It Hurts...Oh, It Hurts...

Or at least I do.

Every inch of me is sore, down to my hair follicles. My quads scream out almost audibly when I go up and down stairs. My shoulders are permanently slouched because the weight of holding them up is more than I can bear. I think my eye muscles are even strained. Or, maybe that's from all the blogging.

Anyway, I asked my trainer what he wants to see as a weight loss goal and I was happy to see that he is looking for 2 pounds, would be thrilled with 3. I think I lost six pounds the first week when I trained with him before, so I was really bummed when I snuck a peek at the scale and it looked like I had only lost a pound. I'll probably give him that two-pound loss but probably not a whole lot more.

The bigger question is, how do I sustain this level of exercising and eating clean as life continues to hit me from all angles? This weekend, my sister in law is coming down and we are officially celebrating my daughter's 9th birthday. She wants to go bowling on Saturday night and wants an ice cream cake (yay - not at all a fan of ice cream cakes, me), and then Sunday she wants me to take her to the mall for some shopping and an Auntie Anne pretzel (not yay - I am a fan of Auntie Anne). I've already decided that she can ask for whatever she wants - my new and improved lifestyle is not going to impact her, if I can help it. However, that does bring me to my...

Recreating My Body - Tip #1:

If you are trying to lose weight, indulge in EVERYTHING. Just don't indulge in it all the time. Here's what I mean - if my daughter had opted for the Genuardi's chocolate cake with the white icing, I would have seriously wanted a piece. My plan in that scenario was to cut off a hunk of it and put it right in the freezer for my dedicated cheat day. Whether or not I ended up having it on that day is not the point. Just the act of cutting the cake and putting it in the freezer would quiet the little kid inside that would be screaming, "WHY can't I have some? WHY? WHY? WHYYYY?" My response: "Oh, you can TOTALLY have some, sweetie. Just not today."

So, there you go. I know it's working. People are already commenting on how toned I look. I'm just looking forward to they day someone says, "You're not on a diet, are you? Because you're already so thin and fit!" And my response will be (say it with me now):

"No, I'm not on a diet. I'm on a MISSION."

Are You On a Diet?

Someone asked me that question this past Sunday, and my answer was a solid and resounding "NO." Now, it just so happened that I hadn't actually started my Dreambodies journey - yesterday was Day 1, as you know. But to be honest, even if I had been asked the question after I started, my answer would have been the same.

I don't believe in dieting. We've all read the magazine articles that talk about the fact that diets don't work, and I believe that to be true. It doesn't work to go "on" a diet, because that presupposes that eventually you will go "off" the diet. In my case, my period of being "off" a diet more than counterbalance any of my good dieting efforts.

All that being said, though, my reason for being so convicted about not being on a diet when my friend asked me had less to do with the efficacy of diets and everything to do with the Law of Attraction. The fact is, I am done with perceiving myself (and being perceived) as someone who has to diet in order to have a great body, beautiful skin, and tons of energy.

So, I am not on a diet. I am on...

A MISSION.

I am stoked to be on Dreambodies, because I basically get my marching orders - daily meal plan, workout, etc - and then I don't think about it anymore. If I feel myself weakening, I send an e-mail to my trainer and he e-mails me right back with an answer to my question, words of encouragement or a virtual kick in the pants.

• I am on a mission to become a leaner, stronger version of myself, better even than before I got pregnant.


• I am on a mission to show my daughters that motherhood, aging, and fierce beauty don't have to be mutually exclusive.


• I am on a mission to reclaim the inner vixen, inner goddess, inner Betty Boop that I have carried with me all these years but only in small spurts have been released to the outside world.


• I am on a mission to follow through on my commitment to myself, my health and my children's desire to have me around for a long time.

I am on a mission. Feel free to come along for the ride. :)

I'm psyched! I'm happy! I'm BACK!!!

OK, my skin is still outrageously horrible and I was only comfortable in my size 12 shorts today, but I am SOOOO happy tonight. SOOOO happy! Why? Because I went to the Memorial Day cookout, and I stayed abstinent! I'm BACK, baby! I had shrimp and chicken kebobs, less than a 1/2 cup of brown rice, some tortilla chips and real salsa and maybe a handful of popcorn. It was all worth it. I brought a cake to thank my friends for being such great neighbors during the crisis of the past few weeks, and I even CUT it, and didn't have a single slice. Yay, me!

Oh, you know what else happened today? I went to the gym this morning, despite the fact that I woke up feeling like maybe I was due for a day off. (I haven't really had a day off since last Sunday.) I got to the gym and started off with a lame 10 minutes on the elliptical, then was going to do legs. I got back to where the olympic bar squat machine was and hubby was on it. I sat next to him and was just SO tired. He had one set left to do, but didn't even get halfway through before I got up and was like, ah forget it. I was truly going to go to the learning center and sit with the kids until hubby was done. Then, I realized I was going backward (like Tina says - away from my goals...) and so I remembered that my triathlon training was to run for 45 minutes. I figured I'd just get on the treadmill and see what happened. I ran the first mile at 5.0 (I always know that it takes at least a mile or so to get going, and once I'm a mile into it, I"m usually good.) I ran the second mile at 5.5. I ran the third mile and a quarter at 6.0, and then ran the rest at 6.5. (Actually, I pushed it the last two minutes, running 30 seconds at 7 mph, then 30 seconds at 7.5 mph, then a minute at 8 mph). All in all, I ended up running 4.25 miles in the 45 minutes. Yay, me!

Oh, and the last thing I'm psyched about? I got an email about WORK! I might actually have a project starting up soon. Finally! Things are shifting and changing and I am SO psyched!

Hey, in case you were wondering, here are my goals.I like to say them. It feels good to say them.

Under 170 by June 1 (currently 172.6)
Under 160 by July 4
Under 150 by Labor Day

Yay!!!