Author: eaumaison (Page 62 of 207)

Preschool declared it superhero and prince/princess day today.  We all know that Jack’s first love is Spider-Man.  But all week he has been playing Hawkeye.  So I found the only plain purple T shirt in Target in the smallest men’s size and made this:

In the car.

Last summer I decided that I had no excuses; it was time to get in shape.  I still had some post-partum fat from my baby who was nearly one year old.  We decided to join the Arvada Rec Center’s all access pass which grants us unlimited use of the gym facilities, its fitness classes, and up to 3 hours childcare per kid per day.  I started going twice a week, sometimes three times.  Once we go through the holidays I ramped up attendance.  Three turned to four times per week.

Six weeks ago I decided to start lifting.  Well no, I take that back.  Last summer I decided to start lifting.  I read a couple books, joined some forums, found some programs, took the weight room orientation class, and dallied with entering the weight area.  I was scared about injury and social etiquette in an unknown culture, and doing things wrong and looking dumb/hurting myself.  But I kept reading over and over how beneficial lifting is.  I tried it a few times in December and struggled to squat even the bar (45 pounds) and everything felt wrong.  It was boring and uncomfortable and I hated it so I stopped.

So six weeks ago I decided to just do it.  I was going to the gym nearly five times a week and you can only take so much time on the elliptical machines.  I made a plan and stuck to it.  I heard somewhere that you need to do something new for six weeks to see results/make it a habit/have a valid opinion/etc so that was my marker.

I settled on cardio Monday and Wednesday in the form of my beloved zumba.  Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday I lifted.  Friday and Sunday were rest days (sometimes I made up a missed day on Friday).

I settled on the StrongLifts program because it’s simple, short, and had good support from the online fitness community.  I alternated each day either [squats, bench press, barbell row] or [squats, overhead press, deadlifts].  Halfway through I decided I truly hated the barbell row and it had the most chance of back injury.  I replaced it with assisted chin-ups because those also work the back and arms and it’s a long term goal to be able to do a chin-up.  I also added a plank after a couple weeks because I wanted more targeted abdominal work. 

The first day I was low weight on everything: 45 pounds on most activities and couldn’t even make the full reps and sets on bench press and overhead press.  My plank was barely 30 seconds when I added it.

This was my last week:

Yup.  ONE HUNDRED pound squats.  Even more on my deadlift.  And a TWO MINUTE plank.  In the words of Jack, “Holy Moly Guacamole.”

My arm presses are still crap.  I hear that’s common, for some women to do better with posterior chain stuff and struggle with arms.  Part of the problem is the lower weight barbells are provided in 10 pound increments so I have a hard time jumping up that much between days.  (The 35 pound was actually two 17.5 dumbbells, but dumbbells feel very different and still go up by 5’s). 

Videos, if you care about that.


I take the videos to check my form because the mirrors are not always visible and only waist high.  Plus you can’t really crane your neck to check and keep proper form.  I can tell I need to keep my knees more stable on my squats.  My back angle is too flat on deadlifts (partly because my plates are still small so it’s lower to the ground) and I could hold it up longer at the top.  Any lifters have other pointers for me?  Jason?  Jenn?

So yeah.  This is basically a brag post.  I’d apologize but this IS my journal.  I get a real high from lifting now.  I feel stronger and capable.  My back has been great.  I’m a little worried about my knees – my left one gets a little creaky and sore.  I’m going to back off from 105# that I did on Saturday and work at 95# this week, focusing on form.  I still like zumba but I look forward to my lifting days more than cardio days.  I haven’t lost any weight in the last six weeks (or the last four months for that matter – serious plateau here) but I definitely have more muscle tone and an inch off my waist.

I don’t know how long I can keep up this 5 day per week schedule, but I’m going to try to stick to it.  My goals are to squat my body weight (160), do a chin-up (ha!), and overhead press 50.

Wish me luck!

