taking care of me

August has already been quite the eventful month. I decided to look into a part time job. If you are counting, this makes 3 outside of the house jobs.

• teaching
• cleaning, tourist changeovers
• server, Applebee’s

And don’t forget:

• mom to human child
• mom to furbabies
• wife
• band booster secretary
• band mom
• and I am sure I am missing some…

I have set out to start taking better care of Jen, (no, I will not be speaking any further in the 3rd person….it s just plain weird)

I have walked every day since July 7th. This is a HUGE accomplishment for me. I did not set out to walk every day for 30+ days. But once I hit day 16 or so, I felt like I could do anything!! And, I figured I could set a goal of continuing the streak until I started back in school September 2nd. At first I kept this goal a secret. I didn’t want to jinx myself. I kept going. Adding one day at a time.

To make this goal a reality, I am having to change the way I speak to myself and out loud. I talk about wanting to get my walk in and not how I “need” to walk. I want to continue my walking streak and as long as I think about it as something I want to do then I will keep on keepin’ on. Some days are hard, not gonna lie. I tell myself to just start moving. I can walk one mile no matter what!!

Two weeks ago, my Q and I started the PiYo program. We set out with the intentions to follow the program exactly the way it is written out on the calendar which was provided. Week one we rocked. Week two took a few twists. Taking on a new job where I am on my feet the whole time changed my thoughts on working out just a bit. I want to do every piyo workout. More importantly, I want to do every piyo workout without injury. That means I must listen to my body and not that tiny voice of guilt from not doing it. Last week, I took one rest day and then doubled up the next day and that was great!! The day I doubled up, I felt strong and ready to tackle it all. The day before when I chose a rest, I was tired and my legs felt tired and heavy.

And then there was Sunday. On Sundays I clean in the mornings but this Sunday, I also was scheduled for a training shift at AppleBee’s (AB) from 5-10pm. Did I mention this was all the night before Q started band camp?!? In between cleaning and showering for AB, I walked one mile in my bedroom. I took that walk low and slow…I use my Leslie Sansone videos but to keep it low, I don’t use the normal intensity. I keep the kicks and knees lower. I wanted to walk to keep my streak alive but I knew I would be on my feet for 5 hours. Keeping it low allowed me to walk and to stretch my legs a bit.

I am learning I can walk every day. I can do the PiYo workouts. I can work a physical job. I can do it all. I think walking every day has been good for me. I am successful in  this goal and I am starting to feel my legs responding. PiYo is hard for me but I modify and I do my best and I cannot wait to see what 8 weeks of this looks and feels like. I am looking forward to the physical changes, I am already noticing the mental benefits of both of my fitness endeavors.

I have walked late at night to get it in. I walked last night at 9:30. It is a wonderful benefit of walk at home workouts….I don’t have to worry about heat, humidity, rain, bugs, dark, etc. Even on the days I have walked late, I have felt like such a rockstar for getting in my walk. I feel like I am doing this great thing for my body. I am now realizing, it is not just my body that is happy for my daily walks!!

My new fitness endeavors are new ways to take care of me!

WOW!

 

I like pi….yo

I splurged a bit and bought myself a new workout program.

PiYo.  (click on the word for more information) Pilates, Yoga intensified but still low impact. Watch this video for a quick visual on what is PiYo.

My facebook feed is filled with BeachBody coaches and I have been seeing PiYo craziness for a couple of months. I watched videos, and read status updates of wow. I finally jumped on the bandwagon. One of my bloggy/twitter/facebook friends is a beachbody coach and since I have known her the longest, I asked her like a million questions. Nanci made me feel very comfortable about giving this program a try.

I ordered the program and tried to put it out my head until it arrived.

And then it arrived. And I saw the calendar. There are 3 DVDs with (I think) 8 different workouts. They provide you with an 8-week schedule. Six days a week. I must admit, I was a bit intimidated looking at 8 weeks all scheduled out on a calendar.

I showed my Q the trailer video on youtube and the calendar. She decided to workout and do this program with me. For real, she even cleaned her room to make enough space for us to PiYo. AND, we finished week 1, started week 2 and her room is still clean-ish.

Do you have any idea what an absolute humbling experience it is to workout with a fifteen year old?!?

My Q is a typical teenager. She spends way too much time on her bed watching, facebooking, or reading. More often than not, she is reading and this mama who also happens to be an English teacher almost never interrupts her family when they are reading. Q, however, takes after her mama and devours books. She hates to put the book (or iPad) down until she is done.

