November Week 3 & 4 Recaps

November has come and gone and I feel like I was gone for most of November. I love being able to work from home. My studio takes a week off for Thanksgiving so we went on a BIG trip!

We first went to PHX to visit with some family. My dad took Mason and Matt to the Walking with Dinosaurs Live Show and Mason loved it! He came home and told me all about the triceratops breaking his horn. Which we have turned into a lesson about not pushing others. So overtime Mason pushed someone we would talk about how the two triceratops were pushing each other and then one of the horns broke. Mason likes to add in that the one with the broken horn needs to go to the horn doctor. Very cute! We ate plenty of Mexican food, had 2 awesome Thanksgivings and I got to run in PHX! I haven't done that since I was a kid!

Then we went to Utah for a family reunion on Matt's side of the family. We were celebrating his grandfathers 91st birthday and the 65th wedding anniversary of his grandma and grandpa. 7 of the 8 children were there with their spouses, 25 grandkids with their spouses and 40+ great grandkids. It was quite the gathering. We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner and on Friday I premiered my 3rd composition I just recently completed.

Saturday we visited my grandma and grandpa and a ton of my cousins on my mom's side showed up too! I haven't seen them in so long, but thanks to Facebook we have been able to keep in touch and watch each others families grow!

Sunday we visited my other grandma and she got Mason some more dinosaur toys which he is carrying around with him everywhere, even sleeping with them. The flights there, there and back weren't too bad. Just one major meltdown because I had to wake Mason up but that was it. I am so thankful that we were able to see as many of the family as we could. Such a blessing.

As far as workouts, yeah not as good as it should have been. We had scheduling conflicts. It really turned out to be, either I ran or Matt worked out. Which kinda sucks because I got the short end of the stick but oh well. Time to get back on it!

Workout Recap:
11/16: rest
11/17: 1.86 miles- 30 min total. 1.25 timed.
11/18: rest
11/19: 2.76 miles- 45 min total. 1.5 timed.
11/20: rest
11/21: rest
11/22: flight
11/23: 2.08 miles- Run in PHX- 32:18 min. 15:32 min/mile- make up run for long run the day before.
11/24: rest
11/25: PHX Zoo. Walked around
11/26: rest
11/27: rest
11/28: rest
11/29: 2.58 miles - Run in UT- 40:39 min. 15:45 min/mile. Uphill the first 1.25 miles. Then downhill for the rest.

Week 3 Milage: 4.62 miles
Week 4 Mileage: 4.66 miles

Too many rest days for sure. But it is what it is. And it was a holiday so now I am back into it!

November Week 2 Recap

So glad that this week is over and done with. I hate being sick. I don't want to push my body too much so that I stay sick forever but I also don't want to miss my exercise runs or anything and yep, I missed a run. It is the additional run day but I still missed a run and that makes me frustrated! But I did get Monday and Wednesday's run so at least I did that. I am at the beginning of my training and already having to miss my run is so not a cool way to start out.

I did get an early birthday present from the hubs. I have been asking for over a year to get a Garmin running watch and I finally got one and I LOVE IT! I went with the Forerunner 15 because of the battery life, and step counter. Debating on getting the foot pod to wear when on the treadmill. I have been using it at the gym during the week and I got to use it for the first time with GPS on Saturday. I have a lovely little map of a circle since I was running around on the track. But pretty soon I will be out and about and having cool looking maps!

I have been super jealous of all the races going on this past week that I haven't been apart of. I definitely have that "race fever!" I miss running in a race, but I am not prepared in anyway to be running a race quite yet. Still have training to go but thankful that I am missing not running. I have been looking at training plans for future races that I would love to run. (I looked at the Dopey race training plan by Jeff Galloway and wow! SCARY! Then I moved over to the WDW Marathon plan and that looks about right!) A girl can dream right! But I am planning on running which is the amazing part. Now to lose some of this giggle on my hips, but and tummy!

Collin Update: Collin is full on crawling now. Before 6 months old and he can make his way  around the house. It is so weird to look up and see him crawling to toys he wants to his brother. He has crawled to me once. I ask him, " Why you crawling away from me!" all the time and he just gives me the cutest little toothless grin showing me that he is super proud of what he is doing. And he isn't as frustrated anymore with the fact that he couldn't get around. He is so happy, and he is sleeping a little better now since he is exerting himself more.

Mason Update: Oh Mason! My pill of a boy 3 year old. He is doing so well in the gym daycare. He loves going. Gives me a hug and a kiss then pushes me away to go play. He has been interacting with his brother a ton more lately too. Saying "Hi Car-r" (can't quite say his L and so it sounds like he is saying car with 2 syllables.) He then pats Collin's head. It is cute. He has this thing now that he has to give all of us, including the dog, Archer a hug and kiss before he goes to bed. I did have Mason run 2 laps with me around the small track at the gym. He loved it and was trying to race me. (This was after my run already!) All the older folks at the gym sure got a kick out of it too!

Workout Recap: 
Sunday: Yoga
Monday: 2.25 miles- 35 min total. 1.25 mile timed: 15:12 min/mile
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 3.65 miles- 60 min total. 1.25 mile timed: 15:21 min/mile
Thursday: sick
Friday: sick (should have done something. felt better. got lazy)
Saturday: 1.80 miles. 30 min total. Run/ walk intervals. Running intervals we at a 12 min/mile avg. Just need to learn how to take shorter walking intervals.

