How'd You Do?

As we are wrapping up the final weekend I would love to hear from you all. Did you make it all 4weeks? 3? 2? 1?

I find it hard to believe that I actually did it. This is the most consistent I've been in 11 years. I also find it hard to believe that after 4 weeks it is still hard to start every single time. I was hoping it would feel natural after a month. I guess I will wait and see what it feels like after 2 months.

Now seriously, Report In. We all want to know how you did...good or bad. And for anyone that is beating themselves up right now for not doing all 20 days of exercise, we are starting over on Monday.

Mama Chick Says,

When Hot Mama asked me if I wanted to write the Friday blog, I told her I didn’t have any exercise DVDs or gadgets to review. The only idea floating in my head was to talk about how I learned to use the stopwatch on my iPod this week. But then as I thought about it, I was reminded by a little voice in my head that I did have something I could review: the Go Girl Blog itself. This brave endeavor, spear-headed by Hot Mama, has given me an opportunity to focus on ME again. It forces me to take an hour out of each day and just be by myself with no one clutching my pant leg for a drink or wanting to know if their stretchy pants have been washed yet. This blog has proven to be what I needed to get back to exercise basics. But why is this working for me when the size of my jeans couldn’t motivate me to exercise?

Sometimes you need someone to just feed you the truth. Husbands are way too nice to do that. Papa Bear would never tell me that I needed to start exercising again, especially if he wanted to eat dinner that night. It’s your circle of friends who can give you motivation without judgment. You know what it is like to be a woman; we have the same desires to feel beautiful and feel good about ourselves. I am also a people pleaser and I am not about to disappoint people on purpose. That need for accountability gets me out the door at 6:45 am.

Another reason that this blog has kept me on track, is that we aren’t counting anything but time. I have struggled with my weight almost my entire life and because of that I have counted calories, points, good carbs, bad carbs, sugars, the glycemic index, protein, fiber... you get the picture. None of those things work for me without exercise. I feel successful at this because I am only counting the time that I give to exercise. Don’t get me wrong, I am trying to watch my diet now as well, but I don’t feel so guilty when I make cookies with kids or have wine with dinner.

There is a trainer at my health club who has been following this blog saga with me. She thinks it’s great that we’re doing this together. This morning I was telling her that this was week 4 for us and how excited I was that I had stuck with it. Then she asked me if we had weighed in and taken new measurements of ourselves. All I could think was “NNNNOOOOOOOOO!” I don’t want to do that; it will ruin it for me! I don’t want to obsess over the number on the scale right now, I just want to exercise. I want to enjoy my peace and quiet in the morning, while pushing my body a little bit more every day. The Go Girl Blog has given me, and hopefully you, the extra nudge it takes as tired wives and mothers to put ourselves first on today’s “To Do” list.

Busy, Busy

Today is one of those days where I wish I had Five more hours. I'm trying to get too many things done. I think today will end up being an exercise day off for me.

I did buy new running shoes today--Not that I plan on actually running ;) I was excited. I had intended to get them before we started the month. Somehow February flew by in a flash. So Hot Honey came home early today and I went out by myself. Yipee! Bad news is my feet are bigger. Not Yipee. Who wants big feet?! I went up another half size after having this 4th baby!

I have giant feet, but he is worth it. I have giant feet, but he is worth it. He is worth it. He is worth it. I'm going to keep saying this until I believe it. Hope that happens soon.

Other exciting news....Mama Chick wrote the feature for tomorrow. So come back and read it. I think we can all relate.

Have a wonderful Thursday evening.

What Happens at the End of the Week?

That is the question I'm getting from some of the Go Girls.

Hip Mamasita suggested that we do it for all of 2009. Love the enthusiasm! Not sure I'm there yet. I need much smaller goals.

Mama Chick suggested that the Houston area Go Girls do the Race for Grace at the end of March together. We get to exercise and raise money. More info to come.

I was thinking of adding an additional goal, but I think right now it is probably good to keep it the same. I know some Girls joined late and some were sick/injured this month. Maybe for March we could invite a friend/coworker in our life to help encourage us and perhaps provide some real life community not just this blog world. (Cutie Pie you can ignore that because you have already invited everyone you know. Love ya with a big smile)

So, I guess that means I'm in for another month. What do you all think? Want to join for another month commitment?

Another Go Girl!

