This afternoon while we were watching Happy Feet...

Me: "Maron, would you like to go lay down and take a nap?"
Maron: "No thanks Mommy, I don't need it."
Me: "Would you like to lay your head on this pillow while we watch the penguins?"
Maron: "No thanks Mommy, I don't need it."


Whatever you say, Fidget. Whatever you say.

Movin' on up...

Steve and I have been talking for a while about switching Maron's crib into a big girl bed. She has a convertible crib, so all you have to do it take the front rail off and you have a toddler bed. We didn't want to take the rail off and leave her with nothing though, because I've noticed at night that Maron sleeps right up against the rail. I was afraid that if she rolled up to a rail that wasn't there she'd fall out of bed and get soured on the toddler bed right from the start. So we searched around online and bought a Kidco Convertible Crib Bed Rail. It assembles without tools and is attached under the crib mattress and provides a barrier to prevent falling out while still allowing a child to get in and out of bed by themselves. It arrived last week, and on Saturday we decided to make the conversion.

I confess that I was nervous about making the change. I've heard so many parents talk about how, when they switched their kids to toddler beds, the kids were in and out of bed all night long while they got used to it. Some out of fear and some out of stubbornness, but out of bed all the same. So it was with a little trepidation and a lot of planning for the worst that I put Maron to bed on Saturday night.

But guess what... she did AWESOME!!! She did not get out of bed or even wake up once during the night. And she was still IN her bed after she woke up and I went in to get her in the morning. Just laying there, looking up at me... she looked calm and relaxed like she didn't even notice a difference. I'm attributing her instant success to two things: 1. Maron is a ROCKSTAR and 2. Because she did not take a nap yesterday I think she was too tired at bed time to even think of fighting the change. I was so happy I took a picture of her in all of her Big Girl glory.



This isn't to say that we will never have any getting out of bed in the middle of the night issues, but so far it's been 2 nights in a row of sheer awesome, and I couldn't be more proud of my little Fidget.

After a full week of the Core Cardio & Balance recovery workout and a lot of careful consideration I have decided that, instead of going on to the MAX portion of this program, I am going to go back to the beginning and redo the first 4 weeks of Insanity.

Initially I watched all of the workouts for the MAX portion and, knowing full well that I would not be anywhere close to ready for it, I was going to do it anyway. But in my mind I kept questioning that decision and in the end I decided to take my husband's advice. I know full well that I don't have near enough stamina to attempt the MAX workouts, and as Steve pointed out: there's nothing in it for me to go into the 2nd half of the program physically unable to do it. It's just setting myself up for failure.

So I'm going to go back to the beginning. I am going to spend the next four weeks doing it all again, harder and faster than ever. My goal is that, by the end of the (2nd) first half of the program, I will be able to complete at least one whole workout, start to finish, without takings any breaks (something I have not yet been able to do). Because if I can't make it through the recovery worouts without resting 3 or 4 times, how the hell am I supposed to tackle Max Interval Plyo or Max Cardio Conditioning?

For Fidget fans everywhere...

Seeing as the last couple of child related posts have been all about Marida, I want to give all of Maron's fans out there a little Thursday treat. Here are a few pics I took of Maron yesterday. When we got her dressed in the morning I picked out the shirt and leggings and Maron took it from there. With her purple sparkly tutu, her purple Tinkerbell slipper boots and her purple hat she looked ready to take on the world. It's really quite a shame that we didn't go anywhere yesterday, because there is pretty much nothing cuter than a girl in a tutu and a floppy hat. :-)

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin...

Marida is three days away from the 10 month mark now, and she is a pistol! She has reached that fabulous point in development where she knows she can move, she wants to move and she's going to move, no matter what. This is something I want to encourage, of course, except when she is on the changing table and I am trying to change her diaper and/or clothing. When she is fighting to roll over and I'm trying to keep her flat to fasten her diaper... when she is stretching her hardest and I'm trying to (gently) bend her little arm to get it into the sleeve of her shirt.

Other than her extreme lack of changing table cooperation I am ecstatic with Marida's progress. She is pulling up on everything these days, and a couple of days ago she climbed the entire set of stairs all by herself. She's really gotten the hang of self-feeding and has about a 70% accuracy rate in getting food into her mouth. I'm still working on getting full acceptance of a sippy cup from her, but we've made some definite progress.

Marida is a very happy baby overall, and she is STILL an absolute joy to be around. Just ask anyone who knows her. :-)

Back at it!

Well I only ended up doing the two workouts last week... A head cold and a bad case of the 'I don't wanna's' kept me from doing any more than that. So imagine me surprise when I got on the scale this morning to find myself down 3 more lbs! That more than anything shows you the power of what the right diet can do when you stick to it.

