All the Sun For You

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

Category Archives: My Free Time


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Found!

Hottie has gotten on the purging bandwagon with me (8 garbage bags so far, with a basement full of tubs just waiting for me!) and removed his final items from Matthew’s closet this morning. He shouted that he had a surprise for me, then came into the bedroom, like my prince in shining armor, and presented me with these!

My jeans! The ones I bought when I was 144 pounds (for like, a minute!) that I said I needed to lose 4 more pounds for, but never did. The jeans I thought I donated last year because I swore I’d never be that small again. The jeans I’ve regretted “donating” since dropping weight these last 7 months.

And… They fit… Perfectly! They may be 6-7 years old, but they’re perfect right now!

(It turns out I kept all of my small skirts too, and I think that’s because I ran out of steam last year while purging. Dumb luck…)


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Fitness Stat-urday 2015 – Week 1

Starting Statistics on 01/03/2015

  • Weight:  144.4 Pounds (I gained 2 pounds between my holiday challenge and weigh-in, good gawd!)
  • Body Fat %:  22.9% (I gained here too – oops!)
  • BMI:  22.6

Goals for the Next 10 Weeks (Ending 03/13/2015)

  • Weight:  135 Pounds
  • Body Fat %:  <21%
  • BMI:  21.1
  • Total Miles Each Week (Average):  25-30

Week Ending 01/09/2015

  • Week 1 Statistics
    • Weight:   139.6 Pounds
    • Pounds Lost or Gained:  4.8 Pounds lost
    • Body Fat %:  22.2%
    • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.7% Lost
    • BMI: 21.9
    • Workout Days (goal is 6 days):  6 Days
    • Time Spent Being Active:   5 Hours 23 Minutes
    • Miles Run:  26.00 Miles
  • Food: 
    • Saturday – Free night of pizza, cupcakes, oh yeah!
    • Sunday– Greek chicken and carrots
    • Monday – Pork and apple sliders with mashed sweet potatoes
    • Tuesday – Chicken non-tortilla soup
    • Wednesday – Srirachi maple shrimp with bacon and pineapples, carrots
    • Thursday – Leftover chicken non-tortilla soup
    • Friday – Date night!
  • Exercise: 
    • Saturday – Treadmill running (60 minutes)
    • Sunday– None – Rest day
    • Monday – Abdominal work (13 minutes)
    • Tuesday – Treadmill running (37 minutes), abdominal work (13 minutes)
    • Wednesday – Treadmill running (45 minutes), treadmill walking (6 minutes) abdominal work (13 minutes)
    • Thursday – Treadmill running (53 minutes), walking (7 minutes), abs (13 minutes)
    • Friday – Treadmill running (60 minutes), abs (13 minutes)
  • Notes: 
    • Quick gain is a quick loss! I’m shaping up to be around 141 by the end of this week.
    • I’m doing lots of ab work every night as Hottie reads to Matthew, and that’s working out nicely.  I’m sore, but it’s necessary!
    • 140.6 on Thursday morning! Holiday pudge is gone!
    • We have date night tonight (Friday), so I’m stealing next week’s free night for tonight’s dinner. I weighed in on Friday because I never weigh in after a free night!


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The Moose!

I’ll start by saying that I’m not 100% thrilled with how this turned out. It’s cute and all, but I didn’t use enough paint for the sky and I forgot to paint a tiny part (oops – I didn’t even notice it!). But I am happy with it, even if it’s not perfect. 😉

I will get it hung this week in my big kid’s room. When Matthew saw it, he exclaimed, “it’s a moose! A moose on the loose!” Ha ha!

 


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Happy Healthy Holidays – Final Check-in Weeks 4 and 5

Things didn’t end up how I wanted, but I ended up weighing less than when I started, so that’s a good thing!  I will admit right here and now – the holidays put me in a “who cares” mental space, which is not good, but I know is normal.  I’m already back at it, but the lingering bad foods in the house are just killing me.  We have one final thing (triple chocolate cake and ice cream) which will be gone tonight.

