Hips Don't Lie

Besides the number on the scale, besides having to SqEEzE into my jeans, do you know how I KNOW I've gained weight??????
My hip bones disappear.
And yes, my friends, this IS a tragedy. I LOVE my hips. (hey that's not something you hear women say everyday! ha ha) Okay, really, I don't love my HIPS...but I love my hip bones. When my tummy is flat and I've been working out diligently and eating right, they are pronounced and quite shapely and lovely. They frame my hard-earned abs just perfectly.
But today as I stood in the dressing room at Old Navy trying on a size larger pair of white linen shorts, I realized that I CAN'T SEE THEM ANYMORE!
AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Their absence is honestly the "last straw" for me, I can't stand it! I refuse to let them be suffocated by layers of blubber. I've worked toooo hard to set them free to let this happen!
So what's my game plan? .....Beats me! I've had ENOUGH of making plans/goals/decisions and failing. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do about this, but I know a few things:
1. Even my precious hip bones aren't more important than quality time with M, G and B.
2. A hour+ a day of exercise is too much to ask of myself (at least until school starts back up)...but maybe I could give half an hour!?!
3. Dessert is a necessity in my life and while I might be able to cut back, I've proven that I am incapable of cutting it OUT...and quite honestly, if I have to live life without eating a brownie fudge sundae every now and then, --then just go ahead and kill me now! :o)

So...there you have it peeps. The let down post. The one where all you people who think so highly of me just got your "bubble burst". I'm sorry. I've disappointed myself too. But along the way, I've also learned some priceless lessons about family/parenthood/God's calling on my life. While exercise and healthy eating will ALWAYS be a big part of my life and a priority for me, from here on out, they are taking a small baby step down the ladder.

My roots...

This is a pic of my dad "blowing up" his bicep! He's been doing this since I can remember and if you asked any of his 19 grandkids what they think of when they think of Grandpa, I guarantee you this is what they'd say! hee hee hee...makes me giggle just thinking about it. Anyway, as you can see, this is were I get my preoccupation with bicep muscles. Isn't he handsome? No wonder I adore Kenny Rogers...:o)

Sweeet!

My good friend Rene loves cookies. I mean she really, really, REALLY loves cookies! She is practically a professional cookie connoisseur! She can tell you what kind of sugar to use, what kind of flour, how many nuts (LOTS!) , what kind of pan.... to make the perfect cookie.
Thankfully for her, she's also a workout fanatic..which was proven true just this morning as she told me about watching a TV show while she was on her AMT machine and then treadmill BEFORE coming to a weights class and a bootcamp class at the gym! Regardless of how many cookies she consumes, she maintains unbelievably fabulous abs that I try very hard not to envy. How she carried and birthed 2 children and didn't get a single stretch mark is beyond me. If I didn't love her so much, I might secretly be mad at her for that! ha ha
Anyway, in addition to being my workout buddy and good friend, she is also the mother of one of Brooklyn's best friends! AND...she has a daughter almost the same age as Grant too-Double Bonus! So, this means that we get to hang out a lot and call it "playtime for the kids" even though it's also fun time for us too but shhhh...don't tell our husbands. We only get together because we are being good mothers FOR THE KIDS--that's our story and we're sticking to it. :o)
Aaaanyway, it was funny when the other day as I was taking THE KIDS over to play with HER KIDS that we both thought of each other in the form of sugar! I baked her this cookie cake and she made sno-cones for me (which is my indulgent guilty pleasure during summer)!Anyway, since I snapped a pic of the cookie cake before Rene WE ALL devoured it, I thought I'd do a little tribute post to her...my good, sweet, thoughtful, hardcore, thrifty, cookie-lovin' buddy!

funniest thing...

So yesterday I was sitting in a crowded hotel lobby in Dallas, TX having my coffee and reading my Bible before I went to the hotel gym for a workout. I happened to be wearing my red and black Nike shorts and my black P90X tank top. I was reading 1 Corinthians, first chapter and was really into it...soaking up each word and really imagining Paul's thoughts and feelings as he wrote these words but for some crazy reason I glanced up from my Bible and looked at the large flat-screen TV on the wall in front of me. AND WHO DO YOU THINK I SAW??????????
Tony Horton himself--wearing the exact same shirt that I had on! HAHAHAHA! I let my eyes do a quick scan around the room to see if anyone in there watching had noticed my shirt. All eyes were on the TV. Ah...good. So I watched as TH showed the TV crew some exercises from P90X. He did plyo and clap push ups, reach high and under push ups and I REALLY REALLY wanted to get down on the floor and join him...but I refrained. :o)
After I finished my coffee and quiet time, I headed to the workout room where I ran for about 10 minutes, biked for about 10 minutes, did the stair climber and then worked through a few sets of this circuit
1) decline push ups 2) ab work 3) back flys 4) lawn mowers 5) bicep in and out curls 6) tricep skull crushers 7) chest presses
Ahhh....man did that feel GOOOD! By the time I went back to the room to shower, I was SOAKED. Who knew I could give myself such a great workout all alone with no guide, no video, no instructor, nothing. Just me and my muscles. :o)

Digging Deep...

With that title, you might think I'm talking about Insanity since their motto is "Dig Deep" but what I'm actually talking about is the workout I got in last week (in lieu of Insanity). I was "digging deep" using a shovel this time!
Yes, impulsively, my hubby and I decided to put another water faucet in on our land, near the garden. It sounded simple and painless....until we realized the existing water line that we had to tie into was about 4 feet deep and that the place we wanted the faucet was about 55 feet away! Still, I thought..."I love getting in a good workout beneath the bright sunshine! I can get exercise, a tan AND do something productive!" So I said, "Babe, why don't you go to the store and get all the pipe and materials we need while I did the ditch?" And as any smart man would, he said, "okay!"
The work that ensued following that naive statement was GRUELING, to put it lightly.
WOW! I knew shoveling was good exercise...but I had no idea how much work we had just 'bitten off'. I shoveled for about 2 hours straight in 96 degree direct sunlight with sweat pouring into my eyes and running in little streams down my entire body. When Matt got back from the store, I had a good majority of it done, but thankfully he grabbed another shovel and together we finished the 55 foot long x 2-4' deep ditch. I should have taken a picture of it because honestly, unless you are either a guy or a woman with a real knack for distance, you won't understand HOW BIG AND LONG that is!
Anyway, we got it done and the new faucet is great and something we will enjoy and appreciate for many years.
However, the soreness that I felt the next 2 days is something I've rarely ever experienced. Mostly just in my chest and core...but so tender that even the lightest touch hurt.
(Oh, I forgot to mention that on that very same day, I had started out my morning by teaching an hour of Weights and Core at the gym and then a 30 minute boot camp class...so I'd already gotten in a great workout.)
Anyway, all in all, it was an excellent workout and I wish there was a way to get that kind of amazing exercise every day while at the same time doing something productive!
Today though, it's back to Insanity for me. I gotta get this thing finished! I believe I'm on day 38 still. I'm just crossing off each workout on the schedule as I do it.
I hope you're having a good summer and still "pushing play"?!?! This is the perfect time to start eating lots of crunchy, crispy, tender sweet veggies and fruits!!!