Total Mileage: 7.7 miles total

November Week 1 Recap

HELLO to November! Here comes the hard part about this time of year. It is like a constant flow of sweets, treats and all the stuff we shouldn't eat, all begin with NOV 1. Left over Halloween candy, holiday parties and baby it gets cold outside, so lots of home baked goods! To say we haven't indulged a little would be a lie. I have cookie dough ready to make in the fridge now, make for a friend and freeze the rest. But this is also the time that we can counteract all the delicious treats with MORE EXERCISE! And More exercise I did! WAHOO!

This was my first week back at the gym and I took full advantage of that. And being the emotional postpartum mommy I am right now I cried when I took Collin and left him there for the first time. It was just weird to drop him off and leave him. It isn't like I hadn't done that with Matt but this is the first time I left Collin with someone other than family. It was just a little weird, but then I got over it and went and exercised. Only to be so happy to pick him up after my time was done. I am so happy to be back at the gym and I am enjoying it!

Collin update: Collin is in the beginning awkward stages of crawling. He has been doing the "worm" crawl all week but as of last night he is now moving a hand with a knee then falls over. He will be crawling before Thanksgiving. GET READY FAMILY Because he is going to be EVERYWHERE! He is just such a happy go lucky baby and I LOVE THAT!

Mason update: Mason is just Mason. He is showing a lot more affection towards his brother and makes sure to give him a "HAR-UM-MUAH" ever night (hug and kiss) He loves that there is candy in the house. He is only getting 2 pieces a day. (I say only) but he only asks for it in the morning. He is getting so big though. He also went to the dentist for the first time this past week and was a champ! He keeps talking about how he needs to go back to the Teeth Doctor. Good thing, he lets us now brush and FLOSS his teeth without it being a big fight. So for that I am thankful! I will be having surgery at the beginning of the year on my mouth sadly. French horn playing has taken a toll on my poor bottom gums and I will have to have a gum graft. Now on to find a good parodontitis. Not looking forward to that. 

Overall things have been great! My training is going well. I have been keeping track through RunKeeper. I have 130 days to get even better and more comfortable in my running before the 10 miler! 

Workout Recap: 
Sunday: Yoga Fix
Monday: 1.85 miles walk and run (1 mile run 14:30 min/mile .85 miles walk)- 30 min total; 1 mile on elliptical
Tuesday: 2.36 mile walk
Wednesday: PiYo Lower Fix 
Thursday: 3 miles walk and run (1 mile 14:00 min/mile - 2 mile walk) - 50 min total
Friday: rest
Saturday: 1.5 miles walk/run 1.25 mile - 1/4 mile cool down - 20:32 total for both making it a 13:41 min/mile (including cool down!) 

So I am getting better and pushing myself. My body is tired and I am starting to get sick. I can feel it. Nose stuffed and my patience fuse is a little low. It doesn't help that Collin is waking up nearly ever hour at night right now to feed. Gotta love the 6 month growth spurt! 

Total Mileage for run/walk: 8.71 miles. No wonder why my body was super tired on Friday! Mileage only goes up from here though! Not too bad for my first week back!

October Week 4 Recap

Going into the last week of my fav month! But that just means, lots of family time coming up  soon which I am so excited about!

This past week was more of the same with Collin and Mason. Collin is still planking like crazy, but he can get up onto his knees a lot easier. He is also trying to step with one foot while in hands and knees so he will be crawling by Thanksgiving. I am pretty sure about that. He slept really well the other night in his crib. Only squawking a couple of times then back to bed. He did wake up at 2am for a feeding, which I am fine about. Sadly the same night that Collin slept really well Mason did not. He got scared of something during the night and he ended up joining us in bed. Then when we finally got Mason back in bed, Archer threw up on the carpet. If it wasn't one thing it was another. Saturday night/Sunday morning was CRAZY!

I started training with the 10 miler training group. I am in group 1. Wah-Wah! I only did .75 miles. Yes I can do more, but since I haven't been running regularly I am in the beginning. Nov 3 I will be back at the gym and will be able to definitely get my runs in during the week on the treadmill. I am still planning on doing strength training and yoga to help me out too. Coming up with my plan now but I have my running schedule though. I am hoping to move up in groups fairly soon though. I just need to push past my mental barrier to not stop and walk! If any one has any advice on that please let me know!

In the workout front you will notice that I um... fell off the wagon. I am going to talk about what is going on later this week. It isn't an injury or anything, but I think I have a slight bit of postpartum depression. I am having a hard time nursing right now, since Collin is waking up hungry and fussing more I am thinking my milk isn't going well. But more on that later. I have just been in survival mode this past week. Everything is suffering, not just my workouts.

Workout:
Sunday: Yoga
Monday: rest
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: .75 miles 30 sec walk/run intervals 1/4 mil cool down.

Total Mileage:
1 mile - 20 weeks postpartum

October Week 3 Recap

It's almost Halloween time! YEA! I really do love this time of year. Trader Joe's is going pumpkin everything wild, the apples are fresh and crisp and the AC is turned off saving us major bucks on the electric bill! YEA!

Major news about Collin. I love this, every week there is something new! Well. This kid wants to get moving. We are not teaching him how to do anything he is figuring it out on his own, and frankly, I am not ready for him to be crawling or walking. This week he has mastered the art of planking. And now he is getting up on his knees and doing the wiggle. Which means, crawling is just a matter of days or weeks ahead. He just turned 5 months so this is a SHOCK to me as Mason was 8 months before he even started to crawl. But Collin loves to watch his brother run around him and he wants to get up and go see him and play with his cool toys too!

