Work B****

Britney Spears recently came out with a song that I think everyone should just take a moment to go listen to. Yes, it does have some swear words (Bitch being pretty prominent), but its pretty darn awesome.

In it, she just happens to say "You want a hot body?... you better Work Bitch."

(She also says a lot of other stuff you have to work for, but for all intents and purposes that's really the only one relevant to my little blog)

Why am I telling you this? Because I have been saying it for forever now! (About 3 years now. Holy crap.)

I went through about a 4 day slump during which I just couldn't bring myself to run or lift weights, I couldn't even eat decent because I just couldn't get myself to do anything other than lay in bed and watch Merlin on Netflix (there are 5 seasons and I'm in love).

However, I was inspired by none other than the beautiful and oh-so-talented Britney Spears to get off my ass (pardon my language) and kick it into high gear. I have a 5K to run in only 2 weeks and I have been acting like I'll just wake up on game day and be all ready to go!!

That's right. Even the Grinch has something to say about this.

What I'm getting at is its really nice to sit there and dream of what your hot body is going to look like when you're a size 2 and are wow-ing everyone in your designer-esque clothes and heels; a real show stopper. (Which, by the way, will never be reality for me. Have you met these hips? 6 is about as small as I will ever get.)

HARSH REALITY

You will never fit a size 2 if you don't get your ass off the couch/swival chair/recliner and WORK for it. Too many people complain that they are overweight, or at least heavier/more unhealthy than they'd like to be, but are unwilling to make the life changes necessary to make anything turn out differently. I don't mean dieting either. Dieting is about as effective as staring at your ass until it shrinks down.

I'm not saying that eating healthy won't help you. What I am saying is that eating healthy is a life change; a diet is not. A diet lasts, what, a few months if you're REALLY good? But even then, you deny yourself little things to help get you by. If you're eating healthy on a regular basis, and indulging in small treats every so often, you'll have so much more success than if you do a crash diet. (They call it a CRASH diet for a reason, people.)

Crash diets just deprive you of things you're used to having. Its like quitting hard drugs cold turkey. You're cravings are going to get ten times worse and you're going to end up telling yourself "no I can't have that at all EVER" for so long that you're going to cave and binge. (That's when that one little bite of chocolate doesn't look like it would have been that bad.)

I'm rambling!

My point of this whole blog post? Get up, get out there, and work it out!! The weather is gorgeous and so are you, so you really owe it to yourself to get a move on!!

Until we sweat again!

Triple Workout Tuesday

I'm sorry- did I say Triple Workout Tuesday?? Because what I meant was My Own Personal Version of Hell.

So I'm in that fitness group on Facebook, right? (yes, Amanda, everyone knows.) Yesterday, we had Triple Workout Tuesday. Jessica and Sara like to tell us its because they love us all and want their Fit Fam to... well I don't know actually. Stay committed? Prove to themselves that they can do WAY more?? Any number of things but they all sound super noble and mom-like. (Pssh. Moms.)

For my 3 workouts, I tried to keep them spaced out so I could, you know, stay alive.

Workout #1:

4 mile bike ride around State Center. Holy ouch on my buns. And my thighs. And my lungs. When I stopped by Casey's to get a bottle of water, the woman behind the counter actually asked me if I would just try not to die. I wanted to respond "Oh my goodness I'm not even close to done. Seriously just punch me in the face because it'll probably hurt less." Instead, I smiled and said "This is what you have to do to stay healthy. Thanks for the water and your concern! Have a great day!" I then wanted to cry the rest of the ride home- seriously my legs were on fire.

Workout #2:

Weights! I worked on my bis and tris (which I am SO feeling today) as well as my lats. (I have a thing for muscle-y backs. Why not have a lean one myself??) When I began working on these muscles, I only did 5-10 lbs. Yesterday, I wouldn't let myself do any less than 15 lbs. I alternated between 15 and 20 and could definitely feel my muscles working. I realize I sound like a total girl when I give the tiny little weights I used, but that's a huge step for me. That and I'm trying to tone, not be all super huge and gross. :)

Workout #3:

It was SUPPOSED to just be a 2 mile run. Well, my ankle hitched, I almost fell off the treadmill, I kept running and my ankle just kept feeling worse so I stopped after my first mile and worked on my abs instead. (Feeling that today too- more abs than ankle.)

Long story short- I got my 3 workouts in and I felt SO badass!!

Bascially how I feel.

Now today I get to do Double Workout Wednesday, and after yesterday this will be a breeze!

Until we sweat again!!

Parent for a Day

So I didn't work out this weekend- this is the exact opposite of a workout post. This post is intended to outline exactly why 1) I love and respect my parents; 2) I DIDN'T workout this weekend; and 3) I don't want to have children for quite awhile.

But I did those out of order.

First, let's start with why I'm okay just being childless for a bit. This weekend I made the 3 hour drive to Sioux City, after sleeping only that amount of time the night before. The plan was simple: watch the siblings while the parents are out of town. (Clearly they need a break- but we'll get to that.) 

This should be a good indication of what I was dealing with...

The weekend goes like this:

Lost of yelling. Lots of excuses for staying out late/leaving without telling anyone/waking the whole house up at 6 am/inviting random people over... Basic life of a teenager, right?

