And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street

Sunday morning I woke up with a twinkle in my eye, that day I have waited for had finally come.  (Cheat/Carb up/momma gonna eat it all day)  The day was planned, the goodies bought, all to do was to get it done.  1st, I wanted to go for a stroll as the weather here is quite nice and it was just 7:30am.  I get dressed, get out the door, a little skip in my step because today is going to be a good day!

As I near the half way point of my walk the strangest sight appears, a man astride a horse on the sidewalk of a very busy subdivision.  I quickly pull out my phone to snap a shot of such a sight, but fear I only got his A$$.

My joy only peaking as my phone starts playing Santana "Smooth".  How does the cars passing expect my hips not to move like I am a professional salsa dancer while that song is playing?  I don't know either, but somehow I managed to get down the sidewalk without embarrassing myself to badly.  Again near the end of my walk look who is coming towards me on my sidewalk..........

This time I had to ask for a picture, just couldn't resist.  It's not every day you see such as sight so far from the greenville pastures.  Needless to say, this set me up for a wonderful day!

Upon returning home, my mind quickly settles on my newest goodie.  You guys do not, or maybe you do, know just how hard it is for me to give up cereal and milk in my diet.  I could eat a HUGE Jethro bowl of cereal every morning!  It never gets old!  So look what I had 2 bowls of on my favorite day of the week:

Was not as good as I had hoped, but definately got the job done.  Later after making Hannah and Harley their favorite lunch I talked Harley into taking me and our lil puppy for a hike on one of my favorite trails. 

Have I told you his nickname is WCP- "World's Cutest Puppy", and I will have no arguements as to how cute your puppies are, I don't care, mine is the cutest!  :)

"Don't get it twisted"

And

The "Tree of Life"

I love those trees......

Back home my day continued as planned even better, as I had everything I wanted and did not even fall into a coma afterwards.

Must have helped my metabolism kick back in overdrive because I woke up at 3:00am with horrible hunger pains.  Now back to life as normal.  Workouts, diet, and cardio.

Thanks for taking the time to go down my Mulberry Street!

Conversation with George Straight

Yesterday I had a wonderful conversation with a very unexpected gentleman.  This is someone I have known on a professional basis for several years.  He stops by my office occasionally as he needs our services and chats.  He is very George Straight-ish, for those of you who don't know who George Straight is, well to me he is a very classic good looking cowboy who happens to be a country music singer.  This guy is almost a ringer for George.  Tall, classic, simple good looks, very country boyish, perfect gentleman, and to get more to the point slender build-one of those who has never had a weight problem or ever worked out a day in his life.  Hard work is his workout.  Well he is getting very close to 50 and wants to keep up his body and get leaner (his words).  So here I am in my office talking to him about all sorts of exercises he can add to what he has already started doing at home and the importance of working opposing muscles and making sure not to leave out a muscle group for overall symmetry.  We talk about mostly upper body and I look at him and ask what are you doing for your legs, fully expecting him to say nothing.....well surprise, surprise, he is doing lunges and squats already.  So to take it one step further I asked about his calf work- he was very quick to tell me his calves are rather large for his body frame and he doesn't need any calf work because he already thinks they are too big for his body.  (Seriously think of George Straight looking at you and telling you that as he pulls his jeans tight over his calves to prove the point, wearing boots and all)  :)-  Wow!  Never saw that one coming, I tell you the whole conversation was a HUGE pleasant surprise and one I greatly enjoyed.  It is so nice to see people you would never expect get their fitness on and ask for advice.  It is a true joy of mine to help in any way I can. 

Unexpected makes for the best surprises!

Just a brief update

Lately, I have been having a hard time wanting to blog.  It is still very addictive to keep up with you guys, as I read your blogs and comment where I can.  You all really inspire me to keep pushing and I am so thankful for all of those I follow posting their real life struggles with this lifestyle.  As you all know, it is pretty normal to look in the magazines and think how easy it is for those ladies to look like that year round, but only those who really try that lifestyle knows it is anything but easy. 

Life comes at all of us, our schedules are forced to change, our kids have certain needs, our job provides added stress, those around us are negative nellies, some days it is very tough, to say the least.  As I whinned   gave Harley my update last night over the phone of my full 1st week of carb cycling, he simply told me to keep going.  That's it!  It's just that simple.  My legs may never "come in" as I would like to see.   Therefore having my lower body and upper body look like they are on the same body, but I have no choice but to simply keep going.  I can feel a change, strange how you "feel" it, but don't necessarily "see" it.  Well actually that parts sucks, but again, you keep going.  We all keep going, hoping knowing the change will happen.  It has to.

So for the around the world of what's going on in my life I am back to carb cycling.  Not eating healthy/clean or preparing meals that look delicious, but healthy.  Pure 100% carb cycle no cheats what so ever.  It has been a rough week, today starts day 8.  I have yet to have a high carb day as I started on a Thursday and will only do my high carb day on Sunday and did not want to have a high carb day for that 1st week.  So needless to say, I am soooooo looooooking forward to it.

