Spring Break

My body says I have done a good job staying active while the boys are out for Spring Break. I didn't even feel up to dancing very much today because my muscles, especially my legs, are sore and tired. We have danced together just about every day this week for at least an hour. It makes me smile when they ask if they can dance :) I was tricky and the other day I told them they have to dance with me before they could play any other Wii game. They decided they had so much fun that they don't even ask to play the other games right now. Score! It is nice to have a game that I like to play too so we can do it together. Matthew plays Star Wars with them, and I dance :) Win-win.

So, here's a run-down of our activities this week and how it counted for exercise:

Mon, eh sick in bed

Tues - Had scripture class in the morning, went to Chickfila for lunch (boys played on playground for 2 hours), then danced for a couple of hours in the afternoon/evening

Wed - Explored a local park. We were supposed to go on one of the trails, but we basically made it from one playground to another via the lake's boathouse and back. There was a nice path around the playground, so I walked in circles for 45 minutes while the boys played. I did 8 laps with lap 4 being a run around (a good explanation for the sore muscles). It was really a great path because it had slopes and everything so I got a good variation of terrain. Planned on dancing when we got home but didn't have the opportunity.

Thurs - Explored the Planetarium and State Museum. Lots of stairs and walking, even if it was walking slowly. There was a 9/11 Memorial on one of the levels. I was surprised at how much emotion it evoked in me as I explained the displays to the boys. Came home and danced.

Fri - Cleaned out the car and spent majority of the afternoon stuck in traffic as we drove a friend to the airport. The boys danced for almost two hours, but I only jumped in the last 30 minutes or so. Like I said, I was tired.

Sat - Headed to a farm to collect eggs and grind feed!! I think there will be a lot of walking on the agenda as well ;) Very excited for this experience! I found out about another farm that has walking trails and allows interaction with their barnyard animals during their open hours. Love that it is closer and FREE! The one we are going to tomorrow is free as well, but it is further away so there is cost in gas. I think we may explore the closer farm on Monday :D

Week 12 Weigh in - End of Contest

Starting weight - 184
Final weight - 171.5

Can't believe it! Well, I can all things considered. I am just surprised it dropped that much between Sunday and today. I look forward to the next 5 weeks (just going to take this one month at a time in case I get any more surprises :P) I am feeling pumped now :)

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ETA:

I think if I can lose another 10 pounds, I could fit back into my shorts comfortably. I finally decided that I am ok with the longer winter because it gives me more time to work on fitting into my summer clothes :D

Final Days

Tomorrow is the final weigh in for this year's Lettuce Eat Cake contest. I would say this has been quite the roller coaster year as my weight has bounced around over the last three months. I weighed  myself on Sunday because I felt like I was actually getting bigger than the week before which I found odd considering some other issues I had going on. Sure enough, my weight had jumped up to 175.9.

I have been dealing with an off and on painful health issue for the last two weeks. Saturday was a good day though and we headed to New York to explore China Town and Little Italy. We spent a good four hours of walking, and I enjoyed all the calories I ate to make up for it :) Sunday was a really painful day and it spilled over on to Monday (yesterday) so I spent most of the day in bed though I did manage to get the boys to clean their rooms and dinner made (even if it was 7:30 pm when it got to the table). I was grateful that I woke up feeling pretty good this morning. I could feel my head starting to hurt but I decided to take an acetaminophen and plow through the day because I had high hopes for a fun day with the boys!! For the most part it worked out well. We had to postpone our trip to the planetarium but we came home and Just Danced together. They gave out before me because they'd played for two hours at the Chickfila playground for two hours, but I managed to dance for an hour. Chickfila ate up a lot of my calories, so the dancing was a must so I can eat something besides salad for dinner :)

While looking in the mirror at Chickfila I noticed that my legs were looking thinner. I know that weight wise there really hasn't been much improvement over the last 12 weeks, but as for overall health, I think I have made a lot of positive strides. I have debated about giving up at the end of the contest, but today, I see value in continuing the journey.