Sniffle, Sniffle

Sniffle. Sneeze. Snot. Sound gross? Welcome to my life!

For the past three days I’ve been battling a head cold, which I totally blame on the fact that I work at the germ factory. How is anybody supposed to stay healthy working around children whose parents send them to school when they’re sick because “she’s not going to feel any better sitting at home” or with coworkers who also come to work with whatever bug they’re coping with? Done venting. Sorry. Can any other teachers relate? Does this happen in other professions, too?

Anyway, back to the cold situation. I have gone through so many tissues. Thank you, Puffs Plus Lotion for giving my nose a softer alternative to more abrasive tissue options!

Since I was pretty much useless for a few days (since midnight on Wednesday when I woke up sick and, much to my dismay, realized that it was way too close to wake-up hour to take NyQuil), I was able to keep up with my goal of doing my Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 video each day. I told myself that I could take breaks in between circuits if I needed to, but once I moved a bit I felt a lot better. I just had to make sure to replenish fluids and keep the tissue box handy. I am loving this video so far, and it may all be in my head (amid other things), but I feel like it’s already paying off! I’ve completed five consecutive days; tomorrow will be day six, and I will take Sunday as a rest day before moving on to week two. I can’t believe that I’m already almost a quarter of the way through a challenge I’ve established for myself!

So, I guess that’s all I really have to report. I did return to school today, and it was good to see the kiddos. I could have taken another day just to catch up (and make it to the weekend), but the rest really helped me feel better. Gone are those days of working while sick and simply letting my body get further and further behind in its recovery. To everyone in the Blogosphere, take days off when you need them! Your body will thank you.

Some random notes:

• We never got our 8-10 inches of snow. Just a pesky two or three. Hopefully some of the snowfalls showing up on next week’s forecast will bring more of the fluffy white stuff.
• I have about 100 pages left in Kristin Hannah’s Firefly Lane. I am at that point where I am wondering what could possibly be left to happen, and I’m fearing the worst. I love it when a book gets me that way!
• I have a few chapters left in Mary Kay Andrews’ Deep Dish. I’m listening to this one, but I also own it in hardcover. I’m debating just finishing it up, but then what would I do during my long car rides this weekend?!
• I’m planning to do day two of Couch to 5k tomorrow, provided the rest of me is up to it.
• I’m so thankful for everybody else posting the awesome things they’re doing. It helps me not give into my own inclination toward laziness.

I’m not sure anybody is reading, but I’ll keep asking… Weekend plans, anyone? What goals are you currently working toward?

Day 2 on the Horse

Day two and things continue to be going in the right direction!

I've been really happy with my food choices, waking up hasn't been as terrible as it usually is, I've been motivated to get my 2nd workout in each day even though Mike keeps telling me to relax, and we might get 8-10 inches of snow! Not likely, but it would be awesome if we did!! I sure hope one of this weekend's workouts can be cross-country skiing!!!!

I did Jillian's Ripped in 30 again today. My goal is to get to it 6 days a week, following what Jillian says would be ideal. I've had some soreness, but it's like a little reminder all day to not waste the workout.

Mike and I went to spin class tonight. Our favorite instructor was leading class and I managed to torch 630 additional calories!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some time to post some pictures as well as some hilarious "overheard in 2nd grade" stories!

Off to bed... I hope an extra hour of sleep assists my body in its efforts to recover. Goodnight!

Back in the Saddle

Have you ever noticed how good it feels to do something for yourself, whether it's reading a book, taking a nap, getting a workout in, or buying a puppy? (I have never actually bought a puppy, but I bet that's the ultimate feel-good day.)

I got two workouts in today to kick off my "before I turn 30" efforts. One was done before school (Jillian is more bearable before I'm actually awake) and one after dinner (here I come, 5k!). All of this helped me so much as I went through my day. I made excellent decisions according to MyFitnessPal. I was just a little sharper. Sadly I am now exhausted or this would be a lot wittier!

I'm starting completely over with Couch to 5k. Seeing only 2.3 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill is a little sad, but I can't wait to look back and see the progress. Only one way to go, right?!

Day one has been a success! Bring on day two!!

Up Next… 30!