On a positive note, I also told Harley I didn't remember the cycle being this hard the last time I did it this strict, that I am literally starving round the clock.  I can eat and 15-30 minutes later I am starving!  It wasn't that bad the last time, I got at least an hour or so before I felt like gnawing my arm off.  Harley told me it is because I have alot more muscle this time around than I did then (1 year and 5 months ago).  This is what is keeping me going!  :)

Here is a steal from pfitblog.com.  I only recently started following her. 

So again, thank you all who have posted your struggles over the last couple of weeks.  It does help to hear how you are dealing with it.

I leave you guys with words of wisdom from our reigning Mr. O as Harley talked with him at the Louisiana State Show........

"Winners do what losers won't"

Forgive the poor picture quality.  It's the only one the guys got for me.

 

It's Time!

• I do too much already to not have the results I want! 
• I spend way too much time in the gym to not see ALL the cuts I want to see. 
• I work way to hard to not have every single person I come in contact with not know I workout as hard as I do. 

As of today.......my diet will be at 100%, not 95, not 85!!  I will schedule set cardio sessions and they WILL get done. 

Here is my mantra:

How can I motivate anyone else with my half hearted attempts?

No News Is Good News

I pulled up Blogspot the other day while sitting on the couch with Harley and I looked at him and said, "it seems like I never blog anymore, I just don't feel like anything has changed enough to blog about".  I am not getting ready for a competition, I am not dieting drastically, I am not doing heavy research into any one topic, I am just doing.....

As I am sure you have heard here in Louisiana we have been dealing with Hurricane Isaac all week.  Thankfully, I am far enough inland that I was not affected like the ones further south.  Please pray for those who have lost their homes and businesses yet again. 

Even with the Hurricane going on, I have not missed a workout all week and have even put in a little cardio time.  Which gets me to my point, sometimes NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS.  My path to my goal is getting well beaten down, I keep my head down and plow away.  My workouts are on track, my cardio is better, and my diet is what is to be expected---clean for the most part with a poptart in the evening.  :)  Yea, I know I can do without my poptart, but I am enjoying it.  (For now) 

All of my poptarts aside, I am still making gains.  I took these this morning right after I woke up, so no food, no weights.  My back is coming along nicely and my arms are making huge leaps, so I am a happy woman!

My Week or so in Pictures

My, oh my, how I learn!

Sometimes we need a reminder.

As a mom, this is how I feel sometimes....

For my daughters, may you always remember this!

Sometimes we get pretty bogged down and forget this very simple thing...

I printed this one and hung it near my desk as a constant reminder.

There are no excuses like no excuses.

Run baby, Run!

Yep!

The 2nd to last was an eye opener for me, enjoy!

Not much to report here that I would report here.  (That is why I do the pictures, just FYI)  Somethings we all deal with that are too personal to put on a public forum.....I am no different.  I haven't blogged much, no excuses!  As far as my fitness journey, all is well.  I am working out most weeks 6 days, never less than 5.  My diet has been a bit of a struggle, well no struggle, I choose to eat what I am eating right now.  One thing I have learned is to not expect the results with the work you are not putting in.  While my diet is far cleaner than the Average Jane, I don't consider myself an Average Jane, so therefore it is not up to par.  Honestly, I don't know how long I will keep on this pace, we'll see.  I already know the next step, need to pull the trigger. 

On the flip side, as all of you mom's know school is back in.  I am in a bit of post summer depression-missing my time with my babies.  They are growing up so fast, I know that is a HUGE cliche, but trust me all you parents of young ones, it is so true!  Here is my senior and freshman....

Cierra, my senior!  (moms, do I need to say more?)

Just yesterday I was taking her to Pre-K....

Just took this one of her the other day when she got caught doing a rain dance, I love it when she smiles for real, so beautiful!

Hannah, my freshman!  (She is wearing cat woman converse)  :)

I took this one when she took me to see Step Up Revolution....just the two of us

She is so much prettier than she knows.

My Saturday Core Workout

I am a little hesitant to post this workout because without pictures alot of this may not make any sense.  The best way to advise you is to look on YouTube for videos as I found most of these moves there.

(Inside) 2 X 15 ea way:
Circular balls (take weighted ball and draw a circle in front of your body)
Rocky solo (russian twist, except you pass the ball behind your back one way then reach the other way to pull ot back in fornt of you)
Toe Touch
Sit up ball toss
V Up w ball
Gorilla Swing 1 (DB in ea hand do the running man keeping entire lower body still/steady)
Gorilla Swing 2 (Hold DB at shoulder height and twist to each side keeping hips facing forward)
Gorilla Swing 3 (Raise DB overhead and lower just until you feel your abs contract, right about belly button level, repeat)

(Outside) 2 X 15 ea
Side Wall Ball Throws (Turn your side to the wall and throw weighted ball up againsgt the wall, catch, and throw again)
Wall Ball Throws (Facing wall throw ball high on wall, catch, and throw again)
Ball Slam (Put ball overhead and slam it into the ground as hard as you can while contracting your abs)

(Outback) 4 rounds with little to no rest
7 tire filps
10 box jumps on the tire
7 tire flips
20 sledge hammers to tire

Complete sweat fest and just what I needed.  It starts slow, builds up, and then explodes your heartrate through the roof!  Love it!

Enjoy!