Simple abs aren't enough!?

I don't know about the rest of society but I am pretty darn hooked on Pinterest. It is so fun to see everyone else's genious craft, recipe and decorating ideas. But here is my only "frusteration" - those little encouragement pictures with a perfectly fit model running in the country and the wording over it, the many variations of "being skinny is more awesome than cookies." ummm...actually i totally disagree and I really can't stop eating cookies! I'm usually wiping Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie crumbs off my down comfortor as I'm reading these encouragements.

In regards to fitness, and body confidence, I told my sweet friends at a baby shower for our friend Belinda today that I am having a "quarter life crisis." It all started when I had my sweet baby boy Brooks, and I gained 45 pounds. I was pretty certain I was growing a 10 pound baby in there so let me tell you the shock when he came out at 6 pounds 6 ounces. Another wonderful shock was when I came home from the hospital, expecting to be just 10 lbs from my pre-baby weight, to find out I had only lost TEN pounds at the hospital....umm, so I basically lost the weight of Brooks!?

Well, I figured I love to work out and enjoy eating healthy (laced with lots of treats), so this will come off easy. Ummm not so much. It took me about 6 months, really 8 months to get back to where I was. But the problem is, the number on the scale is the same, but the bod? Not so much! There are just so many things about the post baby world that people don't tell you about! I am the queen of TMI-too much information-and I know that I have friends who have appreciated me saying the things we are all thinking. To top it off, I do think that as we age, our metabolism drops, and I'm just not able to eat like I used to and look and feel the same. Hence...I am having a quarter life crisis about it.

Yes I know I'm being a little dramatic! And there's nothing worse than a fairly fit person complaining they're fat. SO I will say, I dont' think I'm fat, I'm just shocked at how long it took me to lose those pesky pounds, and also that pretty much nothing on my body looks the same as it did before, except maybe my hair. The wonderful breastfeeding boobs are long gone. They've been replaced with what appears to be a clementine dropped into panty hose. My tummy probably looks about the same in a shirt, but in a bathing suit it has a little pouch that was definitely not there before. Something also happened to my belly button. Not quite sure how to explain it but it just doesn't lay as tight and flat on my belly. Do they have botox for belly buttons? I need to look into that.

Possibly most disturbing, I have also noticed something gathering on my knees, a little layer-y wrinkly wobbly bit that was not there before. I guess this all just comes with age? Or does it come because I simply cannot seem to make myself stop eating Dove chocolates in bed?

In all this quarter life crisis craziness, I have decided to go back to Body Pump, a class that I have always felt helps to tone. I love to do cardio but this is a weight lifting class and I think actually much more beneficial to me because that's what I need more of, the weight bearing stuff. So I'm looking into doing more of that, and reading up on good exercises on pinterest, and come across a little blurb about how just doing regular ab workouts isn't enough. um, what!? I can barely get through 5 crunches without complaining or coming up with an excuse like a potty break, so now you're telling me I've got to do these insane ab moves to get down to what apparently is the real root of my issue, the lower abs?! I think I lost my "lower abs" around the age of 22, so maybe I should just give up. Most of the moves also require a PHD to figure out, there are so many figure eights and leg lifts, I lose track of what I've done and usually just start head bobbing to make it look like I'm still doing crunches!

I think what I really need to focus on is probably enjoying what I have now, finding figure flattering clothes, and putting on blush. Blush seems to make me feel better. I really am going to work on that, but first I'm just going to have a little quarter life crisis time for a little bit and feel sorry for myself and my wobbly bits.

