Well folks, today is Wellness Wednesday and while I've not posted consistently about that, I have been keeping up with my fitness! First of all y'all know that life with kids is crazy. I don't even know how people do it when their kids have things like soccer, baseball, ballet, etc. I can't even let my mind go there because I break out into a major sweat. Here's how I'm working in my fitness. If I have time to walk at lunch, I've recently discovered that First Baptist has an indoor track that you can walk FOR FREE. 18 laps is a mile....and I try to do about 27 {which for you non-math people, that is 1.5 miles}, which I can do in my allotted lunch hour {and change my clothes/get cooled down}. Honestly, I can only do this about once or twice a week due to my calendar/work stuff. When I walk in the morning {I try to do 4 mornings/week} I can really only get a solid 15-20 minutes in on the treadmill {while reading my SRT - Proverbs! study} before I have to start getting ready for my day. So at night I'm doing at least a 15 minute walk to get in my full 30 minutes. Last week I took Reynolds with me a couple of nights, when the weather was really great. Tonight, the whole family went out for the walk. We did leftovers for dinner, which meant that we were done by 6:45 so there was a window of time before Eliza Jane would go to bed. We loaded the kids in the stroller and started out around our neighborhood. I love our neighborhood. It's so pretty and things are in bloom. I pointed out a massive bunch of jasmine growing around a pine tree and asked R if he knew what it was. "Um, Jasmine!" he said. I told him once about it. Last week we turned this particular corner, I got him out of the stroller, and held him up to smell it, telling him what it was. He remembered. My heart was bursting with pride and joy. So then he wanted to get out to walk. We told him no...and then we saw our neighbors out with their dog, Abbey. Eliza Jane about jumped … [Read more...]
My First Barre3 Class
Happy Wellness Wednesday everyone! I did my first Barre3 class tonight and I am not lying when I tell y'all that I could barely drive home. Barely. Drive. Home. My arms are mush. They are worthless to me. I might as well just lie around like a blob. I am totally freaked out about tomorrow morning when I wake up. Surely I won't even be able to brush my hair, my teeth or put on any makeup! This is going to be horrendous. This all started when I got a text yesterday afternoon from my sweet friend Ashley, who works with my husband...and I guess for fun she likes to torture women. I'm kidding. Really, it wasn't torture, but when I tell you there was sweat dripping from every pore. Believe it. Ashley used a swiffer to sop it all up, off the mats and the floor. EEEWWWWWW. But serious. I haven't been to a workout class in YEARS and they used to be my favorite thing to do at the gym. I did step like nobody's business. Ashley invited me to her 6:45 p.m. class for tonight and this class for reals kicked my tail. The first five minutes I was questioning whether I would be able to finish. Should I just run out now and make up some wild story to tell them about why I left?! No. I pushed thru...taking breaks {OFTEN}, feeling like a sissy. I should be able to do this...I told myself over and over again. I was in the room with all these perky college-ageish girls and I'm thinking to myself, I HAVE TWO KIDS. I STILL should be able to do this. Squats like you couldn't imagine. On your tippy toes. DEEPER she would say. I thought I was already sitting on the floor!! Core was a beast. She was telling me to imagine the deepest part of my core. I was DYING. BUT, I did it!!! I was surprised when the class was over. I made it!!!! We all survived!! I secretly cheered and gave myself a high-5!! And then the four of us girls took a groupie. Ashley is hiding in the back...the other two sweet girls are Rochelle and Megan, who also … [Read more...]
Wellness Wednesday : 3/2
Happy HUMP Daaay, Friends! February was National Heart Month and yes I know I'm late to the game... I also just got around to reading my Feb. issue of Real Simple over the weekend and dog-eared this information to share with you. :) The average woman's heart is FIVE years older than her biological age. For men, it's EIGHT. "Why on earth?!", you ask? High blood pressure, diabetes and obesity are the common culprits. To find out your heart-age, you can visit cdc.gov and check out "heart age". You can also find tips there to lower your number. Also check out the American Heart Association's website for some good tips and info. AND, since today is the first Wellness Wednesday of March 2016, I have a few questions for you {you didn't think you were going to get off easy, did you? :)}: What have you eaten today? How much water have you drunk? What kind of exercise have you done? Diet and exercise are major influences on your health...we all know this. My friend Heatherly Fit posted this the other day on her FB page: 4 Simple Rules: Never miss a Monday {how many Mondays have I not wanted to get up at 4:33?! a lot.} Never go 3 days without exercise {guilty as charged} Workout at least 3 days a week {trying!!!} NEVER GIVE UP I think #4 is the most important...even when you fail to get up on a Monday, don't feel like working out one week, whatever...as long as you start fresh the next week...don't ever give up. Get back on the treadmill, the bike, back on the pavement, whatever it is that you do. Your shoes are waiting...time to lace up and get moving! Your heart needs it! {My leggings are by Fabletics :)} … [Read more...]
Mid-Week Thoughts And A Wellness Wednesday Challenge!
