Let the Challenges Begin

I am a sucker for a good challenge. And I have been presented with two new ones over the past few weeks. When I first heard about each of them, I knew that I was up for them both since they so closely mesh with the goals I have set for myself and my life. One is the Fitness Challenge that Jonathan Roche has given to those following the No Excuses Workout system.  It matches up very nicely with my goal to get healthy by working out often. The second challenge came from Crystal, aka Money Saving Mom and Jessica, aka Fishmama. I have been focusing on menu planning and freezer cooking, and their challenge pricked my interest.

Jonathan Roche's invitation is to workout with a plan each week, and record them for accountability. This is the seventh challenge he has given and the third I have participated in.This competition is twelve weeks long starting today. Yesterday was my one year anniversary in using the NEWO system. So for this round of my fitness venture I have had a good start, today doing an interval workout using Denise Austin's Cardio Blast workout DVD. I did the warm-up, the Kickboxing and Cardio Dance segments, and the cool down. I did stop the DVD and slow the pace when I needed to so I could get my heart rate down for the intervals. Each of the workout segments on the DVD are 10 minutes long. There are two other cardio segments, Athletic Intervals and Retro Aerobics. I have had this DVD for two years and enjoy coming back to it over and over again. 

The menu planning challenge is one I have read about over the past two weeks from some of my friends on Twitter and some really great food blogs. They soon led me to Menu Saving Mom and Life as Mom's websites, as they are the source of this challenge. Both web authors felt that their pantries were full and that they needed to use what they had and inspired many others to follow them. I too have spent the weeks leading up to the holidays stocking up. In addition, I have also spent some time preparing meals that are now waiting in my freezer. So this week, and maybe the next several, my family's meals will involve eating solely from my pantry (and freezer). After paying my electric and propane bills this month, I am sure my budget will appreciate the break in grocery spending. I'm sure I'll have to get fresh milk, bread and just a bit of fresh produce, but everything else we'll need for the week is already here. Now I need to see how many weeks I can stretch this challenge.

Made It Through Monday

Finally back to work today. It was a bit of a relief to return to a normal routine. I was up at 4:30 (that's a.m. for you people who sleep until it's light outside) and at my workout in the great room by 5. Today I again tried the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. It is a kick your tushy workout for sure, and I only worked the level one session. There are two higher levels that you progress through after doing the workout four or five times in a week, and you progress to the next level when you are ready. With the 30 day title, I interpret it to mean about 10 days at each level, so next time around I should be ready for level two. As I am mixing up my DVD workouts I have noted that this is not my favorite, but it is definitely challenging. And I am a sucker for a good, healthy challenge.

I didn't do much toward my own happiness today. Well I did write two blog entries, snuggled with the little boys as they fell asleep, and watched the new episode of House with Joe and our three oldest boys. But I stayed at work far longer than I liked (and finished), had to run to the store since Joe didn't get around to it yesterday (and picked up my coffee I was nearly out of) and didn't get home until the boys had already had their baths, had their stories and were just tucked into bed for the night (did I mention we snuggled for a bit?). A productive day I suppose, but I'll need to work on getting home extra early tomorrow.

Spinning Saturday

No, I don't mean a spinning workout. Although that sounds interesting. I mean what was going on in my head at about 5 a.m., not too long before the dogs whined for me to let them out this morning. The spinning in my brain has happened on several previous occasions when I get congestion in my ears. Vertigo. It is a very unsettling feeling that I have had to learn to manage. My first episode was about five years ago and it was really bad as I didn't know what was going on and I tried to get up and move around. The spinning room sensation generally creates nausea, which is just as debilitating as a spinning bed, chair or floor. Through the advise of my doctor and my experiences with vertigo, now I know to quickly take a decongestant to get relief at the first sign, prop my head up on lots of pillows or sit in a recliner and start drinking lots of water.Then I lay still until the medication starts to work and hope that I don't have to get up before relief comes. Today I was able to keep from the nausea altogether and relief came quickly.

Although I didn't do any spinning at the gym, my workout is finished. I was a bit cautious about working out today, and delayed it until the middle of the afternoon. I am pleased that I decided to go ahead, and I'm really feeling good about my increased energy level. I have also spent much less time with pain in my joints this past week of moving daily.

Over many years of doing a wide variety of workouts, Denise Austin is one of my favorite exercise personalities. I used to watch her program each morning on cable television and have also bought many of her workout videos over the years. The reason I like her so much is because she is so positive and very consistent in giving lots of encouragement during each part of the workout. I also like that she gives me a lot of information about the parts of the body I am working on and what research shows is the safest and most effective ways to exercise. Today I did two sections of her Boot Camp Total Body Blast; a 20 minute Strength Boot Camp and 10 minutes of Flexibility. There is also a 20 minute Cardio Boot Camp session on the DVD, but I didn't do that today as I was trying to limit my maximum heart rate. Both the strength and cardio boot camp sessions on this DVD use intervals, a researched based method of increasing the bodies metabolism by raising and lowering the heart rate throughout the workout.

