Hammer & Chisel: Day 22

Hey mamas! Do you ever have one of those days (or weeks... or months...) where you wonder if anything you are doing is getting through to your kids? You hope that you are setting a good example. You pray that it will all sink in even when there are few signs that it is. 

Today was one of those days that I said "Thank you, God!" When I first started this journey, my daughter was all about being active with me, but she has just not been into it lately. She has also been wanting tons of snacks and not wanting the veggies that she usually loves. Today, it seemed like it all clicked. I came out from my (failed) attempts to get my little guy to take a nap to find all of my workout stuff set out for me. Melt. My. Heart! 💗 This girl is so sweet! She also wanted to take some pictures of us both flexing. She wanted to take pictures of me and me to take pictures of her. We had lots of giggles and fun. Priceless memories being made. 

It was so tempting to just not workout at that point. My little guy wasn't very happy as he was refusing to sleep and my neck and shoulders were giving me trouble, but my girl set herself up next to me and did her own "workout" with her 7 minute trainer for kids app several times over. It pushed me forward, even when my little guy wanted to be held or play on the ground by me. My big boy upped my weight for step ups 20lbs compared to last time I did ISO Strength Chisel, but I did it and he played happily the rest of the time so I could finish. 
There are so many days as a mom that I wonder if taking the time during the day to do my devotions and workout is worth it. Trying to get up before my kids doesn't work (they just get up earlier) and in the evenings, I want to spend the time as a family and with my husband. So during the day is usually the "best" option for me. But it means using nap time or finding ways to occupy my kids to get those things done. It means they usually aren't uninterrupted. You know you've pressed pause a lot when your workout takes 10 min longer than it should. Or when it takes you 10 minutes to go through one paragraph in your study guide, you know that you have been interrupted a lot. So why try? Why do I take that time and not use it around my house or spending more time focused on my kids? 

Here's what I have come to realize. I AM taking care of my kids when I spend time in the Word and improving my health and fitness. If I don't do those things, I become very stressed and irritable and am not the mom and wife I want to be. I'm not the person I want to be! Is it worth sacrificing the time on these two "self-focused" endeavors? For me, the answer is absolutely. They make me better as a person and in my roles of wife and mom. And on days like today, there is that glimmer of hope that the effort will pay off. Maybe not today and maybe not even tomorrow, but my kids will know what my priorities are and that my spiritual and physical health make keeping all those other things possible. 

Oh, and today my girl made her own dinner out of things in the fridge: peppers, carrots, cucumbers, ham and a dill pickle.😁🎉

Hammer & Chisel: Day 13

So almost two weeks in! Saturday's are my measurement days. I have lost 6lbs and 2.5 inches between my waist, arms and legs. It felt like the last few days my body has totally ramped up. It may be the fact that my son has only woken up once a night the last two nights which is a full on miracle! Sleep, combined with being pretty well on point with my eating (95% as opposed to 80%) and killing it in my workouts, has yielded some pretty awesome results. I can't wait to see what the next 47 days have in store! 

So, the second time through Chisel Endurance, I didn't hate the Bulgarian split squat jumps quite as much, but I still despised the single-leg bent-over row into a pistol squat. I upped my weights an only got 13 on each leg the first time through but eked out 15 on each leg the second time through it just took me a little longer. "We can do hard things,"  and "My power is made perfect in weakness" have been my meditations over the last couple days and will probably continue to be. I have needed those reminders often when tackling the last week physically, nutritionally, emotionally and, most importantly, spiritually. If anyone tells you that losing weight is JUST eating better and moving more, I would gently and respectfully disagree. Yes, those are in general the basic steps you need to change your health, but any diet works for a short time. Anyone can workout for 2 days. BUT, sticking with it, making meaningful and lasting change? That is a spiritual and mental journey.

Hammer & Chisel: Day 10

Ok, this is the workout I have been dreading since I saw it. Agility... Not my forte. Clumsiness... I get a gold star for walking into walls and random furniture that hasn't moved. This workout, however, was AMAZING. It pushed me, but in a completely "do-able" way. I was able to push hard and follow through. It takes a lot for me to go, ok I liked that one, when it doesn't have any weights involved. Seriously, though, I LOVE lifting. This program has really shown me how much I like pushing my body to see what it can do. The best side benefit is being able to hold up my no so little dude.

Hammer & Chisel: Day 9

Brutal honesty... Life has been completely hectic for the last week with a baby boy that is teething, growing or about to hit some other major developmental milestone (beyond turning one next week, agh!!!!) and is up ALL the time at night. That makes mama tired and him extra cranky. The Mr. works in accounting/finance which means all the year end stuff is happening right now for him. That means 12-13 hours without daddy at home. An extra hour or two of daddy being at work doesn't seem like much, but it can be. Today was one of those days where things just worked and I had a super productive day. Part of that productive day was Max Strength Hammer... 

