Taking a Break... From WWTC?

Hello, everyone! During my time off from the real world, I have decided to take some time off as well from my fun things, too! I will start posting again on Tuesday, June 5! I will hopefully have new adventures of myself and PIC #2.

Stay tuned!!!!
Trish and the WWTC? Staff (Trish)

Finding MY motivation

I've been struggling to get my mentality back in the game. After spending so many weeks just surviving and trying to help Ty along, I kind of lost myself in the mix. I don't like the way this is feeling and I just want to be back to high energy and high motivation. As I continue to duel the traces of bronchitis, it doesn't help my situation.

I need positive energy, positive self-talk and a really good workout. I love Insanity, but I don't feel "good" at it yet. I know that it will come with more practice and the harder I work, but it makes it hard for me. I may also have a bit of separation anxiety from TurboFire, the workout that I knew so well. The biggest difference is that TurboFire had routines that I could memorize. Insanity is more in the moment and I can't memorize the "routines" just yet, if ever. Maybe my lack of memorization will keep Insanity fresh and new in my mind and keep me from getting bored? Just a thought and maybe wishful thinking.

I am going to send myself to Trisha's Motivation Workshop which includes reading previous posts and trying to remember where I was. I will DVR "You Got Served" and watch that a couple of times. I am also going to watch the workouts that I feel I struggle with the most to become more familiar with them. I am also going to STOP being so hard on myself. I'm going to watch more workout infomercials.

I am also going to praise myself on all the things I DO accomplish rather than focus on the things I didn't accomplish. A co-worker always says, "I'm not in a race, I'm in a marathon." Never have those words had so much meaning and really rang true. One day isn't going to set me back that far and it won't get in the way of achieving my goals. It is when that one day becomes a habit and then, I'm doomed. I've gotta keep my eye on my end goal and not continue to focus so much on today. It will all eventually come together and I will reach my goal. What were they again? I don't even think I know anymore!!!! See how bad my focus is?????? Sigh.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you wondering how (once again) to get the last couple minutes of your life back (again), until next time...

Mother's Day

I know, a little late in posting this, but I had too much that I wanted to get out last week that I couldn't post this any earlier.

This Mother's Day was the first one that Brett took Ty to the store and let him pick out my Mother's Day gift(s). Brett asked Ty, "what should we get mommy for a present?" Ty replies, "cups." Plain and simple. Yes, cups.

Let me back-track a bit and explain a bit. The last two gifts that Ty has helped give have been cups. I bought both sets of grandparents some small, plastic, kid cups to keep at their houses because neither one had any. After I bought them, I had Ty give them to each set of grandparents as a present for no particular reason, but to just give a present to someone else.

Okay, back to Ty wanting to get ME cups. Get it now? Yeah, makes sense in the mind of a 2 1/2 year old. So, Brett and Tyson went to Target and Brett let him pick out the brightest yellow acrylic cup with bright yellow straw, just like the green ones that Ty and I have at home, except he got me the 20 ounce cup! Talk about a dream come true. And no, I'm not joking. I love those insulated cups. Love them! Obviously, Ty knows that I love them, too!

Along with my yellow cup, I got a four pack of bright orange kid cups!! Ha! It still makes me smile to recall pulling those out of the gift bag. See my back-tracking for the explanation, if you missed it.

Also in the gift bag was a FIFTY (50) pack of Crayola markers!! I love to color. I love to color with Ty. How perfect was that? I know, part of his gift was self-serving, but really, when you get down to it, there really isn't anyone on the planet that spends as much time coloring with him than myself. I'm actually surprised I didn't get a bunch of stickers, too.

And because Brett didn't want me to just end up with a bag full of crap (in the event Ty didn't do so stellar), I also got a gift certificate for a pedicure at my favorite salon. Perfect!

It was a pretty good Mother's Day all in all. I spent the majority of it with my little family and we did carry-out for supper. Dream come true. Loved every moment spent with them.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you wondering what in the "h" this has to do with chewing, working out or motivation, until next time...