I am out of shape and getting back to my groove. I struggle through the workouts. And yes, they are around 20-40 minutes and I die. I sweat. I huff, I puff. I curse Chalene Johnson with her perkiness and perfect blond hair. Q just rolls through and she hardly sweats. The day after our workouts, I am tired and Q not so much.

Humbling!

I made a hashtag #meandmyQ – even when she frustrates me with her lack of sweat, I absolutely love working out with her. I am so brutally honest when we workout. “This sucks” “ooh, I like this one” “B***ch” “This lady is crazy” “She wants me to do what” “My belly gets in the way, I have to adjust this pose”  I have worked out without a shirt on, just in a sports bra. I fall over because my balance sort of totally sucks.

Yet, I keep pushing on. I have given up and walked away from too many “hard” things but I have also pushed through serious “hard” things. PiYo is hard but fun. Every time I do a workout, I am surprised when we get to the last five minutes. It sneaks up on me. So far, that last five minutes has caught me off guard every single time.

Working out with Q is pretty awesome. We have a calendar to know what to do on what day, but more than that we have to be accountable to each other. I can’t bluff her with excuses. And even when I am so not in the mood for working out or my joints are achy and I just want to be lazy, I don’t want to give my Q any of those excuses.

Who knew this was all going to happen when I decided to try something new?!?

august already

The calendar is telling me it IS August. The weather is not what I would call normal August weather. but I am not going to complain. Yesterday morning on my way into work, the weatherman on the radio said it was 63*

63 in August. AND the humidity was LOW. Unheard of and I totally took advantage of it. Yesterday, was the last day of my summer program and I had two girls working in my office. as my assistants and I worked them hard. Lots of copying, compiling and filing. With the last half hour, I decided we needed to get out of the air conditioning and go play in the sun. We walked around the whole school & field perimeters. We wound up walking a little more than a mile.

For me, that was walk #25…in a row.

25 days with a walk .In. A. Row.

I didn’t start July with the intention of walking almost every day. I started July wanting to continue June goals….you see at the end of May I joined a 90-day challenge with some girls in a facebook group. For those 90 days (which ends in September) I set the small, reachable goals of losing 5 pounds, walking 30 walk, 30 yogas and 30 selfies.

I also joined a walking challenge where I set a goal of 325,000 steps for the month of July

As of July 31 my totals are:

• 5 pounds lost
• 11 yogas (which includes the last 4 days of PiYo – I am switching goals here)
• 22 selfies
• 34 walkies
• July steps: 338,886

WOO to the muthafrackin’ HOO!!

I feel like a ROCKSTAR!! I set goals and I accomplished said goals!! Some goals have changed a bit (the weight goal is non-existent at this point. I will still step on the scale once every month or two but I don’t know. My yoga goal has morphed into PiYo goal…more on that in a minute)

It’s funny, a few months ago, all I would have focused on would be that 5 pound weight loss. I am so over that number. It is just not important to me at this moment.

I think I might be on a roll.

You see, in the past I would have posted big, huge goals then had a freakout of some sort followed by complete failure. THIS time I didn’t set huge goals. I figured 30 of anything in 90 days is only 1/3 OR totally doable…not huge but realistic.

Then around July 11th, I realized I had walked the last 4 days and I wondered if I could go for 7. I hit Day 7 and tried for 10…then 14…then I just kept asking myself if I could do one more day. Somewhere along the way, I secretly wondered if I could make it every day until I go back to school (well, full time).

It is NOT a secret anymore. I am setting a goal to continue my walking streak every day in August., every day until I go back to school full time, September 2nd.

PiYo just sort of happened. I had been seeing rumbles of this workout online. Some people I know and follow recently became teachers or coaches and this word PiYo kept popping up in my streams. I watched a few videos and dang, if it didn’t look superfun. A friend is a BB coach and had a good deal going, so I splurged a bit and bought the videos.

I have survived the first four days and I loving all the sweat and hard moves. I will write more about PiYo in another post but I am glad I splurged. I am glad I am pushing my body again. AND, PiYo is hard but it is SUPERFUN!

 

August Goals:

• 10K steps every day
• walk (inside or oustide) every day
• keep going with the PiYo calendar (I am going to repeat week 2 while Q is in band camp and then we will move forward to week 3)
• keep taking selfies and keep falling in love with all that is Jen!
• practice guitar at least 30 minutes every week
• read 12 books
• go on 15 bike rides or walks with Big Man
• plan out September lesson plans.

I am finding a rhythm. I am finding comfort in myself. I am going to keep moving and grooving. I am going to keep reminding myself to keep being awesome!!

Until next time,

Mad Love & HUGS,

Jen