And shoveling the driveway...

And taking the kids swimming...

And that makes this mama one hungry mama.  

So, my eating fell off the rails at dinner time. I had planned a salad for dinner and leftovers for the Mr. and kids. The problem is I hadn't eaten in a couple hours and was trying to feed the kids. Nothing crazy, just mini pot pies loaded with veggies. Great for the kids, but not the salad I had planned. I ended up nibbling on it with my son because I was HUNGRY and couldn't keep him calm enough for me to take the time to get my salad together. What started as making sure it wasn't hot ended up being a shared meal. Overall, nothing wrong with what I are. With my goal of blashting through my current weight plateau, not the best choices. So, I am thankful that tomorrow is a new day to start fresh. It also reminded me that I have gotten comfortable with my containers. I need to go back to basics and wrote down what I am eating and track my container count on paper. When I wrote it down, I am much more likely to stick to it strictly. I am making a goal to capture all of my meals and snacks in a picture to add to my posts each day to better hold myself accountable.

Oh and that workout! How could I forget?!?! I am currently soaking my muscles, have an appointment for an adjustment and massage at my chiropractors office tomorrow and diligently using my recover after every workout. But am I sore? Absolutely. Every time I lift my son I can feel all the muscles in my arms, back and chest that have been working. Every time I traverse the stairs at my house... I can feel it! But  only one more day until rest day. Yay!!! 

Oh, and by the way, check out these muscles. Even at my most active as a multi-season athlete in high school, I never had this kind of muscle definition. 

Hammer & Chisel: Day 8

Muscles! Those are actual muscles on my arms, shoulders and back. 

At one point in life I could do a whole bunch of clap push-ups at once. I was a base when I was a cheerleader, lifting other girls over my head. Even then, I didn't have the shoulder and back muscle definition that I am getting now. I know it's barely a week in, but I am seriously loving the changes in my body, both the muscles and the 4 lbs lost.

Ok, but back to today... Chisel Cardio. I have done this workout before starting the program officially. Today, however I bumped up my weights. Tonight, I lay in bed resting my very sore muscles. I took a bath tonight trying in hopes of helping. I don't think it is any one workout that got me, but the combination. Right now I am dealing with post workout sore from today, second day "even more sore" from yesterday and "still? Really?" Sore from Friday and Saturday. It is the combination that has gotten my body all work down. So, here's to "Sore today, stronger tomorrow!"        

P.S. I love top. As both a budding fitness buff and a long time superhero fan, I saw this shirt and had to get it!

Hammer & Chisel: Day 6 and 7

It could have been so much worse!

Day 6: Chisel 

I got my day going with a great workout. It pushed me and I felt great until the decline push-up and planks with knee taps. Those killed me! Those kind of moves are always a reminder that just about a year ago, I had a c-section. I was completely ok with having a csection and the my recovery was pretty quick, relatively painless and an all around good experience. BUT! I completely underestimated how long it takes those muscles to heal after having been sliced through. However the other exercises reminded me that I am going to need to get some heavier weights sooner than expected. I stepped on the scale just to see where I was at after my eating noodles not being the greatest while battling a cold with soup. I lost 4 lbs and even more of my pants are starting to sag more than they did last week. Peggie's for the next 2 months because I am not getting any new pants until this program is done!

Day 7: I have been sore all afternoon, especially in my shoulders! I will say this, it would have been really easy to wimp out on this workout. Most of the moves are not technically hard, but if you don't push yourself with heavy enough weights, you won't get as much can out of it. I was excited by how well I pushed through using the heaviest weights I have. 

Today Carl Daikler posted that he wasn't quitting he was rebooting. I think tomorrow I am rebooting for my nutrition. My workouts have been on point, but my nutrition still needs to be dialed in a little more. So, here is to dialed in nutrition and continuing to push in my workouts.

Hammer & Chisel: Day 5

ISO Speed Hammer.

So thankfully this is one of the shorter workouts because, man, my kids didn't want to cooperate today! I think I paused about 5 times in 25 minutes!!!! I have done this workout several times leading up to the release of Hammer and Chisel because it was a preview on Beachbody OnDemand. This time I upped my weights and man could I feel it! I did realize that I desperately need t get some new weights. 

When I started the 21 Day Fix in June, I used almost every modification, and no weights. I slowly build up from 2 lbs to 5 lbs and most recently to 8lbs. I often combine my 3 and 8 lb weights for lower body exercises. Now, almost 6 months later I am doing a more intense program and looking at getting 10 and 15 lb weights. I am amazed at how quickly my body has been adapting. The only modifications I really use anymore are doing most plank/push up work on my knees as I continue to rebuild my core post c-section.

