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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Yoga would have been so much better

Yesterday should have been Yoga Monday instead it was Traumatic Experience and Go To Bed Early Monday. Here's what happened:

Yesterday started off like any other Monday. I got up, cleaned up the kitchen, bathroom and swept the floors (we had a lazy weekend), got the Sami up and ready for school (Nevyn stayed home sick with a really bad cough), welcomed my day care families, the usual stuff. I had an interview for my last open day care spot later in the morning and I think that went well. Kids ate, slept, ate some more, played, gave me a headache, all normal Monday stuff.

Yoga Mondays should be self explanatory but just to clarify, I go to yoga at the gym on Monday nights. It's the best part of Monday and a great way to start off the workweek. I had been looking forward to going all day. The week before I tried a different class at a different 24 hour fitness. I had been taking the same class for a few years and I had gotten kind of bored. I needed to switch things up a little. I loved the "new" class and was even sore the next day so I was really looking forward to going again.

My last day care angle left right around 6:30. I changed my clothes, got my stuff together, said good bey to my family and headed out the door. I was half way to my usual gym when I realized I was going to the wrong way (my new class is at the other gym...). I thought about just going to my old class since I was almost there and backtracking to the other gym would cut into my treadmill time. But then I remembered how great  I felt last week so I got into the turn lane to go east onto Hurley instead of west. Later I would realized that God was trying to save me some grief and I should have just gone to the old class.

Hurley is a busy street for both cars and pedestrians so I'm always on the lookout for the unexpected and last night wasn't any different. I was about two blocks away from Watt when I saw someone walking a dog on the residential street coming up on my right. Well, I didn't really see them as much as I saw the reflective stripes on the man's pants and on the dogs leash. (The dog had very dark fur and the man was all dressed in either dark blue or black.) I saw them approach Hurley and stop at the corner. Everything seemed fine. That is until the dog got away from his owner and ran out into the street, right in front of my car.

I slammed on the brakes and tried to swerve but there wasn't much room due to oncoming traffic. Then I heard the THUMP. I hit the dog! I HIT the DOG!!! I froze, I was afraid to move the car. What if the dog was laying there in the street, I didn't want to do more damage than I already did. The owner yelled that it was safe to move. I pulled over, got out and looked, but didn't see the dog. The owner came over to me, thanked me for stopping and showed me what was left of the leash. He said the dog broke it before running into the street. Then he ran off after the dog. A neighbor who came out to see what was going on said he saw the dog run off down the street after crossing Hurley.

I stood there for a minute. I didn't know what to do. I got my phone out and started to text Jeremy the entire story. He squeezed in four words to me between my frantic typing, "Come Home Now Please". After I pulled up in the drive way I showed him where the dog made contact with the car (by the the right headlight). He was looking for damage, of course the car was the last thing I was thinking of. "No damage" he said. "Just a little bit of blood, and look, some fur". I just about threw up right there in the front yard.


I couldn't have felt worse about the whole thing. I know it wasn't my fault and I did everything I could have but the guilt over hitting that dog is eating me up. I really hope he's okay. I love dogs and I've always had dogs growing up and as an adult. I really wish I had just gone to my old class...


Needless to say, yoga was out for me and instead I cuddled up with Jeremy in bed, turned off my phone (sorry I missed your text last night, Jamie) and had some Friends therapy, we're on season three right now. I sincerely hope you all had a much better Monday night than I did.


         

Monday, January 30, 2012

my sweaty weekend

Have you ever noticed how things seem to simply workout sometimes? It's great! Sometimes it's really big things that seem to fall into place, like money for groceries or to fill up the gas tank. Other times it's small, almost insignificant things like a gap in your schedule just in time to get invited to a movie. Over the weekend I had such a situation and I want to share it with you.

A while back I started going to my gym's body pump class. It's a weightlifting class and I got addicted to it. I was going every Tuesday evening for a while but then the gym's class schedule changed and my class was moved from 7:30 to 6:30. I was pretty upset about this because even though I live really close to the gym, my last day care kid(s) don't leave till closing (6:30) and there was no way I could make it. (It's always a really full class and I used to go right after work so I could get on the class list before it filled up.)