Insanity Days 11, 12, 13 and 14

Day 11

Woke up. Felt exhausted for no apparent reason, went down and started to workout and found that I couldn't see very well. Apparently, my seasonal allergies have kicked in and now, I have cloudy eyes! Yay!!!! Sigh. I'm sitting in the chair, blogging right now, eyes are clearing up, but it is after 5. Going to try again tonight and also take some allergy meds before bed. Sigh.

I ended up doing a little Tae Bo instead because it was Cardio Recovery. After the night I had with Ty, I couldn't get myself to do the workout that I loathe.

Day 12

I went for it full force this morning!! Cardio Power and Resistance is my favorite thus far. I have a little negativity towards one of the gals on Insanity. Okay, okay, quite a bit of hostility. She is overly dramatic and while she is in good shape, I find it extremely hard to believe that she is pushing herself THAT hard and needs to make THAT face all the time. For fun, I imitate her while I workout.

With TurboFire, you don't see much of the other people in "class." It is focused on Chalene, Alee and someone else going high impact at the front of the room. It is group vs. class setting. Group gives me the entertainment of others while class feels more like I am a part of the action.

I did notice that I pulled a muscle. My left pec, to be specific. It is a challenge to keep form intact when pushing myself.

Day 13

It was Pure Cardio. I did this during nap time and after I had colored my hair (and rinsed this time). It is pretty crazy. Ten minute warmup, five minutes stretching, then fifteen minutes of nonstop high intensity calisthenics.

I was slated to do Cardio Abs as well, but Ty woke up with about ten minutes of Pure Cardio left and he wanted to watch Mickey. I obliged because I was already sweating like crazy and all I could focus on was showering.

I started Cardio Abs to see how long it was. Only 16 more minutes, but I had already made Ty wait another 10 and let me tell you, when someone is repeating, "mommy, I watch Mickey?" while you are trying to kick ass, it doesn't make anything go any faster or easier. It is actually pretty distracting. Ty saw the beginning of Cardio Abs and he thought he would like to do it...tomorrow. Ha! So, tomorrow, I will do Cardio Abs on my "rest" day so I can do it with Ty. I hope he likes it!

Day 14

My day off and I popped in Cardio Abs...with Ty in tow. I am proud to say that I did half of the workout (the sitting part) with Ty either in my lap, on my legs or on my back.I introduced Ty to Shaun T. He was immediately confused upon seeing him on the TV and was asking, "who that?! Who that, mommy?!"  Ty loved the standing ab work where we get to jump to our hearts' content. He was in heaven doing this.
In the short, 16 minute workout, I sweat more than I do normally in a forty minute workout. I think, in part due to the thirty pound child on my body the whole time. It was like I hadn't lost a pound. I always wondered what it would be like to be a contestant on the Biggest Loser when they give them backpacks full of the weight they lost. I got to try it out. With a little monkey on my back. Nice.

I really enjoyed the Cardio Abs workout. It was also simple, easy to follow and in minute intervals of the exercises. Incredible how long a minute seems when you HAVE TO do something for one minute. With a little monkey on your back.

Tomorrow is my 2 week Fit Test. I am looking forward to seeing if I have made any progress in two weeks. I'm not too confident that I have, but I guess we will see and I will let you know!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you Googling pictures of Shaun T, until next time...

Spiders. A How To Approach.

I am the Spider Slayer of the household. Brett doesn't like to squish them if he doesn't have to. Lately, we have had a serious amount of spiders in our house. Not unusual for this time of year, but man have they been big! I'm talking bodies the sizes of quarters, with legs, they are about the size of half dollars. Yikes! I usually whack them with a fly swatter, if they are in optimal position like the floor or an easily accessible wall.

Now, I kind of like spiders because they eat smaller insects. The reason I don't like spiders - they get in your bedroom and bite you while you sleep. When you wake up, you have mysterious bites and can end up feeling violated and sick.

