Jan 14

What a busy two weeks it has been.  I have finished two correspondence courses, started cleaning once a week at the Yoga studio in exchange for Juliet and I to get unlimited classes and started a once a day cleaning schedule that should have my house looking fantastic always.  As for fitness it has dropped.  I would tell you more about the two weeks but to be honest so much has gone on I am running from moment to moment that most of it I have forget, yet at the time it seemed so all-consuming.

This morning has been a very big struggle.  I wanted to get up at 6:30 do my workout, vacuum, go grocery shopping, teach Aqua, run my car over to the dealership, work on my newsletter, pick up the car, go to Wind to get my new phone (at last), then make dinner, prepare and teach childbirth education and do reflexology for myself.  I woke up mentally but my body was YELLING at me to go back to sleep.  All I want to do is take the day off.  Some things I cannot get out of, and my hope is the Aquafit will turn the tides of my energy.  I wonder if I am picking up on Marc's stress as today is the big launch of his project and he is stressed.  I also wonder if I am starting to come down with the illness the kids had.  Then again maybe it is just a case of the Mondays.  Either way I will honour my body as best as possible and see what tomorrow brings.

December 27

The results are in and I shouldn't have been surprised.  Last week was a bad week for workouts, Christmas came and went with lots of goodies and even healthy nibblies that were indulged upon just because they were there.  My fluid intake dropped.  So let's get the sad truth out of the way.

Neck 13.75" - no change
Shoulders 45" - up 1/2"
Biceps 13" - no change
Chest 43" - no change

Now this is where things get bad
Waist 43" - up 1/2"
Hips 46.75" - up 1/4"
Thighs 26.25" - up 1 1/4"
Calves 15.5" - up 1/4"
Weight 190 - up 2 lbs

I have my excuses and I am on day 23 of my cycle.  I am confident with a renewed workout schedule and my period out of the way things will easily get back to normal.  I am feeling very positive about the direction I am going. 

I did my lower body workout yesterday and my upper body today.  I need to go out and shovel the driveway.  At 10 am I teach Aquafit, at 12:30 pm I have an interview for a May birth, and at 2 pm I am meeting with a doula to see if she would be a good fit as back up or to refer to when I am booked solid.

Tomorrow I will do my lower body routine again.  Saturday we have two family parties on Marc's side and Sunday I will do a cardio routine.  Things are on the up and up as my weight and clothing size go down and down.  Happy Thursday.

December 24

I got up at 6:30 am today to do my upper body workout, I started with 15 minutes of cardio as a warm up and then into 30 minutes with the resistance band and body weight.  Then the cleaning started.  First I vacuumed the house including the couches and dining chairs which were long overdue, then the coffee pot Marc promised he would take care of yesterday, then pots and pans.  Elizabeth had rinsed last nights dinner dishes put left them sitting in the sink, we were nearing the summit of the iceburg.  The kids who both said they would sleep in were up early were sitting on the couch watching TV.   At that point I had been up for three hours and hadn't eaten yet, so my typically festive cheer started kicking in.  "I hate Christmas, the whole Christmas season and if you ask why I will tell you the reason, the house is a mess, the family doesn't care, don't worry slave mommy will kick the mess in the rear." I was wishing I could run away to the cottage, or just take off, leave the kids today and just find a coffee shop to sit down at and read a book I started four months ago.  That was when out of the blue Juliet said "Mommy I love you." when that received a unconvinced response she said "I appreciate all the cleaning you are doing today."  Wow, maybe we are developing mind reading skills with the sharing of the brain cell.  I was still annoyed that I hadn't eaten and there was so much cleaning to do but the kids both got off the couch and started doing the chores I assigned to them happily.  I ate some breakfast, had a lukewarm shower, for some reason our hot water was not working well, Juliet explained it was because the world was ending and the appliances are turning on us.  Once I finished my cold shower and got dressed, I started a load of laundry as our place mats are disgusting and we are hosting Christmas tomorrow for my inlaws.  I also hoped because I wash in cold that it would mean warm water for Juliet.  The dishwasher still needs to be run, I haven't had a tea, brushed my teeth or put my contacts in but I am feeling better and looking forward to my day with the girls.  Resentment and blood sugar drops are a dangerous combination.

Tomorrow I will not workout.  I will do my lower body or Wednesday, upper body again Thursday, lower Friday and cardio on Sunday.  If you don;t hear from me it is that I am making the most of having my kids home with me.  Merry Christmas everyone.

It's the end of the world as we know it

and I'm still fine.