Last Tuesday Jeremy covered the last half hour of day care so I could make it to my long lost body pump class. It was so great to be in there again! I knew I wouldn't be able to lift what I had gotten myself up to when I was a regular body pumper but that was okay. I did pretty well though, better than I had expected. The instructor was telling us all that to really get the full benefits of body pump, we should try to go to two or three classes a week. I knew there was a class on Saturday mornings at 10:00 so right then and there I decided to go to that class too.




When I checked in at the gym on Saturday I was told that, as part of a promotional thing, I could up grade my gym membership to a "Super Sport" membership at a discounted price. I thought about it during my workout. There were only two super sport gyms that I knew of, downtown and Folsom, and I wasn't sure if I would really use the upgrade. But... if I did upgrade, I could workout on Sundays after dropping the kids off at church (Folsom Landmark Baptist) for Sunday school and 9:30 and be back in time for Sunday service at 11:00. I decided to go for it.

When I got home (after a 3 mile neighborhood run) I checked the group class schedule for the Folsom gym and guess what? There's a body pump class that starts at 10 on Sunday mornings! Yep, that's right, yesterday I went to another body pump class. I had to leave class about 15 minutes early to get to church and change but it worked out great and will become my normal Sunday morning routine.






Friday, January 27, 2012

Random Ramblings

Last night I had a great workout. I was able to run three minutes at a time at an easy 11:06 pace. My legs were still sore from Tuesday night's body pump class so my first few strides of each set where a little awkward but I got my rhythm pretty quickly. I only had to push myself a few time toward the end of the workout to finish my three minutes. I went into the gym that night with the intention of an easy workout. I wasn't going to put any pressure on myself (like I have been since the beginning of the year) and everything seemed to fall right into place. Because it was an easy workout, I gave my inner Bob the night off so it was just me in my head last night  and I still was able to push through the tough spots. It's good to know I'm not a total push-over.

I let my mind wonder while I was on the dreaded treadmill. I listened to my ipod, glanced around at the different programs on the TV's in front of me and I people watched. I love people watching. I'm not sure what's so fun about people watching but the gym is a great place for it. There was one bustarific chick on one of the elliptical machines in front of me. She wore a purple sporty tank top that was a little too lose. If it were me, I would have worn a sports bra underneath. Let's just say she was flashing the gym a generous amount of side boob.

I'm a little on the nutty side (which is odd since I'm allergic to nuts) and when my mind is left to wonder freely I find myself thinking about some off-the-wall things. Not necessarily interesting things but random and out-of-no-where things. For example, there was some kind of U-Jam thing going on in the group X room so there was a bunch of girls coming out of the room wearing their dance clothes. Mostly baggy red pants and ripped T's with camis and sports bras underneath. I found myself wondering who decided that was the thing to wear? I've never gone to a U-Jam class but I'm pretty sure it's high intensity and a major calorie buster. So why would they wear those kinds of clothes? They look like the just jumped out of a music video from the 90's. But at least they look cute wearing it. I would look like a total and complete idiot. And I might be one, but I don't want to look like one. Of course, it's more likely that I just don't have a clue about what's cool.

That's when I look up at the TV showing Idol and realize that those are some people who truly don't have a clue. I was on a treadmill that didn't have an earphone hook up to the TV's so I couldn't hear any of the auditions but just by watching some of them I knew which ones were sent home. And what is with the gold shinny leggings??? Who does that look good on?


Oh, that reminded me...  I went to Chuck E Cheese with my kids over weekend (it was a birthday party, I would never just go there) and I saw more huge asses stuffed into leggings than I ever saw in the 80's. They should be called the cellulite highlighters. To make it worse, they have prints on them. Like a bright leopard print is going to do anyone any favors.

just picture my hair up
Now that I've gotten all judgmental on what other people are wearing I should tell you what I strut around in. On an average day I wear jeans and a T shirt. I wear a lot of race shirts and concert T's. Nothing fabulous but of course I spend my day as a walking snot rag for kids under the age of four. My hair is up most of the time in either a pony tail or a bun and it's almost always messy.  I don't wear make-up because my skin is too dry and sensitive and I rarely wear any jewelry (wait-does my marathon medal count as jewelry?). However, I do take take time to carefully pick out what sweatshirt I'm going to wear. See, I'm a mess just like everyone else. I can dish it out and I know I deserve the same (or more) right back.