My Australian friend was here during this challenge which got me off track, as did having Hottie home from work between Christmas and New Years.  Having him here was the biggest challenge as there were more enticing things to do.  Yes, I chose fun over fitness!  The good thing, though, is that we all (Australian included) decided to kick off a group challenge on 1/4 (tomorrow) and have recruited others to take part – so it’s turned into a Team USA versus Team AUS thing, which is fun!

New challenge kicks off tomorrow and it will be 10 weeks – INTENSE!  I’m not going to set any crazy goals, but have already decided that the end weight goal is 133 pounds.  That will motivate me, which I need!

Starting Statistics on 11/26/2014

  • Weight:  144.4 Pounds (lost 0.2 pounds between last check (11/22/2014) and today)
  • Body Fat %:  22.4% (lost 0.4% between last check (11/22/2014) and today)
  • BMI:  22.6

Goals for the 5 Weeks (Ending 12/31/2014)

  • Weight:  (Weight – 3.5 pounds)  140.8 Pounds
    • Ended up at 142.2 pounds after a holiday gain after week 4 wrapped up
    • Total lost:  2.2 pounds
  • Body Fat %:  (Current – 0.5%) 21.9%
    • Ended up at 22.3% after reaching my goal in week 4
    • Total lost: 0.1%
  • BMI:  22.0
    • Ended up at 22.3
  • Workout Days (in 36 days):  32 Days (26)
    • Ended up working out 26 days, missing my goal by 6 days (yeah, I got a little relaxed)
  • Strength Workouts:  10 workouts (2 a week)
    • Abysmal!  Ended up only doing 3 strength workouts
  • Trips to the YMCA:  15 days (3 a week)
    • Ended up going to the YMCA 10 days in the 5 weeks, which is pretty good

Week Ending 12/23/2014

  • Week 4 Statistics
    • Weight:   140.2 Pounds
    • Pounds Lost or Gained:  2 Pounds lost
    • Body Fat %:  21.9%
    • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.3% Gained
    • BMI: 21.9
    • Workout Days (goal is 7 days):  6 Days
    • Strength Days this Week:  1 Day
    • Trips to the YMCA:  4 Days
    • Time Spent Being Active:   5 Hours 34 Minutes
    • Average Number of Steps Per Day:  14,602 Steps
    • Miles Run:  25.61 Miles
  • Food: 
    • Wednesday – Smoked meats, green beans, creamed corn
    • Thursday – Butternut squash soup, smoked chicken
    • Friday – Steak tacos
    • Saturday – Turkey pepperoni pizza
    • Sunday – Pepper filets, green beans
    • Monday – Sushi and honey walnut shrimp
    • Tuesday – Christmas dinner!  Pomegranate chicken, mashed cauliflower, carrots
  • Exercise/Activity:
    • Wednesday – None – 10,000 Steps
    • Thursday – Treadmill running (21 minutes), power incline walking (44 minutes) – 14,800 Steps
    • Friday – Treadmill running (25 minutes), power incline walking (40 minutes) – 16,100 Steps
    • Saturday – Treadmill walking (25 minutes) – 11,994 Steps
    • Sunday – Bodypump (40 minutes) – 9,000 Steps
    • Monday – Treadmill running (61 minutes), walking (4 minutes) – 18,065 Steps
    • Tuesday – Treadmill running (57 minutes), walking (18 minutes) – 22,255 Steps
  • Notes and findings: 
    • Gotta hit it hard this week – make up for last week and hitting 141 pounds easily and then losing that improvement later in the week with sickness
    • Focus this week needs to be on strength training
    • On Thursday, I was 140.2 pounds and 21.9% body fat. If this sticks, I have met my goals for this period and I’ll revisit them for the final week
    • It all went to hell on the eve of Christmas Eve – used stats from Tuesday morning