In the past, I have been incredibly diligent about making sure the windows in my car are up before I park it for the night in the garage. With Ty adding his flare of distraction or wanting one of the back windows down for the ride home from the sitter's house, I continue to leave windows down while it is in the garage. One morning, I was driving to work, still a little bit dark and there, dangling in front of my face was a spider. I had to grab him with my bare hands. I couldn't get the heebie jeebies out for the entire day.

When Brett and I moved into the house we are in now, we had just had my sister and her husband over and they left. I went down to start some laundry and found the biggest spider I have ever seen. It put the half dollar spiders we are seeing now, to shame. I called them to ask if it when they put the fake spider down there because I didn't recall them going down there. They had no idea what I was talking about. I showed the spider to Brett. He left the room. I was left thinking, "how in the world should I approach this thing?"

Some of you may ask why I asked myself this. Well, let me tell you. There is always this lingering feeling that the shoes you are wearing aren't flat enough to squash the spider efficiently, meaning if you were wearing tennis shoes with treads, the spider COULD get through the treads and get on TOP of your shoe and then crawl up your leg and send you into a screaming frenzy. What if you were barefoot? I was this time around. If you go to get an adequate pair of shoes on and you come back and the spider isn't there, are you going to be sleeping that night? NEVER take your eye off the spider. EVER. There is also the thought that if you use a paper towel, it is rather difficult to hold a paper towel with enough flat surface to do the squashing while having a sufficient grip on the paper towel to avoid it jumping on TOP of the paper towel and up your arm, commencing the same type of screaming frenzy. Okay, so use a tissue? Well, HOW MANY should you use? One, the spider might break through the delicate tissue. Two, you may have created too many ridges (see paper towel example). If you use a tool, like wood or a newspaper, you again run the risk of it getting on TOP of your tool. More screaming frenzies.

Just as I am running through my options and haven't found one that I am satisfied with, Brett returns to the basement with a BB gun. Yes, a BB gun. He took care of the spider with a BB gun. Yes, a BB gun. Right there, that should tell you how large this spider was because most spiders would get blown across a floor with the air puff of a BB gun. Not this one. Huge, I tell ya. Huge.

I keep meaning to go around the outside of the house and spray Home Defense because it really does work. But I am sitting here blogging and it is dark and I really do not want to get under the deck in the dark. That's a concussion waiting to happen.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you scanning your walls and ceilings for spiders, until next time...

Yet another uncle

I have an uncle with whom I am pretty close. As I type, I realize I need to call him very soon. He and my aunt are WONDERFUL people. They had two golden retrievers and have stayed at Le Chateau Miller (say it with a French accent) when they have come to town to visit. Unfortunately, they had to put their oldest baby down not too long ago. He was a giant bear. We still keep his picture on our fridge, Dutch and Ruca still know his name and we tell Ty all about him.

My uncle was a trainer in Los Angeles for a very long time. He got out of the business needing a change. The last time I was serious about losing weight and getting on the exercise wagon, I consulted him when I hit plateaus. If you aren't sure what a plateau is, it is what they call it when your weight is at a standstill. He recommended some good supplements for me to try and even the company I should buy. He also evaluated what I was eating during the times of plateaus, which can definitely play a huge part in things, even if you are eating healthy foods. During one particular plateau, I was eating a lot of tomatoes because my parents' garden had an overabundance of them. I love home-grown tomatoes and was eating incredible amounts of them. I learned they could be high in sugar. I didn't stop eating tomatoes, but I did cut back on them. Too much of a good thing. EVERYTHING IN MODERATION. I tend to go a little crazy sometimes. Ha!

Ever since I can remember, my uncle has been very health conscious. He would workout at local gyms here when he would visit. Not to mention that he has ALWAYS been a very animated person. I truly love that about him. He's always staying active and moving and doing SOMETHING. I love that about him as well. As I look at the way he was raised, he was raised with very rich, fattening food, but still found his way to fitness and healthy living. So, it could be something with which you are born, but it doesn't mean that your parents dictate what path you choose.

