – 08/28/2015)

  • Weight: 142.2 Pounds
    • Pounds Lost or Gained (started at 146.4 pounds): 4.2 Pound lost
  • Body Fat %: 22.7%
    • Body Fat % Lost or Gained (started at 23.7%): 1.0% Lost
  • BMI: 22.3
    • BMI Points Lost or Gained (started at 22.9): 0.6
  • Workout Days (goal is 48 days)/Time Spent Being Active (goal is 40 hours): 44 Days/44 Hours 35 Minutes
  • Miles Run (goal is 160-240 total miles): 199.70 Miles
  • Days within Calorie Goals per MFP (goal is 45 days with an average of 1330 or less per day): 45 days
    • 49,983 Total Calories in 45 days (average was 1110.73 calories per day
  • Measurements:
    • Natural Waist: 27.5 inches (28.25 inches on 07/07/15)
      • Loss of 0.75 inches
    • Belly Button: 31.75 inches (32 inches on 07/07/15
      • Loss of 0.25 inches
    • Hips: 35.75 inches ( 36.5 inches on 07/07/15)
      • Loss of 0.75 inches


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Cross Training

We have a fantastic trail system in our community. Finding a trail to bike or run is never, EVER a problem here. The state has been working hard on expanding our “rails to trails” system and we have a very cool one just 20 minutes from our house. We have said for years that we need to go and check it out.

Yesterday, my good friend, Emily, asked if I wanted to run it with her. I suggested we bike so that Hottie and the boys could come too. We prepped the bikes, got the kids loaded, picked up Emily with her bike, and drove 20 minutes to the trailhead. And it started to storm. Ha! So much for “no precip for 110 minutes.”

We went to dinner, left the bikes on the rack, put the car in the garage, and had Emily stay the night. We stayed up late and watched a hilariously bad movie… Just like old times!

Bryson woke up at 6:20 so we went for a 5.5 mile run while the house slept. Hottie went for a run when we got back because Matthew wasn’t up yet. Once he was home, Matthew was up and the boys were fed, so we headed out once again to the trailhead.

This time, nothing but sunshine!

I volunteered to tow the boys in the Burley for the first time ever. That was easy, until it wasn’t on the way back with an insane head wind… But it was fun! They did great and we were biking for a little over an hour and went 10.4 miles.

It was worth the wait. The trail was beautiful and the bridge was, well, FANTASTIC!!! It was breathtaking, actually!

And I finally got some cross training in!


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Last Night of…

… Hell. This trip has been so hard on us, as we knew it would be. Traveling for 7-8 nights, in three different hotels, is hard enough. But add in two young kids and it takes everything in you just to survive.

I checked out my sister’s cabins today. They each have two separate bedrooms, two separate bathrooms, and a living room. We have… One room and one bathroom half the size of their small bathrooms. I’m not complaining because, “it’s not fair.” I’m complaining because we have no space to even walk, and we have the two youngest kids and one who requires a nap. We’ve had no place to escape to, and that is HARD. The kids get riled up and my dad has literally told us, “to wind them down,” or, “take them somewhere else.” But where am I supposed to do that when I don’t even have a room to go to to calm them down? There is literally no place to even stand since the kids air mats are on the floor, between the foot of our bed and then up against the fireplace (truly). If we go to our room, we all have to sit on the bed together. Ummm…. not relaxing or helpful.

There have been issues with my parents and we both say this will not happen again. We are DONE with the family trips. We can’t take it. That all is for another post, but I have to say that it feels good knowing that we both agree that this in not happening again. My dad has said we won’t do this for a few years. In my head, I think, “I’m done doing this forever, asswipe.”

The kids are asleep and I took a quick picture because they looked cute. I’m trying to capture the good moments. This is one of them.

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It’s a Shit Show

Night one of the family trip, and my dad scheduled the big, fancy, 6-course restaurant for the night of arrival. In his defense, it’s the only night it’s open while we’re on property, but in my defense, I told him my 2 and 4 year old couldn’t handle a 2+ hour dinner.

No one cares what I say. So we went.

My boys were all over the dance floor and I was told by the staff they couldn’t go out there anymore. Ok. I get it. Fair enough. Then my dad told me to get Bryson under control once, then twice.

So I left with both boys. I told Hottie to stay so that we don’t hear about the money we wasted by leaving. He knew I was right, that was best. He went back to drink my wine and eat his dinner (my dad said they’d box mine up. Ummm… No thank you.)

