Welp. This week began well. I played soccer on Sunday night and did Insanity on Tuesday. Then I woke up on Wednesday morning with a cold that has lasted through today. Needless to say, I have not worked out since Tuesday.
But two days is better than no days right?!
I still have a lingering cough but will be going to my soccer game tonight anyway because I refuse to miss! Nick plays on the team with me and it's the highlight of our weekend. Plus it means I'll be starting the new week off with one workout under my belt.
Last week, I mentioned that I am not weighing myself. The main reason for this is because my goals are not to lose weight but to gain muscle. However, I do want to lose some body fat in order for my muscle tone to show. Gina suggested I keep track of one measurement, and so I have included my waist measurement. I would say I have about 1/2" to 1" to go!
Yesterday morning, Nick woke me up saying, "Beth come out here! I'm watching a Body Beast infomercial." Now, I am not a morning person, but I jumped right out of bed. For some reason I have a strange affinity for weight loss infomercials. Something about them just seems so exciting and full of hope.
Normally, I don't make New Year's Resolutions, but this year I decided to make some fitness goals. Two weeks ago, I began working out 4-5 days per week. My workouts consist of running with my little sister, playing indoor soccer with Nick, and doing Insanity. (Man, those videos are intense!) I don't own a scale, so instead I took before pictures and measurements so that I can track my progress.
As someone that goes in and out of working out regularly (who doesn't?), I am constantly trying to find new ways to motivate myself. I have found that instagram is an awesome resource for this. Kayla_itsines and emilyskyefit post motivating pictures, quotes, and sell their own workout programs, while fitgirlsguide hosts 28-day jumpstarts (super cheap for the ebook), and a bunch of the girls in the challenge will post their before/after photos.
As another motivator, I have linked up with Teaching with a Touch of Pixie Dust for this week's Slim Down Saturday. Here is my progress so far:
No matter what your resolution, keep it up. If you fail one week (as we all will) don't give up! Remember, success requires hard work and consistency. Good luck and let me know how you are staying motivated with your resolutions.
My little sister and I have been running together twice a week since August. Being 12, I figured she would be too cool for me. Luckily she loves the time we spend together just as much as I do. Last Saturday, we ran the Jolly Jaunt, a 5k in Boston that raises money for the Special Olympics. It's my favorite race because the runners dress up in holiday gear and wear jingle bells on their sneakers. The course runs down Commonwealth Avenue and back, which makes for great views of all the outfits of the runners ahead and behind you (not to mention all the beautiful brownstones).
Since this was the first year my sister ran the Jolly Jaunt, naturally I had to make her a tutu to match mine. I found a super easy, (almost) no sew tutorial here and a measurement guide here. I say almost no sew because you need to sew the elastic together. Have an irrational fear of needles and thread you say? Use a hot glue gun. Happy no sewing!
Oh gosh. I am feeling some bitter jealousy for those of you who are either already done or are in the single digits right now. Up here in New England we still have a whopping NINETEEN SCHOOL DAYS LEFT! Yes, you read that correctly. 19. Combine that with the weather - a high of 52 degrees today making it warmer in Alaska - and it feels like summer is never coming. I feel like we are in the seven kingdoms from Game of Thrones. The Starks warned us that winter was coming. Now it's here and never leaving.
Luckily the weather channel says it's supposed to warm up to the 80's next week. So I know that summer will come eventually. And my jealousy resides when I remind myself that I have off for the entire month of August and we don't return until Labor Day.
First on my list is to meet my new niece or nephew! This is a pic of my twin sister who is 35 weeks pregnant. She is due June 30th, just in time for me to finish school and all the end of year paperwork that goes with it. And then I can spend as much time as I want with little baby S. I seriously CANNOT WAIT for this baby to come!!
Second is to buy a house. This process is exciting and depressing at the same time. My hubby and I have been saving for what feels like forever, both have great jobs, and will still probably only be able to afford something like this:
Hey. At least it has a porch. That's on my really-really-want-but-probably-need-to-compromise-on list.
Also on my list is to complete another Tough Mudder. I cannot believe it is almost here! One week from today, I will be running. This will be my second Mudder and I can't wait. There are 4 of us from school who have been working out together for months to prepare. It is such a great group of women. When we started, we were all at different levels of physical fitness. Pushing each other during our workouts has been such a wonderful experience.
This week I ran 7 miles twice and on Monday we're doing a 10-miler together. And when I tell you that my runs are enjoyable, I am not lying. For that hour on the road, it's just me and my music. One foot in front of the other. Running off the day's stress.
But lemme tell you, I was a little hesitant back in February when I signed up for the TM, but I am so glad I did. For one thing, I am in great shape. There is absolutely no way I would have worked out this often if I didn't have this race coming up. It literally scares me into putting on my running shoes. Plus, swimsuit season is right around the corner. I love the accomplishment of feeling great about myself on the beach and never feeling guilty at summer BBQ's when I eat whatever I want.
Finally, I am looking forward to spending time with my hubby, my pup, and my family and friends. My GSD and I spend every morning of the summer outside. I eat breakfast, drink coffee, and read while he tries to eat bugs. Nick is taking a week off work so we can go to Cape May, NJ with my mother's entire family (35 people!!!!!) We also have weddings, BBQs, weekends with Nick's brothers, and my bff just moved 5 miles away from us!