Just wanted to give you an update as I have not posted in a few days.  I have not been working out.  Since Tuesday I have felt very run down, I have been having 15 minute power naps at 4 pm and still have been completely exhausted.  I listened to my body and it was calling out for sleep versus exercise (probably in defense from the cold my whole family had).  Today was a different story.  Today I was up at 6:30 am without my alarm, could have worked out but was too lazy.  I am going to be running all day and I was nervous what would happen to my energy.

Now yesterday I did teach Aquafit and went to a fantastic yoga class.  Today I have an interview at 9:30 am, some food shopping in preparation for Christmas, the kids have early dismissal, Juliet has a Christmas party, Elizabeth is going to a friends so I can get to another interview at 4 pm, rush home for 5:20 pm, pick up Juliet and head to yoga for 5:30, there is a hot yoga winter solstice class that my doula friend Jannine is teaching.  Then home for dinner, oh and cooking a ham somewhere in that time as well.  In admist all the phone calls and e-mails that come along with running two businesses.  I also need to do a Happy holidays newsletter for Hands to Heel as I totally dropped the ball this year.  Maybe I will do a really generic one and put it out from both companies.

I can't wait to see my Mom's side of the family tomorrow for Christmas at my Opa's.  As this will likely be my last post until after Christmas Happy Christmas everyone.

December 18

Wow yesterday was quite the day.  It started off with a deep and fantastic sleep.  I had taught from 10 am - 6 pm Sunday, then Marc, Juliet and Elizabeth were sick so I did reflexology on Elizabeth and Marc.  Poor Marc I was non-stop yawning during his session.  We brought the air purifier into our bedroom as that was the infirmary room during the day.  Wow did I ever sleep probably one of the best sleeps I have ever had, I think I only flipped once, the sheets barely moved.  I decided not to workout out in the morning so my alarm was turned off. 

I got up and did my measurements.  My weight was 188 lbs, I stepped on the scale again and was down to 186, I stepped on it two more times and 188 again so I am sticking with that.  I was down 1.75" - 1/2" across my shoulders, 1/4" off my waist, another 1/4" off my hips, 1/2" from my thighs, and 1/4" off my calves.

I got ready for Aquafit and both kids announced they were too sick to go to school, then my client called saying she was in early labour with baby number four, oh and did I mention Marc was going to be out for the evening.  So I made some calls, found coverage for my 10 am and 7:45 pm Aqua class and rescheduled an interview, made my weekly outline and grocery list, reported the kids absent, hopped in the shower, had some breakfast, booked a reflexology appointment, ran out to pick up groceries, our Christmas cards, birth story albums and a few other things, deposited some cheques, made it home, unpacked the groceries, unloaded the dishwasher and got the call to head to the birth around 10:20 am.  It was a fantastic, fast, easy birth, I was home by 4 pm.  Elizabeth was still on the computer, same place she was when I left, Juliet was asleep on the couch.  I had a 15 minute cat nap, Marc came home early, the kids were not interested in what I had planned for dinner so we convinced Marc to bring home a pre-roasted chicken meal.  We played a game, I did three loads of the family's laundry, but together a birth story, prepared for my two reflexology appointments, finally cleaned up my props from my childbirth ed class on Sunday as well as the house, updated my Birth Beginnings website, responded to some e-mails, prepared some mail, finished wrapping the presents, determined there are still, 5-6 things I still need to pick up, I think that was it.

Today I slept in until 6:30 am as I knew I was doing Sonny's fast workout which takes about 30 minutes and I wasn't in bed until 12:23 am.  The sleep was not as good, but I made due.  I had a hard time pacing my breathing during my workout and got a little wheezy during one exercise, so I took a short break to move some laundry and the wheeze settled quickly and did not resume once I did the same exercise on the other leg.  I have work to do for CRS today, a reflexology appointment at 10 am and another at 1 pm.  Juliet and I were going to go to yoga, but because she is sick I may give it a miss and get some work done instead.

Chat tomorrow.

December 14

Another workout closer to a fit and healthy me.  I just finished 45 minutes of cardio with Shaun T.