In honor of that big day that’s coming up in two short months, I am proposing two big plans:

1. Jillian Michaels’ Ripped in 30 video.

I’m not planning to do her diet plan, as I know what works for me, but I am challenging myself to do this every day for 30 days. I took measurements today and I can’t wait to share my results with you in February!

2. The 100% Irish for a Day 5K on March 10th (one week before the 30th Birthday celebration).

Chad, my big brother who races with me sometimes, has agreed to do this with me unless he has the opportunity to take some trip. I am sure that I can convince him to stick around… The race isn’t my only goal, though. I have always wanted to do a sub-30 minute 5K, and turning 30 seems like a good occasion to give it a solid try. So, goal two is a sub-30 minute 5K one week before my birthday.

I look forward to sharing my progress with you, Blogworld!

Has anybody else stuck to Jillian’s Ripped in 30? What were your results?

Back to Reality…

I stepped on the scale this morning. (Cue scary Psycho music)

I am not happy. I wasn’t realistic with myself. I allowed myself to hide the truth from myself in an effort to make myself feel better about the poor choices that took place between, well… Halloween and Christmas. I start the holiday season early. I allowed myself to ignore the fact that the pants were a little tighter, or that certain clothes were just more comfortable.

I haven’t gained back all of the weight that I lost last year, but I gained back two-thirds of it. That’s enough to aggravate anybody, and that’s enough to cause me to spring back into action.

So, back to reality.

Back to:

and

and

 

and

.

Back to myself, at my happiest, ten pounds ago.

Follow my journey. I’ll turn 30 on March 17th. (Eeek!) Will I make it by then?

Did your scale do the end of the year climb, too? What are you doing to take care of business?

Almost Done!

This week was long, and yet it was also short. Let me explain. It was a long week in the sense that I feel like I have worked hard for the entire thing. Sunday we took down the Christmas tree (hard and emotionally dissatisfying. I miss that big beast of a tree in the middle of the living room!). Monday was a long time ago it seems… On Tuesday my students were unruly, then I went to a wake that was an hour away, followed by dinner and playing with our friends’ son. It was a great night, but that was a lot to do in a day! Wednesday was work followed by work, not to mention the fact that I woke up fifteen minutes before I usually leave my house, in other words… 40 minutes late! Not a great start. Thursday (today) was another day of work followed by work, and tomorrow is another day of work followed by work. Fortunately tomorrow I get to hang out with my brother and maybe even go to Costco! Yay!

I have been having a great week following my Paleo plan, with the exception of Starbursts and sherbet, which somehow snuck in there on me. Hooray for less inflammation! Thank goodness for being able to go down stairs comfortably without my old lady knees puttin’ up a fight! Why do I eat other food? Oh yeah, because it tastes good.

I haven’t gotten my workouts in, but my energy level is finally back and I know that I can start adding workouts in anytime now. I look forward to getting started this weekend. Since nobody really reads this I can divulge my secret… I do not have any plans on Saturday. None. I plan to keep it that way. I work all day Sunday, and I just want to pretend that I’m a hermit on Saturday. It sounds heavenly, delightful, and slightly antisocial, because it is entirely selfish. If people ever begin reading this, they will think I’m awful.

Tonight I prepared this little blog for what I would like to add. I wrote the titles of the books down that I need to write reviews for, added the DailyMile widget, and put up some photos. Looking forward to living some of my life here in my little corner of Internetland!

I got all of my photos loaded into my Picasa and my Picasa Web Album, so I look forward to sharing Christmas photos! Maybe Saturday!!

How about you, do you ever crave a day to do nothing all by your lonesome?

Hooky

So, I’ve played a bit of blog hooky. Just didn’t post. Too lazy? Maybe. Nothing exciting? Ehh… Perhaps. Too busy? Likely. Did I think about it? Yes. So, Happy New Year, Blogworld, I’m back again!

I took a little time off from the regimen and routine to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. And celebrate I did…  I decided that following the Paleo deal wasn’t going to work with Christmas cookies, Christmas/Thanksgiving/Restaurant dinners, brunches, friends in from out of town, gifts from students and a tidal wave of other excuses for not following a diet free from flour. Then I realized that my clothes were not as comfortable as they had once been, so here I am again. Fortunately I caught myself before my clothes just plain didn’t fit, so I’m improving from the last time that I started sliding into the weight-gain zone! I’ll take any improvements I can get!

