School's in Session!!

So school has started and even though it's hotter than it has been all summer, I'm relaxing a little bit.....too much in fact. With our schedule switched around and 5 more music students on my plate I only hit the gym twice last week. Better than nothing, but lots of room for improvement. I'm full of legitimate excuses. For example, today I have to stay home most of the day to wait for a plumber to replace my water heater. I don't even have a time-frame yet to work with to know when he'll be here. All I know is that my yoga class is at 10am and I'm certain I'll be stuck at home. Excuses, excuses. So I need to make sure that I get there tonight if it comes to that. Afternoons are no good because the gym will only watch kids until 1pm during the day. After school I teach piano until 4:30 and then it's on to dinner, homework, clean-up, family time and bedtime at 7:30. So what does all this mean for me? It means that I get to cowboy up and make sure that whatever I do, I get there. My first priority is my family and so I will not sacrifice my service to them in order to get some treadmill time. So my plan is to go after the kids are in bed. I know that plans change, and it's quite possible that something else could come up and force me to change my plans again. However, it's easier to deviate from a set plan than to come up with plans on the spot. So if adversity steps in my way, I'll be able to sidestep it a little easier. So here's to new schedules, prioiritizing and rearranging life so that we can fit everything in! (including our thighs into those jeans :)

HIlls conquered, Mountains ahead

I have had some pretty big changes in my life since November. The biggest of all is that I've become the Primary President in a brand new ward. So not only did my presidency and I get to start a new journey of service together, but we also had the challenge of organizing our Primary from a group of strangers!! We were a part of a 3 ward combination. Part of 3 different wards were used to make up one new ward. It's a lot of work to start from scratch, but it's even more difficult when you don't know very many of the members. We're plugging along and feeling the many blessings of our service though. It's highly rewarding!!

Another wonderful change in my life is that I've finally reached my goal of getting up in the 5 AM hour. This is thanks mostly to my chickens and the fact that I need to get them fed in order to keep the peace in the neighborhood. They are my alarm clock and I'm really enjoying having this morning time to myself. They generally wake me between 5:15 and 5:30 and it will keep getting earlier and earlier with the sunrise. Some days I wake up just before they start cackling, but the most important part is that I DON'T go back to bed after I feed and water them. I then continue on to water the gardens and potted plants, read scriptures and pray, work on the computer and enjoy Facebook in the quiet. Then at 6:15 my family all gets up for family prayer before Aaron leaves for work. We started this is December and have loved the peace and light that it brings into our home. The kids always go back to sleep for another 45 minutes or so and we definately feel a difference in our home. One morning Aaron had to go into work extra early and left before I was even awake. The kids and I had family prayer together, but it still felt off. I'm grateful for that. I don't want it to be a normal practice to have a partial-family prayer.

The gardening is going well. I have a dresser garden over by the chicken fence and then I started 3 plots in the yard with a 4th to be complete at the end of this month. I have zucchini, carrots, lettuce, cilantro, parsley, nasturtium, yellow squash, green beans, bell peppers, cantaloupe, corn, and potatoes that have sprouted and are doing well. I'm so excited for the rest to grow!! I love gardening! There is something so satisfying about picking your own food that you have cared for and eating it up. The only things we've been able to eat so far are the lettuce and herbs, but it's so gratifying. I am so blessed that the Lord has prepared a way for me to be able to accomplish these things. Had I not started changing myself last year, I probably wouldn't be interested in gardening yet. I'm so glad that I took the opportunity to learn and make changes to my family diet and lifestyle in the last 12 months. Had I not taken care of those important steps, I'd probably be a basket case in my new calling. But all is well and wonderful.

As for working out, it's been sporatic since I received my new calling but I've actually lost another pound in the process. I love riding my bike. I never knew how much I loved it!! I could go for miles and enjoy the wind on my face without a care. I've been walking every now and then with my friend Lindy, but she's had some health issues recently and so we're not as consistent as we used to be. I'm getting ready to sign up for the YMCA again and can't wait. I really love the yoga and Zumba classes. I'm so excited for the summer to come so that I can enjoy watching my kids climb the rockwall and my littles go to the kids dance/aerobics class. I love it!