Yesterday I accomplished everything on my list with time to spare, Elizabeth's present that said it wouldn't be in until after Christmas came in, what a relief.  I taught my Christmas Aquafit class and did all Christmas moves, the participants purchased a present for me, a beautiful Christmas ball from Bowring and a bag of Lindor's, I got the birth story completely written, I just need to confirm some details with the parents before I print it and put it together.  I print and bond four breastfeeding manuals for Sunday's class, did 3.5 hours for CRS, sorted some stuff out for Christmas and booked a date with my Mom for some bonding/relaxing time in January, made some phone calls, wrapped more presents, did some research on how to spend my $100 gift card to Best Buy from CRS and went to the 90 minutes hatha resortative yoga class.  I really had to force myself to go, if it weren't for Juliet I probably would have bailed.  The nice discovery was that it was not hot yoga, so that made it better.  I did get some fantastic stretches and I realized my left hamstring and glut are so much tighter than my right.  I have been more focused on how I hold my body now to see if it is an alignment issue.

Today I will try to be as accomplished as yesterday.  After I drop off Elizabeth at the bus I need to go pick up three more things for Christmas, then off to the Service Ontario office to drop off her SIN card application, then Aerial yoga at 9:30 am, back home immediately after to meet up with the Doula CARE president to hand over all the shop keeper stuff as they no longer need one, Marc will be so pleased.  At 11 am I am off to do some final postpartum hours with a client who's baby is now seven months old, and then some free time until the kids get home, it may only be 30 minutes if I am lucky.  Once everyone is home we are taking the family to the mall, Juliet has not started her Christmas shopping, Marc has to pick up a few things, I have something indulgent to purchase for myself, by a clients request and then we are going out for dinner.  If it is nice we may go check out the lights at Spencer Smith, or aim to do something festive as I know the mall at this time of year is going to annoy me.

Tomorrow I have a reflexology appointment at 10 am, Juliet works until 3 pm, Elizabeth has a Christmas party at 1 pm we will pick her up at 2:45, and Juliet from work at 3 pm, then straight to my sister's for Christmas/birthday celebrations which we will be very late for.  I am hoping to get Marc to workout with me while the kids are away, then we can shower and maybe sit down and enjoy a yummy coffee before packing up the car and gathering the troops.  I probably won't blog until Monday after I workout and weigh in.  It will be an exciting day, I am hoping my waist size has gone down based on how sore my abs have been, I know you can't spot reduce, and the waist line could be bigger as the muscles underneath grow, but my obliques are sore and they help hold things in tighter, time will tell. 

Have a great weekend.

December 13

I will work out whenever I want to, who says I have to follow an exact schedule.  It was supposed to be my day off, but I actually got to bed at a reasonable time last night.  Plus Sunday is going to be very busy.  I did 60 minutes of cardio with Shaun T.  At 45 minutes I was ready to quit, I wasn't exhausted but my mind started on to my day and I just wanted to stop, but I knew I had 15 minutes left and within 2 minutes I had my endorphin kick and I was good, for another 10 minutes and I wanted to quit again, but I knew I had 3.5 minutes of cardio and 1.5 minutes of cooldown.  I stuck it out but it really surprised me to be struggling with that.

I am finding I am getting weaker in my self-discipline with junk food the more I work out.  I had been indulging daily on our gingerbread house and yesterday while doing CRS work I caved and ate half a Twix.  It was good and I was satisified with half and stopped.

My abs and shoulders are so sore.  Yesterday while eating dinner I told Elizabeth to sit in her chair.  She decided to make fun of me and repeated it with a mouth full of food however the word did not come out sounded like sit, I will let you guess what it did sound like, but if you are still not sure just add a "h" between the "s" and the "i" while the rest of us laughed, then I laughed harder because it hurt to laugh.  I love that the workouts are challenging my body, but I also love laughing, Murphy you have thwarted me again.

Juliet and I went to hot yoga again, a hatha class that was 60 minutes.  Tonight we will be going to a Hatha/restorative hot class that is 90 minutes.  I hope I can take the heat.  Friday I am super stoked.  I will be doing an aerial yoga class during the day, since Miss Juliet refuses to go.

I finished my Mom's scrapbbok page yesterday, the rest of Marc's present came in so he is done, I wrapped Juliet's present so she is done too.  I am waiting for nine things to come through the mail hopefully before Saturday, they were all shipped before November 20th from overseas, I have contacted the sellers and there are no updates they can give me, fingers and toes crossed it will all work out.  Today I will do some work for CRS and maybe get some writing done for a birth story that is due next week.  It was a fast birth so hopefully it won't take too long.  I have an Aquafit class at 10 am that, by their request, will be Christmas music and I thought that was my only safe haven, I hope it brings them cheer because it will annoy the crap out of me.  We are having grilled fish and a grapefruit and avacado salad for dinner, I no there will be complaints from the peanut gallery.  Tomorrow night we will be eating out so I will just ignore the moans tonight.

I hope you all have a great day.  Chat tomorrow.