Sore muscles ... wow ..

Well, Im not pushing myself, yet, I AM pushing myself when it comes to the exercise.  I am NOT going over my personal limit .. like say, RUNNING ... but, I am walking fast on the treadmill.  Im walking roughly 3 to 3.5 mph.  I am allowing myself breaks every 10 minutes or so, but steady wins the race ....

Ive enjoyed this .. it is becoming easier, and my breaks are needing to be less time. 

BUT ... I am sore.  my legs and feet are really sore by the end of the day.  I have always suffered with RLS (restless leg syndrome) ... and this just makes it all the more apparent. 

Does it hurt? to a degree, yes.  am I complaining about it? no.  is it going to get better? yes.  when? I DONT KNOW but I sure hope its SOON! LOL

Oh, yeah, my arms are sore too, because I have 10 lb weights Ive been slowly working with as Im sitting down reading, as well as one of those as seen on TV arm shakers. . . which honestly gives the arms a great work out. 

Talked with my doctor

I had a scheduled doctor appointment regarding a medication check up .. (sadly take a few, due to GERD, Thyroid issues, etc) ... and decided to talk with my doctor about the 8 weeks challenge.  I figured that Im making a big life style change here, all for the better, and that since Im going to be losing quite a few pounds with this, that my doctor should be involved.

He was THRILLED!  He said he KNOWS how hard it is to make this sort of change and commitment, and he commended me for doing so good so far.  He also gave me a prescription for a medication he ONLY prescribes to those who have made this 'type' of lifestyle change and commitment, and who are following through with it.  It is a medication that goes side by side with the work I am already doing, and it helps my metabolism work better allowing me to lose more weight.  I am to check with him once a month while I am still losing weight, so that he can monitor me and make sure all is well. 

I have decided that this 8 weeks challenge is mostly here to begin my new life.  I have done it before (lost quite a lot of weight!) and Ill post a couple of pictures.  But, for one reason or another, something happens and it comes back.  One time it was because I just STOPPED doing the "RIGHT" lifestyle ... one time I gained a LOT of weight due to anti seizure medications, and there was only so much I could do about THAT .. BUT, along with that, I eventually stopped the good lifestyle again and here I am.  sigh.  BUT ... this was the best swift kick in the butt that I could have received ... and Im doing fantastic.

I have a "BEFORE" and "AFTER" picture of Tom and I, early on in our marriage.  now, I was pretty thin for our wedding .. and the before picture here, was only 3 years later ... in our first apartment here in Tucson.  the After picture, was about a year and a half later.  pretty BIG difference, eh? 

I really look forward to when I can post my before and after pictures for this go round.  

Sugar withdrawals

Well, the past few days have been up and down (mostly down) for me . . . and I had a lightbulb moment this afternoon!  its been a week and a half since I had any sugar, pop, energy drink, etc!  my body is going through withdrawals!  LOL ... no WANDER Ive been moody lately! 

So, Im pretty sure I am mostly past the worst of it ... so over the next few days I should  begin to feel better.  Im really proud of myself for actually getting to the point where I AM having sugar withdrawals though! HAHAHA you know what I mean?

its been a "NEED NEW SHOES" day today ;)

so I wont go into detail, because its just been one thing after the other today LOL ...  BUT, it was one of those "can I find a hole and hide?" days ... SO . . . I happened to go to payless and found a cute pair of shoes ...now, NORMALLY, Id look and say "cute, but Im too tall for that style" ... but this time I decided that its just been a "NEED NEW SHOES" day and I bought them anyways.  Now, if you see, they have a LARGE wedge heel . .  . .I have to learn how to walk in them! LOL and tonight was proof of that. 

You see .. I was at a Relief Society meeting (meeting for women at church) this evening, and at the end of the meeting, I FELL.  As I was falling, I moved just so, so that i could have a smooth landing (Ive had enough twisted ankles to know the right way to land when falling LOL) and 90% of the eyes turned to face me as I fell. LOL ... my first words were "HAH!  I need to learn how to WALK in these new shoes!" .. and giggled.  Which prompted some other giggles (AFTER they checked that I was OK of course, which yes, I was and am) .. and then the stories began about how this gal fell this way, and that gal fell that way, all due to their shoes LOL.  so, I am NOT alone, and therefore honestly I cant even say "nothing hurt but my pride" cause I didnt even bruise that LOL. 

Playing at the mall

I took Maya and the babies to the mall today ... most of the time we were walking around the mall, the babies in the stroller, and Maya and I moving along, so that I could get my exercise in.  but, I made sure that there was time for he little ones to play in the play area.

Maya as usual had a wonderful time meeting new friends and playing around.  The babies, now they found a whole new world!  This was the first time since Gracie learned how to crawl, that we have been to the play area of the mall we were at today, and she discovered that there is SO MUCH MORE to the play area than just sitting down at mommy's feet.  She learned that there were toys,  and tunnels, and slides, and lots and lots of room to simply crawl!