This is what the inside of my head is like. Lots of random topics that get stuck together in one long thought. My husband is constantly asking what I'm talking about because I switch subjects so fast and seamless (maybe he said senseless) he has a hard time keeping up.    

  

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Anna's guide to going organic

I made the decision a while back to start eating more organic foods. I started with organic canned goods and frozen veggies and now my house hold is almost 100% organic. My husband and I don't make a ton of money so I know that going organic can really be hard on the checkbook. However, the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to make the changes we needed to in our lives in order to afford better, non-toxic, whole foods. Still, it's hard to go to the supermarket and put organic food in the basket when there's a non organic twin that's significantly less expensive right there on the shelf next to it. I feel it's really worth it in the long run to go the organic route and that's why I've made this little guide.

Note #1: These tips are numbered but they aren't really in any special order.

Note #2: I got a lot of this info from listening to Jillian Michaels and reading her books. You can laugh, it's okay, I'm used to it. But she really does a ton of research on this stuff. She's not just a trainer, she educates herself and talks to the experts. (yes, I know I'm a Jillian groupie)



{Anna's guide to going organic}


{1} Look for store brands ~ Many stores now have their own line of organic food. (yay!) I shop at Raley's and Bel Air, family of fine foods (plug: my husband works for the company) and their organic bran is Full Circle. They have produce, canned goods, frozen foods, coffee (I like Bean Tree organic coffee the best though, shhh), meats, pantry items, you name it.

{2} Buy seasonal produce ~ Whatever is in season will be less expensive because there's more of it. The price also reflects how far products have to travel to get to where you are. It'll cost more to get summer fruit in the middle of winter when it has to be shipped from South America. You will even spare us some pollution too.

{3} Shop locally ~ Farmers Markets are all over and they are really great on many fronts. You'll help support local farmers and their families, you'll be shopping seasonally and you'll know where your food came from and all at a great price. It can be very expensive for family farms to get the USDA organic certification. Instead of posting "organic" they may have signs that say "no pesticides". Or ask the farmers if they use pesticides and sprays on their crops.

{4} Thin skin vs. thick skin ~ Not all of your food needs to be organic. If you are going to eat the skin such as apples, grapes and berries, then buy organic. Foods like oranges, melons, pineapple, anything that the thick skin gets peeled or cut off before eating can be non-organic.


{5} Dairy ~ If you're going to eat dairy it really should be organic. It's no wonder why our kids are reaching puberty so early. They are loaded up with growth hormones from about the age of one year. That's when they start drinking cow's milk. The hormones they feed to the cows go right into the cow's milk. No shocker, why again don't breastfeeding mothers guzzle wine at the end of a hard day? Oh yeah... Why would a cow be any different??? Anyway, when buying cow's milk, cheese, butter, go organic. Eggs are okay if you need to pinch pennies. I don't really understand why but that's what I have heard.

{6} Shop on line ~ I do this a lot. The less I'm actually in the store the better I stick to both my list and my budget. This also stops my eyes from wondering around and seeing the price difference between organic and non-organic foods.

{7} Shop in the "health food" section ~ If all you see is organic and healthy options then it's hard to be tempted by non-organics. However, a word of caution, just because you are looking in the "health food" or "natural food" section of the store, not everything in there is organic. Read the labels and look for the USDA organic seal.

{8} Remind yourself of why you're going organic ~ This really helps me. When I'm tempted to reach for a non-organic item, I think about the chemicals and the known carcinogens that are added to that food. It makes it so much easier for me to make the organic choice. I also do this when we are in the car and everyone is hungry and I'm tempted to stop somewhere for a quick, no-cook dinner. Just think about the bigger picture.

