Well holy cow, it’s been a looooonnnnng time!
Sorry ’bout that. 🙁
I have been so sick the past week and a half! I’m not sure if it’s a mega cold or the flu, but it has kicked my can. Kev and 2 of our kids were also sick, but they’re all doing pretty well now. I’m doing much better, but it seems like it’s just taken forever to completely go away!
I haven’t been to the gym in over 2 weeks!!! It’s seriously killing me. I’ve been trying to be patient and rest and recoup, but I just want my life back already! Gah!
I do think I’m getting a little bit better every day though. Yay. I’ve had more energy the past couple of days and have actually been able to do “actual life” stuff. It’s been good.
I’ll quit my whining and moaning now. 😉
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We also had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! <3 We drove up to Oregon and spent the weekend with Kev’s family.
Kev has a huge family, although only about half of them were there, so we reserved the church for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was nice.
I didn’t take a ton of pictures because I was busy chatting with the fam and chasing after my 3 year old, but here are a few from our shindig (I snagged one of these pics from my niece’s Facebook)…
Aaaaand, here’s my yummy plate…
Isn’t Thanksgiving dinner the best???? I just love every bit of it! Yes, I had seconds.
Since I was doing my no sugar challenge, I stayed away from the desserts. Woot! It actually wasn’t too hard because I enjoyed all of the food so much! I certainly didn’t feel deprived.
On Friday night Kev’s family had Pie Night! Auuuugh!
Thankfully, I’m not a huge pie fan, but several of them looked so good to me! Kev’s mom is also the best pie maker on the planet. Serious.
But, I didn’t have any of it. Yay me.
I know my no sugar challenges might seem crazy to some of you, especially over Thanksgiving, but they really are so good for me! It just really teaches me about self control and willpower.
I always remind myself that it’s not like I’ll never have sugar again….just not right now. I always learn so much when I just cut out sugar for a while!
Oh, and I just have to share a funny, random picture. Kev is from a small town in Eastern Oregon. One morning we were driving around exploring his old stomping grounds when I saw this…
I have never in my life seen a knitted mailbox cover!! Bwahahaha! Isn’t that the funniest thing ever???? They even knitted the address numbers in there. Lolololol.
I can’t imagine it would hold up too well in the weather though???
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Well, I gotta say that my “no sugar challenge” fell apart a little bit this past week or so. I did awesome over Thanksgiving, but when I got sick I eventually gave into the sugar demons a little bit.
I stayed clear of sugary treats and desserts for the month of November though and I’m happy ’bout that. I’m also not really disappointed that I had a little sugar this past week because I felt so crappy. I really just ate whatever was easy to make and whatever sounded good to me!
Sooooo, when we opened up a container of Trader Joe’s Jingle Jangle, I caved…
It tasted so good to me! I didn’t pig out, but I just kind of snitched a little bit here and there for a few days.
And, then when it was gone, I started snitching some chocolate chips from the pantry. 🙂
AND, then I actually caved and made some chocolate chip cookies. 🙂 The cool thing was that I had two cookies and I was completely satisfied. They actually gave me a small stomachache.
THAT is one of the reasons why I love to cut out sugar of my life completely for a while. It really seems to reset my body and then when I do have sugar again, I only need a little bit to be satisfied. It definitely helps me to keep my sugar consumption in check.
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Well I just have a few random thoughts I want to share tonight. Ya know, I’ve been frustrated these past couple of weeks as I’ve felt so crappy, had no motivation, have eaten a very “meh” diet and haven’t been able to work out. 🙁 🙁 🙁 I’ve actually forgotten what it feels like to be vibrant, energetic and healthy!!
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Anyway, it made me realize that living a healthy lifestyle obviously takes hard work, dedication and commitment, BUT healthy lifestyles also change throughout life considering the circumstances we’re living in.
Right now, my circumstances equal a very crappy healthy lifestyle. Ha ha. Thankfully, those circumstances will be very short lived. However, throughout the years, I’ve had times when I’ve been able to dedicate more time and energy to health and fitness and other times when I’ve just had to run on “survival mode” and haven’t been able to dedicate as much time.
I’ve always tried to make health and fitness a priority, but I’ve also always been aware of my life situation. I just try to do the best I can and remember that there is a “time and season” for everything and sometimes I can’t do things as well as I would like to….so I just do my best!
For example, I remember after I had my first baby….my world was rocked. I absolutely adored my new little baby, but I seriously wondered if I’d ever sleep or lead a “normal” life ever again. Ha ha.
I also had a C-section with my first (he was breech), so I couldn’t workout for at least a couple months. That was tough for me because I was so anxious to start losing the baby weight! I remember once I could workout again, I would head down to my basement after the baby went to sleep and do Tae-Bo with Billy Blanks on VHS. Man, that makes me feel old!
It was a great workout though and I was happy I could workout again. We also had NO MONEY, so I remember it was a splurge to actually buy the Tae-Bo videos. I would also check out workout videos from the library to use at home. Hey….whatever works, right?
I didn’t love working out from home, but it was what I could do at the time….so I made it work.
After I had my second baby, I was able to join a gym again and I loved it! We were living in Rhode Island at the time and I went to some great classes at the gym with my friends. We still didn’t have a lot of money, but thankfully Kev’s work reimbursed almost all of the cost of my gym membership. Woo hoo.