Week Ending 12/31/2014

Week 5 Statistics

  • Weight:   142.2 Pounds
  • Pounds Lost or Gained:  2 Pounds gained
  • Body Fat %:  22.3%
  • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.4% Gained
  • BMI: 22.3
  • Workout Days (goal is 7 days):  5 Days
  • Strength Days this Week:  0 Days
  • Trips to the YMCA:  2 Days
  • Time Spent Being Active:   5 Hours 12 Minutes
  • Average Number of Steps Per Day:  14,421 Steps
  • Miles Run:  25.2 Miles
  • Food: 
    • Wednesday – Christmas eve dinner of petite pepper filets, chicken picatta, roasted carrots, maple buttered Brussels sprouts, mashed sweet potatoes, apple pie, and cheese fondue.  Yep!
    • Thursday – A horrible Christmas dinner of 80’s food.  Enough said!
    • Friday – Artichoke heart pizza
    • Saturday – Frozen pizza doctored up!
    • Sunday – Christmas eve leftovers
    • Monday – Pizza, baked chicken
    • Tuesday – Date night!
  • Exercise/Activity:
    • Wednesday – Treadmill walking (60 minutes) – 16,648 Steps
    • Thursday – None- 6,510 Steps
    • Friday – None- 7,079 Steps
    • Saturday – Treadmill running (60 minutes) – 19,006 Steps
    • Sunday – Treadmill running (60 minutes) – 17,283 Steps
    • Monday – Treadmill running (60 minutes), ab work (12 minutes) – 20,000 Steps
    • Tuesday – Treadmill running (60 minutes) – ? Steps
  • Notes and findings: 
    • Our Christmas dinner on the 23rd started a really bad downward spiral, and I’m fighting to get back to 140.x pounds.  It’s going to be a stretch
    • I ate way too much gourmet popcorn – way too much
    • Too many sugar cookies
    • Too many big meals
    • But…. it’s the holidays!  I need to enjoy!
    • Goals not met, but I ended up 2.2 pounds less than when I started which is really good for the holidays! And my body fat was down 0.1% which is better than a gain!
    • Overall, I’m happy with this little challenge of mine. It kept me on track over the hardest weeks of the year!

 

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Happy Healthy Holidays – Hump Day Check-in Week 3

Starting Statistics on 11/26/2014

  • Weight:  144.4 Pounds (lost 0.2 pounds between last check (11/22/2014) and today)
  • Body Fat %:  22.4% (lost 0.4% between last check (11/22/2014) and today)
  • BMI:  22.6

Goals for the Next 5 Weeks (Ending 12/31/2014)

  • Weight:  (Weight – 3.5 pounds)  140.8 Pounds
  • Body Fat %:  (Current – 0.5%) 21.9%
  • BMI:  22.0
  • Workout Days (in 36 days):  33 Days
    • PASS Days Remaining:  1 Day
  • Strength Workouts:  10 workouts (2 a week)
  • Trips to the YMCA:  15 days (3 a week)

Week Ending 12/16/2014

  • Week 3 Statistics
    • Weight:  142.2 Pounds
    • Pounds Lost or Gained:  0.4 Pounds lost
    • Body Fat %:  21.6%
    • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.6% Lost
    • BMI: 22.3
    • Workout Days (goal is 7 days):  4 Days
      • PASS Days Used:  1 Day (was sick two days)
    • Strength Days this Week:  0 Days
    • Trips to the YMCA:  1 Day
    • Time Spent Being Active:   3 Hours 34 Minutes
    • Average Number of Steps Per Day:  12,757 Steps
    • Miles Run:  22 Miles
  • Food: 
    • Wednesday – Beet soup
    • Thursday – Brisket and sweet potato cake
    • Friday – Holiday party – lots of various food, but limited amounts
    • Saturday – Pizza
    • Sunday – Sushi and broth soup
    • Monday – Chicken tortilla soup
    • Tuesday – Apple cider glazed chicken and carrots
  • Exercise/Activity:
    • Wednesday – None – 10,000 Steps
    • Thursday – Treadmill running (60 minutes), walking (11 minutes)- 15,600 Steps
    • Friday – None (sick) – 10,000 Steps
    • Saturday – None (sick) – 10,000 Steps
    • Sunday – Outside running! (66 minutes) – 18,700 Steps
    • Monday – Treadmill running (31 minutes) – 12,000 Steps
    • Tuesday – Treadmill running (46 minutes)- 13,000 Steps
  • Notes and findings: 
    • We had a guest from Australia with us all week (so fun!) so I knew it would be a tough week both food and exercise-wise, but I was committed to keeping the pace and momentum going!
    • On Thursday, I weighed 141 pounds even and things were looking up!
    • On Thursday night, both Matthew and I were throwing up sick… Awful
    • My stomach never recovered fully until just this morning, so I skipped 2 days of exercise to rebound from being so sick
    • Sunday-Tuesday all included exercise so I’m back on the horse (until right now because my kid is refusing to nap (holy hell!))
    • Ending a light exercise week with a 0.4 pound loss feels good, and dropping body fat feels even better. I’ll take it!
    • I am on track to hit my goal weight of 140.8 pounds and have achieved my body fat goal (for now – it could change!)
    • I’ve got to get back into strength training – will start tomorrow morning at the Y!