To my surprise I see we have a new follower! The real surprise is that I don't know her. Not sure how you found our little club, but welcome to the Go Girls! We would love to here how you are fitting in your 30 min. 5 days a week.

Have a great Tuesday Girls! Let us know if your stick'n it out this last week of Feb. I hope you are.

Let's Finish Strong!

Amazing how fast a month can fly by. Girls, we are on our last week of February. I know I would have never made this crazy goal of exercising 5 days each week without the encouragement of all of you. Honestly, the last time I was this consistent was college. Huge thanks to all my Go Girls out there. Last week girls. Let's get it done!

Friday Feature

Review by: Julie Swoboda

I will say right off the bat, I LOVE this DVD. It is truly the only exercise video I have ever done which has actually pushed me. To achieve the intensity you do need hand weights (and a mat if you are on a hard floor).

Positives

*The instruction is super easy to understand and follow even if you need to take your eyes off the screen (ex: during push-ups or crunches).

*Each segment is short. The exercises are TOUGH, but you move through them pretty quickly.

*The individual workouts are only 20 minutes. Believe me when I say, they are designed to pack a several hour session into those 20 minutes.

*Jillian explains the logic and benefits to each exercise as you work through it (ex: working arms and legs simultaneously to increase the intensity to burn fat constantly).

*It only costs $9 at WalMart!

*There are 3 advancing workouts on this DVD (start with level 1, SERIOUSLY!)

*The moves are simple with a twist (ex: jumping jacks, squats with shoulder press, lunges with bicep curls).

Negatives

*This video is TOUGH. It could be intimidating to a beginner (just do your best and I think you will be shocked by your own potential).

*The “modified” exercises are not a lot easier than the advanced ones.

*There is a lot of talking in the introduction and the video will not allow you to fast forward at this point (I finally figured out how to skip forward).

*It is not a video I could do with the kids around (I have done, Walk Away the Pounds with the kids playing near me) so I have to wait until they are sleeping or Daddy can keep them at bay.

*Did I mention this is a hard workout? I find after 2 consecutive days, I struggle to commit to the 3^rd. I know I am not going to lose weight by taking the easier option, but some days I am afraid I just do not have the energy.

Fitness Tip

Did you notice I put a fitness tip happy face guy at the bottom of the blog? I also put a subscribe thingy on the blog too. I not sure if you can get it to work, but I think it will send new entries to your email if you sign up. Feel free to try it, but that is about all the help I can get you right now. I have so much to learn in the blog world.

I loved hearing from some of you Go Girls yesterday.

Rah, Rah, Rah! Sis Boom Bah!

Good morning my fellow Go Girls. I feel like we need a little cheer to get us going. I haven't heard from many of you. How is the five day a week thing going? Are you getting it in? Are you still trying to get it in? I don't want my girls falling off the wagon without anyone reaching out to pull them back up. Let us know where you are. I know Hip Mamasita has been sick and missing work this week. Let's lift her up in prayer. And I would be happy to pray for anyone else that is struggling. You can leave me a comment or most of you should have my email, if you don't want everyone in the world to read.

Ok, let's getting working out! It is officially Wednesday. Meaning that counting today you still have five days left in your week. If you didn't do anything Monday or Tuesday, you still have time.

Let's keep encouraging each other. I know I couldn't be doing this without all of you doing it with me.

Go Girls!!!!!

I'm Baaaack!

Company is gone, carpet is gone, and laminate is in. The floors look great in our bedroom and now life can resume as normal---whatever that is.

Little update--The rain and company kept me from walking on Valentines Day as planed, but Sunday was beautiful. after church I got kids down for nap time. Hot Honey played card with big kids and extended family. I pulled on my shoes and took a 35 min. walk outside. It was great to have that time to daydream as I walked. I have big plans for this family of mine. I also met Hot Stuff at the Y yesterday. She is working hard at getting her points and free T-shirt. It wont be long now.

I look forward to reading any old comments you have left and seeing the new ones from today! Keep it up the hard work. We are over half way through our month of February. You just need 5 days this week and 5 days next week. Go Girls, Go!

On another  subject, what happened to my beautiful background? I hope it is this computer I'm on, but I have a feeling it is a bigger problem. I will try to get it figured out soon because I need something pretty to motivate me to move.

I've Fallen Off The Wagon...

