Day 44 - Officially, the last day!

I wanted to end Day 44 with a bang, but it turns out God had other great plans for me. I drove for 2 hours and 30 minutes to see my best friend from High School and to help her celebrate her son's, my Godson's, First Communion. It was an awesome celebration and I had a blast seeing old friends and her family too.

After celebrating, I was off to visit my mom for an early Mother's Day. Another 2 hours in traffic. It was sad not to have the kiddies or hubby with me, but they were all sick and trying to get better for school and work on Monday. Believe it or not, my kids would much rather be at school than to hang out with me. I make it as boring as possible for them if they stay home from school. I remember all the fun stuff I did when I was home "sick" from school. No way were they going to do that to me. Sorry mom and dad, if you're reading this blog.

After spending time with mom and dad, I was on my way back home. Another one hour and 30 minutes in the car. So..I drove a lot and my right foot was on the pedal for most of that drive. I think I earned 40 exercise minutes, right? Tomorrow, I'll have to check to make sure that my legs aren't lopsided from all that driving. Pushing the petal has to have earned me some muscle. I'm pretty sure of it.

So...officially done here and on to my next 40 days. I have a couple of ideas of what I would like to do and like any good plan, I'll start tomorrow ;-). Meanwhile, continue to find fitness in everything you do. I plan to keep exercising well over my 40 days.

Have a "fit"tastic day!

Day 43 - A Try-It Patch for Me

Like any good Girl Scout Leader, I always try and plan our girl scout meetings in advance so there are few surprises. You want the girls to feel confident, successful and learn something new from each meeting.

For today's workout, I decided to "try-out" the exercises listed on the Girl Sports and Dancercize try-it section. I have to admit, I got a little creative as I modified some of the partner activities, but in the end, it was a fun workout.

Too bad, I don't qualify for a Try-It Badge, they're only made for Girl Scouts. And I'm not sure how my pre-teen would feel if he saw me walking around with a vest full of patches as I pick him up from school.

Until tomorrow, find fitness in everything you do! Even the volunteer stuff.

One more day to go. Wooo Hooo!

Day 41 & 42 - Don't judge a magazine by it's cover.

Seriously. The March FITNESS magazine that I bought reassured me that I would have a much better looking body if I tried their Fitness regimen for 2 days.

I tried it for 2 days and I still look the same.

Then I read the fine print this evening which read, repeat entire segment one more time. I guess that was it, I didn't repeat it. ;-)

2 more days to go to make up for the 4 days I didn't exercise during my 40 days. Hope that makes sense...I'm in need of some serious zzzzzz's.

Day 40 - The best bad idea!

I got caught up in my old life yesterday with my big bad to do list. So at 8:45 p.m., defeated, I decided to go to bed. Until I remembered I was on Day 40! I can't do a do-over on day 40! So as tired as hubby and I were, we worked out last night. Him on the bike and me with my 5 pound weights...that's a big improvement from the 1 pound weights I was using a couple of weeks ago. Can I get a Woo Who?

So after working out for 40 minutes, it was time for a shower and then off to bed. Right? Wrong! There was lots of yummy cheese left over from the MOPS party a couple of nights ago, so we raided the fridge and had a little date with lots of conversation. We talked about the kids, our future, their future, bullies, worries, my youngest son starting to use the word puberty, and all the apps he keeps getting me for my itouch so that he can play with my gift.

We went to bed around 2:30 a.m. and I have to say, it was the best bad idea we ever had. Although I feel really tired today, I'm so thankful to have spent some time with hubby talking about all the things that keep me up at night. I slept well last night, even though it was only for a couple of hours.

Until tomorrow, make it a great day! And if you have something on your mind that's bothering you, talk about it with someone you trust, pray on it or write it down in a journal. You'll feel a whole lot better after you get it all out.

Day 39 - It's okay to be boring.

Yup, I'm boring and I love it. No drama here! Just a desire to make a difference in lives and do something useful while I'm living on this Earth.

So for yesterday's boring workout..it was just me, the bike, the remote and Project Runway! Even though my fashion is a pair of super comfy sweatpants, sneakers, and a t-shirt, I still like to see all the super cool stuff that comes out on the runway. And yes, I like to watch the drama on t.v. too :-) as long as I am no part of it.

Until tomorrow, choose to workout and leave the drama to all the reality t.v. show contestants. And if you must be part of the drama, make sure you're at least working out. One more day to go...well, sort of.

