Running Alongside As My Daughter Achieved Her Goal

Last month I blogged about my 9 year old daughter's goal to run 3 miles and how we were working up to it, running a little farther each weekend.

Well, on Saturday she did it!

She ran 3 miles!!

And a pretty good time, too -- 30 minutes 46 seconds, so averaging 10 min. and 15 sec. per mile.

I'm so proud of my daughter, she is a person who not only sets high goals for herself but works hard to achieve her goals!  I can't wait to see how God is going to use her drive for His glory!

Based on how far we'd run the weekend the before, we thought she'd achieve her goal this weekend, so my husband and our other 3 kids came to the park and were there to cheer her on as she finished the last bit of the 3rd mile.  It was very special!  What I also loved was that as we ran around the 3 mile running loop, other runners, strangers to us who didn't even know she was trying to run 3 miles for the 1st time, were encouraging my girl, telling her things like, "Good Job!"  and "You go, girl!"

Here we are after the run (she looks a whole lot better than I do!), right before we celebrated with chocolate shakes:

The View From My Stationary Bike

A few months ago, my husband decided to buy a stationary bike to be able to get in some cardio exercise for himself late at night.

I was not thrilled that then the bike found it's home in our bedroom.   Oh the attractiveness!  But, seeing as how we don't have an exercise room in our house and as long as there are children dying of malnutrition in this world we do not plan to add on an exercise room, function had to trump decor.

I was also not at all planning on using it myself.  I was all, "I prefer to run or ride a bike outside and you know actually GO somewhere rather than riding and riding and STAYING in the SAME place!"

or because I'm so adventuresome and like to keep things exciting, for my cardio I'll do the SAME exercise DVD over and over again for years IN MY LIVING ROOM!  (If you mute the volume, that Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred just does not get old, with the volume it gets old in about 6 minutes!)

But, lo and behold this summer because it's approximately 400 degrees outside and also to actually GO somewhere in my exercising I'd have to trail 4 children along behind me, I've found myself riding that exercise bike! 

I do like that I can read a book while I ride, which I totally can't do while running or following along on the 30 Shred video!  But, the view is the same every single time.  

This is what I see while I ride:

My dog laying on my bed relaxing and staring at me!  

Happens Every! Single! Time! I ride that exercise bike, even if she is not on the bed when I start, she notices me get on the bike and settles herself there on the bed to MOCK ME.  Really, while I'm huffing and puffing and sweating and pedaling there is nothing more annoying than this view of my dog super comfy and lazy on MY bed!  

Honestly, can't she find anything productive to do with her life?  Maybe we could rig up a treadmill right next to the stationary bike and I could hold her leash and make her at least trot alongside while I ride?

Find more Wordful Wednesday here.

This Forces Me to Exercise!

I'm not a morning person, but doing my Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred workout video first thing, before my kids wake up, logistically works best for my day.

However, the will-power it takes to climb out of bed and actually do the exercise rather than hitting snooze for the 30 minutes until my toddler-sized alarm clock (that doesn't have a snooze-button) goes off, is huge.

So, I've come up with a little extra motivation for myself.

Before I go to bed at night, when I am in my right mind with all the desire to work exercise into my schedule, I set out my weights, my mat, my shoes & socks.

This serves two purposes. One, things are easier in the morning when I'm barely awake. But the second is more important, it motivates me to get out of bed to do the exercise because otherwise I'll have the disheartening task of putting away the exercise gear later in the morning knowing I didn't actually do the workout!

Seriously, it works! My sleepy, comfy-in-bed mind actually tells itself, "You already have the stuff set out, you have to get up!"

Find more Works for Me Wednesday.

**This post contains affiliate links. However, my product suggestions are unbiased. I do acutally use the Shred exercise video and would recommend it to even my closest girlfriends!**

A Healthier Family We Will Be!

I try to be a healthy person and provide a healthy lifestyle for my family. I've homemade the baby food for my 3 kids, breastfed them as babies for the 1st year, and then served them organic milk for the years beyond. I cook at home nearly every night, fast food is a very rare thing, usually only reserved for meals during car trips. I shop at the Farmer's Market for a lot of our fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts. We have eaten several times from our garden the past few months. I was a swimmer in high school, swimming twice a day for 3 years, and even ran a marathon a few months before I got pregnant with my 1st child.

But still, in recent days I've come to believe the healthiness around our household needs to be kicked up a notch or two. My husband and I need to get on a regular exercise routine (Not 30 Days on, 30 Days off!) and we as a family need to eat less processed food.