Sneak peak at Collin's 5 month pictures. He likes to do Supermans too! 

Mason is still no fully potty trained. We are working on it but he hates to wear underwear, even boxer/briefs and will continue to pee in them and refuses to go #2. So maybe we just aren't ready yet for this. Who knows, but it is a work in progress. Hoping he is potty trained by Thanksgiving so that we don't have to buy diapers on our trip. He is speaking super well. He is fully communicating with us on what he wants, or is doing or just to tell us something. He isn't very clear on his enunciation yet but he is getting there. It is cute the way he says words, and we work with him on how to pronounce them better and more clearly. He also started Piano lessons with me. I have a pre-reading piano series book that I pulled out and we are slowly going through that about every other day. He has learned how to play short sounds, long sounds, soft and loud sounds. Mainly it is following directions.

I finished my third piano composition last week. I started this particular piece in 2011 and I finally got some inspiration and was able to fill 2 holes in it and it is done. Now it is time to put it on my computer as real music. So I still have some work to do but it is done. I will say that the last 2 weeks have been really rough on me mentally. I have just been out of it. Having a hard time keeping up with the house and the chores I set myself to do. Laundry has  piled up like nothing else, and I haven't been making homemade bread. I just haven't wanted to. I started taking my extra placenta pills to help balance out my hormones a little bit but I am definitely in a funk! Doing workouts has been like pulling teeth for me. Some days I am gung-ho ready to go and other days, nope! Plus this past weekend it was a military weekend so it was just me and the boys and the dog. 24/7. No break, not rest, cause Collin didn't want to sleep and Mason wanted to be up super early. Anyhew. I have had a really hard time getting that workout bug going this past week. I am excited for November. I am going to start going back to the gym so that will be good. Send the kids to daycare for 2.5 hours and me go get my workout done, alone. Running. I really have the need for running. I just wish it wasn't so darn hard to do! Anyhew. We all go through these slumps of  I don't wanna! I just need to get out of it!

Workout: 
Sunday: Yoga
Monday: Total Body fix
Tuesday: Upper Body fix
Wednesday: Lower body fix
Thursday: 45 min walk, pushing Mace in stroller and baby wearing Collin/ Pilates Fix
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 30 min walk, pushing Mace and wearing Collin

Total mileage: unknown exact but I estimate about 3.5 miles.

I will say that doing the walk and pilates totally killed my legs and after doing leg day! So I will probably do Pilates earlier in the day before I do running in the future. With all the hills plus the weight I was carrying and pushing just KILLED ME!

Goals for this week: Continue to workout! Need to get it every day. I missed yesterday but will do today and so forth.
~Continue to go on at least 2 walks a week until I go back to the gym. This Saturday I will be at the 10 miler training program.

October Week 2 Recap

I have made it! We are in mid-October and 10 miler training program begins this coming Saturday. I am in training mode. I decided that yes, I am in training mode now! I have to get this way if I really want to do this. My goal is to learn to run for longer stretches of time before I take walking breaks. Running straight would be great so that is the ultimate goal for me. But here we go. Doing 10 miler training, I can do this!

Enough for what is happening later this week. Here is what happened this past week! COLLIN has transition to his CRIB in the nursery. This is huge! And it didn't involve hours of screaming like it did with Mason. Collin is 4 months old. This is a little early. I was planning on moving him over at 6 months but his naps have been going so well in there. He was taking 3-4 hour naps mid day in there and I figured he really liked it! And I was right. He loves it. He spent more nights in his crib at night this week than he did in our room. Collin has a little stuffy nose and was having a hard time not fussing cause his nose was stuffed and he likes to suck his fingers, therefore, he couldn't breath. So, he fussed. 2 nights he slept in our room for this reason, but Collin really does like his bed! I still need to clean up the room and get the donated clothing sorted and off the floor.

Mason is still potty training. He will go #1 every time in the potty, except when he is in mommy quiet time and removes his diaper or pull ups. BLAST! Mason is also running around naked butt and if we put undies on him he will pee in his undies. So we are learning the transition. I bought some boxer/briefs for Mason so that they feel different than regular undies. He just doesn't want to wear undies. He likes being naked!

This past week I was part of a 5 day clean eating challenge. So I didn't exercise as much because I noticed that I couldn't do both very easily. I tried to cut out more red meats and dairy and was eating more veggies and whole foods. I need red meat and dairy. I was exhausted this past week. I had a headache and you can ask Matt, I was a crabby grouch! I did lose another pound and a half this past week, but this weekend I added red meat and dairy back in and well, haven't weighed myself today so I am sure it is back up. I am just going to stick with the plan that I know works, I just need to stick with it more though!

Workout Recap: 
Sunday: rest
Monday: 21 Day Fix- Dirty 30
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: rest

Goals for this week:
~Start-Taking on the holidays- 3 weeks at a time, personal challenge. I refuse to let this holiday get to me.
~Follow my nutritionist plan. No more eating out, no more cheats. Real good clean foods!
~Start training this week. 3.5 miles total this week. More running, less walking. Starting slow.
~Continue to cross train along with my running!

Do you want to join me with the Taking on the holidays- 3 weeks at a time? Work out diligently for 3 weeks then enjoy your holiday, for all 3 holidays coming up. Fill out the form below!
 