The reason I tell you about my uncle? I love him a lot, but not only that, but that there are people amongst you that can help you reach your goals and stay on track. Think hard about the people in your own family circles. Think about friends, think about co-workers, think about the people that you would like to model aspects of your life. I also tell you about my uncle because he CHOSE to be health-minded. You can, too! You can choose your own path. You can pave your own road. You can sod your own lawn. Oh yeah, that's deep. So, find your path, road, lawn and get to it! Go for it with all you have. START SMALL. Eat tomatoes. But not too many.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you hoping I'll get off the heavy talks, until next time...

Things you CAN change

You know how sometimes you can get carried away worrying about things that are out of your control? You know, the price of gas, the price of groceries, irrational fears taking over, etc. etc.? Those things are things that you have absolutely no control over. And I must say, depending on whom you talk to, some may think we have no control over anything and a higher power is in charge, but I think that is a completely different topic and way more complex than a blog about me eating and jiggling my fat can really hash out.

We all have probably been to that point of worrying about things we cannot change instead of focusing on the things we CAN change. Some people tend to dwell on the effort and work involved in starting a workout regimen instead of finding the smaller portions to make it happen. I'm here to tell you that you CAN change yourself, no matter how old or young you may be. You CAN do it. Whether it is the way you think, treat people, act or what you may or may not be doing.

My previous post was about me taking dance lessons. This was in my adult life. You gotta get past the idea that you are going to be stellar and awesome at everything you do and thinking that it is a bad thing to try out new things and not be so great at it. Something happens as you get older where you don't put yourself in situations to make an ass out of yourself publicly...as much. But how are you ever going to know if you truly like something or if something fits you if you never try something new?

START SMALL - check out something that is reasonable in price and is something outside of your comfort zone. One of my part-time PICs posts frequently on FaceBook about stepping outside of your comfort zone. There is a lot to be said about this statement and I am soooooooooooo going to say all that I have to say about it. Read on, I know you want to.

In the past, I would consistently stay within the things that didn't scare me. Hey! At least I was consistent!!!!!!! Anyhoo, I wouldn't venture out of what I knew how to do and what was familiar to me. I'm not sure if I was afraid to fail, afraid to make an ass out of myself, afraid that I would injure myself, I don't know what exactly. Example would be when I would see the Insanity or P90X infomercials, I had it in my head that it was way too hard for me and that there was no way I could do it. Once my BeachBody friend recommended TurboFire to me and I got it and first read through the warning at the beginning of each DVD, I was really scared. I thought to myself, "holy balls, what am I getting myself into?" Then, I talked myself down by saying, "why can't you do this, Trish? You have already 'mastered' the stuff you have at home, why can't this be the next?" It wasn't until I was knee-deep in TurboFire that I found out that TurboFire is in the same "advanced" category as P90X and Insanity. Being knee-deep and loving it, I started to look at those infomercials a little differently. I started seeing them as new challenges and skills to master rather than being intimidating and something I couldn't ever achieve. I began looking at those infomercials as the "next step" rather than a goal I would never see. Funny how you can change your own mind, right? I changed my own frame of mind and my own thoughts by doing what was uncomfortable for me at first. Then, it became familiar. Really, wasn't there a time when the familiar was unfamiliar? I think so, we just forget that unfamiliar time once it becomes rote and familiar.

What are my typing-happy fingers trying to tell you? What exactly am I trying to say? I'm saying, you can do whatever you set your mind to. You can change your mind. You can change your frame of thought. You can change you. After all, YOU are the only one that can change you. No amount of blogging that I do can change you. You have to want it to make the change. So, cue "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson and make a change for once in your life, it's gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you with "Man in the Mirror" stuck in your head, SHAMON! SHAMON! WOO! WOO! WOO! until next time...