Let's not jinx it but...

I've gotten every weekday morning since last Wednesday ridden my spin bike for 30 minutes or more and last night and tonight, I lifted weights and walked on the treadmill on an incline for 30 minutes.  I lost 3 lbs. last week, I'm hoping for 5 more this week with the double workouts.  Yay for having to be in a wedding in a little less than 6 weeks as motivation.  It seems weddings are the only thing I get motivated about.  Okay, I need to go to sleep now.

Forks Over Knives

I just went to see "Forks Over Knives" with my Momma.  I dragged her along in hopes that she might come away from it with a new outlook on the food she eats.  Let's hope it worked!  I thought it was a really informative movie, though slightly upsetting.  It did get me thinking though.  I think I'm going to take the summer to eat a more "whole foods, plant based diet" and see what happens.  Maybe I'll some weight and my skin will clear up, who knows!  I went vegetarian for about 4 months a few years ago, but it really didn't work me, I think the problem was I are a lot of faux meat rather than a lot whole foods.  This time I'm gonna try to just eat more veggies and grains.  Oh, and I'm going to stay out of Chick fil a for awhile.  I probably average once a week (though I've had moments of eating it twice a day), so cutting it out for awhile will probably do wonders for me.  And maybe if my mom sees me making a change, she'll try it too.  The fact that the two main doctors in the movie were in their 70s but looked so young or one of the women they featured got a gold medal in a triathlon at age like 47, while battling cancer (which later disappeared) or that the one doctor's son made a career out of triathlons for over 10 years and then at 34 yrs. of age, decided to become a fire fighter (and could climb up the fire pole using just his arms) should be proof enough that there might something to the idea.

Posture

I'm studying to get my PT certification (who knows if I'll ever use it, but I paid for it, so I want to get it) and I was just reading about posture.  And it occurred to me that I have a Lordosis deviation.  

Now, if you know me in real life, you probably know that I have Cerebral Palsy and this is most likely the cause for my deviation.  It means that I have a tight lower back and hip flexors and possibly weak abs.  Who knew all those doctors and physical therapists who told me I should stretch were right?!  I'm now 30 years old and just realizing, hey maybe I should stretch!  Maybe if I stretched I'd be in less pain on a regular basis, what a concept!  So, here I am making a conscious decision to stretch everyday.  When crossing your legs while sitting becomes slightly uncomfortable, it's time to make a change!

Bush excavation

We've been living in our house for almost 5 years now and there's been this awful bush in the front yard since we moved in.  It blocks most of the front of the house and I've always been concerned with strangers hiding behind it.  Yes, I know I'm nuts.

See, it's huge.  And really ugly.

It was a total of six different trees grown together, plus those awful tiny shrubs that are kinda sticky.  It took all day for my wonderful husband to dig them out.  One broken shovel and one lost (then found) wedding ring.

But look how much better it looks gone!  Plus, no more chance for scary strangers to jump out from behind it!  The only problem is now we have a dirt pit with a bunch of big rocks thrown in and I'm not sure what to do with it!  I kinda want to put my raised bed there, but we get a lot of foot traffic on our street (I think there's a bus stop nearby) so I'm kind of afraid someone will steal my veggies or just ruin them for the hell of it!  What do you think?

Lately.

I've been pretty sad.  I thought I had moved past it, but recently it's crept back in there and I'm not sure how to fix it.  I think it's a bunch of things all rolled together, but I'm having a hard time seeing past it to something good.  It's turning 30, it's personal loss, it's "hey, I'm not 110 lbs. anymore", it's having skin like I'm 15 again.  It's just a lot.  I wouldn't say my life has ever been easy, but I guess I kinda thought it was doable, and now I'm wondering, "Why me?" a lot of the time.  I find myself crying a lot lately.  I know it's my hormones probably mostly, but that knowledge doesn't really help me feel better about it.  I'm really hoping the next few months are good, heck maybe even the next year!

Let's try again

Awhile ago I started a high protein diet but then I stopped because of circumstances, but those circumstances have since changed, so I'm about to go back on the diet.  The first week I did it. I lost 2 pounds, and that was without even working out really.  In 4 weeks from Monday I'll be attending my joint 30th birthday party with my husband and I'd love to lose 10 lbs. by then!  I'm thinking 2-3 lbs. per week is realistic, if I stay strict with the eating and the working out.  Plus, due to the same circumstances changing we also plan to take a little vacation in May and I'd love to be bikini ready for that.  We're thinking Mexico and that requires a bikini.  What more motivation do I need?  I'd post a before photo, but let's be honest, I don't want to scare people so maybe you'll settle for some after photos?  Sound good?  Good.  In the meantime, I'd like these abs...

What?  I'm not far from that...hahaha.  Well, a girl can dream.  Maybe I should go to the gym right now...

This is going to be rough, but I think I can do it if I stay strong and focused.

30th Birthday

Tomorrow is my 30th Birthday and those cupcakes were sent to me from my friend Erin from Crumbs Bake Shop in NYC.  They were delicious!  My favorite was the Cosmo I think, with the pink cake and lime buttercream icing.  I wouldn't have thought that would be my favorite because I'm not a big fan of lime, but it was an unexpected combo and delicious!
Those cupcakes really brought my spirits up, because so far this birthday month has been crap.  But enough about the past, let's talk about the future.
I turn 30 tomorrow and I'm not really looking forward to it, but someone told me that 30 is the new 20, so let's hope that's true and I still have time to make something of my life.  I've had a few awful things happen in the last couple weeks that have made me reconsider what's important in life.  So let's talk about what is important.  Let's list it.
1.  Family- I have a great family and husband, but I want children of my own soon (asap people).
2.  Career- I want to spend my days doing something I love, with a flexible schedule and financial stability.
I don't really think either of these things is too much to ask.  I mean, not living essentially paycheck to paycheck would be nice.  Believe me, I realize it could be a whole lot worse, but I also realize it could be better.

So, let's talk about what I see in my 30s:
I'll be happily married (still) and a mother of two children (preferably a boy and girl, ha).  My days will involve taking care of my kids and running my own business.  My business will either be owning a cafe/bakery or writing books/magazine articles/blogging or maybe all of those things.  I like the idea of working on different projects and making a living.  Maybe I'll even be using my personal training certification to train a little and write for fitness magazines.  Or at least keep my ass small after those 2 kids!  Most of all, I do not want to be turning 40 and wishing I had done more in my 30s.  Time really does fly whether you're having fun or not, so here's to having fun and accomplishing things to be proud of in my 30s!