Do Your Best and Forget the Rest

Over the last 2+ months, my husband and I have been doing the P90X exercise DVDs.  It has been hard, challenging, good, sweaty, and fun.  I have done more push ups and pull ups than I ever thought was possible.  And I also actually have a decent bicep and a 2 pack of abs.  (Still working on the 6 pack).   The trainer on the DVDs, Tony Horton, is actually pretty entertaining.  The workouts go fairly quickly, and I feel so great afterwards.  It has also helped me get a good start to the day.  It is also helpful to be doing them with my husband, because we help each other wake up and maintain our motivation.  

Anyhow, one of my favorite lines that Tony always says is, "Do your best, and forget the rest."  I have liked this line, because when a hard day rolls around, I think of this line and it helps.  All I can do is my best.  I can control that much of a situation.  And then I just need to forget and not worry about the rest.  

Maybe someday soon, if I am courageous enough, I will post a picture of my muscles.  Doubtful, but you never know.  My husband and I like watching the videos people make of their transformation from this program.  Some of them are pretty amazing.  It sure is nice to fit into clothes I hadn't worn in years, and to now have the problem of needing to purchase some belts so my clothes will stay on.  

 

Sweating off the Sweets

That is what I am trying to do.  Unfortunately, I have been slacking lately.  My little guy keeps me pretty busy.  Every time I go to the doctor I ask when I can take him out in the jogging stroller.  I am hoping to wear her down.  I think pretty soon I will get the green light to do so.  I can hardly wait until I can take him out for a run with me.  Then I will have to get creative and come up with another excuse as to why I can't exercise.  :D

In the meantime my options are:
--to work out before my husband goes to work.  So far that has happened maybe twice.
--do indoor exercises like a yoga DVD.  So far that has happened twice.
--exercise in the evening after my husband is home.  That has also happened maybe twice.

Things are not looking too good for my exercise routine right now.  Hopefully I will kick things into gear soon.

I Tried and I Succeeded

I had a great time today at the triathlon.  I didn't sink.  I didn't crash on my bike. and I didn't need to crawl over the finish line.  

Here are some pictures from the day.  My hubby did a great job cheering me on and documenting my race.  It was just a fun day.  Here are pictures of getting marked up, waiting to jump in the pool, (see me waving?) swimming, transitioning from the swim to bike, biking, and then running.  

I was pleased with how I did.  I was a bit hungry and tired afterwards.  I took a 1 1/2 hr nap when I got home.  And then we had a delicious BBQ to top off the day.

Triathlon tomorrow

I am a bit tired and I haven't even started my race.  I am going to hit the hay now and hope I get a little energy for tomorrow.

I am glad race day has arrived as I was getting a little tired of working out  :)

But all kidding aside, I stepped on the scale the other day and was so happy to see that I had finally lost some of that weight I put on during all of my infertility treatments.  Woo Hoo!  My clothes are fitting much better now.

I am also looking forward to going out and about with my newborn baby and having everyone tell me how fabulous I look and have them ask me how I lost all my baby weight.  I will get a good laugh about that.

A morning run

with a friend, followed by a bike ride brought me joy as well as exhaustion early this morning.  It was fun to run with my friend and chat a bit before we got too tired to talk.  Then when I finished up my run it was still pretty early, (we ran at 5:20), so I decided to go for a bike ride.  It was such a pretty and peaceful ride.  I saw the sun coming up through the clouds as I rode.

Overkill?

Probably, but the only reason I did it was because I am going to be doing a triathlon on Labor Day.  And I am starting to realize how quickly that will be coming up.  I am also realizing how difficult it will be.  Thankfully it is what is called a Sprint Triathlon, although, I will most definitely not be sprinting it.  I will be working on starting and finishing it.  :)  I will have to do a 300 m swim, 15 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run.  Yikes, I am starting to sweat again just thinking about it.

I am excited about it though.  I have always wanted to do one.  It has been on my bucket list for several years, but I have always come up with reason as to why I couldn't do it at the time.  So when I saw that this one worked into my schedule, and I had been working out fairly regularly, I knew I had to give it a go.

Ran out of excuses

Well, I finally made it back to the gym today.  I have been running a little outside, but I haven't been to the gym to lift weights since the end of March.  Yikes.

Here were my excuses:

- i was sick
- went to Australia
- gym was closed for construction
- didn't feel like going
- didn't have time
- out of town for funeral
- helped sister w/ baby
- girl's camp
- didn't know if gym construction was over  (and didn't take the time to find out)
- out of town for the 4th of July
- too lazy
- i would feel embarrassed showing up at the gym after not going for months

Well,  I ran out of excuses today.  I woke up and was in kind of a "blah" mood.  I did not like the numbers staring at me on the bathroom scale.  This was not good because I put a skinny picture of myself on my adoption profile, so I needed to stay that way.  Then my mood became an annoyed mood, and I figured the only way to feel better was to go work out.  It was too late and too humid to run outside, so my only option was to go back to the gym.