Excited to see what tomorrow brings!

Hammer and Chisel: Day 4

REST! Today was a day of rest. It was so needed. Both for my body and for my spirit. It is so tempting to feel like we are losing control when we rest or getting behind, but it is essential. Our bodies, minds and spirits need rest. It is how they process what has happened and grow. We know kids need their rest in order to learn and to be able to grow. But, we start thinking as adults (especially us moms) that sleep is a luxury. Depending on our phase of life, rest may seem unattainable, but we need to make time for it. This may not mean that I can get a solid 8 hours of sleep or a solid hour of Bible study and prayer time, but it does mean that I need to carve out time for those things. I need to prioritize them over other things. That's exactly why I am going to end this post here, lol. I need to get some sleep! We all know how important rest is, so I challenge you: FIND A WAY TO REST OR REJUVENATE THIS WEEKEND!

I wrote a post about the spiritual journey of this day that you can check out here on my other blog page. Grace and peace to you all.

Hammer and Chisel - Day 3

OUCH!!!

I never realized a 10 second hold could hurt so much!!!! So the workout for day 3 was ISO Strength Chisel. We would do 10 reps of an exercise hold for 10 seconds and repeat twice more. On almost every move I would hang in really well for the first 2 rounds and then feel like I was dying by the third. My eating was definitely better on day 3 too. I was getting back into the groove of how I need to time my meals after being so off during the holidays.

Just a quick one today, but I am going to revel in rest day for day 4!!!

Hammer & Chisel - Days 1-2

HEY ALL!!

Ok, so this new year, one of my resolutions is to be in the best shape of my life by the time I turn 30. That means I have just over three months. AHHH!!! SO my path to health has pushed me in ways I never expected, but I think this new adventure will push me even farther.

In order to achieve my goals, I have chosen to use the brand new Master's Hammer and Chisel program. These first two days have been a whirlwind, but I want to track this journey. I mostly want to document this for myself, but you are welcome to come on the ride with me. Here we go...

Day 1 - Chisel Balance

So, I got this program a couple weeks ago and started trying a few of the workouts. This was one of them. It killed me the first time. I barely made it through and realized that my coordination had severely declined. This time, the workout went better and I even made it through the last exercise without a break... no small feat!

But, starting off this journey right was more than just doing the workout, it was also setting up my day to make sure I got it in. That meant the alarm going off at 5:45, which is early for this tired mama with a little man that likes to get up at least twice a night still. But I did it! Bleary eyed, I mixed my Energize. I thought that since my little man had been sleeping until about 7 am most days that it would be no problem to get my workout in before he got up. I was wrong. As soon as I finished my Energize and got dressed he woke up and wanted to hang out with me. I got him set up with some breakfast in his high chair and some nursery rhymes playing. He clapped for me while I felt like I was dying and it kept me going! Such a sweet boy.

Beyond the workout, I had let my eating go some over the holidays. I didn't get all of my veggies and had treats here and there. I still watched my eating compared to previous holiday seasons and I maintained all of my weight loss to this point, but hadn't made any forward progress. Monday, that changed. I struck to my portion containers strictly until the evening. I had to add in an extra red (protein) container. I skipped on the recover because I wanted to save it for today after my plyo workout and for tomorrow's ISO strength workout as I am waiting for my next order to come in. If I had ever doubted the impact that Recover has on my ability to stick to my eating plan, yesterday erased them all. I had breakfast right after my workout, but because of the intense workout without the optimal nutrition post-workout, I needed an extra dose of protein later on in the day.

Day 2 - Hammer Plyometrics
Ouch! that about sums up this workout better than anything else. It made me push myself farther than I have in a while. Sagi Kalev was not joking when he said grab a bucket if you need it and get back to it. While I didn't need the bucket, I was doubled over quite often between reps. The high point, however, was when my daughter commented, "Mom, I didn't know you could jump so high!" This former hurdler and cheerleader used to be able to jump pretty well. I had gotten so out of the habit of taking care of myself physically that my daughter hasn't really ever seen me jump. My kids seeing me be an example of making the effort to be active and eat healthy is one of the biggest reasons I started this journey in the first place. While making the requested mashed potatoes for my family and not partaking was tough, it reminded me that through Christ I have to power to follow through on my commitments and make healthy changes in my life. When I am stressed, I don't need to turn to food for comfort, but the loving, all-powerful arms of the One True King. As I drove to pick up my daughter today, this song came on. I belted it out with the radio and wanted to share it with you too.

Thanks for following this journey!