Previous Week

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Happy Healthy Holidays – Hump Day Check-in Week 2

Starting Statistics on 11/26/2014

  • Weight:  144.4 Pounds (lost 0.2 pounds between last check (11/22/2014) and today)
  • Body Fat %:  22.4% (lost 0.4% between last check (11/22/2014) and today)
  • BMI:  22.6

Goals for the Next 5 Weeks (Ending 12/31/2014)

  • Weight:  (Weight – 3.5 pounds)  140.8 Pounds
  • Body Fat %:  (Current – 0.5%) 21.9%
  • BMI:  22.0
  • Workout Days (in 36 days):  33 Days
    • PASS Days Remaining:  2 Days
  • Strength Workouts:  10 workouts (2 a week)
  • Trips to the YMCA:  15 days (3 a week)

Week Ending 12/09/2014

  • Week 2 Statistics
    • Weight:   142.6 Pounds
    • Pounds Lost or Gained:  0.6 Pounds lost
    • Body Fat %:  22.2%
    • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.2% Lost since starting (0.6% lost since the jump up last week)
    • BMI: 22.3
    • Workout Days (goal is 6 days this week):  5 Days
    • PASS Days Used:  1 Days
    • Strength Days this Week:  1 Day
    • Trips to the YMCA:  3 Days
    • Time Spent Being Active:   5 Hours 23 Minutes
    • Average Number of Steps Per Day:  16,914 Steps
    • Miles Run: 29.68
  • Food: 
    • Wednesday – Smoked chicken nachos (it’s true)
    • Thursday – Smoked chicken, green beans, jalapeno creamed corn
    • Friday – Curry bison burgers, Brussels sprouts
    • Saturday – Veggie pizza
    • Sunday – Turkey pepperoni pizza
    • Monday – Butternut squash soup, one curry burger
    • Tuesday – Spinach salad with bacon, egg, and bacon vinaigrette
  • Exercise/Activity:
    • Wednesday – Treadmill running (46 minutes) – 16,600 Steps
    • Thursday – None – resting in prep for 8 mile race on Saturday – 9,700 Steps
    • Friday – Treadmill running (50 minutes), walking cool down (5 minutes) – 16,500 Steps
    • Saturday – Trail race (85 minutes) – 25,900 Steps
    • Sunday – None (rest day after race) – 10,700 Steps
    • Monday – Treadmill running (58 minutes) – 20,100 Steps
    • Tuesday – Treadmill running (61 minutes), strength and ab work (18 minutes) – 18,900 Steps
  • Notes and findings: 
    • I got the boys’ cold and was feeling very little motivation to do anything. I never feel run down from a cold but now understand what people are talking about.
    • I deliberately took a rest/pass day on Thursday in preparation for my 8 mile race on Saturday. I may make up the pass, I’m not sure yet
    • I’ve been eating like crap this week. No free days this weekend for this girl
    • I ran my trail race on Saturday (7.65 miles) and came in under my desired time, even with a fall and a 7 minute break as I recovered.  I am beyond happy with that!  I could have run faster but I was running with a friend who was struggling a bit.
    • This week is a bit off because I took a rest day on Thursday before my race and the Sunday afterwards. I re-figured the Sunday rest day into the overall goal of 32 workout days this period (was 33 days) as resting after a long race is advised, especially if there’s been an injury
    • Three days to the Y this week. Yay!
    • I didn’t get enough strength in this week as I prepared for the race.  Back to that next week!
    • Great week – really finished strong in the end!

