What is normal?

Hey y'all I'm back!

What a crazy holiday month it has been.
We just got back from Iowa from our 3.5 week I guess vacation which it felt nothing like.
So glad to be home.  I feel like I've been running around with my head cut off ever since we were back.  Our trip didn't go as planned.
The flu and some other bug hit our family and we were down and out for about two weeks of the trip.  Let's just say I've seen enough and cleaned up enough vomit to last a life time.
My daughter even puked on the airplane on our way there.
That should have been a sign:)
We didn't get to see near the amount of people we wanted to or get to spend as much quality time with people that we wanted to.
If we weren't sick it seemed like they were:)
And I have to wonder what we were thinking going to bak to Iowa in winter when we could have spent it in Raleigh.
I think 3/4 of the days there was negative temperatures.
I remember it being 20 and sunny one day and we were saying it's so nice out. LOL
But it is what it is.
It was still a good time and our children go to spend time with their grandparents and cousins.
It was a trip we will never forget:)

Welp I managed to go to the gym twice or maybe three times when we were back.
I think I've been hovering between 153-155.
I honestly didn't watch what I ate and barely worked out.
I think being sick helped keep my weight down:)
I can tell I'm not near as tone was I was.
I think a lot of my muscle turned to flab.
So time to jump back on the wagon.
I need to hit 150 asap, then 145.
My small goals are my focus now.
So far this week things have been all screwed up.
My daughter seems to want to nap whenever I want to go to the gym and our toilets are broke and the repair people have come two different days right when I needed to head to the gym.
I can only go when daycares is open so that limits me a little.
Hopefully after this crazy week things will get back to normal.
Wait, is there a normal?  I mean with two kids nothing is normal right.

Anyways I hope your holidays were all good.
Starting on Monday I'm getting back to hopefully my normal workout routine and I will be back posting like I normally do.
It felt good to unplug for a while.
I didn't get on an actually computer once while I was in Iowa.
I got on my phone but basically I just checked my email and fb.
It feels weird typing on here but I'm sure that will last a whole 20 min:)
Anyway I hope the holidays didn't kill anyone.
I'm excited to get back to it and figure out what my new goals are for 2015.
I'm really thinking I want to hit the 140 mark.
Will see hopefully a new year and  a new me:) 

Stay positive,
Shelby

Try to survive the holidays

The holiday season is in full swing in the house.
I will start off by apologizing now.
I have not been updated as often as I would like.
My kids have been sick, now I feel like pooh, and we have been crazy busy on top of that.
I haven't experienced crazy holidays in a while.
I have tons of packing to get done by Thursday day this week a because it's time for IOWA!!!!!
So I will post on this blog but it probably will be minimal till mid January and might not be so fitness related:)
Here's some fun pics from our community Christmas party last night.
The kiddos had a blast and so did I.
The hubby was outta town so he was there in spirit:)

We have my hubby's xmas party tonight.
I'm gonna look smokin hot.  LOL!
I'll post pics.  This will be the first time I've worn a dress in a while.
And the first time I've worn something other then yoga pants or sweat pants two nights in a row,whoa watch out!

I still haven't gotten a chance to check into gyms where I'm going to be.
I need to. Working out outside in December/January in Iowa usually isn't an option.
And I know if I don't I will feel like a fat blob by the time we leave.

I will say not drinking is not an option over this holiday.  I'm going to be living with family for 3 weeks straight.
Drinking maybe what gets me through it.
Don't get me wrong I love and have a blast with my kin but sometimes there is drama ( wait I lied it's more then sometimes).
But that's what the holidays are all about:)

So what are some tips to keep the holiday weight gain down?

1. Drink your dinner - raising your class up to your lips and putting it back down counts as an arm workout.  Make sure you alternate arms;)
2. Bring a small child with you so consistently chasing them around.  You won't have time to eat.
3.Only eat at buffets so your consistently getting up and down to get food.

LoL that's all I got for now:)
I know I'll have tons of stories and advice on how not to go completely insane over the holidays.

Keep calm and breath:)
Shelby

Trip to Asheville, NC

What a whirl wind weekend.
We decided to take a trip to Asheville, NC this weekend.
We rented a cabin in the mountains.  It was fantastic!
If you ever get a chance to go I would recommend it.
I hope we get to go back this summer and check out more of the outdoor activities.
It was chilly out and hard to go hiking with my 1yr old.
We mostly just chilled and relaxed.
Drank to much wine, watched some football and hung out.