During this weekend, I cannot tell you how many times my actions were deemed "SOOO mean." After all, it was quite ridiculous of me to expect the children to abide by the normal house rules while our parents were out of town. I should have known that all rules go out the window and I become the welcome mat, to be used and walked all over while I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on things.

To make an INCREDIBLY LONG story short, I accepted the role as "Mean Big Sister Amanda" as it was given to me and showed them repeatedly that actually, I could be way more of a "jerk", and then did just that. 

Wanna call your sister retarded? You can apologize and say something nice. Nothing nice to say?? Well then I guess you'll be standing in a corner until you can think of something.

Want to slam the dishes into the cupboards because you're angry at me for having you do your chores? Here- let me take them out for you so you can learn how to set glasses down gently.

On the flip side, you sat still throughout mass  and participated in the responses and the readings? Lets go to the mall- and here's $10 for the arcade. Thank you for being so respectful.

You all helped clean and make breakfast? I appreciate how helpful you chose to be. Let's all relax. You can pick out the movie- I'll spring for popcorn and M&M's.

This all is basically why I didn't workout (well, that and the heat), but it turns out that teenagers are SO difficult sometimes. The crazy hormones that my parents insisted I had surging through my body when I was that age- making me behave like I was a mental patient?? Yeah. Those are real. Looks like they weren't just being condescending.

Which brings me to why I respect my parents oh so much now.

You never understand just how much worrying goes into parenting until you're forced to step into their shoes- even if its just for 48 hours and just with your siblings. You don't actually realize how wonderful it is to hear that you're doing something right- that you're not just the bad guy that everyone seems to hate. You don't ever think about how stressful it is to have to deal with all of those hormones and crazy emotions- as well as keep your own in check. Its still impossible for me to fully comprehend just how strong my parents are that they have raised 3 adults already, and still have 4 more kids in the house that they are constantly trying to keep pointed in the right direction; That they have heard more "you're so mean"s and "I can't wait to move out"s than I could stand to hear, just from my siblings, let alone my own children. And then to be the child that is having struggles and moving back home- and to understand how much crazier it will make life for them- and see them welcoming me home with open arms, so excited and filled with so much love, it really shows me how wonderful they are.

I know this post is super gushy, but I have a newfound respect for my parents and I can't imagine doing what they do every day. If you have a minute, let your parents know that you appreciate them because just after 48 hours of dealing with what they go through on a daily basis, hearing that was so rewarding.

Until next time!

No Doubt

Click HERE for pure audio gold.

First off- can I please get a Woot Woot!?????

That's right, kitteh!!

What am I "woot"ing about, you ask???Oh NBD. I just set a goal to run 2 miles in under 22 minutes and I TOTALLY DID IT!!!

One more time!!!

Thank you, Mr. President :)

Honestly I did it in 21 minutes and 55 seconds... but that is under 22 minutes so I don't even care :)

Now, what are we all thinking of the yummy audio track you're currently listening to? Blast from the past, huh? I know. I'm kind of awesome when it comes to my musical delights.

If you're not listening to the sweet croonings of Blackstreet right now, please take this moment to be ashamed of yourself for not knowing what the rest of the cool kids are referring to. Amateur.

So why am I listening to No Diggity in celebration of my running feat?? (Pun!!) Easy peasy! Because clearly now I no longer have any doubt in myself when it comes to setting goals whilst running! Obviously.

Although admittedly I owe all of my thanks to Rocky. I was dragging ass (pardon the swear word) on the treadmill and was about to say "I can't do it! My side aches and I feel like I'm dying!!" and Eye of the Tiger came on and I immediately saw Rocky running up those steps and thought "NO! Rocky would be so ASHAMED of me!!! Must. Push. HARDER!!!!"

......Basically I'm a huge nerd. I'm unashamed of this. I'm a nerd that gets my butt in gear when a kick butt song comes on my music listening device. What goal did YOU crush today?!?

Until we sweat again!!

Past Couple Weeks (Sweet Child O' Mine)

First, look at how big my muscle guys are getting!!

Basically, I'm a beast. Just sayin'.

I'm in kind of a weird mood so bear with me :)

So I have been a total dead beat parent to this blog. (I'm sorry, my child. I'm here now.) I have been working out like a fiend lately (see the picture above. You don't get guns like that on accident.) I just haven't even been thinking of the blog! (Again- I apologize, sweet child of mine.)

I told y'all (at least I think I told you) that I am part of a fitness group on Facebook where we have to log all of our workouts/healthy meals/motivational motivation-guys.... Which is obviously what I normally do on here. Well..... sometimes I just get tired of being so hilarious and feel like kicking back on my big comfy couch and being lazy after I sweat like crazy.

NO MORE!

I hereby promise to try to take better care of my love child, this blog.

Recently I've been running almost every day, lifting weights, and doing all sorts of squats and bunk to work on my legs. Can I get an "Aaawww yeeeaaaa" for being fit??

That's right. I just "aww yeeaa"ed myself.

I've been kind of all over the place food-wise. (Taco Bell anyone??) but I have been drinking a holy crap ton of water, so I think that's a bonus. Also, tailgating has come into season and lets not even go into the ridiculous amount of running I did in the midst of the drinking. I am a crazy lady... if you haven't figured that out yet there is no hope for you.

I have a triple workout day today (you can just go ahead and shoot me right now) so I will most likely be complaining about it later. Stay tuned, kids!!

Until we sweat again!!