October Week 1 Recap

October already. I love October. It is magical. The fog that rests on the open meadows in the early morning and late evenings. The changing leaves and the awesome Blood Moon that is going to be happening on the 8th is pretty cool too! Halloween is coming up and right now I am looking for our family group costume ideas. And trying to get all our outfits together for our family pictures. I am doing a lot of clothing coordination but I think I have the family outfits planned out well.

This past week has been a doozy for the Allen family. I have been under the weather. I had planned on doing so much more than I did. Especially with my workouts, but I think I just had a linger bug that was knocking me on my butt with exhaustion. Every change I got, I rested. I was even in bed by 8pm one of the nights. Working out took a back seat for me, but I did so some yoga poses to help me relax and de-compress and get rid of this bug that was invading my body. I was finally feeling better by Friday. Planned on doing a run on Saturday morning, but slept in way too late and had a birthday party to get the family ready for. But coming up in a few weeks, no more missing runs because I will be at training! Excited for it to begin and to see the progress I make. November I go back to the gym too so I will be able to do more running at the gym and still plan on doing my workouts at home with Matt. I will not gain weight this holiday season!

Big news too with Mason. He no longer wants to keep his diaper on. So on to potty training we go. Man it has been a power struggle in this house. He will tell me he needs to go and will now go to the potty and pee. But he refuses to poo on the potty (I think he just went out back like the dog by the way!) So that is a work in progress. And if we put undies on him he will pee in the undies. I ordered boxer brief undies and they will be here mid week to hopefully help this area. But we are adjusting. He is telling me he needs to go pee and will go by himself, but he is running around naked butt and will not keep pull ups on or a diaper on and it is off in the morning and at the end of the mommy quiet time, every single day. And I have had to clean up a lot of accidents. It has been no fun. At all. (we have tried sticker charts, candy, a promise of a potty party, books, stories, singing, apps on the phone. But he is just stubborn!)

Collin is doing well too. He is back to sleeping through the night and only doing one very early morning feeding right now. If it were at 5 I would be happier but it is at 4am. Too early to do workout, but I might just have to suck it up and do a workout at 4am! Oh that hurts thinking about it! Next week I will get to talk about his new sleeping arrangements!

Workout Recap:
Sunday: rest
Monday:  20 minutes postnatal yoga DVD
Tuesday: 20 minutes pilates DVD
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 20 min postnatal yoga DVD
Friday: 20 minutes pilates DVD
Saturday: rest

Keep in mind I have been potty training Mason and he would only go pee in the upstairs bathroom. I wish I had a fitbit to tell me how many flights of stairs I climbed. We have a 3 level house by the way! By Wednesday I noticed that my legs weren't as sore or I wasn't out of breath as I was on Monday. So progress.

 

September Week 4 Recap

I am so glad that this week is over and done with. I have been anticipating that this week be done, that I just make it to the 27th because that meant that my house was sold and I would not have to worry about making a double mortgage payment, nor would we be stressing about the closing process. So FINALLY! This week is over and done with and the house is SOLD! I feel like I can breath now.

In other news, Collin is finally almost sleeping through the night again. He dropped one feeding through the night this week, so no more waking up at midnight to feed. We are at a 2am feed then his regular4:30- 5am feed. If he continues to feed at 4:30-5 I am going to work extra hard to exercise afterwards because I need to do it first thing in the morning. Maybe I can get the hubs to do it with me then since it is only 30 min. Oh and he loves standing! I am not ready for him to start walking. He was standing against his walker and holding himself up, but of course as I snapped the pix Matt had his hands there just in case! But the kid is going to walk early!

Matt has been working out with me during the week. We need to be better about it and not being too tired at night when we can workout together. So finding this common ground is key! but he is enjoying the workouts just as much as I am, and I think I am kicking his butt. (He is also doing a workout earlier in the day, so really he is doing pretty well he is just so tired!)

Workout Recap: 
Sunday: rest
Monday: Total Body Cardio
Tuesday: Upper Body fix
Wednesday: Lower body fix & 10 min ab fix!
Thursday: Pilates fix
Friday: rest- we were exhausted and all of us in the house were out light a light by 8pm
Saturday: 3.25 mile run! I went running, yea, yea, yea! It was great. I hurt like crazy yesterday and had to take a nap but that's ok! I still ran! (10 miler training begins in 3 weeks!)

This weeks goals: 
~Potty train Mason. Yep you heard that right. He is struttin' around half naked right now. He has yet to go on the potty. Had 1 accident because he doesn't want to sit on the potty. But we are working on it. He won't keep his diaper on anymore, or his hands out of his diaper. He is ready but he doesn't want to be. (scratch that, he just went full on pee on the wood floor then playing in it! EWWW!)
~Run 2 times this week. I am going to try to run on Thursday either at Matt's gym on the treadmill or around the neighborhood. (Man the hills in my hood are awful!)
~Still eating clean. Need to be better. No more cheats, but I am down 2 lbs from when I started the 21 day fix. (i went up 1 lb from last week because I messed up on my portions! I am still learning!)

September Week 3 Recap

It is here! Finally here! Season and series premier season! YEA! I love this time of year when my favorite shows come back on. So that is what I am looking forward to this week! I will tell you my weekly line up next week but I am excited about the return of Once Upon A Time!