In more ways than one. First off my apologies to Julie for not having your Friday Feature posted. I'm having computer issues, as in, Hot Honey disconnected it before I thought through what I had left to do on it. I'm trying to sneak this in on Hot Honey's laptop before he goes to work. It only took me ten minutes to remember the web address and then I had to type in my passcode multiple times because I couldn't remember it. But finally success. I will hold on to the Friday Feature and post it next Friday. Sorry Julie.

Secondly, I did not get my workout in yesterday :(  We worked late moving all the furniture out of our bedroom and ripping out the carpet. I spent the day trying to put away stuff in our room and make room in the baby's bedroom for our king size bed to squeeze in their--and I do mean squeeze. We can't even shut the door!  It is harder than I thought to hold a baby and crawl across the bed to put him in and out of his crib. Only two nights, right?! I'm hoping.

Hot Honey suggested I count all the work as my workout. I thought about it on and off. I also thought about how I've worked longer than 30 mins several days. I could add all the extra minutes together and I have my time for the week. Although my head can easily justify these options, my heart can not. It knows the truth. 

The work clearing our bedroom was not time set apart for me. Yes, it was hard. I realize that many of the everyday activities--picking up a thousand little things off my floor each day, load after load of laundry, sweeping, mopping, carrying around my 15lb or 35lb weights (also known as child #3 & #4, but not in that order) The list goes on. These things are all important, but not what this club is about.

This club is about setting apart time in the day to put me first. Maybe that is going to far to say first. I will settle for just on the list. I know I'm not alone. It is natural to put everything and everyone, before ourselves. That is why I love this bloggy club! We are helping each other remember that taking care of our health is as important as everything else in life.

If I added together my extra minutes, that would grow into a monster. Pretty soon I'd squeeze in 2 1/2 hours one day, just to have the other days off! (some off you girls would too.)

Looks like I will be walking on Valentines Day! I guess I will look at it as a big present to myself. As time goes by I will appreciate it even more. 

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday. I will try to make it back here before Monday. We will see how smoothly putting in new floors goes. Not to mention we will have company. Hot Honey's brother, wife, three kids, and dog are coming for the weekend. 

What did you do Today?

Hard to believe it is already Thursday. Go Girls! Push to the finish.

Happy Wednesday!

Welcome Frosty!

Glad you want to join us on our mission to exercise 5 days a week this month. Two of my children were so excited to see that Frosty The Snowman joined Mom's blog. Son #2 informed son #1 that you were exercising in the Artic. You are already bringing excitement and wonder to the group. Keep us posted. (I suppose if they ask me again I will tell them who you really are.) Cutie Pie is working hard to get her whole family and bridal party in this club. She is quite the recruiter!

Today is day 2 of week 2. Tell us what you did.

Good Morning Monday!

I made a mistake when posting last Friday Night with an update. I didn't log in and everything I wrote was lost. I should have copied it first. Oh, well.

So today we start week two. It looks like week one was a huge success. Congratulations all! Let's get another 5 days in.

Go Girls!

Our First Friday Feature by Cutie Pie

So, Hot Mama has asked me to do Friday’s Feature. More specifically she has asked me to review the Dance Dance game. So, here it goes!

I have forever been attracted to gimmicky things. It’s a fault of mine and not good since we are really trying to be good with our money. Well, we decided, months ago, to get a Wii and a Wii Fit along with it. I LOVE the Wii Fit. It’s playing games and working out at the same time. I LOVE playing games, so it’s perfect for me. What’s awesome is that there are multiple games that you can get for the Wii that are workout specific. There are the normal Wii Fit games, which are awesome. Then, I got the Personal Trainer game for Christmas. You set up a workout and a trainer works out with you. It’s like being in an aerobics class. But, my favorite is the Dance Dance game that I just purchased. The full title is Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 2. (They make versions of this for all gaming systems, we just happen to have a Wii) Basically you have a dance mat that plugs into the Wii console. The mat has a forward, back, left and right arrow. You then follow the arrows on the screen and step on the correct arrow. It sounds silly, but if you like dancing it’s really fun!

Positives of Dance Dance:

It’s a fun way to keep moving. Allows you to burn calories in an unconventional way.

It has really fun music; Tootsee Roll, I Want Candy, We Got the Beat, Walking On Sunshine and MANY others. Some songs I have never heard of, but they still have a good beat.

It has many different levels. My favorite is the Workout mode. You are able to choose a workout and it chooses the songs and gets more intense as the workout goes on.