On a side note I think I am addicted to constantly doing something. I blame cell phones and our society that's always multi-tasking. Do you have as hard of a time as me just sitting still while doing something like cooking macaroni? It seems like I have to be pouring Brooks' milk, cooking something and playing a game on my phone for my brain to be satisfied but I really don't think that's good. And in turn it has made me so impatient! I caught myself slightly winking at an at least 75 year old man at the gas pump at HEB just to give myself some entertainment because I was bored. While our tanks filled we ended up talking about the weather and how he used to be able to fill his whole tank for $5, but why couldn't I have just leaned against my car, enjoyed the beautiful Texas January weather like a normal person? I really want to work on this because I fear I will pass on this scattered-ness to Brooks, or that it will get worse! So when Brooks went to bed tonight I decided to go sit on the swing on our porch and just sit there, no phone or book just to sit and think. Well I lasted about 7 minutes and decided I wanted a fresca, so maybe I'll shoot for 10 minutes tomorrow. I suppose I should be doing my abs on the porch?

I'm baaaack

It's been way too long since I have blogged! I so meant to do this more often. With the craziness of the holidays and now that my hubby has been home more with us, I just haven't been at the computer as much as I'd like to be. I have also been busy planning wedding and baby showers. Love this time when you get to celebrate your friends!

I am traveling to Green Bay, Wisconsin this next weekend to celebrate my besty since high school Tara. We are having a wedding shower AND her bachelorette party in one weekend so it's going to be a packed and fun weekend. I get to travel with my mom which I also love. Being the oldest of 5 kids, it doesn't matter how old you get, you learn to appreciate that alone time with a parent.

With my husband home much more now that football season is done, I am trying to switch gears out of the "rut" I was in during the fall. You see when I was basically a single parent, with only a 10 month old who has no control over his farts to impress, I got very very very lazy about certain things that are not okay to get lazy about. Without a hunky hubby home, I found myself picking up a shirt off the floor and throwing it on, and not realizing until I got to the gym that it had cheese on it from last night's broccoli dinner with Brooks. I was also going an alarming amount of time in between shaving my legs. Things were just plain getting out of control. I have long, naturally curly hair that allows me to go a few days in between without washing, but I was really stretching that little trick too far as well. I'm not quite sure but I think even Brooks was judging. Well my point in this is just that now that Zac is home and I've taken to brushing my hair and shaving my legs, I feel a lot better. I'm not schlumping around the house as much, and even my friends at Starbucks noticed - my sweet gay friend said "girl you've been glowing, did you get a spray tan?" bahah! I'm pretty sure I had just brushed my teeth that morning (another thing that had kind of gotten out of control...) but when you are taking care of yourself and holding your head up it's amazing how you feel better!

Just when I think I'm feeling like a million bucks though I know what can bring me down faster than waking up on Sunday with a Chick Fil A craving and realizing it's closed. Those darn Sarah Maclachan commercials. They made huge waves about 3 years ago and for some reason I think they dissapeared for a little while. Well, she's back with a vengeance and she is not afraid to use her darn music to pull you down. I will come bounding in the house after a great run, glance out of the corner of my eye and see a shaking kitty in the corner of a run-down house and just collapse on the floor, feeling so guilty i can't even eat my turkey sandwich for an hour without feeling like a horrible person.

Just want to close it up with a couple thoughts. I got to visit my husband at the Houston Bowl that he was coaching in and spend a couple nights with him while my mom watched Brooks. Romantic time! It was so nice. I noticed that when I get to a hotel, I feel that I must use all the resources they have available as much as possible to "get my money's worth," to the point of ridiculousness and waste. Side note: wasn't even paying for this hotel, he was working. Yet I used enough toilet paper to last a normal person a month, even considered stashing a few rolls in my bag, went to the workout room and used not one but THREE sweat towels (new one for each time I changed machines), took several hour long, steaming hot showers, using at least 3-4 towels afterward, and worked insanely hard to get through that tiny bar of soap. When I checked in, I took an apple from the front desk, not because I wanted the apple, I just felt I should take whatever is free. The apple mocked me in my room for 2 days. Unfortunately, even as we age, I don't think increased maturity or monetary increase in my bank account will change my ways. I know this because as I was leaving, I passed the maid's cart and was thisclose to snagging about 8 bottles of conditioner before her little head popped out of the bathroom, sensing a lurker. I admit...I have a hotel problem!