Back to last week. The dreaded hospital week I am now calling it. It killed my workouts for the week, but that didn't mean I had to eat poorly! The week started out great. Mason, Matt and Collin were all done with their whatever sickness they had and I felt really strong. I pushed starting my 21 Day Fix back a day so that all the junk food was out of the house on Monday. (Had to go through and purge a couple of things) Tuesday came and I KILLED it in my workout! I had pure muscle fatigue. I was exhausted and it took 4 days for my legs to not be sore anymore! (Don't you love those kinds of days?) Wednesday happened and I did my workout with my hubs which was awesome and a little intimidating but still awesome to see him huff and puff as much as I was! Then Thursday. If you don't know what happened click here and I talk all about it. Friday, and Saturday I had planned on working out but Matt advised against it because I still had a fever and other flu like symptoms come at me. So I took them as rest days, but I was fully planning on working out those days. So they were recovery days for me and Sunday was the first day since Wednesday that I felt normal again. Matt and I decided it would be best to restart my 21 days today. So that is where we are at.

Sunday we went to our old church in Louisa to say hi to our old friends! And spent the afternoon at my friend's house to let the kiddos play and tire them out!

We have some awesome news that I will share soon but don't want jinx it quite yet. Yep it is pretty awesome!

I am just glad that I am feeling better though. Still not sure what was wrong with me. We think it was a super slow moving virus that first gave me the super high fever then went and attacked other areas of my body. But back at it today and I am so not really looking forward to the many surrenders I will be doing today though. Man, they burn out my legs fast! (21 Day Fix day 1 workout: Total Body Cardio Fix)

Workout Recap: 
Sunday: rest
Monday: rest
Tuesday: Total Body Cardio Fix
Wednesday: Upper Body Fix
Thursday: HOSPITAL DAY
Friday: rest and recovery
Saturday: rest and recovery
Sunday: rest

This weeks goals:
~Do all my workouts. That is 7 days because for the next 21 days I am committed!
~Continue to eat clean. Even though I didn't get all my workouts in and had almost a full day where I didn't eat, but got pumped full of fluids, I have still lost weight because I cut the crap and am eating clean. down 3.2 lbs!
~Get 2 more rooms in my house clean. I am working on doing a Fall cleaning in the house right now and we did the guest room and Mason's room this weekend (you do not want to know how many fuzzies from his old sheepskin blanket and goldfish were under his bed!). So this week is the nursery and our bedroom that needs to be spruced up!

QOTD: What did you do this past week that was the most memorable??? Do you do a fall deep cleaning (dusting, scrubbing and cleaning baseboards)?

ALSO: If you would like to join my 21 Days to Great Online Health group, this Friday (9/26) is the last day that I will accept people for this month's group. Fill out the form below and let me know if you want to join! Any workout routine accepted! You know you wanna! THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING! Get in shape now and eat better now so you don't have to work so hard during the holidays!

September Week 2 Recap

Sick, Sick, Sick has been the name of the game here in the Allen household! The week started out great then Wednesday Mason was hit with a bug. He was sporting a fever (not sure what it went to, didn't check but high enough to register that he was pretty warm.) The we all started dropping like flies! Matt stayed home on Wednesday to help out so that I could try to quarantine him from Collin and such but that just made it possible for Matt to be sick by Friday with a fever. Oh and the quarantine didn't quite work. Collin got it too.

So Collin has been an awesome baby! He started sleeping through the night since 3 weeks old. So I have no right to complain. I am so thankful though that he sleeps at night because living like this everyday would be so hard. You mommas that don't get sleep, I remember that, from Mason and it isn't fun. You are so strong and powerful and I fully feel for you. I did get a little taste of lack of sleep though. Thursday night he was up every hour whining, fussing or crying. I totally understand. Being sick sucks, especially since we couldn't give him medicine for him like we can big brother. So Thursday night into Friday morning I only got about an hour combined of sleep that night. I ain't gonna lie, Friday sucked for me! And with Matt being sick and Mason still in recovery I was exhausted. Friday night was better but only got about 3 hours of sleep. By Saturday afternoon, we all crashed, expect for Matt and Mason, Collin and I slept from 3pm-7pm. We were all back in bed by 10pm to sleep for the night. Collin woke up early Sunday morn at 2:30 to feed and then was out agin till the morning.

Noticed how I haven't written about me. Well, I am not quite out of the woods yet. I doubled up on my Shakeology, (2 shakes a day) for 2 days just to give me a boost in my own immunity and to help boost Collin up too. I think it really did work. I only started to feel sick yesterday but it wasn't too bad. I have had a stuffed up nose, but never really had a fever and have felt fairly ok. (except for the sleeping thing.) I have been more physically exhausted more than anything. So no early Saturday run for me. Sleep was more important to me because I wasn't getting it. And workouts suffered this week too, because well, I was exhausted and dealing with my sick kiddos. (Nothing worse then having sick kids and seeing them suffer from it, that is what is really hard about being a parent. Not being able to help them when they need it.)

On the bright side, I might not have worked out, but I have been eating fairly clean. (I did go to a baby shower on Saturday and had some cake and other goodies but I watched what I ate and didn't overdo it) I haven't gained any weight. So I consider that a "good job Becky moment!"

OHHHHH! AND...I was just accepted as an Ambassador with FitFluential! "FitFluential is a nationwide network of highly influential fitness enthusiasts sharing their journey both online and offline through multiple social media platforms. Founded in April of 2011 by Kelly Olexa, FitFluential was designed to connect health and wellness brands with their ideal target market through customized, long-term experiential and contextual marketing campaigns. - See more at: http://fitfluential.com/about/

Workout Recap: 
 Sunday: rest
Monday: core
Tuesday: Drench
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: REST

Goals for next week: 
1) Start my 21 Day Fix program, so I am a week ahead of everyone to actually offer my help an know what I am talking about. I am big on practice what you preach!
2) EAT CLEAN! Cut the crap out and eat what I need to.
3) Saturday morning run of 3.5 miles. Also try to schedule in 2 mid-week runs. Need to figure out that still! So I don't run at 5am. It really would be a great time, but should I wake Collin up and nurse him then go for a run??? I can't run being super full and Collin won't take a bottle for me to pump, and I don't want to pump and dump because he needs the milk from sleeping all night and not feeding during the night. My other option would be to run later at night and now that it is getting cooler that might be an option. But running later in the day is hard! Any ideas from other mother's out there??? Comment below!

Also I am still accepting requests to join my 21 Days To Great Private Facebook Group! If you need help taking that first step into a lifestyle change sign up below. If you don't know where to start with exercising or dieting, sign up below. If you just want to talk and share your ideas on how to lose weight. Let me know! I will send you an email and we can chat!

September Week 1 Recap

~So in love~

Happy Anniversary to us! It has been our anniversary weekend so we have been busy, busy, busy! And this week has been no less busy. I am still trying to find the happy balance of being a mom of 2, doing all my household chores and teaching. Let's just say, I have a very large pile of clean clothing that needs to be sorted and hung up/put away. At least I got the laundry clean though! 

We had an extra family day this week, thanks to Labor Day. Matt's fav tradition is to watch the Married With Children Labor Day episode and laugh the whole way through, eat beans with chips for lunch and of course follow in Al Bundy's steps in grilling! We didn't get to grill, it was just too hot, so we let 5 Guys do that for us. Yea for me not having to cook.

We also took the afternoon to go grocery shopping together, which is being a weekly occurrence for us. My new fav place that I am figuring out, TRADER JOE'S! They really have everything there that we need but in their own brand and the prices are always great! And they have good organic food. So it allows me to get the clean organic food I want and at a price that I can live with.

The rest of the week was full of me being with the boys and teaching. I love teaching. I have such eager students that are craving to learn about music and are so devoted in their practicing.

They have made a commitment to themselves to practice everyday. Why is it so hard for me to get that same drive in working out most days??? ARGH! I am still pushing play and exercising but I feel like I am dragging and I am starting to notice that I am making excuses. Is it cause the numbers on the scale aren't going down? Or the fact that I still like to eat food I shouldn't, cupcakes for my anniversary, maybe...But still I made this commitment to myself and I need to PUSH PLAY! Tomorrow I am announcing my next project! check it out because I got working out down I just need to get my eating in check too!

Workout Recap:
Sunday: rest, much needed rest after the race!
Monday: PiYo Upper Define & 1.5 mile walk with kiddos - YEA!
Tuesday: Sweat - this day it was like pulling teeth to do it!
Wednesday: Lower Define
Thursday: PiYo Core
Friday: rest
Saturday: rest- out all day for my anniversary

Week 2 of September Goals: Running! Adding running back into the mix. I know for sure on Saturday I am going to go running in the morning! YEA! But now I need to fit it in during the week too! How and where???

~12 years later, Still in love and now have 2 beautiful kids~

August Week 4 Weekly Recap

I made it! I did my first postpartum race Saturday, and I did it! I am feeling pretty good about my race and everything! I was expecting like 1 hour and 5-10 min time to do the 4 miler but nope, I made it under an hour, BARELY! But that is ok. I was also under my 15 min/mile rule that I had during my pregnancy. AND I know that I had negative splits for the last 2 miles because my legs finally warmed up and I know I was running and walking faster! I will have my race recap up later this week!

I am trying to get into more of a routine schedule with Mason and his "pre-pre school" with me. He isn't potty trained yet so he can't go to pre-school yet so WELCOME to the Allen Academy! I am also trying to schedule in more play groups during the week to give him more social interactions. We went to 3 last week. It was great watching him play, but I was still the center of his attention. Except at the race. There were tons of other kids that would rough house with him and while I was running, he was too. He was exhausted when we got home!

This week on the workout front wasn't as great as I wanted, but it was also taper week. I adjusted my workouts so they wouldn't kill me for the race. Next week, the first week of Sept. I am buckling down! Getting back into my schedule and will finish PiYo soon. Looking into starting another workout routine that includes portion control. I have lost inches, it is now time to start losing weight too!

Workout Recap: 
Sunday: rest
Monday: PiYo Upper Define
Tuesday: PiYo lower Define
Wednesday: 1.5 mile walk
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: 4 mile

5.5 total mileage
14 weeks postpartum

QOTD: Do you do extra workouts "doubles" on Labor Day? Let me know below in the comments!  I am planning on doing my workout plus a nice family walk later today! 

August Week 3 Recap

I just can't get over how fast time is flying. With Mason it seemed like everyday and every week crawled by and now it is zooming by, so much so that I can't even get this out by MONDAY! Sorry!

I am doing so well with my workouts and PiYo. Yes I still miss a couple of days but hey life happens but I haven't fallen off the wagon yet! I am trying to add in exercise activities with Mason too, because his 3 year old body needs it just as much as my body does. And it almost always ensures a nap for him later in the day. Bonus points for mommy there! I took my monthly transformation pictures this past week! YEA! I might not have lost weight on the scale but I am losing inches. This week my goal is to eat better and follow my nutrition plan more closely!