If summer ever comes, it's going to be a good one.
With the MCAS looming over my head this week, I have been thinking about how to ease my students' anxiety. Every year I make an attempt at this and fail. So this year, I decided to try something new: yoga. I introduced it yesterday and told them to make a big space in the center of the room. They must have been excited because they moved faster than the lunch line on taco day. In less than a minute, they were spread out facing me, with one exception. One boy decided to be my assistant - he informed me that he was already a yoga master since his mom did it once a week. (I wasn't exactly sure how this made him a yoga master, but I didn't mention it).
I put on my Enya Pandora station and started with some breathing exercises. Then we moved into some toe touches, reverse swan dives, and finally chataranga, upward dog, and downward dog. At first, the boys were a little self-conscious and silly. But as we continued, they began to take it seriously and their demeanors changed. They all ended up really enjoying themselves, and we had a wonderfully productive literacy block afterward.
Today was our first day of ELA MCAS and the official start of my experiment. We had already set up the classroom the previous afternoon, and so when the students arrived, they quickly found a spot and joined in. I noticed that the boys who were silly yesterday were challenging themselves to hold the correct form today. I also noticed that no one was visibly nervous; instead, they were excited about our new routine. We continued through morning announcements (stopping to stay the pledge of course) and finished after about 20 minutes. Then we transitioned right into MCAS.
Of course, I have no idea if our yoga session helped their test-taking abilities. I'll have to see their growth rate this summer before I can make any judgement on that. But I did observe less anxiety and a lot of perseverance. They worked their butts off today! I also noticed less fidgeting after they had turned in their tests and were waiting for the rest of the class to finish. Usually, I have kids getting up constantly, going through their desks, or asking to go to the bathroom multiple times. But today, I had none of that. And I don't think it was a coincidence.
If you are wondering about incorporating yoga into your classroom, it's easier than you think! There are a lot of research articles that promote kinesthetic learning as well as websites out there. I especially like Classroom Yoga Project. They have a lot of videos and easy ways to start small. They also have lessons that integrate yoga into the curriculum. Good luck and let me know how it goes!
Whenever my husband, Mr. E, stays home from work, I am always interested to find out what brilliant idea he has come up with while I'm gone. Last week, he did not disappoint me. I came into the living room and found him researching juicers. He took one look at my raised eyebrows and launched into the following explanation. "I watched a documentary today, about an obese man who went on an all-juice diet. The guy lost tons of weight, and all of his health issues disappeared as well. Then he got another obese man to go on the all-juice diet too, and the same thing happened. I think we should get a juicer." I told him, "No. We do not need a juicer. 1) We're not overweight, 2) we exercise regularly, 3) we eat healthfully; we're even vegetarians (except I can't seem to give up buffalo chicken), and 4) there is no way I'm going on a liquid diet. We're not getting a juicer and that's final."
Later that week, a juicer arrived in the mail. Mr. E suggested we do a "3-day cleanse" over the holiday weekend. I reminded him that we live in a one bedroom, and more importantly, one bathroom, apartment. The scene from Bridesmaids was swirling around in my mind.
We did not do a 3-day cleanse over the holiday weekend. Thank God. But we did try some juices, and they came out really good!
Mr. E found that if you line the food catcher (container on the left) with a plastic grocery bag, it makes for easy clean up. Tilting the container will also help to keep the bag from being sucked into the middle compartment.
So far, we have tried three juices.
1) carrot, cucumber, banana, lemon - Mr. E discovered that bananas don't have a lot of juice
2) orange, pear, blueberry, strawberry - this was an obvious success
3) orange, pineapple, strawberry, carrot - this one was the best and is shown below.
I have not included any recipes with this because we did not follow any. The juicer did come with a small booklet of recipes, and we look at them for ideas, but mostly we just throw in any fruits or vegetables that we have lying around the kitchen. The key is to experiment. My next step will be to try this on my nephews...one in particular who's vegetable of choice is ketchup. I'll keep you posted.
I am not a fan of breakfast. It takes too long and I don't have the time. But recently I discovered fruit smoothies. It started when I got engaged. I registered for KitchenAid's super expensive blender and justified it with thoughts of "I'm going to make so many smoothies!" I had never made a smoothie before. Well, I got my beloved blender. And it hung out in the huge pile of gifts until my husband had his front tooth removed. Don't ask. So being the good wife I am, I made him a banana smoothie. And it was the best thing I've ever made. Seriously. I couldn't believe how quick and easy it was. Bananas, milk, ice, vanilla, mix, done. Quicker than coffee. And I've been bringing smoothies to work ever since.
Ingredients
2 bananas
6 ice cubes
splash cream
1/2 c milk
1/2 t vanilla
dash cinnamon
Throw ingredients in blender and blend.
Substitutions
The cream is not necessary but does make the smoothie a little thicker. If you want a healthy alternative, add your favorite yogurt instead.
I also like to switch it up and add in a little peanut butter or mixed berries. I introduced these to my stepdad last week who added a spoonful of protein powder. It was delish!