Another big excitement in our lives is that we are able to finally take our kids to Disneyland on our own. We've used some of our tax return money to fund this trip and are so elated to be going on our own purse and scrip!! Our kids have no idea that we'll be leaving 2 weeks from today for the beach in Oceanside, and then onto to Disneyland and California Adventure for 4 days. I still can't believe it's going to happen. We've been planning it for about 8 months, so when we were able to book the trip it didn't really seem real. But now we've been counting down the days and can't wait to see the looks on our kids faces when we put them in the car and get on our way. They won't know what to do with the excitement!! We've decided that we're just going to surprise them with a trip to the beach. We'll wake them up Monday morning and tell them that we have a surprise beach trip planned for them. They know how expensive Disneyland is and we've never had the means to do anything like that. We also love going to the beach as a family and so this will be a great surprise in itself. They'll be completely content and we'll be secretly bursting to tell them that there's more. But to then drive to a hotel and wake them up the next morning with another surprise will be absolutely fantastic!! I can't wait!

Well, I'll see you on the flipside of this wonderful trip. With May being so busy, I'm signing off until I've had some R & R. See you in June!

Be a Little Better

So I haven't gotten out of bed at 5am once. Have I given up striving toward this way of life? Absolutely not!! I just haven't grabbed it yet. It is much harder to get out of bed when it's cold and dark and quiet in the house. What mother doesn't want to take advantage of more sleep when the opportunity presents itself? However, I've been choosing to stay in bed even after I wake on my own in the 5 o'clock hour. For shame!!! I WILL do better!!

I've lost another pound and am loving it! It gives me the courage to do a little better each day. I have short lapses of judgement during a certain part of the month. That's when all rational, healthy, reasonable thinking goes out the window and I gorge myself on anything that does not resemble a food from nature. This past week it was full sized candy bars. My husband was given a whole box of them from work and I ate so many of them in a 24 hour period that I'm too embarrased to admit to the actual number. After that, I was a new woman. Mostly because the thought of sugar made me nauseous, but also because my hormone surge shifted. That truly is one thing that I cannot gain control of through the old "mind over matter" principle. When my hormones are imbalanced, my brain disintegrates. Thankfully I've found some remedies that help to lessen the effects. I'm lucky that my sugar rampage last week only lasted for a day.

So here's to being a little better today. Take control of your appetites, renew your convictions, respect your intestines and the rest will fall into place.

Just do it!!

So we spent a few days at the beach and now I'm refreshed and full of memories. I love vacation, especially when I can remember how to play with my kids again. Sometimes, at home, I forget that there's fun to be had among all the many chores to be done. Now I'm sitting at home in my pajamas at 9:00 am listening to Brett's cartoons. Time to get my workout clothes on before I become a total bum. :)

I haven't been getting up at 5am consistently this month......or even on purpose. I think the few times that I actually did get up early was when I crashed the night before at 8pm. Haha! Oh well. Some goals are tougher than others and although I haven't reached it yet, I will keep trying. I think the best part of this last week (aside from the glorious sound of the waves) was losing a pound after coming home from vacation. Woohoo!! Didn't really expect that, but when I think about it I only ate a brownie and a few pieces of pizza in lieu of healthy foods. The rest of the time was my homemade goodness. I turned down several treats and snacks that are just not for me. I love having control of my diet!! It makes me realize that I have more self control than I thought. When I watch others struggle and wish that their own diets were different, I just want to shout from the rooftops that the only person to change your diet is YOU. So do it!! Don't just wish and hope that things were different. Make the changes yourself, for yourself and your family. Do it because you love yourself and want something better than mainstream. Don't settle because it's easy. You'll never be satisfied with the cop out. It's like the 2 year old who wants what he wants when he wants it. Indulge him every time and he'll never get enough. Just like him you'll ALWAYS be wanting something better. So go out and grab it! Provide yourself and your families with the health and wellness we all deserve. True health and wellness doesn't make money, so don't expect someone else to do it for you. You MUST be in charge. Take courage and get to work!!