{9} Grow a garden ~ I have not done this yet but it's one of my goals for 2012. If you grow some of your own fruits and veggies than you know they're organic, you don't have to pay for them and you will be eating seasonally. (One of my nieces is selling magazine subscriptions with her girl scout troop and form her I ordered Organic Gardening magazine. They haven't started coming in yet but I'm really excited about it.)

{10} Try a service ~ I use Farm Fresh To You. For $30 a box I get a box of fruit delivered to my house once a month. They have different sizes and you can choose how frequently you get a delivery and what kind. There are fruit boxes, veggie boxes, combination boxes and on the website you can limit the kinds of produce to ones you like or want to try. It's a really great thing. check it out their web site for more info. http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/index.php


Please know that I know that I am not perfect! My family doesn't eat all organic. My husband and son refuse to give up their pop tarts, both my kids love fiber 1 bars and they drink vitamin water in their lunches every day but I do what I can. I have listed below some of the organic companies I really like and trust. If you know of some more companies, please share them in the comments section below.

Some of my brands:



















Wednesday, January 25, 2012

SSS=Success!

Last night at the gym I tried out my new BYOB workout. If you don't know what I'm talking about then you should scroll down and read yesterday's post. For those of you in the loop, it was a success. I thought the workout went well after I was finished but when I woke up today I couldn't help but notice the signs of a great workout.

The three S's (SSS) of a great workout:
S #1) Stiffness - If you try to move a part of your body when you wake up the next day, and it doesn't move when you tell it to, you had a good workout
S #2) Soreness - If you have to use your arms to lower yourself on to the toilet seat because you legs hurt too much to take on your weight on their own, you had a good workout
S #3) Sleep - If you wake up when your alarm goes off and don't immediately hit the snooze because you're feeling good and rested, you had a good workout or you new sleep aid is working great


To be fair, not all of my soreness came from my inner Bob. I was already a little sore from trying a new yoga class on Monday and I was able to go to my favorite class yesterday. If you haven'y tried BodyPump I highly recommend it. Ever since my gym changed the time from 7:30 to 6:30 I haven't been able to go but, my wonderful, amazing and extraordinary husband offered to cover the last half hour of day care for me so I could make the class. It was so great to be in there again! By the time we had to do the last set of lifts my legs where shaking.

now taking bets on how long
it takes to look like her
After BodyPump I found a treadmill and got to work on my three miles. Inner Bob said to strive for small goals so instead of running three to five minutes at a time (like I used to do) I only ran for one minute at a time then walked for about 45 seconds. Every set I pushed up the speed a little bit and for the first time in a long time I felt a little bit of success on the treadmill. At one point I felt that 45 seconds wouldn't be enough time to recover. I think the real Bob would have acted like he didn't hear me and had me continue with the current splits. However, my inner Bob said it was okay to walk an extra minute but I would have to skip to a much faster pace for my minute run. So that's what I did. At about two and a half miles into the workout I started to feel really tired. It would have been very easy to stop there but inner Bob said "No, now you're going to do something you think is impossible. You're going to run your minute at 7.2. " Guess what? I did it. I mean, don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy and I was watching the clock the whole time but I did it. The last 20 seconds was the hardest but I made it through.

Today is a cross training day. I'm hopping to get in the pool with Jeremy. I love swimming with him. He's not just great company be he's also he's an excellent swim coach and teacher and if I'm going to do a triathlon this year I'm going to need his help. If he can't go with me tonight I'll work on the bike or stair climber. I really don't like swimming alone. I don't mean alone in the pool but alone as in without a buddy. It probably has something to do with how I feel about my body but, whatever the reason, I'm not ready to face it yet.

I hope you all find something that makes you happy and healthy today.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

BYOB: Be Your Own Bob

 One of the reasons I like going to classes at my gym is for the support and the "you can do this" attitude from the instructor and other participants in the class. Unfortunately my gym doesn't have many classes I can go to due to my work schedule. This means I'm left to my own devises during my workouts. For the most part I don't have a problem with that. My goals keep me going and the idea of being healthy and showing my  kids how to live a healthy lifestyle is enough to keep my motivation strong. Up until recently that is.