I had heard of this resturant called Tupelo Honey that was supposed to have southern food with a twist but was supposed to be hard to get into.
They don't take reservations and there's always a line.
Saturday was a little rainy and we got into town around 10:30am so I thought it would be a great time to check it out for an early lunch.
With the rain and it being so early there surely wouldn't be a line, right?
WRONG.
There was but turns out it was only a 20 min wait so we walked around a little and then got seated!

The food was excellent.
We ordered way to much food but it was all soooo yummy!
They give you biscuits at the beginning with blue berry jam.
They were to die for and I don't even like jam that well.
The kids were getting restless and hungry so the biscuits helped keep the them under control to.
We ordered fried chicken and biscuits and some breakfast bowl.
Me and my hubby shared both.
Not healthy at all, I know,  but it was worth it!
So if your ever in Asheville hit up Tupelo Honey! It's a must.
And I think they are opening on in Raleigh now in the Cameron Village area down by NC State.  Num Num!

Every since we've been back from Asheville my daughter has been sick.
I didn't make it to the gym yesterday because she can't go in the daycare.
I'm hoping she's feeling better today.
I need to go burn some calories off from the weekend.
I hope you all had a good weekend and are having some fun adventures this Christmas season.
I have a ton of them coming up so I'll be busy busy busy!

Peace,
Shelby

New Workout Strategy and New Hair

*New hair color*  

What cha think?  

It's growing on me.  

I feel like I need to get some self tanner for my face though

The darker hair makes me look pale.  

And a new shirt.  

Gosh I'm really horrible at taking selfies.  

You can tell I don't do it that often.

Thought I'd throw a pic of my yummy breakfast in here today.
I used left over veggies to spice up my eggs this morning.
They were delicious.
I need to mix that up to.
Plain eggs were getting BORING!
On a side note did you know asparagus makes your pee smell funny.
If you didn't know before you do know:) LOL

I found a new workout I've tried the last three days.  

I've had to modify it a bit but that's ok, it's whatever works for me right?

I got back on bodybuilding.com and decided to give their Rewired workout a whirl.  

It's more focused on burning fat and building muscle. 

The Erin Stern workout I was going to try seemed to focus more on building muscle and that's not what I need right now.  

Eventually it will be, but I want to burn some fat first. 

I might try to incorporate part of her workout into mine though because there was some stuff I really liked.

I've also increased my treadmill times this week.

As you all know, well if anyone reads this they would know that lately I have had a bad taste in my mouth for running:)

I had been doing basically 20 min on the treadmill 5-6 times a week.  

They were all mostly HITT workouts.  

This week I've been on the treadmill at least 30-40 min. per workout.

I'm going to keep that plan going and increase it to hopefully 45 min per workout when I have time.

Doing a 45 min treadmill workout plus weights makes for a long time at the gym.

I wouldn't really care but I can only put my daughter in the daycare there for two hours and I like to try to shower if I can before I leave.  

It just makes my life easier. 

So I'll have to play it by ear and see what I can work in and what I can't.

So hopefully I see some results from this new strategy for a couple weeks.  

I need to find a good ab workout to incorporate to.  

I'm not a fan of situps.  

I will lift arms and legs all day but situps, blahhh!!!! Not my fav!

Ok better get moving.
Have a good one!

~Shelby

Monday drag.

Well as you can tell my Tuesday stats didn't happen.
I do have them I just didn't get them posted before I left on Tuesday.
It was a crazy rush to get to the gym, finish packing my family, and get out the door.
Then I planned on blogging from my families house but that didn't happen either.
The internet was sketchy and I was on vacation I tried to unplug for a bit.
I will get that all posted tomorrow that is if I can find it.
It was so good to be home yesterday and sleeping in my own bed after our 7.5hr trip with the little ones.
Does anyone want to come unpack for me?
I have no desire:)
Trying to back into the routine today isn't going so smoothly but will push through.

On our trip my daughter discovered ketchup.
She was just sucking it off her french fries.
Tomatoes are one of her favorite foods so we thought she might like ketchup.
We were right!