As soon as I walked in I saw my friend.  I was so embarrassed I hadn't been to the gym in months.  We laughed and talked, and then I pumped some iron.  It felt good to work out and if I don't do anything else today, I can feel good knowing I made it back to the gym.

Now I just need to run out of excuses for the rest of the things I wish I was doing but I am not.
Maybe tomorrow :)

I did it!

What did I do? Well, I actually exercised today.  I don't know why it took me 1 hr to get out the door for a 20 min run, but it did.  Getting out the door is seriously the hardest part for me.  And once I do, I wonder why I didn't want to get out.

I haven't exercised in awhile.  On vacation we actually worked out 3 or 4 times.  Even ran over the Sydney Bridge and realized what a long bridge it was :)  But once I got home, I just haven't been able to go, that is until today.

Bathing Suit Shopping...

SULKS BIG TIME.

And bathing suit wearing  SULKS even more.

Who came up with the idea of that it would be a good idea to wear skin tight outfits out in the sun?  I went bathing suit shopping today b/c my other suits are so old.  It was so depressing.  Being sick did not help me lose enough weight.  And I didn't work out when I was sick, and to see my muffin top in that bathing suit was so disheartening.  I should've gone bathing suit shopping months ago to inspire me to work out a little harder.

Oh well.

I'm just glad it is also fashionable to wear board shorts and T-shirts at the beach.  Because that's what I'll be wearing.

Having Fun, Finding Joy

I have the day off today and it is glorious.  I decided today I was going to have some fun on my day off.  I got some sleep, woke up, poked around the internet, and then remembered that I had a declared war on my muffin top and that I better get out and exercise.  I was glad I did.

The weather outside was great, so I decided to go on a bike ride.  As I rode my bike I felt like a little kid.  I was listening to some of my favorite tunes: I'm Yours by Jason Miraz and Viva la Vida by Coldplay.   I felt the wind on my face, I was smiling, and singing at the top of my lungs.  I was riding  with no hands and waving at cars.  It was ridiculous, but I felt so free and full of life.

This is a old picture pre-muffin top, but it shows how I felt today. 

I read this post this morning by my new favorite and talented blogger at http://funininfertility.blogspot.com/.  She reminded me to find 

beauty in the "in between" stage of life.  So I did just that.

Don't forget to vote for me (JRS #7) in the Limerick Contest.  See the button on the side bar to get over there.
Click on this link for my limerick
and this is the voting booth link

Muffin Top

I have officially declared war on my muffin top.  I am so sick of it.

I have been trying to get in shape since the new year, but like most resolutions my determination and resolve had waned.  Sometimes life just gets in the way of me getting out and exercising.  But no longer.  I am really going to try harder.  I started doing "spot reduction" more ab exercises as well.  So we'll see what happens.

A good start to the day

I am always happier when I am well rested. I woke up this morning at 4:45 am. Yep, you read that right. I don’t typically sleep in until 10 am like my previous post. But it wasn’t so bad b/c I actually went to bed at a decent hour. By 5:20 I was at the gym huffing and puffing it on a treadmill. There is something about exercise that is just awesome. I love how I feel when I exercise. And I have the goal of at least getting a small arm muscle (have never had), and I dream of having a six pack someday. I know, it is a pie in the sky idea, but crazier things have happened. Between you and me, I really think I have the start of a small muscle on my arm. Just look really close and then you might see a small bump.

I think I am actually exercising with purpose now because I don’t have any future infertility treatments looming over my head. When you are going through treatments you can’t exercise, and then when you are in between treatments and trying to recover from the latest setback you are thinking, why bother, in a month I won’t be able to exercise again. Or if you do try to get in shape it is so frustrating to have to stop again and lose everything you worked for. I will tell you that I fell in love with Yoga this last year. You hear all sorts of theories as to how to improve your chances of getting pregnant. And they are just theories and good ideas. Sometimes a good idea is only a good as how far you can throw it. Anyhow, I knew yoga would help me at least relax and deal with the stress of it all. So I gave it a shot, and I came to love it. And it’s a really good workout, and I would feel great afterwards. As my husband said, “I was centered” People never believe how great yoga is until they actually do it.

Right around the time I was doing yoga, I found some sock monkey yoga pajamas. I love sock monkeys and I love yoga, and wearing those pjs brought me a little piece of happiness during that time. I think they were made just for me.

Finding Joy in...

Exercise!

As hard as it is to get out of the house and do it, once I get to the gym or get outside I am so happy I did. I feel so much better about myself and life in general when I am exercising.

I was on the phone today with insurance people about my infertility claims, and let me tell you , I know it is a real blessing to have infertility benefits, but sometimes after talking to these people on the phone time after time, it really makes you want to scream and pull your hair out, and I wonder if I would be better off paying out of pocket for all of this. They make me crazy. Anyhow, after another frustrating hour on the phone with them, I went to work out and it made life seem much better.