Previous Week

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Happy Healthy Holidays – Hump Day Check-in Week 1

Starting Statistics on 11/26/2014

  • Weight:  144.4 Pounds (lost 0.2 pounds between last check (11/22/2014) and today)
  • Body Fat %:  22.4% (lost 0.4% between last check (11/22/2014) and today)
  • BMI:  22.6

Goals for the Next 5 Weeks (Ending 12/31/2014)

  • Weight:  (Weight – 3.5 pounds)  140.8 Pounds
  • Body Fat %:  (Current – 0.5%) 21.9%
  • BMI:  22.0
  • Workout Days (in 36 days):  33 Days
    • PASS Days Remaining:  3 Days
  • Strength Workouts:  10 workouts (2 a week)
  • Trips to the YMCA:  15 days (3 a week)

Week Ending 12/02/2014

  • Week 1 Statistics
    • Weight:   143.2 Pounds
    • Pounds Lost or Gained:  1.2 Pounds lost
    • Body Fat %:  22.8%
    • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.4% Gained
    • BMI: 22.4
    • Workout Days (goal is 7 days):  6 Days
      • PASS Days Used:  1 Day, but earned it back Tuesday night with a second workout that day
    • Strength Days this Week:  1 Day
    • Trips to the YMCA:  0 Days
    • Time Spent Being Active:   6 Hours 1 Minute
    • Average Number of Steps Per Day:  14,914 Steps
  • Food: 
    • Wednesday – Squash soup
    • Thursday – Turkey, meatballs, prime rib, Brussels sprouts, stuffing
    • Friday – Frozen pizza, meatballs
    • Saturday – Date Night!  Tortilla soup, shrimp adobo, short rib sliders (2)
    • Sunday – Prime rib, sprouts, carrots
    • Monday – Smoked chicken, green beans
    • Tuesday – Smoked chicken, green beans
  • Exercise/Activity:
    • Wednesday – Treadmill running (53 minutes) – 15,000 Steps
    • Thursday – Treadmill running (45 minutes) – 15,000 Steps
    • Friday – None (used a pass day – ugh!) – 6,000 Steps
    • Saturday – Outside running with Bryson!!!  (83 minutes) – 19,200 Steps
    • Sunday – Treadmill running (45 minutes) – 17,100Steps
    • Monday – INSAN.ITY (60 minutes) – 16,200 Steps
    • Tuesday – Treadmill running (40 minutes), strength training and core (35 minutes) – 15,900 Steps
  • Notes and findings: 
    • So here we go again!  The week started out great with a 0.6 pound weight loss after one day, so I’m hoping to ride that momentum to finish the week with that same loss.  Will be hard after the holiday since we’re doing a “Thanksgiving dinner redux” on Sunday since my family’s meal was far from memorable (rare prime rib – yuck!)
    • I had to take a PASS day on Friday due to travel and a night of no sleep.  I have decided that I can earn PASS days back by doing two FULL workouts in one day within the same week that the PASS day was taken – but only one day can be re-earned a week.  My program, my rules!
    • On Monday night, it’s looking like I may just break even for the week.  That would be fine given that we had Thanksgiving this week and that involved three nights of fattening eating!
    • I tried out “quiet time” for Matthew on Tuesday instead of a nap since he slept so late that morning – and he did so great that I got to run on the treadmill for 40 minutes while Bryson napped and Matthew stayed in bed resting.  Huzzah!
    • Body fat gain makes sense given food content this past week. I’m not concerned (yet)!
    • I am shocked that I dropped weight this week, and 1.2 pounds at that. I did work really hard keeping Thanksgiving weight at bay. That paid off!