My Thanksgiving was fabulous!
It was everything I wanted it to be after being in Germany for the last 3 years.
Did you know Germany doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving.
You'd be surprised how many people doesn't realize that.
It always takes people a second after I say my husband has to work on Thanksgiving to realize Germans have no reason to celebrate:
So I ate way to much and I know I'm going to pay for it.
My self control, yeah that  pretty much went out the window.
I feel like I've ate for the last 3 days. Wowzers!
But hey ya know what it's was Thanksgiving and I'm not beating myself up over it.
Today I'm getting this booty back in the gym.

I didn't workout at all why I was gone either.  FML.
I was at the gym on Tuesday morning before we left doing a tricep pull down with my right tri and I had a sharp pain shoot up through my shoulder to my neck.  I have barely been able to move since.  I've been popping ibuprofen like candy.  I hope it feels better today.  I'm at least going to get my leg workout in and some HITT!  Wednesday I'll jump back on the scale but I'm giving myself some buffer days:)  I want to drop at least 5-7lbs before we leave for Christmas.  I'm determined and I think this little Thanksgiving break was exactly what I needed.  Whoop Whoop.

I did manage to get some black friday shopping in. Whoop Whoop!
It was actually pretty awesome and not stressful at all.
Yes, I'm talking about shopping on the busiest Thursday and Friday of the year.
I went to wal-mart on Thursday to get some dvd players for the car for the ride home.
We picked those up and two TV's and were out of wal-mart in 1/2 an hour.
Didn't even have to wait in line to pay.
Friday morning at 7 me and my hubby went shopping to get home some work clothes.
We basically got half off on everything we bought.  It was great!
Then after we got home I decided to brave a trip to target.
This was about 10am.
I parked right up front and waited in no lines and everything I still wanted was still there.
Can you say awesome cause I can!!!!!

Hope you all jump back in after the break!
Make the most out of the weeks in-between now and Christmas.
You will thank yourself for it once Christmas rolls around.

Peace,
Shelby

Holiday Home Workout

Happy Monday!
Hope y'all had a grrrrrrreat weekend!
I sure did.
We celebrated my son's birthday on Saturday.
I made him a minion cake that turned out pretty awesome.

Who knew I was such a suzy homemaker? LOL
Yesterday we did a little Christmas shopping and bought a Christmas tree!  Whoop Whoop!
We left ours in Germany because it was a piece, so I had to buy a new one this year.
We got a small, skinny little thing that will do for now and that I can use as a second tree in the future.
After the holiday season is over, I plan on buying a humongously awesome tree on sale:)

Ok now to the workout stuff.

We're heading out for Thanksgiving so I need to have a workout plan in place.  I don't want to undo all the work I've done.
There is so much info out there on different at-home workouts.

I found a resistence band in our hall closet that I plan to put to use.
Not sure where it came from or how it got there but I was really happy to find it.
It will help with the workout routine while I'm on the road yo.

So here's what I have come up with.
When I read this, it sounds crazy but I think it will be a good plan.
I wanted to test it out this weekend but for some reason I didn't get to it.
So hopefully this afternoon or tomorrow I'll get the test run in and report back.
I'm really wondering how the rest periods will be.
Push through arrrrrgh!!!!!!!

5 min warm up(5 rounds)
-30 sec. jumping
-30 sec. standing toe taps on stairs

4 rounds
-stair jumps to top both feet (skip 1 or 2 steps your preference)
-resistance band squats with shoulder press 10-15
-wide stride sprint up stairs
-20sec rest

5 stair sprints

4 rounds
-elastic band good mornings 10-15
-criss cross rows 10-15
-100 toe taps in push up position on second stair (tap 10 first step alternating, tap 10 second step alternating)
30 sec. rest

5 sprints

4 rounds
-resistance band curls 10-15
-resistance band overhead tricep extention 10-15
-40 toe taps each foot, knee twists each leg in push up position on step.
30 sec. rest

5 stair sprints skipping one step

4 rounds
-Abs (wrap resistance band around door knob, hold band with resistance at waist and arms out; then twist away from door knob) 10-15 each side
-push ups 10-15
-3 sprints
30sec. rest

4 rounds
-resistance band donkey kicks on hands and knees 10-15
-side steps 10-15
-40 toe taps each foot, knee twits each leg in push up position on step.
30 sec. rest

5 sprints

Looks awesome, but we'll see.
Remember this week is results week.
I'll get pics and measurements done for Tuesday so stay tuned.
The last 4 weeks have been amazing.
I look and feel so much better and I got a ton of compliments at my son's party.
I gave myself a much-deserved pat on the back.