Last night I was on the treadmill (yuck, I know) before one of the few classes that I  can squeeze in after work (yoga). I had a decent warm up and then picked up the pace for a run and that's where I started having problems. I knew I could run longer than I did but as soon as it got even just a little uncomfortable, I would slow back down to a walk. Even though I was frustrated with myself, I couldn't seem to push myself to go farther. I would hear my inner voice say, "come on, hang on, keep going" but that voice seemed to be getting weaker and weaker and eventually it was a whisper and pretty easy to ignore.

I'm a little bit of social person and while I enjoy working out on my own, I think I would be improving at a better rate if I had someone with me to help keep me going. I have looked into some running groups around town. I think it would be a great way to meet new people (I'm in need of a friend that's here in town) and to be around better runners who will keep me motivated and encourage me when I need it. However, I have the same problem as I go with the classes at the gym. I work too much. Most groups meet a couple times a week and then again on the weekends for longer runs. That's perfect except I'm working when they're running (with the exception of the weekend runs).

I was thinking about my little issue today while working (duh) and I realized that I need to learn how to make that inner whisper grow back into a loud, confidant inner voice. (It's either that or get a personal trainer or running coach and I can't afford either.) Now I need to figure out what this inner voice needs to sound like. It can't sound like me because, let's face it, I'm a push-over. If you know me in real life than you knowThe Biggest Loser is the only TV show I actually watch every week so it would make sense to have my inner voice be a BL trainer. I'm a little bit of a Jillian (Michaels) groupie so I could use her voice in my head but she's a little bit on the scary side. It would be pretty sad if I scared  myself with the voice in my head. That's when it hit me. I need to be my own Bob. Bob Harper is not as scary but I would do my best to do what he says. He's no push-over like I am and doesn't sound like a drill sargent the way the Gorgeous Dolvett Quince does (yes, that's his name around my house. My goodess!!! Have you seen him??? Look up and to to right! YUM! Anyway....)

C'mon Bob, let' go for a run!

Tonight after work I will try out my first BYOB (Be Your Own Bob) workout. I'll report back. I really hope this helps. I will set myself up with a goal and Bob (my new inner voice) will hold me to it. Wish me luck!
   

Monday, January 23, 2012

Anna talks football - sort of

Sacramento is under water. We finally got rain and we're getting a lot of it. Today is very wet and gray. It seems appropriate since many of my fellow Sacramentites (?) are mourning the San Francisco 49ers' loss yesterday. You know, the game that sent the New York Giants to the Superbowl? Yeah, that one.




I'm not a big football fan. (It's not baseball after all.) I come from a 49er family and grew up hearing about Joe Montana, Jim Miller, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott and later, Steve Young. It would make sense for me to be a 49ers fan.  It helps that I'm a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan and I love the city.




I could also easily be a New York Jets fan. I went to New York for the first time last September and I absolutely loved it there. I know, now your question is why the Jets and not the Giants, right? The answer comes back to family. My dad is a Jets fan. I don't really remember the story behind his choice in teams but I'm pretty sure it was a good one. Both my sister and I are "daddy's girls" so picking my dad's team would be something I would do.





           VS.





A couple of years ago I decided to try to learn the game, choose a team and get into the football season. I thought it would be fun to not pick the Niners so that "my" team could go up against "my family's" team. At first I chose the Miami Dolphins. It seemed like an obvious choice for me. I love dolphins and the team colors (aqua and orange) are on my list of favorites. The trouble with this team started when I went through the roster to pick out a favorite player. I couldn't find one that met my requirements. So I was off to find a new team.



Requirements to be my favorite player:
1) Be one of the "better" players on the team
2) Be somewhat attractive


I settled on the Denver Broncos. I liked their mascot, colors and I found a favorite player, Matt Prater. I celebrated my new team and got a Broncos shirt and sweatshirt and even played Jeremy's NFL video games. Sadly that's about as far as I got with football that year. I think I watched one game early in the  season but my interest dwindled. 










I think I'll just with baseball and let my football interest start and end with Keanu and "The Replacements". Wait-what team was that???