I am glad to report that this year Mike and I managed to take some pictures that I am really pretty happy with. Every year he takes me a on Christmas date of some sort. The first year together we went to see The Nutcracker, year two was a pretend trip to Disney World (because it was the first year in a long time that I wasn’t going there for Christmas), year three is totally blanking on me, year four brought a trip to Duluth to see the Bentleyville light display, year five was our dogsledding adventure, and this year was dinner at an awesome, unpretentious Italian restaurant called Scusi followed by a horse-drawn carriage ride around downtown Saint Paul and Rice Park. I am glad that this year we actually remembered to bring our camera and document the evening. I wish there was snow, but in the absence of snow we spent so much more time outside enjoying the lights and watching the skaters on the WinterSkate rink!

Photos… Will be added later. My camera battery died on me just as my upload was finishing, and now I have to start all over again! ACK! That’s what I get for not being diligent in my photo uploading!

Moving On…

I didn’t get to visit Disney World for Christmas and New Year’s Eve this year. I’ve been away for five years. I hope that next year we can pull it together and make it happen, but until then I will share this image from the Disney Store’s blog. Life needs Pixie Dust, right?

Now I am well into the New Year, and as other people are deciding that resolutions aren’t that important anyway, I’m ready to begin. In fact, I’ve already begun in some ways.

So, here goes:

Resolution 1: I felt the healthiest I have ever felt during April-August when I was doing a great job following a mock-Paleo diet and running regularly. It surprised me to feel so good and to enjoy running so much when I wasn’t in training for a race. That’s enough testament to a diet and lifestyle plan that works for me. Therefore I have already begun following this again, and I love it. For some reason being told that I can eat whatever I want from a set group of foods allows me to forget the foods that I’m not eating entirely. Goodbye carb-laden pastas and gassy beans! Hello clementines, beef bites, veggie sticks and a whole lot of other things!

Resolution 2: I am turning 30 in two-and-a-half months. Yikes! So, one week before my St. Patrick’s Day birthday, I will participate in this little ditty:

because I would really like to sport this at work the day before my birthday:

In the past I have challenged myself to do the ten-miler. This year I am not putting myself through that. The roads are usually icy around the lakes and I would rather get faster than go longer, especially because I don’t know anybody dumb enough to sign up to do ten miles with me during the unpredictable Minnesota month of March. So, I must be faster, which means it’s time to set a goal for a finishing time. I will do this 5K in 31 minutes or less. Hold me to it, Blogworld! Also, I will not have a bowling ball shaped face in the photos. Winter is not an excuse to emulate spherical objects.

Resolution 3: I know that the Do-Anywhere Complex and other strength training circuits made a big difference in my success in 2011. I will do a circuit set at least once a day. I wish I could find my measuring tape to do some measurements, because I think this makes a huge difference for my body.

Resolution 4: The Housekeeping Journal. More on this later, but I already love having it and using it! I feel so pulled-together!

Resolution 5: Get Sentimental! It’s time to share my sentiments with people. I am going to do what I can to spread caring actions, gratitude, kindness, faith, friendship and happiness. I hope to do this on my blog, at my jobs, with people I’m close to and with people I need to get to know better. I just want to do what I can to make this little corner of the world better, stronger, and happier. Please allow me to cheer for and care for you!

I’m glad that I had the time to get caught up here today, and I look forward to checking in more often. I finally have Live Writer on the desktop computer, which is much easier to use. I also have the Blogger app installed on my iPod for quick resolution updates. Hoping to add more quick workout updates, book reviews, and more as time allows from my desk, couch, Life Time, or wherever I happen to be. Looking forward to connect with more of the bloggers who have come to be my sources of inspiration and laughter first thing in the morning as I make my blog a bigger part of my life.

If you’ve stumbled upon this and hung in here this far, thanks for reading! Check back later to see photos of our Christmas date, a few other 2011 flashbacks, our Christmas tree, book reviews, possible recipes and other updates.

Leave me a note so I can stop by and see what you’re up to, also. Maybe answer this question: What are you doing differently in this New Year?

Motivation

Here's what's inspiring me today: