What I Do To Stay In Shape

1 year old woke up covered in crap

My schedule turned to crap
Traffic was crap
My schedule is now more than crap
My attitude is crap

Hopefully I’ll snap out of it soon.

 

I was a shitty mom on Sunday. I just have to put that out there. Shitty, I mean crappy. No patience, yelling, I even screamed, I said hateful words, gave dirty glares, gritted my teeth, and then I took it out on Dale. I was stupid, careless with their feelings, and harsh. I think it had to do a lot with the exhaustion I was feeling, but really, just like everything else… there are no excuses. I couldn’t talk myself out of it enough to stop. Even as I was saying things and screaming I was telling myself to just shut up and breathe. Complete failure. Such a good, motivating, strong mental and physical run and then I spend the rest of the day being horrible. I was the exact opposite of the mom I want to be.

I recognize it. I apologized, I hugged, I kissed, I made sure that Monday was better and it was. I think it is important for the boys to see that sometimes we suck as people, but it is important to apologize when you are wrong and do what you can to make things better. I’m not excusing my behavior by that statement, but I do believe it is important for them to know and do.

 

Changing gears…

 

A few people have asked me what I have been doing to get into such great shape. So, I thought I’d try to break it down for you. Please note that I am not an expert. This is just what I have been doing since around June. Before this I did about 4 months of Insanity.

 

• Diet – I don’t believe in diets. I believe in eating well. Paying attention to portions. Not going back for a second plate every night and not eating things loaded in sugar every night. I love sweets, probably more than the normal person. To control that, I don’t buy them. If they are in my house I will find an excuse to eat them. Dale doesn’t agree with that theory and comes back with something sweet every time he goes to the store. So, I try my hardest to practice self-control and not indulge every day. Halloween is going to be tough! The more I have been working out the less I crave the sweets though. I don’t eat super clean, but I make sure there is at least one veggie on my plate and our meals aren’t complete unless there is some meat. I’ve switched to whole grain bread as much as possible and I’m slowly trying to work that into the boy’s meals as well. I’ve also incorporated eating breakfast every single morning. If I don’t, I’m weak and shaky and that brings irritation. I burn too many calories now that I need to make sure I am eating a lot more. I don’t drink pop (soda, coke, whatever) very often. Usually I have one on Sunday for desert or something, but that is it. If you don’t know your calorie intake or your burn rate there are apps out there to help you get a good idea. I used MyFitnessPal to log my meals and workouts. I had no idea how many I was eating or burning, so this got me on track. I no longer use it since I have a good idea of where I’m at. I try to find healthy snacks and I don’t eat out much at work. That seems to be a big problem for working moms and weight gain. I would encourage you to brown bag it as much as possible with healthy foods and portions like my bbq ribs, potato salad, and celery sticks. Ha, my dad competed in the American Royal BBQ over the weekend so I have been eating a lot of BBQ. Smoked ham in my eggs in the morning…. Yummy!

• Weights – I do one day a week of weights in my basement. My Roly Poly carcass, spider loving basement. I know it seems like more, but really, that is it. My arms have always been pretty easy to sculpt and I think I have a lot of muscle memory working for me here. Here is my workout (my gym lingo and recollection of how much weight I use is lacking, bear with me):
• 2 reps of 15 on each if I can hang
1. Squats (I think 65 lbs) – bicep curls w/ 20’s – kneeling tri kickbacks w/ 15’
2. Walking lunges w/ 20’s, 20 steps – curls with the curl bar w/ 35ish lbs (?) – laying tris with 15’s
3. Leg extensions 65lbs I usually push as many as I can get since I don’t use a lot of weight – Hammer curls w/ 20’s – tris with the curl bar
4. Hamstring curls w/ 45lbs
•  I can really see a difference with the hilly miles that my hamstrings and quads are much stronger than they were.

• Cardio – I use Hal Higdon’s 5k Advanced workouts. You can google that and choose whatever one fits for you. You can also use Runner’s World and McMillan Running has a great converter that will show you what paces you should be running to hit your goal race time.
• Monday – 3 miles fas
• Tuesday – Sprint day – usually 200’s or 400’s on the track – this has made a big difference even though I feel really slow
• Wed – Weight day
• Thursday – Tempo run usually 30 minutes (around 4 miles)
• Friday – Rest – do absolutely nothing because I have no time on this day
• Saturday – sometimes 4 fast. Lately it has been a rest day because Dale has Cross Country meets and I don’t have a chance to get out there and run before he leaves. The day is spent cleaning and chasing after boys, then dinner, and passing out on the couch if we don’t have plans
• Sunday – Hilly 4 if no Saturday workout or 60 minute runs (little over 7 miles) if I get in a Saturday workout.

• Sleep – Big fat fail – usually around 6 hours – not enough. I could do better and go to bed as soon as the boys are in bed but that means nothing but work when they are awake.

I find that it helps to train for something to keep my motivation up. I have fallen in love with 5k races and I have become a little obsessed with PR’ing (personal record). When I set out to do this my main goal was to run a consistent 24 minute 5k and be happy with it. Then I hit 23 minutes and now my mind won’t stop until I hit 22 minutes. I’ve been inspired to run like I did in college. There was one meet that I ran at 20 minutes. Tia has been a great source of inspiration. There is no reason why I can’t. It is going to take more work, but I can do it. And I’m sure as soon as I hit 20 I’m going to work like hell to break 20. Maybe that doesn’t come in the next couple of years, but some day in my life I hope to accomplish it. Next summer I would like to pencil in some 10k’s, maybe a half, and maybe, just maybe a full marathon for the sole purpose of saying I did it in my life. We will see how it shakes out.

 

I do want to mention that this has not been an easy journey. 4:30am wake up calls are NEVER fun. This is work. This hurts. I went through a very emotional release period. You can go back through some of my posts to see what that was like. I’ve been told it was pretty clear that I was emotional. I also went through a period of running in comfort. I’m ready to hurt and see the payoff.

You may not be ready to train for a 5k, a half, or a marathon, but maybe you just want to be active and healthy.  Set a goal to get moving 3 days a week and if it isn't challenging enough step up your game.  It takes a decision and a commitment to get up, get it done, and stick to it. It HAS to be important to YOU! No one can do this for you. Find your drive, surprise yourself, and inspire others.

 

Feel free to pick this apart. If you have suggestions I’m all up for hearing them. I will always have areas to improve like lats, right under my booty, etc.. Adapt it yourself if you feel it will work for you or tweak it where you need to. BUT, DON’T be afraid of the pain, setbacks and lack of comfort to reach your best you. YOU are so worth it and so is your family. The hard work may not show immediately, but one day you will wake up, do a little flex in the mirror, and think, “Damn Ginaaaa!”