This past week I also started Mason with some schooling activities. Since he isn't potty trained yet he can't go to the pre-school we really want him to go to. No diaper policy. So this year I am taking his pre-pre-schooling in my own hands. I went to Barnes and Noble and found a great book to start with and so far he is doing really well. He has the attention span of a 3 year old (about 30 min) but so far so good. I just need to keep a consistent schedule.

Collin is also growing by leaps and bounds. Gone are the growth spurt days and back to sleeping through the night, thank goodness! I am so glad to have a baby that is sleeping 8+ hours straight through the night, then he feeds at 5am and passes back out for a few more hours. I don't know how I did it or what I did. It just happened. (don't hate)!

Workout Recap:
Sunday: rest
Monday: PiYo sculpt
Tuesday: PiYo Sweat
Wednesday: PiYo Core
Thursday: PiYo Drench
Friday: rest
Saturday: walked around a mall for about 4 hours. We had our last training run this morning but we all slept in and I had to feed Collin while everyone was racing then I cheered them on to the finish. This coming Saturday is our big 4 mile race!

August Week 2 Workout Recap

This was the last week before school starts. Most moms are going to be celebrating this week as their kids go back to school. At least I would be when my kids finally start to go. I guess it is bittersweet but still us mommas need a break sometimes don't we! Anyhew I made sure to really kicked my butt into gear this week. Which I am happy to announce that I DID! 

I stuck to the workouts even though they kicked my butt and I couldn't do everything but I sure worked myself. I have needs improvement on my 2 newest workouts that were added this week: Drench and Strength intervals. I am so excited to gauge my strength changes over the next couple of weeks! 

Life as a mom is keeping me pretty busy. I still haven't added running back into the mix, except for on Saturdays and I am still trying to work out a schedule with my hubs on when I can go to his gym during the week. Or hopefully soon I will be able to go back to my gym and it will be easier to do running! 

Currently I am looking into 1/2 marathon training. I am planning on, I guess kinda sorta, looking at doing a 1/2 next spring and will start my 1/2 training in November. I am going to start training for my 10k here in a few weeks so I am excited about that. Race season, here I come! I do know that I will continue to incorporate leg strengthening exercises/weight training during my training because last time I did that (in 2010) I was able to run longer without my body tiring out. So I will be in full training mode so soon! 

Oh and another thing. I was without Shakeology until Wednesday. I could definitely feel a difference in my body, energy and craving levels when I am not drinking it. I was exhausted, and all I wanted to do was stuff my face of sweets and pastries. Workouts were hard and not and I had to really push to get through the workout. Started drinking shakeology on Wednesday and it really takes about 3 days to get it back in your system and to get that energy kick. IT REALLY IS GREAT STUFF! Note to myself, don't run out again! 

Workout Recap: 

Sunday: Rest

Monday: PiYo Sweat

Tuesday: PiYo Hardcore on the floor

Wednesday: PiYo BUNS

Thursday: PiYo Drench

Friday: PiYo Strength Intervals (only able to do about 1/2 so sore and tired from Drench and Buns)

PiYo Week 3 RE-DO

Now that I have officially redone week 3 I can talk about it! OH MY OH MY How much do I love BUNS! It was awesome! I was sore from the bowlers move for 4 days. 4 DAYS PEOPLE! I haven't been that sore from working out in forever and that is going back to my first week with my personal trainer where he literally kicked my butt and pushed me to my max to see where we start from! But yeah, I felt it like crazy in my thighs for 4 days. Then core the next day, oh boy! IT WORKED ME HARD AND GOOD!

The only workout last week I didn't do is the strength interval on Saturday. My legs were toast after still be sore from BUNS and also from my run with the training program that morning and trying to keep up with MJ! Now she is an inspiring woman who makes me want to push harder every single day! 80+ lbs down and still rocking it in the weight loss dept! LOVE HER and so glad I met her!

Anyhew I am also noticing that I am more flexible. During some after workout stretching I was able to reach further and my legs spread more apart without killing my hamstrings. I totally need my hamstrings looser! I love it when Chalene tells us to lift our tail bone or pop a hip out here or there. I feel the stretching so much more deeply.

Also this was my first week that I kept plank up during the whole routine. I only dropped onto my knees when going to Chaturanga because I am still working on getting my tricep pushup. OUCH! 

I am going into the final week of the first half of PiYo this week and super excited. I got to start it off with SWEAT last night, had to wait for the kiddos to be in bed. But after this week, it gets more difficult I assume because Define upper and lower is gone and it goes into DRENCH and SWEAT a ton! 

---Beginning August 25 I will be hosting a Exclusive PiYo test group on Facebook! Let me know if you are interested in joining my team and group!!! Leave a comment, msg me, email me or click here and click JOIN TEAM! 

August Week 1 Weekly Recap

Another week down and it was even my first week back to teaching! So it was a busy, big week for me. I teach private music lesson out of my home and during my lessons on Tuesday, Collin slept the whole time in his swing and part of the time in the swing during my Friday lessons. He did pretty well, but I only had 3 lessons this past week and this coming week is a full schedule, and Matt is out of town, OY! so we will see how it goes with having a babysitter and all.

This weeks workout went really well. I did a re-do of my weekly workout for PiYo since I missed so many the previous week and I did very well this week! My legs were sore from the Buns workout for 4 days! CRAZY! Just finding the time is the hard part. My goal this past week was to wake up early to exercise and I couldn't. Collin starting waking up in the middle of the night to feed and I have been an exhausted zombie mommy all week so waking up at 5 am when Mace and Collin were sleeping in till 7:30 didn't work. Thankfully they both go down for Mommy quiet time at the same time so early afternoons are working.