The boys and I are in the suite, eating 5 star cookies for dinner. I told them it was a “fuck it dinner,” and they obliged. Ha! 😉 I even had Matthew say, “it’s a fuck it dinner!”

Honestly…. I think we’re the winners.

All tension gone. The fine clothing is hung back up, and we’re being real.

How’s that for getting my kids under control? 😉

Added bonus, this way of traveling and eating is totally keeping my calories in line. 6 course meal starting with pork belly (yuck!) or one cookie?


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8 Weeks Left of Summer Fitness – Mid-Way Check-In

I got through the first 4 weeks of the final 8 weeks of summer with really great results with running, but totally skipped out on weight training (always my nemesis) and the 100 Pushups and 200 Sit Ups programs.  In all fairness, after one week of doing the sit ups program, I tested in at 200 in a row – so that program really wasn’t the best for me.  But the pushups were a different story.  I hurt my wrist badly after the first week and a half and had to stop.  I’ve been scared to start again.  I am going to try to start again these final 4 weeks.

As a recap, here are my starting stats on 07/07/2015:

Starting Statistics on 07/07/2015

  • Weight:  146.4 pounds
  • Body Fat %:  23.7%
  • BMI:  22.9
  • Measurements:
    • Natural Waist: 28.25 inches
    • Belly Button: 32 inches
    • Hips:  36.5 inches
  • Core Strength Starting Stats:
    • Starting Sit Ups:  105 (starting at Week 5 of the program)
    • Starting Pushups:  32 – (starting at Week 3 of the program)

Goals for the 8 weeks:

  • Completely finish the core strength programs (200 sit ups, 100 pushups) weeks 2-7
  • At least one (1) cross training session a week (this is hard for me to do in the summers because I’d rather run)
  • Bands/resistance training once a week
  • Clean eating with just one cheat day a week (I will not be logging food here though, but I will confess my sins in the notes section each week – HA!)
  • 20-30 Total running miles each week
  • At least 5 hours a week of exercise (this includes running, core strength, resistance, cross training, lawn mowing, and HARD yard work that makes me sore the next day)
  • Keep within my net calorie goals (1330 per day) 6 days per week (allowed 1 cheat day a week)

Here is where I ended up after 4 weeks – I’m quite happy considering that dropping weight just isn’t easy for me right now.  I’m at a good BMI and body fat percentage for my height and age, so I can’t expect to lose much more without a serious overhaul of what I’m doing.

Week 4 Statistics

  • Weight:   144.4 Pounds
    • Pounds Lost or Gained:  2 Pound lost
  • Body Fat %:  23.4%
    • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.3% Lost
  • BMI: 22.6
    • BMI change in 4 weeks (starting was 22.9):  0.3
  • Workout Days (goal is 24 days)/Time Spent Being Active (goal is 20 hours):  21 Days/19 Hours 29 Minutes (damn – just shy of the goal!)
  • Miles Run (goal is 80-120):  98.54 Miles
  • Days within Calorie Goals per MFP: Of the 6 days a week that I tracked (allowing 1 free day a week), I averaged a net of 1,130 per day – right on par with a  1200 goal and well under a 1330 goal!
  • Measurements:
    • Natural Waist: 27.5 inches (28.25 on 07/15) – lost 0.75 inches
    • Belly Button: 32 inches (32.0 on 07/15) – lost/gained 0 inches
    • Hips:  36.0 inches (36.5 on 07/15) – lost 0.5 inches

So – I’m a happy camper right now!  My average running distance has moved from 5 miles per day to 5.5-6 miles per day, so that’s awesome!  My pace improves so I’m not spending much more time running that extra distance.  Eating is going well, but I’ve got that so figured out that I’d be so angry with myself if it wasn’t going as planned.  All-in-all, I’m happy and am ready to kick it up a bit these final 4 weeks.


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Lessons I learned from selling books door to door

This is a must-read no matter where you are in your life right now. Powerful stuff!!!!

From zero to zygote

(Or: Everybody has donut days.)

Years ago when I was at uni, a friend of mine asked me if I would go along with her to a recruitment event for the chance to work in the USA for the summer.

Being an Americophile*, I jumped at the chance. I’d already worked the previous summer in the US and I was of the age (19) where I was adventurous and up for doing anything.

Noun

Americophile ‎(pluralAmericophiles)

  1. a lover of the United States and/or their way of life

Source

As it turned out, the firm was called the Southwestern Company and what they did was recruit university students to sell educational books door to door during summer break in the USA.

My friend decided it wasn’t for her, and ended up going and working in a US summer camp.

I somehow got talked into it, and ended up…

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