Day 38 - Being a Mom + Sleep Deprivation = Forgetfulness

Being a mom, you tend to forget a lot of things. At first, I thought it was just me getting old, but I've come to believe that being a mom and being sleep deprived will make you forget a lot. Like when you go upstairs and forget why you went up there in the first place. Or, you go downstairs to get something when you forget that the item was already upstairs to begin with...if you're a mom and sleep deprived, I think you understand where I'm coming from, right?

So on Sunday, I counted all of the times I went up and down the stairs. Sit down for this one..this one is a shocker. I go up and down the stairs at least 52 times in one day. Can you believe it 52 times? For my 40 minutes, I decided to run up the stairs each time I had to go up the stairs and walk down the stairs each time I had to go down the stairs. I don't think it was worth 40 minutes, so I also did abdominal work, arm work, leg lifts and stretching too.

Going up and down the stairs so many times did make me realize a few things. 1. Why the carpet on the stairs is dark and dirty. 2. How this 40 day workout program has given me energy to run up the stairs, 38 days ago, I would have been winded and too tired after going up the stairs. 3. I must have too much time on my hands to count the time I go up and down the stairs.

Until tomorrow, have a great workout, even if you have to run up the stairs to do it. And don't forget to hold on to the handrails, if you need to. Nobody is watching.

Day 37 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly To-Do List

I got this great idea on Saturday to write one big to do list. Well, at the time, I thought the to do list was going to be about five lines long.....but as I kept putting my list together, it was evident that I was going to need another page. Uh-oh! And another page. Yikes!

I got so caught up with everything I had to do on my to-do list that I almost forgot to work out! Can you imagine forgetting to work out? I know..that happens to A LOT of us on a daily basis huh. We forget to work out ;-). Unfortunately, I remembered and did 4o minutes of the U.S. News and World Report comprehensive workout developed by sports medicine expert Vonda Wright.

It's actually kind of cool. There are 4 principals: flexibility (stretching before working out), aerobic exercise (making that heart work by walking, hiking, bicycling..doing something active), strength training (to build and maintain muscle) and balance (like standing on one foot, yoga, tai chi, etc.). Check out www.usnews.com/10weekfitnessplan for more info.

So, while hubby was working out on the bike, I did 10 minutes of each and it was kind of fun too. Until tomorrow, make it a great day, even if you have a big bad ugly to do list.

Day 36 - Oh...the shame

I never tried out for the basketball team, but always took pride in making baskets everywhere I would go. I would finish a piece of gum and earn two points for making a basket into the trashcan. I would pick up someone else's trash, ahem, and I earn another two points for making a basket into the trash bin. I would finish drinking a can of soda and earn another 2 points for making a basket into the recycling bin.

So on Friday, when I missed 2 points by trying to throw a pair of jeans into the laundry bin, I felt the shame. Well, the first time, I just didn't think about it..but the 2nd, 3rd and 4rth time I missed the laundry bin, I felt the shame. I had to literally stand right over the laundry basket to get my jeans in the bin. So, I slammed dunked it and that was pretty cool, but it did get me thinking about getting more sleep and performing basketball drills for today's 40 minutes.

I warmed up my muscles (10 minutes, nice long warm-up) and took a couple of cones out from hubby's soccer stash. I ran to one cone and then back to the start area, making sure my fingertips touched the cone. Then, I ran to the second cone which was further away than the first cone and then back to the starting area. I did this until I got to the last cone and realized, I'm not 20 anymore. I'm going to be a bit slow..and that is okay. Plus, I ate more gummy worms yesterday and really needed to work them out. Note to self: stop shopping for junk food at Costco, its like a never ending bag.

After that, I took out my jump rope and jumped for 5, took a break, jump for 10, took a break, jumped for 15 and took a break while my daughter jumped the entire time singing a song about having a boyfriend and whether the baby would be a boy or a girl. I quickly had to stop that, she's only 6 and where is she learning songs like that?....that's the real reason why I took all those breaks ;-) not because I was tired.

My daughter got bored so it was just me and my Reebok step. I did a lot of repeaters and basketball jumps on the step. And finished off with some squats and lunges until I saw all of the dirty laundry around me. Didn't I just do the laundry two days ago? What happened?

So, I wrapped up my 40 minute workout by making baskets with the socks, the underwear, the shirts, the gym shorts and every time I missed, I did 5 jumping jacks. I did a lot of jumping jacks on Friday, but I'm pretty sure I got my 40 minutes in for the day.

Until tomorrow, get your 40 minutes in and make each chore fun. Is that an oxymoron?

1 - Quote taken from the following website: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/plyometrics.html