And continuing with today's topic and my goals for life, here is my spin on happiness. I have not always been a happy person. I can get down and depressed if left to focus on how hard the world can be, and I have had my share of tough times and rough weather. Thinking about that today, I am reminded of one of my favorite Mother Goose rhymes;

 Cross Patch

Cross patch, draw the latch,

Sit by the fire and spin;

Take a cup and drink it up,

Then call your neighbors in.

I enjoyed the rhythm of this childhood verse when I as very young and remember my Dad reading the poem to me when I was only five or six. I read The Real Mother Goose book many more times to myself or my younger siblings and cousins as I learned many of the nursery rhymes rote. It wasn't until I was a mother myself, reciting it to my oldest boys that I sat down and really thought about what the words meant. How do you get happy when you're feeling upset or ever a martyr? Take some time to be alone, do something productive, get busy, spin, enjoy a cup of tea and then invite family, friends and neighbors in and get on with life and the people in it. I love it!!! And it definitely works for me.

Frigid Friday

The dipping low temperatures are here in Kansas, and schools are closed in the area for yet another day. So on bonus day number three, I am going to do something unusual for a Friday. Hang around the house. Well that's a bit of a joke since this is now the third Friday in a row I am hanging out at home. It is funny, but as much as I love home, I am starting to feel very restless. Over the past three weeks I have been out of the house exactly five times; for work and errands for two days, out shopping on two days, and to my aunt's for a party the Saturday before Christmas. That means that 16 of the past 21 days were spent here at home. I think what I am feeling may be cabin fever, so I really need to get something productive going so I won't feel so restless and listless.

My workout report. Today I did a second round of Dancing with the Stars: Latin Cardio Dance. This workout started with a five minute warm-up with Cheryl, who is a two time champion dancer of the show. After warming up I followed the lead of Maksim, also a pro dancer from the show, for the cha-cha. There are four different 10 minute dance workout sessions that can be programed into the routine. Besides the cha-cha, there is the merengue, the samba and the mambo. I chose just to do one dance session today, as I was shooting for a 30 minute total workout.  I ended the workout with the 15 minute dancer's toning workout that included basic lunges and other cardio steps, and some abdominal work with a cool down stretch.


Besides getting my workout behind me, I worked on some room rescues and did FLYLady's mission for the day. Today's mission was to really clean the kitchen floor with a thorough sweep and mop. It took a bit longer than the suggested 15 minutes, but it really is (was) clean including all around the edges.

Dinner was a very easy stir fry made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts that went into the screaming hot oiled pan first followed by a bag of frozen veggies and soy sauce and that was served atop brown rice. I also made monkey bread with bread dough pieces dipped in cinnamon and sugar, placed in a greased bundt pan, with a brown sugar and butter mixture poured over and then baked for 35-40 minutes. Both the stir fry and monkey bread were absolutely awesome. Finicky Daniel didn't get past the stir fry tonight, so he missed out on tonight's after dinner treat. Silly boy!!!

A Bonus Day with Boys

Thursday was snow day number two and I was joined by the younger boys. This time we didn't have to wait until morning to find out, so the boys stayed up "late" (9 p.m. insead of 7) Wednesday evening and got to enjoy watching the Disney movie Aladdin. I was so funny watching Danny watch the movie, as he was catching a lot of the jokes and laughing until he gave himself the hiccups (Robin Williams as the genie is hilarious). While we were sleeping, the last of the new 7 inches of snow fell, and Thursday morning, I enjoyed a bit of a sleep in. 

Thursday's workout went well. I did the Biggest Loser Boot Camp for the second time doing the Level One 30 minute workout. This is one of the new DVD's I bought just before New Year's Day and it is my favorite of the three DVDs I picked up. Instead of doing the recommended repeat of this workout four or five times a week, I am mixing it up with other workout videos and shooting for moving somehow everyday. I love Bob Harper's training style, but rest assured, this is not his last chance, in your face workout, but a very positively supportive set of workouts that gradually increase in intensity over a six week period. After that, a 45 minute maintenance workout is recommended.

Normally Thursday is my errand day, but this week I tried to get them done on Tuesday before the bad weather hit. It was extremely cold Tuesday after work, but I managed to get to Aldi's for some milk, eggs, fresh veggies and a few other things we needed to take us through the week. I also stopped at the pet store for crickets for Gex (our leopard gecko) and had to tuck them into my coat because it was too cold for them even with the heater on in the van for most of the drive home. Fortunately I had already filled up the gas tank on Monday as the gas gauge measured below a half a tank, and that's my winter signal that it's time to stop an fill up. Since Tuesday is my desk day, I probably should have spent part of Thursday at least clearing off my desk. Instead I played board games and Wii with the kids, read with Daniel, hung out on the computer with Twitter and Facebook friends and watched a couple of movies.