The mat can be folded and tucked away for easy storage.

The workout segments are 10 min. long. So, you can quickly do 1 or do 3 for a 30 min workout.

You can also set a mode for how many calories you would like to burn. It will keep track and let you know when you’ve reached that goal.

Negatives of Dance Dance:

There are 4 levels of expertise; Beginner, Basic, Difficult and Expert. I consider myself a good dancer with good rhythm and I can’t successfully do the Basic level. Beginner is where I stay right now. I haven’t even attempted the Difficult. I wish that the intensity of the steps was more gradual.

My husband laughs at me. He hates dancing and he hates techno music, but he thinks it’s fun to watch me flail around the living room.

You HAVE to have some sort of rhythm. This wouldn’t be fun for someone who struggled with that.

You also have to hold the remote and the nunchuck (Those Wii people out there know what I’m talking about). You do different hand things with those. That can be tricky and took me awhile to figure out.

Well, if you’ve learned anything from this is to just keep moving. It really doesn’t matter how or why, just do it. Find something you like and have fun. Think out of the box!

Letter From Hip Mamasita

GoGirls,

I have walked home 3 days in a row. I plan to do it again today. I am
sooo out of shape that it takes me about 26 minutes. The route I take is just under a mile.
In the good old days I could do it in less than 15 minutes. Well, these aren't the good old days. It is the present and man am I out of shape.

Day One everything hurt from the very first step onto the pavement all the way
to the front door. Yesterday Day 3, it wasn't intense pain and I made it a couple of
blocks before I was hyper aware.

Now, for the reward.....at the end of my journey I arrive home. Yipee!! For those of you who do not work in the teaching profession with high-school special education students you have NO IDEA how wonderful it feels to arrive home at the end of a fun-filled-challenging day. But now I can say I EXERCISED and that is a good thing. Thank you Hot Mama for getting this adventure underway!

Oh, PS.. I haven't been able to do the POSTING part or Comment part or
attach a picture to my profile. Eventually I hope I can figure it or my MAC out....I have loved reading what the gogirls have said this week.

Hot Mamasita

Thursday Report

I'm not very excited about working out today, but seeing everyone's comments from yesterday is encouraging. Not sure what I will do today, but I will think of something. Have a wonderful day all and let us know what you did.

No Pain, No Gain

To my surprise this morning my body was a little sore. I guess that means that varying my workout plan (doing something other than the treadmill) worked different parts. Thanks Kids! See I'm turning lemons into lemonade again. I have to do that a lot or we will go insane because I seem to have a lot of lemons...and they aren't all from my tree in the backyard;)

Nice job this week girls! It is fun to know that I'm not alone drudging through this.--I'm not going to pretend that I'm excited to stick in that DVD and get moving. At this point it is still a chore, something to cross off my list. The fun part is knowing that I'm doing something difficult and you all are doing it with me. Thanks.

As for Judy...I'm so sorry to hear about your knee. That is such a bummer. Keep us posted. I will pray for speedy healing and comfort.

As for Julie.... You have two very little ones still. It will be survival mode for you most days. My oldest is 8 and I'm just getting by most of the time. (Read my post on Monday. Truthfully, I could probably write one like that every other day.) My advice is squeeze in your 30 min whenever and wherever you can. Break it up. Do two 15min or three 10min. Turn on music and dance with kids, walk up and down your stairs. Brainstorm things that will work for you. It doesn't have to be a 30 min block of time.

As for Everyone....Remember, It doesn't have to be perfect. The Goal is to get our bodies back in the game. And eventually, I hope moving around (AKA exercise) will be second nature. I think if we just do more physical activity, everything else will more easily fall into place.

And if that doesn't work, I'm just going to...
Fake It 'Til I Make It. Feel free to do the same.

Report in!

Good job girls!

I know Hip Mamasita worked out yesterday...she called me. And I pretty sure Hot Stuff did too. Go Girls!

I tried to make it easier to comment so tell us what you did today.

Are You Kidd'n Me?

I really thought I would just be leaving a little comment that said, I did it!

However, I've decided my day is worthy of a post. Let's make some Lemonade out of the lemons I was handed and encourage others. Here it goes....