I am beyond happy with the 3 lb loss because that puts my total at 25 lbs lost in the last 10 weeks. That's HUGE! I'm stoked, and more than just a little pleased with myself. I am now half way through my 2011 goal of losing 50 lbs by my 30th birthday, which is September 9th. I know that the next 25 is going to be harder than the first 25, but I know I can do it. (If we lived in the world that exists in my head you would be able to see my eyes blaze with ferocious determination when I say this.)

During my 5 day hiatus from Insanity I found myself really missing it. I have gotten into the habit of starting my day with movement and strength. I let Shaun T kick my ass before I've even had a cup of coffee. And even more than the physical gain of workoing out I missed the mental and emotional benefits. I like starting my day with a hardcore workout because then I feel like, whatever else happens that day, I've done my part to get one step closer to my goal. And when I sate my sweet tooth with 3 tablespoons of chocolate chips I like to feel like I've earned them.
The fact that I missed the workouts at all is hugely ironic to me. I've never been one of those people who enjoys exercising. In fact, I'm STILL not one of those people. I hate exercising. I just hate being fat even more. I'm just fortunate that I was able to find something that it challenging yet motivating to me, which Insanity is.

So with a fresh 3 lbs weight loss and the 25 lb milestone under my belt (and the pretty new Addidas cross trainers my wonderful husband bought me yesterday) I got up this morning and did my workout with renewed ferver. I did better today than I have before, and tomorrow I hope to do even better. I still have nowhere near the stamina and capability that the people on the dvd do, but I'm working my hardest, and it's paying off in leaps and bounds.

Sidelined

Yesterday was the first time since starting the Insanity program that I did not get up and do my workout. I went to bed Tuesday night feeling like crap and woke up Wednesday morning feeling even crappier. I seem to have developed a head cold this week. Not bad enough to put me on bed rest or anything, but bad enough that I am groggy and light-headed and feel as though my head is made of snot. So I didn't workout yesterday or today, as I still feel the same.

I am hoping to feel better tomorrow so that I can get back to my workour routine. It's amazing how off my game I feel after only two days. Normally I would berate myself for not sucking it up and exercising anyway, but I realized quickly that if I don't let my body rest and get better this head cold will turn full-body and then it will really suck to be me. Also, I feel it's irresponsible (and dangerous) to do hardcore cardio when feeling light-headed. It's not going to do anyone any good if I pass out mid power jump and crack my head on the floor.

I've decided what I'm going to do it finish out this recovery week as best I can and then I'm going to repeat it again next week. I think it will be better for me to do the recovery week again anyway to try to work on my stamina. I've previewed the workouts for the MAX portion of the program, and they are beyond insane. I couldn't even watch one whole disc without getting tired. The workouts are longer, faster and much more difficult. I would be lying if I said I wasn't increadibly scared of what's coming up. When I told Steve that he suggested I do the first 4 weeks over again to better prepare for the MAX weeks. And I had thought about that, but really there's no point. There is absolutely nothing I could do to be ready for what's coming up. All I can do it go forward and give it my best, which is what I've done throughout all of this program.

I've met my match...

In a perfect world, your children would know when it's okay to push the boundaries and when you really mean business.

In a perfect world, when you are trying to get your child to do (or stop doing) something, there would come into your voice a certain menacing pitch with a slight echo that would let your child know that they need to stop jumping on the couch RIGHT NOW or else the world as they know it will come to an end. Or maybe when giving a must-be-followed command your eyes would glow in a certain shade of amber that serves as a visual cue to your child that it is TIME TO GO TO BED or TIME TO GET OUT OF THE BATH. These cues would be recognized and instantly obeyed.

I came up with this idea this afternoon when fighting yet another battle in the 'getting Maron to take a nap' war. In the last two and a half weeks she has taken three naps. I was sure that today I would get a fourth out of her. After a long and exciting morning of acupuncture/chiropractor appointments and a meetup with my mom's group at a local coffee shop I was SO sure that Maron would nap. She spent a solid hour running around the coffee shop with two of her little friends, laughing and squeeling, and by the time we got home she was rubbing her eyes and her temperament took on that distincly 'I'm so tired I'm cranky' feel. I laid her down for a nap and I was determined that she would take it. She would take a nap today even if it killed me...
... Fast forward to two and a half hours later when she was still awake, switching between bouts of screaming, crying and chatting to herself in a calm and pleasant manner. At that point I broke down and got her up. She's alright for the moment, but she doesn't fool me; by 7:00 tonight she's going to be a cranky, obstinate little monster, and bedtime will have to come early for her. Again.

I was so sure that I could get Maron to fall asleep this afternoon by the sheer force of my motherly will. I've always been quite skilled at bringing my will to pass, but today I realized that I have met my match. Maron's will to not take a nap was stronger than my will that she should. Or maybe it's just that, because she's my daughter, she has some sort of immunity to my power.