I was also sooooo grateful that the gym had fabulous childcare. My kids loved going and I loved the ladies who took care of them. It was awesome. <3
I was also able to get in great shape and continued to workout there until I was 8+ months pregnant with my 3rd baby. In fact, my 3rd pregnancy was my best pregnancy and easiest childbirth. I was also able to lose the baby weight easily afterward. 🙂
Shortly after I had my 3rd baby, we moved to New Hampshire. I struggled to workout regularly. I tried to workout from home, but I just couldn’t really stay motivated or consistent. I was also pretty maxed with three little kids. I was definitely running on survival mode. Health and fitness took more of a backseat in my life at that life, and quite frankly it was pretty necessary.
However, when I look back at pictures during those years, I’d definitely put on a few pounds.
However, this was exactly the catalyst I needed to really get serious about health and fitness. It was around this time that we moved back to Utah. I became aware of a lot of fit people who really inspired me. I started learning more about nutrition and joined a gym again.
Then…..I got pregnant! Ha ha.
I gained a lot of weight with baby #4, so afterward I was more than ready to lose weight and get back into shape. We still didn’t have a lot of extra money and I didn’t want to bring all of my littles to the childcare at the gym, so I decided to start running.
Kevin had just gotten into running the year before and had run his first marathon, so I decided I would give it a go too!
It was hard! When I first started running, I couldn’t even run half a mile. However, I was determined to succeed, so I just kept at it and it got easier and easier. I learned to love it!
I ran my first half marathon shortly after baby #4 turned one and it was great. Running ended up being a GREAT way to exercise as a busy mom. First off, it was mostly free! I also loved that I didn’t have to take the time to drive anywhere…I could just run right from my house. We eventually got a treadmill and that gave me even more options.
It was a little tricky when I had tiny babies who were still nursing. I remember when Kev would come home from work, he would go on a run. While he was gone, I would feed the baby and then I would head out on my run as soon as he got home.
I actually snapped this picture after I returned from one of those runs. Kev is still in his running clothes because he’d gone on his run before me. Look how tiny my babies are!?!?!?
Yes, I remember this was tough. It took a lot of time and commitment from both Kev and I to make sure we could get our runs in. It wasn’t easy, but I’m sure glad we made it work.
Those runs were also very therapeutic to me to be able to get out by myself for just a little bit. It was also nice to be outside and get the endorphins flowing.
I eventually bought a double jogger, which allowed me to go on runs with my babies. It really was such a great way to get in shape as a busy mom! My kids all loved going on runs with me too. I cherish those memories.
I was able to get into great shape again and ran several races. I loved it.
When my baby #5 was about 18 months old, I joined a gym again. I’ve just learned over the years that I stay the most motivated and get into the best shape when I go to a gym. It’s much easier for me to consistently get great workouts in.
I kept going to the gym throughout most of my #6 pregnancy.
NOW, that my baby #6 is 3 years old, I’ve been going to my gym, F45 and I love it!
My life is still sooooo crazy and it definitely takes a lot of planning and dedication to stick to a regular workout schedule, but it’s sure nice to have older kids at home to help babysit the younger ones.
My gym also makes it a lot easier to fit the workouts in! It’s just a few minutes from my house (hallelujah!), the workouts are all amazing and most of them are only 45 minutes long!
I have so much love for my gym!
AND, dang it….I’ve been missing it! I can’t wait until I can get back there. I’m thinkin’ any day now!
I still loooooove running too, but I tend to do it for a while and then take a break from it for a while. I’ve been taking a break from it for about 5-6 months now, but I’m starting to feel the “running bug” again so I’m thinkin’ I’ll start running again soon!
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Well, that was a very abbreviated summary of my exercise life as a crazy busy mother over the past couple decades! I realize life is crazy and it seems like we’re always being pulled in a million different directions. I’ve learned that in order to be successful with health and fitness, I just have to find a way to fit it in. Sometimes the workouts aren’t pretty, but I just do whatever works best for me at the time!
Sometimes my circumstances are such that I just suck at health and fitness for a while. Like when I’m mega pregnant, have newborn babies, nursing babies or just craziness. I’ve learned to just accept it, be patient and do the best I can for the time being.
I’ve definitely learned that I need to find the balance between pushing myself and cutting myself some slack. I really just try to keep pluggin’ along and do the best I can.
Being sick these past few weeks has definitely made me grateful for health! I definitely miss feeling energetic and vibrant, but I’m so grateful I have an able body that can exercise. It’s made me appreciate my workouts, my motivation and my healthy lifestyle. It’s so tough to be patient, but I’m sure grateful for the perspective.
Well, I have to go to bed so I can hopefully continue to get better! I hope you guys are all doing well and I hope you are all healthy!!! xoxo
Thanks for sharing your fitness journey. I really admire your strength. I do remember Tae-bo! What a blast from the past. It was a good workout and set the stage for bootcamp/martial Art type classes.
Your Thanksgivimg looked amazing with such a delicious spread. And FYI I could not resist those trader Joe’s cookies.
Yes, I loved Tae-Bo! It was such great workout!! It’s crazy how much exercise has changed over the years.
The Trader Joe’s Jingle Jangle stuff is so dangerous. I wanted to eat the whole dang thing!
I’m proud of that Thanksgiving pie willpower!! Amazing. I hadn’t seen that jingle jangle before, but holy hell that would be dangerous for me. I so wish I could eat alllll the sugar hahaha. Darn you autoimmune disease. I try to look at it as a blessing in disguise. Your gym journey just goes to show that life changes and so do we! You don’t have to do one same routine forever, it’s all about changing things up! Hope you’re feeling better these days.
Ha ha, thank you!! Yes, that Jingle Jangle did me in. It is so dang good, dang it!!! I wish sugar didn’t call my name so much, but it also makes life so much fun…..so I’m grateful for it too. Ha ha!!
Life is always changing and my health and fitness routine has definitely been very different over the years. <3