Ben did his best to give me a happy Mother’s Day Weekend. If the kids had been healthy it would have been so good.
Saturday:

• Sleep in until 8!
• Head to gym at 8:30
• Massage at 10:15
• Lunch at Smashburger with everyone
• Target shopping – I picked out my own gifts for the holiday
• Blessed Quiet Time
• Dinner and playing with my sister and parents, who came over for a quick trip to hear her talk in church.

Sunday was kind of a usual day, but with extra assistance from Ben in child care.  Sam was too sick to attend church so I went with Jack to Sacrament meeting.  The Primary kids sang to us.  Jack knew the first two lines of the first song, then smile prettily for the rest of the medley.  Simple acts make my heart swell!

Then it was all runny noses and coughs and goldfish and entertaining for the rest of the day, like most days.  That’s the problem with Mother’s Day – unless we physically remove ourselves from the home, we can’t really take a break.  But Ben did all the heavy lifting and cleaning so it was a little special.

I tried to get my annual picture with my kids. 

First in their natural state of undress and toy hogging and TV dead-eyes. 

Ironically that was the best it would be.  Once I tried enforcing smiles and clothes on them, Sam was DONE.

I have many variations on this same theme that I didn’t bother to upload.  The longer we tried, the worse it got.  Finally he body-dropped (toddler version of the mic drop) and was outta there. 

Here’s a picture of Sam baking with me later and in a better mood.

Sugar and messes and step stools?  This is his favorite play area.   

Sam woke from nap with a low fever.  So weird, happening two days into a cold.  But we solved the mystery of why he keeps getting sick!

Yes, both boys are sick again.  This time it’s just a case of the sniffles.  They are fully active with play and school and such, just cranky around the edges of the day.  Sleeping is rough too so I have both humidifiers rockin’ in their rooms.  I guess I’m grateful it’s not another GI flu?

Yes, we went on our date.  The movie and the food and the friends were all fabulous.  Yes, I left the sitter with Jack who was complaining of feeling sick again and wanted to lie down.  Apparently he just laid around watching TV then went to bed early.  Whatever.  I got to see some superheros save the world and not worry about anything else for a couple hours.  Relaxing.

Of course the illness is not over.  No ho ho.  Sam has a runny nose today and Jack has had more episodes of suddenly feeling “sick in my tummy.”  He lies down for a while, then recovers.  So weird, and so bad for my nerves.

I have been sewing more tops this week.  For some reason, knitting is not doing it for me lately.  I’m waiting for Fancy Tiger to get their new shipment of Madelinetosh yarn, so the things I’m working on are not new or exciting.  I sewed a Sailor Top out of Liberty of London fabric and it’s just gorgeous.  At $34 a yard, I’ll have to wait for another sale to buy more.

Today was busy for a Monday.  I (finally) had an appointment to get my car repaired, so first thing in the morning we dropped it off and got a rental.  The staff were so nice and let Jack pick between white and red cars.  Guess which he picked?  I feel like a teenage boy driving that red thing.  Then we all went to the preschool for parent teacher conferences.  Jack is doing great, as expected.  She gave me some tips to help him smooth out his handwriting by developing fine motor muscles.  Sam loved that he finally got to play in the preschool classroom.  Usually he tries to sneak in during pick up/drop off.  Next we picked up some playdough at Target (part of his fine motor skills development) and then went to the library for our usual story time.  Sam is a MONSTER there.  Constantly running all over the place, tearing books off shelves, putting toys in his mouth.  I swear, he’s going to be the WORST in his terrible twos.  Good thing he’s so cute.

Some videos from today and recently, for your enjoyment. 

I finally succumbed to it.  I’ve been healthy all month despite my germ home invasion. Then I spent most of last night in the bathroom.  Gah.  It seems be all done though – I’m just tired and cautious to eat.  Jack got the bug a couple hours before I did.  By my count we have all four had the latest gastroenteritis in the last week.  I declare us DONE with that and no one can get sick now.  You hear me?!

I’ve had tickets for the Avengers Friday night for over a month.  If something keeps me from the Alamo tomorrow night there will be hell to pay.