Adjusting my sights

So it's been 4 months and I haven't thought twice about this blog. Why you ask? Well, I was too busy swimming, heading to the gym with all my kids, or taking said kids to dance and karate. Oh yeah and I potty trained my youngest boy. That's right, no more diapers. Triumph!! Besides that, I'm down 10 pounds from my last post. In fact, even better, I'm out of the 160's!! I finally reached 159 this past week. I've been pretty consistent in the gym until a couple of weeks ago. The weather has been cooling off and I got a bike and trailer for my birthday this summer. It's so awesome!!! My son and I ride over into the acreage neighborhood and look at all the animals. It's a great time. So I've canceled my gym membership to be renewed next summer when I absolutely cannot exercise outside. I've also been working in the chicken's yard. There's much to be done and it's all manual labor. What better way to get a workout?! I've bought some new clothes because my others just don't fit. Awesome right?! I still have 24 pounds until I reach my ultimate goal, but my next goal milestone is to start getting up at 5am. Not necessarily to exercise, but to get stuff done before my family wakes up. That way, I won't get behind so easily on my daily routine. Usually when that happens, exercise is the first thing out the window. So instead of focusing on my weight number, I'm focusing on getting back a habit that I've lived before and LOVED!! It's going to be a great change.

Lost track of time......and a little weight too.

So it's been almost 2 months since I've posted. What could I possibly have to do other than blog?! (Every mother knows the answer to this preposterous question.) Well I've made progress in all areas of my exercise routine. I've started lifting weights and have increased my resistance on the machines. I've rediscovered the calorie burn that hills on the treadmill can provide. I've slowly gotten a routine that increases my incline and speed alternately and steadily. I've started taking some classes as well. I tried the body sculpt class. Both times I thought I was gonna die. I've since realized that my body cannot handle the stress of cardio and weights at the same time. My heart pounds, my face crawls, I get really hot and have to leave the room to cool down. Needless to say, I haven't gone back. I have however been doing a yoga stretch class every Monday. It's the perfect ending to a workout!! So relaxing and I really enjoy it. I also take a Zumba class on Wednesdays. It's so fun!! I love trying to make my moves look like the instructor but I have a long way to go. I've lost about 5 pounds and have lost a few inches collectively all over my body. My husband told me last week as we were walking home from church, "Liesl, your calves are awesome!" That made me feel extra great!!! I have noticed that I look different in my workout clothes and that really makes me feel good.

I've made some changes to my original goals. I've also made changes to my diet. At one point I wasn't eating enough calories for a sedentary lifestyle, let alone an active one. So I have to be super vigilant about what I'm eating. Turns out grains and veggies don't have very many calories. Who knew?! So my new goal for a daily calorie burn is 300-350. This is about 45 minutes on the treadmill with some toning exercises to finish. I try to work on toning each region of the body twice a week. On my Zumba day I just don't worry about the calorie burn since I can't track it. But the toning afterward is a must! I've completely gotten rid of white sugar in my house. I don't even bake with it! I've found a yogurt shop close to my house that sweetens with stevia and I love it!!! They're getting a lot of business from me. :) I'm also learning about soaking grains, beans, and nuts in order to reduce toxins in the food and be able to properly digest them. I haven't gotten to the nuts yet, but the rice and beans were a part of my dinner tonight and they tasted great!!

Overall, I'm doing so much better than I was two months ago. However, I also know that there is always room for improvement. Whether it's with my exercise routine, my diet, or the way that I'm cooking my food, I will continue to learn as much as I can in order to restore better health to my family and I. This is my main goal. Here's to reaching it!!

Pudge won't budge!!!

I tried my first class at the Y about ten days ago. I'm still shuddering with fear. It was a body sculpting class and I really wanted to be in the group environment. I was quickly made aware of my naivity. This wasn't just an aerobics class, this was a butt-kicking like I haven't had in years! I couldn't finish the class because my heart rate was way too high. I shouldn't have used the weights and done the over head arm exercises. I realized this years ago when I would workout at home but didn't remember until my heart was racing. Now, I am 31 and you know what they say. As soon as the calendar says you're 30, there's no hope for you. You immediately cannot lose weight, boost your metabolism, or burn fat and you can forget about . How unfortunate for me to be so elderly. :( Give me a break people!!! Don't tell me that I can't train my body to be better just because of my number age! I may have to tweak my workouts and diet, but it can be done.