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Lessons Learned 5 Months In

I’ve learned a lot about myself these last 5 months that I’ve been getting back to my old fit self. Truth be told, I’m fitter than I’ve ever been, even long before our IF troubles got us off course. I went into this knowing what had to be done, but I’ve learned some very important things along the way this time as well, and things that are more important than what I learned years ago, simply because I, and my life, have changed.

  • myfitnesspal is just that… My pal. I would not be where I am today without it. I credit that site for probably 50% of my success! Tracking all of my food and exercise is power for me.
  • I found my heartrate monitor (finally) the other day and man alive, it shows different calorie burns than the treadmill and websites that use pace, age, and weight. I was shocked to see that two of my workouts didn’t come close to what MFP or other apps said, and let’s face it… The HR monitor always wins. I work harder with it. I won’t work without it! (By my calculations, I was off around 600 calories a week in burn… that explains a lot!)
  • We have a lot to be proud of in regards to how we eat. We eat no processed foods (like NONE) and live pretty Paleo, which works well for us. I cook 5 meals a week (and usually 6) from scratch which makes it easy to enter things into MFP. Our dinners are rich and delicious and WHOLE. We miss out on nothing living this way.
  • Free days are for special times (date night) and breakfasts out! Use them!
  • I fit a workout in any time possible, which is necessary when you’re a SAHM with two active kids. Double naps are the best, but if only Bryson naps, I’ll do an INSAN.ITY workout with Matthew there to cheer me on. If they only double nap for 40 minutes, that’s run time. Once they’re in bed and we’re watching TV together, I’ll do resistance bands. There is always time to make it work, I just have to be flexible and creative!
  • Fitness is a hobby for me. I love finding new things to do and I get grumpy if I don’t workout. I’m lucky that this is the case.
  • Truth be told, I can run a lot faster than I was pushing myself to do. Thank you, HR monitor.
  • I am so lucky to have such a supportive spouse, and I need to keep telling him that I recognize that!
  • I have a drive that does not quit if I put my mind to something. I’m looking forward to even more fitness these next 5 weeks and then into the new year. I’m anxious to see what I can accomplish!
  • My kids are watching me. They’re mimicking what I do. They want to workout too, and that’s awesome! That, alone, could keep me going!

That’s about it! Good stuff for me to remember, especially going into the calorie-rich holidays! 

 


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A Second 10 Weeks in Review

Here I am, another 10 weeks later (actually 12 weeks later because of vacations), and I’m happy with my final statistics.  I didn’t hit my weight goal, but I did exceed my body fat goal, which is awesome!

Here are my 10-week stats (I didn’t test with push-ups, sit-ups, or the mile run… sorry!):

second 10 a

 

  • I lost a total of 4.25 inches over my entire body
  • I lost 10.4 pounds (goal was 12 pounds)
  • I lost 2.3% body fat (goal was 2.1%)
  • I lost 1.7 points in BMI

I had a goal of working out 6 days a week, and when this was all said and done, I ended up at 104% of that goal, which is something I’m super proud of.  Many days included double workouts, and I spent at least 5 hours a week, every week, exercising.  I also added a lot of strength training to this 10 weeks, which was really needed.

 

Here is my weight tracking over the 10 week period:

weight 10

 

And here are my before and after photos.  Please remember that the before photos from June are just hideous because I NEVER stand like that in real life.  The side view of the before photo still nauseates me, but it does show how far I’ve come in 23 weeks now!  There was no sucking it in in the after photos – just flexing those abs and arms!

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Top left 6/14/14; Top right 8/23/14; Bottom left 10/18/14; Bottom right  11/22/14

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Top left 6/14/14; Top right 8/23/14; Bottom left 10/18/14; Bottom right 11/22/14

 

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June 14th to November 22nd… oh the difference 5 months can make!

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5 Months of hard work!

 

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Today!

 

 

So there it is – not a lot to say because it’s late and I’m super tired, and I just did strength training for over an hour while we watched TV.  I start a new session TOMORROW and will post my starting stats (they may be different from these ending stats from Saturday).