Motivation Board - SpringN2Action

I realize its been a while since I have posted but I've been busy and haven't had much to say! I'm making up for it tonight with this great motivation board idea from The Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans

At the beginning of February Bari started doing pushups, situps, and planks for the February FabAb workout. The workout gradually increased up to 100 situps, 35 pushups and a plank for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. I started out doing it and felt good but then I got a sinus infection with a double ear infection and gave up on myself. I quit...I was mad at myself. I was frustrated with my body and plan ol' aggravated.


This was me at the end of February...so I wanted to change that!!


February 27th, I started lifting weights following this plan. I am doing it with a wonderful group of women and it has done more for me than build my muscles. It has built my confidence!


Then March approached and Lissa put together the #6PackMarch workout. It was the same workout only a couple of days longer! Even though I was committed to doing a weights workout with some of the other wonderful ladies from the Sisterhood I decided I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this! So I signed up and started doing it. Some of my #Ironsisters told me to use caution. Don't do too much, I was out to prove to myself that I could follow through and do this.


Tonight I FINISHED IT!! AND just for the heck of it and so I could have visual proof that I am stronger than I think I am I took video of it!

Tonight I did 100 SITUPS!! 35 modified PUSHUPS!!! and a 2 minute 30 second PLANK!!! I FREAKIN' DID IT!!!









Some of you may be asking what does this have to do with the motivation board but let me tell you it has ALOT to do with it. See I usually give up on myself when things get hard. I usually think since I'm not in my 20's or 30's or even early 40's that I can't do "it"!! Whatever the heck "it" is! It really doesn't matter what that "it" is. I usually talk myself out of it but what this did was prove to myself that just because I'm not in my 20's or 30's I can still do something that is HARD for everyone!!

After watching the videos I realized that my butt was too far up in the air for the plank and that I need to work on the pushups a bit more so I don't fade out toward the end but hey, I did them! I completed the month long challenge and I'm proud of myself!

I'm busting my tail so that That Other Kid will always think it is a good thing to try new things, work hard to accomplish his goals, and want to be active! I want to be a good example to him!! This afternoon he got the skateboard that he has been asking for since he was 3 and he wasn't afraid to try something hard! He looks pretty happy and I want to look that happy when I try something hard and new!!




I want to always remember this day. I want to always remember how good I felt after doing this month long challenge! I want to remember that if I decide to do it I CAN DO IT!!

Lookie here, i did another week's worth of menus! I'm on a roll...and last week I followed the menu, except for 1 night I didn't feel like fixing what was on the menu, so I went with one of our standby meals.

I'm gonna be out a lot this week so the food is all quick and easy.

Menu

Sunday- eat out
Monday- shredded chicken tacos &
Chips/salsa
Tuesday- steak & salad, rolls
Wednesday- eat out meal
Thursday- Parmesan chicken (spark people recipe)
Friday-grilled chicken salad rolls
Saturday- Leftovers

Tooting My Horn Post

Instead of our usual "confessions" post on Tuesday's the Sisterhood has changed things up and now we are "tootin' our horn". I actually have a couple of things to "toot my horn" about this week so here I am!

Bullets are fast and easy, right?

* I have been participating in the #6PackMarch challenge with a few lovely ladies looking to tone up the arms and core before summer. I have done all 13 days of this during March and today I did a plank for 1 minute and 10 seconds! I also did 17 pushups and 45 SITUPS! These were straight out sit ups. Not crunches, Not knees bent sit ups. I could hardly believe I did them all!

* I have been doing a weight lifting program with a bunch of ladies (we are calling ourselves the #IronSisters) and I have surprised myself with how well I am sticking with it. I realized tonight that next time I workout with this program I will be half way done with Stage 1. I'm actually sticking with something that has to do with weight lifting!! Whooohoo!

* I have notoriously been a terrible lesson planner when it comes to planning lessons for our homeschool, but over the past couple of months I have come to the conclusion that we both NEED me to plan lessons. This weekend I moved into the library and completed lessons thru the month of MAY! That's 12 weeks of lessons COMPLETE! And we have done school according to the lesson plans both Monday and Tuesday!

* Menu planning, UGH! I always thought it was a waste of time, but decided since I was on a roll this weekend I would make a menu for this week. I did it and it's gone pretty well this week. EXCEPT tonight my alfredo noodles tasted YUCKY and I didn't feel like eating a salad....so here it is 10p.m. and I'm STARVING! Goes to show how I need to follow the menu.

That's enough tooting my horn for tonight. How has your week been?

A Menu!! A Real Life Menu

Welcome to my very first edition of writing out a Menu! Everyone has been encouraging me to write out a menu for sometime and I always make some excuse. I decided to follow instructions and do what they asked me to do cuz this week I'm trying to do things differently! I finished planning school lessons thru the end of May (we homeschool year round with periodic breaks for mom to regroup!) and I decided since I was planning lessons maybe I should plan meals, too! Maybe being organized will help me accomplish more! I can only hope, right?!!

So here are dinner meals...

Sunday- spaghetti, salad, bread
Monday- chicken Parmesan, spaghetti, salad
Tuesday- grilled chicken breast, salad, whole wheat roll
Wednesday- eat out meal
Thursday- turkey Parmesan (cooking light), salad, whole wheat roll
Friday-chicken tacos, chips
Saturday- leftovers

Lunch around here is pretty simple - sandwiches or tacos and I'm going to try to include fruit or some carrots in it too.

Breakfast is always the same - Greek yogurt w/apple and almonds for me and That Other Kid eats bread and a couple of slices of bacon for protein.

Snacks - nuts, fruit, and hopefully the cookies Lissa told us about yesterday!

Best part of this menu? I Fixed Spaghetti Today! How's that for a menu and sticking with it?

I'm linking up over here cuz I love them!!

It's Been Awhile....

Here I am again with a few minutes to spend on the computer. I just finished working out with the New Rules of Lifting for Women and I'm finding it a nice change. I have always hated working out with weights and I've always avoided it like the plague!

But...I'm finding that sometimes I need to push myself out of my comfort zone and this is one of them. I am lifting weights at home 3 times a week following the plan set forth in the book. It's challenging and I'm having to improvise some since I don't have weight machines but I am getting a good challenging workout every time.

I'm also doing the #6Pack March workout that is going on over at the Sisterhood. It's like the #FabAb February workout I was doing in February till I got sick and gave up on it. I finished day 9 today and I'm not gonna lie, it was hard to do it all but that's ok to push myself, right?

I've also decided that it is time to make some drastic changes in my diet so this coming week I am going to make a MENU Plan and FOLLOW IT! That's right....I'm going to write out a menu and I'm going to follow it. On my menu? Lots of fruits and veggies and lean meats and a few whole grains and not much else. I need to break through this plateau I have been on far too long.

I'm also going to add in some cardio which I haven't been doing in some time. That should help me too.

On a totally different note, I'm gonna brag a little on My Marine! He has been at his Military Operations School (meaning he is learning his job for the Marines) since the 28th of February and today he sent me a text saying he is number 1 in his "detachment" with a score of 98.45%!! He is training for Combat Photography which according to what I understand is a very cool job in the military. He also received a promotion last Thursday. He is now a Private First Class and if he graduates at the top of his class he will receive another promotion in June. I'm so proud of him! He has finally found something he loves and is excelling at it!

Ok...it's late and I have a full day of lesson plans to tackle tomorrow so I need to get to bed. Just wanted to spend a few minutes chatting with anyone listening. Btw, thanks for all the nice comments a couple of weeks ago when I was so down about my blog. It really is nice to know someone is out there reading! Thanks y'all!

Have a great weekend....