Workout Recap: 
Sunday: Rest
Monday: PiYo: Lower
Tuesday PiYo BUNS
Wednesday: PiYo Core
Thursday: PiYo Upper
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 3ish mile run (ran with the training program today sans Collin so I really got to get out there! Wasn't consistent running as I was stopping to help cheer ladies on their runs but I joined some ladies and ran with them, double backed and joined other ladies and so forth. It was pretty cool and I was was pretty worn out. Ran back in with M and she KILLED ME! I was running at a faster pace than I am used to which is good and we were working on hills!

PiYo Week 3

This week got away from me. Life got in the way. And that is okay! Life happens. Crappy things in life happen and we all have to deal with it. But the thing is not to give up. It is to keep going. So for me, I am going to re-do Week 3 in PiYo because I missed 2 brand new workouts. I did my normal ones, the Define upper and Lower that I have done every week but I didn't get a chance to do Buns, Core or Strength Intervals. So WEEK 3 Re-Do will be up next week.

The big thing though, I AM NOT GIVING UP! I AM STILL DOING THIS! So If you are interested in reading about the week 3 workout for PiYo, come back next week!

Interested in trying out PiYo? Click here!

July Week 5 Workout Recap

This past week really took a tole on me and my workouts! I am actually thinking about "redoing" this week workout wise. Setting myself backwards one week because it just didn't happen. ARGH! The thing is though, it didn't happen because of life. My life got in the way. Which is ok. We all deal with unexpected changes in our life and we just keep moving. The good thing though is that I was still active. I spent Tuesday evening filling hundred of nail holes in the house we are trying to sell and Wednesday (10 hours) painting said house. Friday I was so sore I took a break because I pushed through the soreness of my legs on Thursday and did Define lower. Friday I hit a wall and my whole body was toast. And I was supposed to do a double workout to make up for the Tuesday and Wednesday I missed. And yesterday I just didn't get a moments rest to do my workout. So like I said, life got in the way and we are in a new week which means a week to improve. So here is for a REDO week and kill it!

Workout Recap- 
Sunday: Rest
Monday: PiYo Define: Upper
Tuesday: rest from working out but spent 4 hours filling nail holes
Wednesday: rest from working out but spent 10 hours paining
Thursday: PiYo Define: Lower (felt good after bug ouch later)
Friday: rest
Saturday: rest

Goal for the week: To work out early in the morning to get it done before life catches up with me!

July Week 3 Workout Recap

~So in love with these two!~

One more week done in July and only one more week left to go. Sad to see this month ends, as I am in the final days of maternity leave. I begin teaching again soon. I love teaching, but I also love staring at my babies all day long and playing. I am super excited to see how much my students have changed in the last 3 months and excited for them to meet Collin as most haven't met him yet.

This past week has been a great one for me workout wise. I am still going strong with PiYo, and it is still kicking my butt! I will give my week 2 recap of PiYo later this week!

I also did a great speed walk with Collin on me on Saturday. My legs were screaming at me yesterday for it though. I am going to try to incorporate a daily walk into my routine. I should be able to walk, and that way I am still getting my mileage in. I have yet to start running because other things have come up but my plan is to start running in August on a regular basis. (Which was my plan all along, funny how things happen that way)

Workout Recap: 
Sunday: Double Duty Routine. PiYo: Define Upper and Lower
Monday: PiYo: Sweat
Tuesday: PiYo: Define Lower
Wednesday: PiYo: Core- spent 4 hours cleaning rental house to sell
Thursday: PiYo: Define Upper
Friday: PiYo: Sweat
Saturday: 2.5 mile speed walk

Total Mileage: 2.5 miles
9 weeks postpartum

July Week 2 Workout Recap

Already over halfway through with July! CRAZY! This week has been crazy. We have my first week on PiYo and Shakeology by Beachbody. Mason turned 3 years old. Collin is 8 weeks old and I am 8 weeks postpartum.

So keeping this purely about my weekly workout recap here I go. The others will be found here later this week. I am so happy to be able to exercise again. Things are going great. Breaking a nice sweat and really feeling my legs, arms and shoulders get nice and sore. Not too sore but a good sore. PiYo has been great. Took it easy to learn all the moves and watch more of the DVD so this week will be a different story. By the end of the week I was feeling stronger in my core and legs and definitely in my arms.

Goals for this week: 

1) Get my food more in control. Follow my nutritionist diet plan that I have and make sure I am eating enough calories! (yes, I need to actually eat more. I am falling under and if it wasn't for Shakeology I think my milk supply would diminish a little but it has been pretty good!)

2) Push harder during my PiYo exercises. Really feel the burn more this week.

3) Work with the hubs to schedule 2 running days during the week. Need to start getting this in if I am going to be running. And to do running this Saturday with the training program. Going to be leaving Collin with Matt so I can do my run!

Workout Recap: 

Sunday: rest
Monday: PiyYo: Alignment
Tuesday: PiYo: Define Lower
Wednesday: PiYo: Define Upper
Thursday: Sweat
Friday: Rest (made a cake and could barely eat it, too sugary!)
Saturday: 1/2 mile walk plus walking around Washington DC, which is actually a lot of walking. Est. about 2 miles.

Total mileage: about 2.5 miles
8 weeks postpartum