Shelby

Progress Pics!

Can't believe Thanksgiving is next week already.

I am overly excited for it.  

This is our first Thanksgiving in 3 years that's in America. 

I can't wait to just lounge around all day with the Fam!   

We're heading to GA for it so it will be like a mini vacation. 

And I'm getting my hair done to. I can't wait!  

It's gonna be epic.  Lol!

Since I'm heading out of town I won't have a gym to get ripped in. 

Well maybe first I'll check and see if any of the Fam has any guest passes I can use at there gym. 

Oooooh That would be nice. 

But I need to come up with a routine I can do myself at home.  

There's so many tips and tricks out there it makes my head spin just thinking about it. 

But I'll do some research and post my Turkey Vacation workout on Monday incase anyone is interested. 

Now to the good part. PICS!!!!!!

Here's my progress pics since I started this whole thing.

Definitely good changes!  

Big changes!   

I can't wait to do my final 4 week measurements and pics on Tuesday. 

I've worked so hard. 

Now just have to make that final push. 

Happy Thursday!!!!!

Peace,

Shelby

Weigh in Wednesday

Well another week down and the number on the scale finally moved again:)

Finally under 155!  Yay!!!!

I don't remember the last time I've been under 155. 

I worked hard for that number!   

First goal hit, now on to 150!  

I'm dreaming of the day I'm in the 140's.  

It used to seem impossible but not any more!

I will have to say the hardest part of this whole thing is making sure I eat healthy. 

For the most part everything has been clean the last 3 weeks. 

I've maybe had two dinners per week that are not. 

If we get home late or a weekend night we might order out and  it might not be clean. 

Or pop a pizza in the oven. 

What can I say I'm a sucker for pizza:)

But at least I eat it in moderation now.  

I have cut out almost all sugars. 

I don't crave sweets anymore or feel the need to binge eat in the afternoon while my daughter is napping. 

If I feel like I need a little extra I have a cup of tea with honey and that usual does the trick. 

I'm no expert but I really think you need to find what works for you.  

What I do isn't gonna work for everyone else. 

The pounds are coming off slow and usually that would be to my detriment but this time I'm focused, I see new muscles everyday(results), and I'm ready for a change.  

I'll post some transformation pics tomorrow to compare.  

Have a great Wednesday,

Shelby

What is happening to me?

Leg day was yesterday
Actually it was going to be my day off but son begged for me to take him to the gym so off we went.
I decided just to do some cardio but the gym was pretty empty (SWEET!) so I decided I might as well take advantage and get some lifting in.
Here's how I felt afterwards

But I feel great now!
I love leg day.
I wish I did legs more then twice a week.
Maybe eventually I will add and extra leg day in but right now I'm in a good routine and don't want to mess anything up.
I do want to add dead lifts to my workout but for some reason I am afraid of them.
I don't feel like I know how to do them right.
I just need to ask someone at the gym for help. I'm such a sissy, arrrgh maybe this week.

I noticed a weird change in myself this weekend.
I have been excited to workout.
I can't wait till the nursery opens so I can head to the gym to drop my kids off.
What is happening to me?
I have never been excited to workout.
When all I did was run it was a constant struggle.
I had days where I really enjoyed running and couldn't wait to go but it wasn't the way I feel about lifting.
It's fun, addicting, and I feel amazing when I done.

I love having a workout high!!!!!

With running you constantly have to add more mileage to get anything out it.
I remember when 6 miles was nothing for me, but I really remember is that gut retching feeling that if I didn't run 6 or more miles I wasn't getting anything out of my workout.
It's not that way with lifting.
Throw on some more weight and BAM your not gonna be able to walk the next day.
Like I've said before I'm so glad I decided to pick up a set of weights.  Definitely one of my better decisions in life!
And better late then never!
Here's how I feel about he gym now

Hope y'all have a great week!

Peace, 

Shelby