Day 11 30 Day Challenge

I successfully completed day 11!

Day 10 30 Day Challenge

Day 10, 1/3 of the way through this 30 day challenge, and I haven't missed a day!  The only problem with today's exercises was the ball ab rollout.  I could NOT do them.  My body would bend and I would end up sticking my butt out.  I was a bit frustrated, so I asked the boy to show me how to do the.  This boy can really do anything physically and has a ton of core strength, but he couldn't do them either, so I didn't feel as bad!

I will admit that I could not find one of my dumbbells, and I threw a little bit of a verbal temper-tantrum.  I grumbled that it grew legs and walked away just like my iPod.  I whined that I had to use the 2 pounds weights.  I shamefully implied that my children touched my dumbbells and they were responsible for the missing dumbbell.  We left to take the boy to school, and then, when I got home, I found the missing dumbbell under MY blanket on the couch.  It was MY fault that I didn't put it away.  BAD DUSTY.  I will apologize to my chitlins when they get home from school today.

I successfully completed day 10!

Day 9 30 Day Challenge

Oh my goodness, I dreaded doing today's exercises.  I went to bed really late two nights in a row, and this morning, I had a difficult time getting out of bed. When I did, I needed breakfast right then and there.  I finished eating and called my mama to wish her a Happy Mother's Day.  We chatted for about a half of an hour, and when I got off the phone with her, it took every fiber of my being to do the exercises.  I did them and I'm glad, but I'm seriously tired.  The ball squat-one-legged wasn't that difficult and I could balance it fairly well.

I must admit that yesterday was a horrible day because I ate SO much junk.  I have learned that restriction with eating does not work for me, so I allow myself what I want and when I do, I only eat a little bit of it, and I'm good.  However, yesterday, I went to a going away party and I ate the yummiest Filipino bar-b-que with rice and salad.  I brought homemade chocolate chip cookies and ate some of the batter when I made them.  I also had one cookie.  I brought home a slice of strawberry cheesecake and maybe ate half.

Last night, I baby sat four kids and it was so much fun. I made dinner for all of us and, I had half of a plate of salad, a very small portion of mac & cheese, and small serving of chicken.  Two of the kids knew that we would have popcorn and a movie before bed, so of course, I had to have popcorn with them!!!  BUT, I added a little bit of a Milky Way to mine, so I knew that I had to exercise this morning and I couldn't give myself a pass because it's Mother's Day.

I successfully completed day 9!

Day 8 30 Day Challenge

Yowza, today's exercises made up for yesterday's stretches.  I also bought 5 lb dumbbells and let me tell you that they sure did make a difference.  I think this was the first time since I started this program that getting to the 12th rep was a little challenging, but I was successful.  Today's ball bicep curl was very weird and I couldn't get myself to look like the guy in the example, so I just did them stationary.  I felt like I was working the bicep, and the extra movement just wasn't going to happen.  Oh-well.

I tried doing the ball push-up and only managed to get five done, and I also had the ball against the couch for support.  On the second set, I did the push-ups on the floor.  I had anticipated not being able to do all 12, but then my boy started counting for me.  Unbeknownst to him, in my mind, he was holding me accountable and I managed to push (haha) through them and got the 12 done.  I was so proud and he gave me a thumbs up!

Last Saturday when I started this program, I had to have my knees against the couch to do the crunches, but as of today, I don't!  I also had a hard time keeping my balance when I rolled up the ball from the crunch position to a sitting position.  I still need to hold the ball on the sides, but I no longer feel like I'm going to fall off!

I really think that I just need to move that stupid scale out of my bathroom and into the garage.  I looked at it last night and thought about weighing myself, but I didn't.  I also pushed it back against the wall and put the trashcan on top of it to help keep it out of my mind.  I don't think that is working because this morning when I got up, I thought, it's been a week and I've been doing this challenge, but I realized that it was another excuse to sabotage myself.  I will keep it in my bathroom until the power it has over me has lifted.  If I tuck it away in the garage, I'm just burying the problem (mentally & figuratively)  and not dealing with it.

I am so pleased to say that I successfully completed day 8!!!

Day 7 30 Day Challenge

Today's exercises were stretches.  Some of them felt good, some really stretched my muscles, and others were lame.  Today's session has been my least favorite so far, but I did it anyway.  Maybe it would have felt better to stretch my muscles if they were sore, but they are not.  Not that I want sore muscles, but I want to feel like I've actually been working my muscles.  I'm going to purchase new dumbbells today.

I successfully completed day 7.

30 Day Dumbbell Challenge

Day 6 30 Day Challenge

I just finished up day 6, and let me say that I'm very awkward with the Ball Jackknifes.  Those are very difficult.  My left knee did not like the Ball Side Crunch, so I had to move it in a different position until it stopped bugging me.   The only way I could do the side crunches was pressing my feet against the couch.   My left shoulder is clearly weaker than my right because holding myself up in the side crunch was a little painful and difficult.  I don't know if I'm sore because it's so darn early in the morning and I haven't had time to assess myself.

I successfully completed day 6!

Day 5 30 Day Challenge

I'm happy to say that my butt and lower abdomen are no longer sore, but my inner thighs are.  I've noticed that I'm pretty excited about this exercise program and when I wake up, I'm eager to run through the reps.  The exercises are pretty simple and not very time consuming.  I also love the fact that everything is planned out for me and that I don't do the same thing every day.  I get bored easily.  I've also noticed that what I eat seems to be more on the healthier side and I really don't want to eat a lot of junk.

My desire to weigh myself continues to haunt my thoughts.  It seems like anytime I go into the bathroom the thought runs through my mind.  I really have to resist the urge when I'm undressed and stepping into the shower, however, I haven't weighed myself.  What an accomplishment!  I'm really good at sabotaging myself, so my wicked self tells me to take my measurements to see if I've gotten smaller, but I haven't caved.  Logically, I know that it takes time to see progress and the number won't change AND it's not the number that is important.  I think I need to have a little chat with myself every day to remind myself it all about how I feel and how healthy I am.  I'm definitely a work in progress!

I recently wrote about how I feel settled and in the last week or so, I've noticed that I feel less stressed about my schooling and I'm feeling good about myself.  I've stopped panicking about tests and feeling like I'm a loser for not studying my buns off.  I take great notes, do the extra credit that makes me digest the material that we are learning, and right now most of what we are being taught is review from other classes that I have taken.  I'm getting an "A" in both classes and with my process, I'm getting solid "B's" on my tests.  I'm thankful for the in class assignments, homework, quizzes and extra credit that allow me to raise the "B's" to "A's".

Last week, I went to the ophthalmologist and he said that my eyes and nerves look great.  He numbed my eyes which was really weird, so he could test the pressure in my eye. My pressure was good.  He couldn't find anything wrong, so he thought that it would  be a good idea to send me to a neurologist-ophthalmologist.  The N.O. would check my brain to my eyes to make sure that all is well in that area.  I'm sure it is.

I successfully completed day 5!