I'm not worrying about us losing weight, just eating things that are better for us. For example, I made homemade ice cream in my ice cream maker last Sunday and I felt good about us eating it. Was it high in fat and calories? Yes, but the ingredients were all so basic -- milk, an egg, cocoa powder, cream, sugar, & vanilla -- and I mixed it up in my own home with my children helping. That is not the kind of food I'm working to eliminate, but the more unwholesome things.

Here are 7 things that are helping me think healthier:

1.

I was already pondering these things, and then Robynn started her 30 Day Throw Down on making healthy changes one month at a time and it got me thinking even more!

2.

This article on exercise beating surgery for some heart patients is really eye-opening!

3.

This list of superfoods has given me a lot of ideas of foods I should incorporate more into our diet.

4.

In that superfoods list you'll see that plain yogurt is a superfood, and while I eat yogurt everyday, I have realized I've been buying the wrong kind. The Yoplait Strawberry is very high in sugar, 32 grams in one cup, and considering 40 grams is the recommended amount of sugar for a 2,000 calorie diet, that is a lot! So, this week I bought plain, organic yogurt and then used this recipe from MckMama and it is so yummy I'm never going back to the store-bought strawberry yogurt! For some reason, when I blended it all the consistency was pretty thin, so I just drink it through a straw like a smoothie, rather than eating it with a spoon, but it seems more like a treat than health-food like that anyway! I know it has sugar from the added fruit and honey, but again, that is wholesome, from nature sugar, rather than added at a factory!

5.

Also on the list is lentils and because I bought a big bag at the farmer's market a few months ago, I found this recipe to use them and I love it, could eat it several times each week! I have decreased the chicken broth amount a bit and made it less soup-like and more side dish-like.

6.

I have also fallen in love with hummus and chickpeas in general. This recipe is a bit different than regular hummus, but it is really good and so easy to make! No cooking at all, just measuring, mixing, and mashing!

7.

Cooking from scratch sometimes takes a little more time, but I am enjoying simpler grocery trips and fewer things to clutter up the pantry/fridge without all the cake mixes, canned rolls, rice mixes, boxed mac n' cheese, Pop Tarts, and snack packs around! It is a finer thing to go to the store and only have things like wheat flour, sugar, plain yogurt, bananas, blueberries, milk, eggs, broccoli, red peppers, and olive oil on the list!

Anyone else hooked on a healthier lifestyle?

Find more Finer Things Friday at The Finer Things in Life, Hooked on Fridays at Hooked on Houses, 7 Quick Takes Friday at Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes Friday

1.

I watched the movie Annie last week with my kids. It was on sale for $5 at Target and I couldn't resist buying it. It was really fun sharing a movie I loved as a kid with my kids. And the unexpected bonus? My 2 year old is hooked on the "Tomorrow Song" and has been randomly breaking out into his own rendition of it and requesting I sing it over and over again!

2.

Speaking of songs, this post from Boo Mama totally takes me back and makes me want to visit iTunes and download some songs I don't hear nearly enough in my 2009 life!

3.

Can you imagine my husband's horror if I suddenly started playing some Survivor, Kenny Logins, or Celine Dion?

4.

Just as soon as I get my kids settled in school, tackle all the spring cleaning I never did, finish potty-training my toddler, jump back into a regular exercise routine, get caught up on a year's worth of photos, and re-volunteer for my volunteer job then I'm totally going to try making one of these shirts. How cool is that idea?

5.

What? Did someone mention potty-training and exercise? My 2 big goals for the summer. 30 Day Shred -- complete; Days 31-90 -- not complete. What can I say? I just got so sick of the video and hearing the same comments and not funny jokes. It is a great workout, but even with there being 3 levels to rotate between, 30 days, every day, in a row is enough to make you sick of just about anything! I need a new exercise video or the temp. outside to drop below 100 degrees so I can run! As for potty-training, as long as my toddler can be naked from the waist down he's potty-trained, very few accidents. But, you put that Bob the Builder underwear on and it will be soaked in minutes. Do you think they'll let me send him to Mother's Day Out wearing nothing from the waist down? Now that would be a finer thing!

6.

One thing I did accomplish this summer, I'm proud to say my 6 year old can now tie his own shoe laces! I thought we'd never get there, but yes, he'll start 1st grade in non-velcro shoes!

7.

Last, grab a couple Kleenex and head over to this post of Megan's. You'll be glad you did!