Nik learned that there were slides ... and that not only is it fun to climb up the steps, but its evidently more fun to climb up the slide itself!   Who needs to slide DOWN the slide, when you can climb up the darn thing and have just as much fun!

I was down on the padded floor just as much as they were .. crawling around with them from toy to toy, area to area, child to child.  New and fun things for the babies to explore, and exciting and fun new friends for Maya to play with.

After over an hour in the play area, we were finally ready to leave the mall ... and all 3 of the little ones fell right asleep once we pulled out of the parking lot!  They sure played themselves to the bone today!  Wowwy wow wow ... :)

the 8 weeks challenge

Ok, so we are winding up our first week of the 8 week challenge.  and i have to say its been a great week.  has it been easy? NO.  has it been worth it? YES! 

One of the things I LOVE about this challenge is that it is a well rounded challenge .. its not just about 'keeping fit' or 'loosing weight' or things like that .. its about making a BETTER ME ... not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally as well.  I have truly enjoyed reading scriptures every day this week!  I have enjoyed trying to come up with ways to do an act of service or kindness to someone every day. (that has not been easy LOL)

In talking with Karli (one of the organizers of  the challenge) .. there have been some not so nice emails sent to them regarding this challenge .. with people who have gleaned the totally WRONG information from this .. talking about how sad and angry they are that this challenge is 'forcing' people to exercise every day, and making people think they HAVE to loose weight, or that they are NOT already beautiful and HAVE to change themselves. 

HELLO?  COME ONE!!!! this is NOT about weight loss.  this is NOT about us not already being beautiful.  this is NOT about CHANGING WHO WE ARE ... this is about gaining BETTER lifestyle habits, which is ALWAYS a good thing.  it is about being better at who we already are!  Where is there ANYTHING WRONG in doing an act of service and kindness daily to someone?  where is there ANYTHING WRONG with making sure to drink enough water a day, or get enough sleep every day, or eating fruits and veggies, cutting all the excess sugars and sodas and such?  HELLO? 

I have truly ENJOYED this first week!  I AM a better ME.  Was I a "bad" me before? NO.  Is it ok to be willing to improve on the good we already have within ourselves? YES YES YES!  it is a GREAT thing to do. 

I have had more energy this week, I have had a smile on my face more often this week, I have been down right PROUD of myself this week on MANY levels, and as a bonus, I have actually LOST WEIGHT and had to move my belt up a hole. 

Is anyone forcing me to do this? NO.  Do I HAVE to do EVERYTHING 100%? well, according to the challenge rules, no.  BUT .. the structure of this challenge is such that for "ME" I DO have to do 100% .. WHY you ask? because I am holding myself accountable for these things.  Is anyone else? NO.  so if I DO slip .. will it hurt anyone but me? NOPE. 

So for anyone who has felt that this "8 weeks to a better you" challenge is a BAD thing ... then they can just stuff it.  LOL.  if someone feels that, then they have issues of their own! LOL. 

for me? I am enjoying this.  I am proud of myself.  I am in 100% compliance as of today for the challenge.  and I AM HAPPY! 

so there. 

Today was a L O N G day

Tom and I started the day off early .. leaving the house at 6:45 am .. we needed to go to Phoenix, which is only 2 hours away.  We were making great time, and about a minute after Tom commented on that fact, we hit traffic on the highway ... an HOUR LATER, after only moving ROUGHLY 50 feet ... we learned that there was a BAD accident 3 miles ahead, and the freeway was CLOSED due to it .. a half an hour later, we were finally able to turn around (going through the medium .. woops .. ) and begin the detour ... yes, we sat, practically PARKED on the highway for just over an hour and a half ... I even got out of the van a few times and walked around .. I took the babies out of their carseats and walked them around .. etc.  so, the detour was also backed up, due to everyone having to be moved that way .. and all in all, our 2 hour drive, turned into a FIVE hour drive!  We got done what needed to be done, then had to turn around and drive the 2 hours (yes, the roads going HOME were open thank goodness) to get home. 

there were other situations in the day that made the day continue to be long .. but actually they were good (went to a halloween themed bday party for my cousins son this evening .. )

All in all, even through all of that, I was able to do all of the things on my 8 weeks challenge.  (and here I am writing in the blog for the last point.  :) ) ... my exercising was spread out through the day .. a little walking, a little moving, a few arm stretches in the van while Tom was driving home from above mentioned party ... after the long day today, Im glad I was able to add this that and the other together to come up with 45 minutes of exercises ... because darn it, Im just too dang tired to go on that treadmill tonight!  heck, I spent a TOTAL of just around 9 hours in the VAN today!!   Being that I got ANY exercise in is something in and of itself! LOL

we did get good news from Gracie's neurologist though .... I figured I wouldnt even get a call till next week to schedule the EEG, but while on the road HOME from Phoenix, I received a phone call and we have now scheduled Gracies EEG.  the cool or .. interesting thing is ... we will go on Mon the 18th at 3pm ... they will hook her up to all the wires and electrodes, then send us HOME till 2 pm the next day.  we will be at HOME with all the 'gear' for her EEG .  .. whoda thunk!