a 2014 weight/fitness resolution check-in

Posted on June 22, 2014July 30, 2014 by mommyinthemidwest

I had big dreams for 2014. Big dreams for myself in 2014. I got on a roll with running in 2013 and completed Couch to 5k. Running had always scared me because of my less-than-stellar knees. No, I didn’t play sports…no I didn’t have a car accident or an injury. I just inherited really crappy knees.

So I was surprised that the more I ran, the less they bothered me. Maybe getting 25 pounds off was what helped my knees. Who knows. I learned to like running. I won’t say I loved it. I kind of hate it during but love the feeling of accomplishment afterwards. It’s euphoria when I am able to push myself to meet or surpass a goal. I’m not and don’t ever plan to be a long distance runner. The furthest I’ve ever ran continuously is three and a half miles. I was completely okay with that distance, but I wanted to just be consistently getting good, challenging exercise.

For 2014, I planned to run 25 miles per month or a total of 300 miles this year. Unfortunately, in the first 6 weeks of 2014, I also experienced some unplanned obstacles. Like 2 separate stomach bugs, the flu, and 2 separate rounds of strep throat. I ran 15 miles in during the month of January somehow but obviously fell short of the 25 mile goal I needed to hit to stay on track for running 300 miles for the year.

February rolled around and I ran again but there was trouble. Not far into my run, I had a debilitating pain in my left knee. I tried to walk it off and run again but the pain got worse. Nothing popped or snapped, I never knew where the pain was coming from or why it was happening. I gave up after three attempts that day and decided to let my knee rest. That week, my knee hurt… all the time. Standing up from my chair at work. Walking towards the back of the grocery store. I was really worried. I continued to rest it. I ran once in March and it was a little better, but still hurt.

By this point I was wondering if my running days were over. I was debating seeing an orthopedist but didn’t have much luck the last time I went to one. They wanted to do an MRI that would be $1800 out of pocket and we were in the middle of moving so I put it off and eventually my knees stopped bothering me as much.

I fell in April, badly scraping both knees, which gave me another excuse not to run. About a week after the fall, I noticed that I hadn’t had any (internal) knee pain. I waited for another week for the scrapes to heal and could no longer resist the urge to run. I was able to run over two miles and have been running off and on ever since then, but not with the consistency I would like. Some days my knees hurt a little, some days they hurt a lot. Occasionally…rarely, they don’t hurt at all.

I’ve given up on my dream of running 300 miles this year – obviously – but I still like getting some exercise every day one way or another. Lately it’s been too humid for me to run. I’m just not that hardcore and it’s too hard to breathe.

My weight has crept up a little as I haven’t been watching what I eat as well as I used to. Well – I’m still watching. I’m still using MyFitnessPal to log calories and exercise daily. I have just been eating a lot more of what I WANT than what I should. My original goal was to lose 20-24 pounds and last year my weight loss hovered around 25-27 pounds. I’m back to about a 21-22 pound loss, which is okay, but I liked 26 a whole lot better!

So I’d love to hear any ideas people have about keeping motivation high long-term in order to keep the pounds AWAY long term. Maintaining just isn’t as fun or rewarding as losing, ya know? Neither is gaining. If anyone has had long-term success at keeping weight off, please feel free share your tips and secrets. It’s so easy to slip into old habits.

xo,
~C~

catch the moment 365: week twenty-four

Posted on June 19, 2014August 1, 2014 by mommyinthemidwest

I’m sharing yet another week of photos and linking up with Mindi from Simply Stavish, Stephanie from Behind the Camera and Dreaming, and Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer for Catch the Moment 365. I feel like a broken record saying “I can’t believe we are {insert any number between 3 and 24} weeks into the project” and / or “we had such a great week.” And while life ISN’T all roses all the time, this project is great for making me realize how good I’ve got it. Whether it’s the big things or the little things, every day we’re making memories and enjoying the ride down this crazy road we’re on.

Speaking of moving on…

162/365: June 11th. We traded babysitting nights with friends in order to squeeze in a much-needed, mid-week speed date. We were able to grab a quick dinner at a Mexican restaurant near the movie theater. We’d been dying to see Maleficent for almost two weeks. Spoiler alert: It was so good! (So was that salsa and queso).