Find more Finer Things Friday at The Finer Things in Life, Hooked on Fridays at Hooked on Houses, 7 Quick Takes Friday at Conversion Diary,

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! In this blog carnival created by MckMama everyone has fun telling all the things they DID NOT do (but really did). You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
Here's what has NOT been going on around here:

My son DID NOT finish kindergarten last week and is NOT officially a first grader! I already felt old being a mom to a kindergartener, there is NO WAY I have a first grader!

That same boy DID NOT wake up on his first day of summer vacation on Friday and immediately begin working on the first grade workbooks I got him to stay fresh on school work a little over the summer. He DID NOT complete 3 lessons before even breakfast! Who would do that? Seriously! The first day of summer break!!

I'm NOT on Day 14 of the Shred, DID NOT get brave on Day 6 and move on to the Level 2, DID NOT feel like it was a ton harder than Level 1, and DID NOT feel like I was going to throw up after completing it. I DID NOT stick with Level 2 and actually think it got easier. I have NOT found that with Level 2 there is no waiting a few hours before I shower after the workout. Let's just say the Level 2 is sweaty and you must shower immediately upon finishing! I am NOT actually considering Level 3! I have actually done the Shred every day, but have NOT many times really wanted to skip a day (like after spending 3 hours in the sun helping with my son's field day and then another 2 hours at a pool party for my daughter's friend) and waited even until 11PM to do it! I do NOT really need to go do the Shred right now and am blogging instead of just getting it done!

I have NOT decided to undertake the beginnings of potty training my newly-turned-2-year old at the same time as doing the 30 Day Shred and facing no school for my older 2 kids! That would be crazy! He has NOT had a few accidents and I have NOT actually hosed him off outside in the backyard a couple times!

The potty training has NOT renewed the toilet paper chaos around here. I did NOT enter my bathroom and see this . ..

and then this . . .

and then this . . .

I DID NOT use my expert mom-detective-work-skills and surmise that the toddler had unrolled the entire, nearly new roll of toilet paper and thrown it all in the trash can. I absolutely did NOT pull it out of the trash and pile it on the toilet paper dispenser, like so . . .



NO! I am frugal, but absolutely NOT cheap!!!

So please share what you have NOT been up to and also the answer to this little question: If you found your toddler had unrolled an entire roll of t.p. and thrown it into your trash can would you a) leave it as trash or b) remove it from the trash and attempt to put it back on the toilet paper spindle?

The Shred - Day 2

I woke up this morning not as sore as I expected to be, so in today's work-out I tried to follow the harder girl rather than the one who does the easier version of the exercises. Tomorrow I plan to bump up to using my 5 lb. hand weights instead of the 3 lb. ones I've been using. I'll try that for a few days and then maybe move up to the Level 2 work-out. Anyway, it's only day 2, but so far so good. I like the workout and you really can't beat the length - 20 minutes and you're done!

I'm not going to post on this every day, so I'll wait a few days and then post another update.

Hang in there fellow Shredders!

The Shred - Day 1

I survived! Day 1 is done! Only 29 more left to go!

Yes, I'm talking about the Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred DVD workout.

I started with the Level 1 because although I do run fairly regularly, I have not done a weight training type of workout in a long time. I also chose to start out with the 3 lb. hand weights, rather than the 5 lb. ones. My plan is that if (hopefully when) the Level 1 gets easy I'll move up to the Level 2 and then maybe even the Level 3.

I did today's 20 minute workout while all 3 of my kids were home and awake, which definitely made it more entertaining. My 6 year old son kept asking if I was on Level 2 yet. My daughter wanted to know why all 3 of the girls on the video were wearing different clothes. I guess coming off her dance recital where they all wore the same costume, the variety of workout wear seemed wrong to her! My toddler liked the jumping parts and jumped up and down himself in excitement!

Anyway, I did have to chase kids off the mat when I needed it for an exercise, but otherwise they didn't interfere and I think I'll keep trying to do it when they are around rather than sacrificing precious kids-are-in-bed time for exercise!

I can see where Jillian may get annoying in another half day or so, but she's not as in-your-face as I thought she'd be. But then again, I still have vivid memories of my high school swim coach yelling, "You're all sittin' around like a stale cup of urine!" and although I can still hear his voice booming that now 15 years later, I don't really remember it being all that motivating of a coaching technique!

I've heard mixed reviews of the Shred, so I don't really know what to expect over the next month, but I am determined to stick with it! My goal is not weight loss, but to get toned and add the weight-training/strength element to my workout routines in the future. My arms are already sore, so I'm sure they got a workout! I'll let you know tomorrow, but I bet I'll be feeling it all over by then!

Please share your shred experiences here in the comments (or link to your post if you blogged about it) or if you have a great coach quote, that would be super, too!