It doesn't really matter either way. In a perfect world Maron would know exactly when/how serious I am with my desire for her to nap, pick up her toys and stop jumping on the couch. My eyes would glow or my voice would tremble or sparks would dance at the end of my fingertips, and Maron would know to obey me that very instant. But this isn't a perfect world, is it?

Let the Recovery Week begin!

This morning I did Core Cardio & Balance for the first day of a 6 day stretch. While it wasn't as fast and furious as Pure Cardio, it was still difficult. It's slower and more controlled than the other workouts I've done, but the intervals of each exercise are longer which makes it almost as bad (if not worse). So it still kicked my ass, but it kicked it in a slower, more genteel manner. At least I was able to do everything on there. I'm going to keep pushing myself this week, and my goal is that by the last day of this I will be able to do everything they do for as long as they do it.

I feel very good this morning. I feel good mentally because after 4 weeks of this craziness I have not swayed in my determination and commitment to it. I feel good physically because I am getting up and starting my day by moving. Even though I have burning muscles in places I didn't know muscles existed, I am working out and getting stronger every day. Most of all this morning I feel good emotionally. I got on the scale to discover I have lost 5 lbs in the last week. 5 lbs!!! That's amazing! In the last 9 weeks I have lost 22 lbs, and 12 of those in the last 4 weeks since I started Insanity. I am officially down a pant size now, and I'm so pleased with myself and my progress... if I was any more excited there would be two of me!

4 down, 4+ to go...

This morning I finished out week 4 of Insanity. It was Plyometric Cardio Circuit today, and I pushed myself to my limits, knowing that this was the last day I would be doing this particular disc. Next week is the 'recovery week'. It's 6 days in a row of Core Cardio and Balance, which I have not done yet. I will be screening the disc later today to see just what I am in for. If it's anything like Cardio Recovery, it won't be very recovery-ful at all. Every Thursday when I have done Cardio Recovery I have ended the workout drenched in sweat with every muscle in my legs burning. Burning in a good way, but still making trips up and down stairs a bit shaky for a solid hour. I will relish in the recovery week though, because after that it gets hard.

The second 4 weeks of the Insanity program are the MAX weeks, and from all the Insanity user reviews I've read on line, the max workouts pretty much make you want to die. Here is a taste of what my first max week (which will start on the 14th) is going to look like:
Monday: Fit Test & Max Interval Circuit
Tuesday: Max Interval Plyo
Wednesday: Max Cardio Conditioning
Thursday: Max Recovery
Friday: Max Interval Circuit
Saturday: Max Interval Plyo
I have not screened any of these workouts yet, but that is on the agenda for next week. Then I'll know better what to expect, and hopefully have time enough to let the FGIMH get out all of her whining and bitching before the real work begins.

All told it has been a long, sweat filled 4 weeks. I literally have never worked this hard for anything in my entire life. This is a hardcore program, and no one is more shocked than I am at the level of commitment I have reached with this. I've worked out through pain and exhaustion, each day as hard as the one before because I have continually pushed myself to go faster and do more. I have been digging deeeper for 4 weeks now, and I am proud of myself beyond measure. And even more than that, I have physical changes to show for it all! I am now down one pant size, with one more to go. I can't even express how good it feels when buying a t-shirt or workout pants I can pull the L size off the reack instead of the XL.

Insanity works, and it is awesome. It is definately kicking my ass each and every morning, but at least it's kicking my ass back into an old wardrobe.

It is day 4 of my no bread, no pasta March challenge. I have been stalwart and true so far, but I'm beginning to rethink my decision for this month's challenge. I'm wondering if there is honestly any point. I'm keeping myself on so strict a diet right now that all this month's challenge really means is that I can't eat any of the (presumably) yummy goulash Steve made with ground turkey, that has been sitting in the fridge taunting me all week. And it means no tuna fish sandwhiches for dinner, which is a shame because they are quite filling and full of protein. Other than that, there's really no difference between me not allowing myself any bread or pasta this month and me sticking to my regularily scheduled diet.

In retrospect I realize that this is the sort of challenge I should have given myself in any of the final months of 2010, when I threw carb and calorie caution to the wind and went hells bells for instant food gratification. That's when it would have actually made a difference. Now it just seems really annoying. Not because I have to avoid the bread and pasta, but because I have to remember to avoid the bread and pasta. At a time when I'm already busy remembering to measure how many cups of steamed broccoli I'm eating, to chug the water before and after every meal and to log in my spreadsheet every calorie I have consumed today, I have just added one more thing to remember. I've broken myself of the habit of sitting down to a snack of two pieces of toast with butter and jam - that's not an issue now. Now the issue it remembering not to eat the piece of crust I cut off of the toast I make for Maron.

I am now looking forward to my weigh-in on Monday. I'm interested to see if there will be any notable difference on the scale.