I did get a chance to listen to FLYLady's Blog Talk Radio show. She and Pam Young started the show talking about Pam's book, Sidetracked Sister's Happiness File. Since being happier is one of my goals for the year I really enjoyed listening to why it is so important to find things to make you smile and laugh every day. I was in the show's chatroom as others that were listening were listing what it is that made them happy. Shiny sinks, favorite music, reading good books, flowers and many other ideas were shared. I will have to listen to the archived show in my iPod later so I can think about the idea some more. It has been about a decade since I read Pam's book, but the ideas on collecting and surrounding yourself with things and people that make you happy is very important for each person's well-being.

We spent the last part of the afternoon making a pot of soup with leftover grilled steak, some fresh and frozen veggies and mushrooms. There is nothing like a pot of soup when the weather is cold and the wind is blustering. We also made a batch of drop biscuits. Daniel helped me with dinner (stirring and directing) and Steven helped with the chopping (my sous chef). As we cooked we also were waiting on the news as to whether or not school would be in session for Friday. The word came for the little boys early in the afternoon, and dinner preparations were nearly complete before I got the news. Snow day number three, coming to a cabin near you. Watch out for the fever.

The Day Begins

Some mornings are wonderful. I open my eyes, well rested and eager to begin whatever is on my PODA (Parade of Daily Activities). My goals are in the forefront of my mind, and I whip through my morning routines and give immediate attention to the day's priorities. I seem to have energy for anything that comes my way, and that momentum continues throughout the day.

Other mornings, I lazily stretch, get up and putter about with aimlessness. Sip my coffee or tea and think about the things I need to do, the things I would like to do, and then ponder if I am going to get anything at all accomplished, as days like this usually don't end up very productive. Sometimes that is okay, as nothing is pressing. If it happens more than a few times, I start to sink into CHAOS and feelings of being overwhelmed.

Still other mornings, I get up later than I should, rush to do what has to be done, leaving many things to be taken care of "later". Barely make it to work on time, not enough time to do any preparations before my first meeting or assignment, and the day goes on at a very hectic pace, with me playing catch up or putting out fires. I end up at home, later than planned, exhausted and in no way ready to finish the day with any energy, let alone prepare for the day to come.

Then there are those mornings that fall somewhere in between. I have to get up and out the door, I have a list of things to accomplish, and my routines are usually the only things I get done throughout the day except just a couple of focus or must do tasks. I just do what needs to be done, but there is no time left for things I would like to do. I survive the day. All seems well in the world, but I have not enjoyed most, if anything, of what the day has offered.

I have noticed that there are many factors that can predict what kind of a morning I have. Did I get enough sleep? If not I'm dragging for sure. Did I get my workout in the day before? If I did, I am sure to have energy to spare. Am I drinking enough to keep me hydrated? Did I eat well, skipping most of the sugar that bombards me in a day's time? Are my allergies bothering me? Did I take any medications for my allergies? Did I do my before bed routine, setting out clothes for the day, having my bag packed, lunch prepared, an idea of what's for dinner tonight? Did I remember to pick up an item at the store, be it milk or toothpaste or something else we just can't function without? If I really stay focused on all of these things, and make sure that they happen, the likelihood of a good morning is high.

When I have a good morning, it is highly likely I will have a good day, despite what negative forces come my way. It is a cycle that makes it possible that I will attend to the many things that will make it possible to have a good morning the next day. It is a pattern that feels very good.

The pattern continues until something comes up. What is that something? It may be that I get sick, one of the kids get sick, I have late meetings several nights in a week, early meetings many mornings in a row, weekends that are packed with activities that don't allow for down time or catching up time, and just about anything else that takes me out of the get ready for the day cycle. Once I am out of the good morning cycle, it takes much work and motivation on my part to get back into the positive. Too tired to set my clothes out or to pack tomorrow's lunch, I then get up too late since I haven't the energy I need since I am somehow no longer exercising, getting enough water or watching what I am eating.

And the motivation to get back on track for me usually requires some force outside of myself. A big motivator for me are the workout DVDs and equipment that are kept very handy and usually visible in my home. I finally start paying attention to the daily or weekly e-mails from very motivating people. The act that needs the first bit of motivation is to move, to somehow, some way, just get up and move. A little moving leads to more moving. Movement brings energy to do all the things that I need to do to get back into a positive lifestyle pattern. A positive lifestyle pattern leads to good mornings and good days. I am watching out for the motivation stealers. I know they are coming. They are just one over-extension of my time away from taking away my good days.