163/365: June 12th. A little water play between dinner and bedtime, which for Dexter equates to taking a bath. Soaked from shoulders to knees!

164/365: June 13th. I had to document a rare occurrence… I painted my nails. It lasted less than 24 hours, but it was fun anyway.

165/365: June 14th. I blogged all about our refreshing weekend visiting friends a couple hours away HERE.

166/365: June 15th. Father’s Day. I typed out the interviews I did with the boys about their daddy HERE.

167/365: June 16th. Sun shining through the clouds over a cornfield on my way to work.

168/365: June 17th. Not the best day ever but we managed to enjoy parts of it. I had my car scheduled for a 45 minute service that ended up taking 2 hours and 10 minutes. Which overlapped with the boys’ soccer clinic. Which was a nightmare because neither of them *really* wanted to play. Meaning Theo was lying on the ground refusing to participate. And while Dexter gave it a decent effort, he saw how Theo was acting and wanted to quit too. I was able to keep him somewhat engaged but Theo was a lost cause. After we got home, ate dinner, and gave them a shower…THEN we had some nice, not-so-stressful moments picking stickers out of Dexter’s Batman Lego sticker book. Then bedtime was kind of a disaster. But that’s enough about that.

Which is your favorite picture this week? Mine is that Father’s Day (day 166) picture of Theo hugging Ryan with the “love” art piece in the background. Love, indeed. Followed closely by day 165 – our day at the lake.

xo,

~C~

the weekend was just what we needed

Posted on June 17, 2014August 1, 2014 by mommyinthemidwest

Life with a 3 and 4 year old, not to mention a house that needs (and is semi-in-the-process-of) remodeling inside and out is busy and hectic to say the least. I feel like we are going, going, going nonstop but not with anything particularly substantial. Ryan is working on the house and I’m trying to keep the boys busy and entertained. That’s the story of our life lately. It was really. REALLY. fun (and needed) to connect with each other as a family of four, all while reconnecting with some friends we hadn’t seen for far too long to live only 2 hours away.

We spent the weekend with Ryan’s friend from school and his family. They live in beautiful town with lakes all over the place. We’d only visited in the winter before and didn’t fully realize how lovely the surroundings were at the time. I think we’re both looking forward to the (warm) day when we can visit again.

Saturday morning started off with a walk to the playground and throwing rocks into a retention pond across from it. That’s just about all that kids need to be content.

Such a sweet family.

Look at these two cuties (4 & 2) and their beautiful eyes!

Taking a cruise around the lake on the pontoon boat.

Little mister was thisclose to falling asleep while mom drove us around.

A milestone! Theo and Dexter got their first rides on a jet ski. And they LOVED it. I love that they are afraid of almost nothing.

Sole bit of photographic evidence that I was actually present.

A long day winding down. Rides on the gator.

As we were loading up to head back to our friends’ house, I had to get back out of the car to snap this quick photo. Oh, to drive up to that view whenever we wanted…so gorgeous, peaceful, and relaxing there.

So when we planned this weekend with our friends, I don’t think any of us realized it was also Father’s Day weekend. In fact, I didn’t realize it until last Monday. That’s okay – I had time to throw together a book for Ryan with the boys help. Read their answers to my Father’s Day Q&A here. The book had the interviews, some recent photos, some artwork, and tickets to an upcoming pro soccer game. He was surprised, and I think pretty pleased!

Sleepy boy on the stairs.

After enjoying a Father’s Day Feast (I feel like we ate so much delicious food all weekend — like literally nonstop “all weekend”), we went to a nearby park and then a cute ice cream shop. The town has these lifelike bronze statues all around right now to promote a local community summer event, First Fridays. I wish I’d taken the time to walk around and photograph more of them.

Some great guys – and a great girl.

There was a little festival going on around the ice cream shop we visited so of course the kids had to play on the bounce houses for a few minutes before Ryan, me, and the boys headed back home.

It was such a great weekend…returning home to all the chores that failed to get done was a bit of a disappointment after feeling like we’d been catered to by the best hosts all weekend long. I think we might see how much rent they’d charge to let us just take over their basement…

xo,

~C~

mommy in the midwest

Month: June 2014

a 2014 weight/fitness resolution check-in

catch the moment 365: week twenty-four

the weekend was just what we needed