work out

Grae loves our new elliptical and when not jumping off furniture, can be found working out. I've been wanting an elliptical for awhile and have been saving up money and checking Craigslist. I'm thinking that a lot of people had the same idea as every time I would inquire about one for sale, it was already snatched up. Finally I spotted this one. After some research to make sure it was a good brand (very high ratings!), Brian and Lauren went to pick it up.

I now try to get in a good 30 minutes after my circuit training workout and so far I really like it. My circuit dvd's are: Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred, The Biggest Loser Workout: Cardio Max,The Biggest Loser: The Workout - Boot Camp

All of them are challenging and I can really feel my body getting stronger.

getting fit

I was going gung-ho on working out before the plaque struck but I was caught in a rut. I love strength training and lifting weights but the cardio workouts were boring to me. I go for a 30 minute brisk walk but that doesn't really do anything.

So with my birthday money I bought the Wii Fit. I got it at Amazon for $89.99 with free shipping. At Christmas they were $150 because it was sold out everywhere.

Anyway, I've Wii Fitted (a verb now?) for 7 days and have lost 1 pound. (The game tracks your weight for you.) I'm so excited. Let me tell you, this is a workout. I do yoga, then strength training, then aerobics and then a balance game. The game keeps you motivated. I got up at 6:30 am this morning to work out. Do you know how incredibly unbelievable that is for me? ;).

The kids love it too. Ava's favorite is the running, Lauren loves tightrope walking and Maddie does the Hula Hoop. The Hula hoop game is killer to the heart and abs.

Anyway, this isn't a review per se but we LOVE this game and it was worth spending ever last dollar of my birthday money. I can see doing the Wii Fit on days it's too hot or rainy to go outside to workout. So off to start dinner and maybe do some skiing...

Dear Billy Blanks

Dear Billy Blanks,
I have been a huge fan of your cardio-kickboxing series, Tae-Bo for 7 years now. I'm not sure it is popular to "kick-punch" (as my 22 mth old son says) with you anymore but hey it works for me.

The reason why I'm writing is to confess my guilt. When you say on your advanced Tae-Bo dvd to "get your knee up past your belly button or you're not really working your abs" - well - I can't do it. You see, I'm 35 weeks pregnant and the best I can do is get my upper thigh to touch my stomach. Even then it's pretty pathetic.

Oh and while I'm confessing, I must admit that I can't do some of the floor stretches with you either. I either get dizzy or I can't get back up. So I either walk in place or check email kick something.

Well, I feel better getting that out in the open. I really do enjoy Tae Bo and it actually feels better than walking right now. After about 15 minutes on a walk, my lower back hurts but I can do 30 minutes of Advanced Tae-Bo and feel fine.

Thank you,
Your biggest fan (literally).

Not much happening...

I did not exercise yesterday as I was way too tired. I was so tired that for school we put together a 300 piece United States puzzle. The girls had fun and so did I! I attempted to climb Mt. Laundry but instead taught Lauren how to do her own laundry.

Today I felt pretty good so I did 25 minutes of Taebo Advanced and 15 minute upper body weightlifting. Then I put Graedon down for his morning nap, had a shower, good breakfast of 2 eggs and 1/2 cup raisin bran, tea and checked my email.

I finally climbed Mt. Laundry but didn't get all of it done. The cleaning bug came over me so I organized the baking cabinet, cereal cabinet, canned food cabinet, mud room pantry and my sewing room. I also did some sewing during Graedon's afternoon nap while the girls made chocolate chip cookies. What were the girls doing all morning? Cleaning their rooms of course. How they get so messy, I don't know. They sure feel good when everything is cleaned though.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to go for a walk with Grae & Ellie and take Brian with me. Then we are going to paint our dining room. We meant to get it done before Christmas but we both hate painting. So we are just going to do it and get it done.

I'll post some pics when we are done.

Snow day!

Yesterday I got out of bed with every intention of going for a walk. However, when I looked out the window there was 3" of snow and it was still falling. Snow in Oregon is a HUGE deal. We maybe get one light dusting of snow every year so this is a treat. Brian decided to stay home rather than risk his neck driving in this.

Instead of exercising, I made waffles for the kids, cleaned the living room, looked for the gloves and hats that were somewhere in the house. Lauren found them in our shoe closet so we set out to go play in the snow. Let me tell you, chasing an 18 month old in the snow is excersise! Grae loved the snow but didn't like that it got on his boots. At one point, I couldn't find him but since he was constantly saying "snow, snow", I found him pretty quickly. He was wiping snow off the van.

Here are some snow day pictures. Oh and I did excersise today. I went for a 30 minute walk on our snow covered sidewalks.
That is a workout. I was huffing and puffing by the time I got back. No weights today though.