It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life.....

Last night we had my mother-in-law come over to Munchkin-sit for a couple of hours.  I now realize how much we're striving to change our habits, because instead of going to Old Chicago (*drool*) and a movie, we went on a "gym date".  30 minutes of cardio followed by an AMAZING 60 minutes of strength-yoga.  I could literally feel the negativity leaving my mind and my pores (in the form of enormous sweat drops).

I took too many days off recently.  I did great last week until Friday, when an out-of-town friend came to visit and we were having way too much fun eating crap and hitting up the thriving metropolis of Boise to do any exercise or eat anything green.  I ended up not exercising Fri, Sat or Sun.  I did my couch to 10k on Monday, but no Jillian until Wednesday, so I went almost an entire week without her.  She tortured me for it though, don't you worry.

Last night when Andrew and I went to the gym we did our couch to 10k week 2 day 1.  I. Wanted. To. Die.  Not literally of course, but holy cow.   For a 240something lbs woman "sprint" (probably a light jog to most other people) for 90 seconds straight is not an easy feat.  It was painful.  I told my mom I almost turned into one of those blubbering women on The Biggest Loser.  It was SO hard, and such a GOOD reminder of why I'm doing it (and that I need new running shoes.)  It's hard because of the life I've lived the last several (several x several) years.  A life of eating entire pints of Haagen Dazs in one sitting.  A life of going weeks at a time of sitting on the couch.  A life of self-pity and poor excuses.  Yet here I am, trying to turn it around.

I realized yesterday this is the first time I've really taken this into my own hands.  Since losing weight and changing things 4 years ago with a very involved personal trainer, I haven't really "tried" on my own.  The task of taking responsibility for myself has been too daunting, too overwhelming, too easy to ignore.  But I finally feel like I'm getting it.  Like I'm on my way to fantastic things.  *Pats self on back*

I'm really excited to weigh and do my measurements on Monday.  I don't even know if anything will be that different.  I feel different, in my mind.  And I'm feelin' gooooood.....

Take #3275

Here I am again, two months since my last post (smh).  Why can't I be one of these super hip moms who updates her blogs weekly and somehow magically turns it into a career?  I envy them.

So here's what's been going down in Hayley town.  You won't be surprised to hear that I didn't stick to any of my pledges the last time I posted.  Andrew and I went on a weekend vacation to Portland to see his sister.  We obviously weren't going to even try to eat nutritious things, because when I think of a 6 hour car trip, Cheezits and powdered sugar gas station donuts come to mind.  We had a blast but didn't do anything active for the entire month of March, really.  Andrew hurt his back (and we all know how boys can be when they're "injured" or "sick"...), so there was no chance of getting him to the gym.  Owen got sick so I wasn't going to take him to the day care center or pawn him off on a grandparent who would inevitably catch whatever he had.  No, no, I took the easy way out.  Took off my Fitbit, set it on my counter and didn't look back the entire month.  I also delved deep back into my Pepsi and French fries habit.  Yuck!  I mean yum, but yuck!

I managed to lose 15 pounds over the course of February and part of March, actually, but for the last month I haven't really been weighing on a regular basis.  If I don't weigh daily, I don't weigh at all.  So this morning I slithered like a slug with a Papa Murphy's hangover from my bed to the scale.  And you know what that a-hole said?  EIGHT POUNDS UP.  So that sucked.  But, instead of going to Dutch Bros. and playing Candy Crush for the rest of the day, I made myself a little protein shake, cued up some Body Revolution (THANK YOU Amy!) and let Jillian tell me what to do for the next half hour.  After that I went to the gym for a Couch to 5k date with my sis-in-law.  And you know what?  I feel great!  I wanted to cry a little bit toward the end of my intervals, but I survived.

I'm not making promises anymore to anyone but myself.  When I was struggling through the running intervals on the treadmill I kept imagining a friend or family member or trainer saying, "You've got this girl!  Almost there!"  but really, if I'm being honest, that did nothing for me.  What DID help was just listening to my own inner voice tell me, "I've got this.  I'm almost there."  So, this is for me.  I know there are people I want to impress, as we all do, but really, this is for me.  I'm allowed to be selfish with this one.

So, here is my revised plan.  It's organized, it's easy to accomplish, and it makes me feel good.
MWF: Couch to 5k at the gym.
M-Sat: Jillian Michaels Body Revolution (90-day program)
Tues: Strength training with personal trainer.

Here are my "new" before pictures.  I wanted something to reference while I'm doing this 90 workout.  I plan to take a new set ever 30 days.  I took these today in the gym bathroom with my phone, so they're not that great.  And I made sure nobody was around so I wouldn't look like a pervert.  I also have a set of before photos from last fall that are just... the worst... so nobody will be seeing those until I'm "at goal".

There it is...

That arm is a FULL two inches larger than the left.  Blegh.

I promise I'm not five months pregnant.

Blackout!  Oh wait, that's just my ginormously wide arse.

My latest measurements are this:
Starting weight: 252
Current weight:  245.6
Arms: R 17" L 15" (seriously?)
Shoulders (from across the tops of my armpit chub and over my arms): 52"
Chest: 44"
High waist: 38.5"
Low waist: 46"
Hips:  52"
Thighs: R 32: L 31" (there it is again...)
Knee chub (if you don't have it, be thankful):  both sides 19"
Calves (calfs?): R 17" L 18"

Well if those photos and measurements don't scare you away, stay tuned!  I'll definitely update in 30 days, if not sooner.  Happy Monday!