It's hump day, y'all! We've made it to the half-way point! Wooo-hooo! So while I was so thankful and happy to have our friend, "Gigi" stay with us last night, I am SO happy to have my husband back home tonight! YAY!!! A few things about today: I had an Ethics CE to complete today and I was NOT happy about the final exam. IT. WAS. HARD. I legitimately thought I was going to fail because IT WAS NOT ABOUT ETHICS!!!! What the hey, y'all. But whatever, I passed. :) {Big thanks to Jesus for that one!} Our precious neighbor, Ms. Mary passed away Monday morning and her sweet funeral was this afternoon. I wish I had a picture of her to share with you all, but sadly I don't. She was delightful. Her sweet face was beautiful and radiant. And while I didn't know her extremely well, she always waved and talked with us when we saw her outside {she loved to garden and work in her yard}. She genuinely loved people, us included...I knew it from day one of moving into this home. She will be missed greatly by us and other neighbors who enjoyed her presence. I thought that silly groundhog said that Spring was coming? HELLO. It's still cold. Tomorrow is my big brother's birthday...for those of y'all who don't know this, for the past week we have been THE SAME AGE. Yep. Crazy, I know. We are 51 weeks apart...which is totally crazy and was SO confusing to us as kids. More on that tomorrow, when it is his birthday. :) Today is Wellness Wednesday and I'm giving y'all a little video {FIRST ever on Camellias & Copper!!}...don't judge me {please}. I've been working on these for two weeks, since someone first showed me a video of Gisele & Jimmy Fallon doing them... THIS IS YOUR CHALLENGE! Get out your mat and get ready! {I am actually pretending that you ARE going to do these with me...don't let me down!!} {In case you're wondering or care, my outfit is by Fabletics :) I really like their workout clothes!} And of course, kudos to all of you who … [Read more...]
Wellness Wednesday? Workout Wednesday?
Hey friends! Happy HUMP DAAAAAY! I've been toying with the idea of a Wellness Wednesday or Workout Wednesday...just a few thoughts - bits of encouragement, exercises (like a 2 minute drill), something to help us all stay on track towards a healthier lifestyle.... Anyone have any interest in following me in this? I would love some feedback! Today I thought I would start simple. We've had wellness challenges a few years in a row now in my office and several years ago we used this Wellness Scorecard that our friend/employee Emily came up with and it helped me tremendously! {I think I even won this challenge!} Challenge: Try to keep up with this for a week, log your points and see how you do. It was fun for me to look back on all my scorecards from this challenge {we did it for 13 weeks!} and the highest I ever got was 76 points! I would love for you to come back to this post at any point in the next 7 days and leave a comment on how you're doing with the challenge! I'm happy to encourage {or push?!} you along in your wellness journey! Much love to you all...finish this week strong - we can do it! Also, for more from Emily {wellness guru} - please check out →Her FB page Destined to Thrive←! … [Read more...]
Planktacular Challenge
Today is day #5 of the Planktacular Challenge and it was probably the most difficult challenge today. Oh wait!! I haven't told y'all about this! A new friend {yay for new friends!} is doing this 10 day planktacular challenge on Facebook. And I'm always up for a really good, healthy challenge so when I got the invite, I immediately accepted and invited a few other friends that I thought might have fun with it! Day 1 (Oct. 23) of the planktacular challenge was to post the length of time I could hold one of 3 plank positions. I held for one minute, 2 seconds in the level 2 position. We've done a couple of repititious positions and then day #3 we did the raised plank. Hold 10 seconds, rest for 3...do it 6 times. I went for 7... At the very beginning of the challenge we had to list a favorite "get up and move" song...my most recent favorite, will not be a surprise to some, was "I Can't Feel My Face" by The Weekend. Today's challenge was to play the song while holding the plank position...and to post how long I could hold vs how long the song is. I found myself a comfy rug in Kelly's den, set up my youtube of the song...it was 3:39 long. Psyched myself up for what I was about to do. I won't kid you, I KNEW 3:39 was impossible...But I wanted to do better than my first day's challenge when I was only able to hold for 1:2. I got to the first chorus...I felt good...the second chorus came and my arms were burning. I was in the raised plank position. I went down to my arms {position 2, elbows bent} and held for a total of 2:13 {1:48 in the raised plank position}. A whole minute+ than my first day...I'm pretty proud of myself!! If you're interested in joining the challenge, even now!, let me know and I'll invite you to the planktacular challenge! Five days to go... Oh, and so you know, I will NOT be going for the world record...for more on THAT...here you go! Former Marine officer who broke the plank world record. … [Read more...]
Guest Post: What To Do Before Training For A Half Marathon
Hey friends! Today I'm introducing my new friend Morgan! I met her a few weeks ago through my mentor and thought you all might like to meet her as well! She's a blogger over at Yellow Door Diaries and today she's taking over my blog! {I did not influence her in any way!} I think you will really enjoy this post she's sharing with us! First, a big "thank you" to Michelle for allowing me to take over her blog for a day. Don't you just adore her? If you are familiar with my blog, you may have seen this post about how I am training for a half marathon. (Note: I am not, and never have been, a runner. I don't even exercise regularly! I just felt that I needed to set a big fitness goal for myself to get myself in gear.) In addition to a few lessons I've learned so far (which you can read here), I thought it might also be helpful for anyone considering starting a training regimen to share some things you should do before you begin. Commit This one sounds obvious, right? Well, maybe not. Not only do you have to commit by actually signing up for the race (don't start by telling yourself you might sign up if training goes well - where is the motivation in that?), but you also have to commit to the training itself. It's time consuming and it takes discipline. You have to wrap your mind around dedicating yourself to those workouts. Find a Buddy This has been my absolute saving grace so far. I am horrible about making myself get up and go when I know I am only accountable to myself. Thankfully, I have a training partner in my neighborhood who runs with me during the week, as well as encourages me on our cross-training and off days. She's been wonderful and completely necessary for me. Invest You absolutely do not need to go spend oodles of money on new state-of-the-art running pants/tank tops/socks/head bands/watches/fill-in-the-blank-item. However - DO invest in a great pair of shoes. I would recommend you go to a running store and take … [Read more...]