Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Turbo Fire 4 Week Photos and Measurements

Time flies when you're having fun, right?  One month of Turbo Fire under my belt!  So I knew going into Turbo Fire, and one of the reasons that I chose to buy this program was because it is VERY different from P90x.... but aside from a little synopsis and a couple sponsored trailer videos here and there, I just knew that it was high intensity cardio and sort of aerobic like.... I was definitely not prepared for week 1.

Week 1, I was SO lost!  A)  I came off a fitness high after P90x.  The 1st week out of P90x, I would go out for a "jog" around our neighborhood and run 4 miles.  I was feeling like I was in the best shape of my life.  And running 4 miles is no joke, so I thought little 30 and 40 minute Turbo Fire cardio classes would be a breeze.  (Spoiler alert- they aren't!) B) It is not only aerobic like, it is actually very "dancey".  Now, I don't think I'm that old, but let's just say, it's been a while since I've shaken my booty like Chalene Johnson does.  C)  Because it is a brand new program for me, I didn't know the routines yet, and Chalene doesn't talk you into it.  You are thrown in with the wolves to kind of figure it out.

Week 2, in a lot of ways was still difficult for me.  Turbo Fire is comprised of several DVD's with several "classes" (or routines.)  The way the schedule is set up, you're hopping around different cardio classes and HIIT classes, so when I entered week 2, I still wasn't feeling all that confident in knowing the routines.  I wanted to give my 110% intensity, but sometimes that's hard to do when you are constantly trying to figure out what's next and anticipate it.

Week 3, FINALLY caught my groove!  Getting the hang of the routines, and when prompted if I want to "fire up the music," I can select "YES!"  Oh my, once you know the routines and you can fire up the music, it is SO SO fun!  For real!  It's still exhausting, don't get me wrong, but the way she changes up the routines with the changes in song, you're constantly getting hyped for the next one.  My only complaint thus far is that some of the music has bad lyrics..... or I should say, lyrics that our family doesn't typically listen to and I don't want our boys repeating. 

Week 4, still grooving and feeling the rush of having one month under my belt!  I do have an injury that I am currently dealing with however.  Par for the course when you're active. Plantar Fasciitis.
Basically---  
"Plantar fasciitis (PLAN-tur fas-e-I-tis) involves pain and inflammation of a thick band of tissue, called the plantar fascia, that runs across the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes. Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common causes of heel pain." (Mayo Clinic)
It flared  up shortly after I began Turbo Fire, I have my good days and bad days and am doing my best to persevere through.  Oddly enough, when I'm working out, once my body and my muscles are warm, it starts to feel better.  The hardest times are the next day when I wake up after my feet have rested, and getting motivated to get started in the working out when your foot is hurt.  A lot of people deal with this in both feet, praise God, it is only my right foot.  From what I've read online, that probably has something to do with hip placement/how I walk or move, I place more strain on one foot than the other.

But without further ado, here's how I'm looking and measuring!






So not a huge change this time around, 1 inch off of my waist and 5 pounds down in 4 weeks.  The rest of my body pretty much stayed the same.  I'm honestly really surprised that my thighs and hips didn't reflect any change in measurements, because the past couple weeks my pants have started to sag and I've fit into pants that I haven't worn since before kiddos which I am very excited about it.  Overall, I am VERY pleased with my results with Turbo Fire thus far, there is still a layer of fat on my abdomen which I would love to kick to the curb, but sadly, when you're dropping weight, you can't choose where it comes off first!  

And because Leeland was looking cute this morning asking for his photo to be taken, I'll add that in too. 
I told him to show me his muscles, but he didn't want to take his arms out from his favorite blankie.  Cute kid!

As always, thanks so much all for the love, support and encouragement as I continue on this journey.  8 more weeks and I get another free t-shirt!


Sunday, October 27, 2013

Kaylee's Baptism

Our sweet little Goddaughter, Kaylee, was baptized last week, and not only do we have the privilege of being her Godparents, but I also got to make the cake for her party!

Isn't she adorable?!  Leeland said she looked like a princess in her white dress, and I agree.

Here's the cake I came up with based off of the picture that I was sent of her party supplies.




And here's the gift that we got her, a nice little keepsake from the day. 
The ornament has her name, and the date that she was baptized.  I ordered it from Happy You. Happy Me. on Etsy.


Fall Fun

It is definitely the most wonderful time of the year!  As we enter the Holiday season, there is definitely no lack of fun and ideas for the boys, and I am loving it.  Leeland is very into his "schooling" lately.  We have been very loosely doing some homeschooling activities, books and projects over the Summer since the NCHE Conference, and while he is loving it, I am taking full advantage.

Here's a little Fall craft we did a few weeks ago.  (Thanks Pinterest!)

 The idea was to use Q-tips to decorate the trees with fall colored leaves.  To dot the paint.  Leeland got it, Hayden had a nice progression of dotting the paint, to streaking the paint, to finger painting, to....


... to face painting.  Yes, it's non-toxic.  And he clearly had fun!
And then last week we went to the Farmer's Market, visited the pumpkin house, and bought pumpkins to carve.


As much as I tried to fight it, Daniel insisted we needed 4 pumpkins this year... so we hauled home 4 pumpkins for the boys to throw them around a bit, refuse to get their hands dirty in the cleaning process, and of course the boys aren't allowed to use knives yet.... So Daniel and I had a great time carving pumpkins! Haha!  They actually turned out really well, and to see the boys faces in the end, 4 pumpkins was well worth it.




We got pretty creative this year, huh?  A pirate, a mustache, a silly face, and The Lorax!

Happy Fall ya'll!



Mickey Mouse 1st Birthday Cake

So, get ready for a flood of blog posts.  I have LOTS of catching up to do.  I have been absent for far too long.  The LCD portion of our macbook screen broke a couple of months ago, for a long while, we were still able to use it.  There was a large visible pinwheel shaped crack, and then lots of colorful lines going across the screen-- it was a pain, but we could make it work by minimizing and moving around screens.... but with time the screen got worse, and ended up the past few weeks being all black and we could only see about an inch at the bottom.  BUT, I am happy to report that through sweet friends with great connections, I am typing from our same old macbook with a NEW LCD screen! YAY!

So here are some photos from a 1st birthday cake order I had last month.  Smash cake and a cake for the crowd to enjoy.  The request was to match the Party City Mickey Mouse 1st birthday party supplies, specifically the blue, yellow and white stripes.  Here's what I came up with!




Sunday, October 6, 2013

Crushed It

3 awesome facts about this P90x shirt:

1. It was FREE!
2. I received it free by submitting my before and after P90x photos to BeachBody.com for the Beach Body Challenge. 
3. It's a size medium, and I haven't worn a medium sized anything, in let's just say... Years.
So, yea... I crushed it!