This morning son #1 jumps off pic-nic table in backyard, lands on a stick, which flings up and pokes him in the eye. He's crying, lots of drama, you get the picture. I have tough boys so I know it hurts, plus his eye is looking all blood shot. Now what is a mom to do? Do I change around my day and go to the eye doctor or is that overreacting? We probably should wait a bit. Turn on TV to take is mind off of it. Give him some tylenol. Maybe that will end drama. Son #2 cuts his toe outside. Like I said, my boys are tough. Well #2 sees #1 getting attention so now #2 can't walk. Are you kidd'n me?

Fast forward a little bit. #1 still struggling. I tell him we will just go to the Y for the first class, but leave before PE. Obviously, he will not be playing football today. Everyone is good with that plan. By now we are finishing lunch. #1 still has washcloth over his eye and is complaining about it being the worse ouchy ever. I do feel bad for him, but not a lot we can do about it.

I throw on my shorts and shoes. #2 looks at me with a half scrunched face and says, "that's what your wearing?"

"Yeah, Why? Does it look bad?" (of course he doesn't know that in my head I'm already thinking I haven't worn these shorts in a long time. Maybe they are too short. My legs are really white. And we all know that white skin is not slimming--it's just pasty. etc, etc....

He says, "A little." Then he adds, "Oh I thought you weren't wearing shorts."

So I guess my shorts are short or my legs just blend into them.

Keep in mind I'm trying to rush. We need to leave the house in 25min and I have a baby to wake up and nurse, if I have any hope of actually walking with Hot Stuff at the Y before she has to go and pick up her son. I dash through the living room. Why is son #3's potty sitting in the middle of my living room? And no, it wasn't empty. Of course not--that would be too easy. Also I have dress up pirate clothes all over the living room. The boys were trying to find brother a pirate patch. They can be sweet and thoughtful sometimes. But, now there are also puppets all over the room because they were in the way to the pirate stuff. I think you get the idea. It looks crazy.

#1 is still complaining. I put him in my bed and put the washcloth over both eyes. I say, "lay here for 10 min. and don't move."

I go to nurse my sweet baby. He is sound asleep. I hate waking him, but I have committed to working out and nothing is going to stop me today. Change him, feed him. I have shoes on #3. We are ready. Go to get #1.

Now this is the part where the World Stopped! #1 is sleeping. What? Are you kid'n me? #1 doesn't sleep in the day. This is the kid we took to a sleep specialist right after his 3rd birthday. We were told to stop naps. He is both a night owl and an early raiser! (It is amazing I had more kids after him.) #1 doesn't sleep in a 12 hour car ride. Doesn't sleep when he is sick. Hasn't fallen asleep in the day for at least 3 years!!!

So now here I am with 3 kids dressed and ready to go. I even woke up the baby for this. I've been fighting off every Stink'n Think'n thought I've had, but...... I called Hot Stuff and said we wouldn't make it.

Don't despair. I put #3 down for a nap and #2 in quiet time. And baby sat in his swing. Then I started a Walking DVD. It was rough. Not the "walking party" Leslie was talking about. Yeah, if I were in the TV with them it would probably have felt like a "walking party", but reality was with me. The baby cried for 20 min because he wanted to be held. I had coins scattered all over my floor from the pirate treasure chest. Not ideal.

But, I did it. Yes, I had a million chances to throw in the towel. And believe me, I wanted to quit. So if I can squeeze it in, I have full faith that you too can squeeze it in.

Stomp out the Stink'n Think'n and just move!!!

If you haven't worked out today, you still have time. Pick a favorite show out of your DVR and march in place, do side steps, knee lifts, lunges, mambo moves, squats, etc. while you watch. You'll feel so strong when you are done. It doesn't have to be perfect, just moving.

Go Girls!!!!!

Happy Ground Hog's Day!

Looks like Judy was the early bird today with her exercise. You go girl! I will get mine in this afternoon. I'm hoping Hot Stuff will be at the Y to make it more fun. I will leave a comment once complete so you know I did it. So excited to see what everyone does today. Way to go girls!

Let's Do It!

Time to get focused and really committed. Here we go...

I, say your name, Pledge wait,wait, wait....Let's start over

Sit up tall. Shoulders back. Smile. Big happy smile. Now that you are ready to jump off your chair with excitement say...

I, Your Name(feel free to use your Go Girl! name), Pledge to workout for 30min. per day for 5days each week for the month of February...Even if every workout is awful torture. I will leave comments on the blog encouraging others.

Now throw your arm into the air with a powerful fist and say Go Girls!