DITL

I've always loved other people's DAY IN THE LIFE blogs.

I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I get to see that other people are just as much a hot mess as I am. HAHA!

I haven't done a TRUE DITL post, one that actually followed a particular day. Well! You're in luck today! I decided it was a good day to do one of these. It's a work day and I chose to head into the office to work for part of the day. Steve's home with the girls.

Got an early start (for me at least). Up at at 'em before 7am.

Gotta take my pills.

Need my water. This MIO version has caffeine + B vitamins

Sun's not up yet. I love how quiet it is in the mornings before everyone else gets up. As soon as they're all up - it gets LOUD! 

Completed a quick 30 minute upper body routine. Worked out all parts: chest, back, all 3 parts of the delts, arms. I did supersets, so my arms were FALLING OFF when I was done!

I was in the shower by 7:35. It's FREEZING in our house, so I turned on the heater BEFORE I went down to work out. The bathroom was TOASTY for my shower! 

8:15 - dressed and make up on. Time to make some coffee and say hi to the girls. 

What a shitty day.

In the car and toasting my butt. 

Bleh.

Yep - just about 40 minutes to get to work. Since the majority of us are WFH, there's no pressure to get in to the office at any particular time. We technically open at 8am...

Masked up and ready to head in. 

Got a couple things set up today: new laptop stand and my cork board. 

Work, work, work, work, work.

I'm just doing work and have a few meetings/phone calls.  I am then stopping at my mom's house for a late lunch and to pick up some pain meds for Steve. His back is all out of whack again and he hasn't been able to sleep. So hopefully some pain meds will help. 

Spent a few hours in the office. It feels good to be able to focus and crush some work. 

Time to head to mom's house.

She has this crazy red pepper plant. 

After hanging with my mom and sister for maybe 15-20 minutes, it was time to head home. I had to eat lunch and prep for a meeting I had in the afternoon.

I started with this, but the sweet potato/carrot side I got from ALDI was not a hit...

So I made this delicious salad instead. Fresh tomatoes from my garden are just SO good. 

3pm. My conference call view. 

For the next hour I got my stuff organized, checked items off my list and got assigned a few more tasks. I'm loving how busy I am. 

4:30pm. I grabbed my phone so I could still be "online" with my team. Time to take Miss Bella Boo out for our walk. I usually try to do it during lunch but since I was actually at the office...

Gorgeous afternoon for a walk. I heard some noise in the woods...

And I found my family. Building a tree house? 

#grateful

This one bright orange tree is just my fave. 

Time to get dinner ready!

I opted to do a "breakfast for dinner" and leftovers tonight. Something easy for a weekday. 

We were all so hungry I failed to get a picture of our meal! But it was delish nonetheless. 

Dinner was done and cleaned up by 6:15pm.

After dinner I did a quick check in at work. I love having flexibility. 

And then it was FINALLY time to sit and relax.

The girls hadn't been on their tablets/screens all day (other than for school), so it was their turn too, for some quiet time. 

Girls are in bed and I am in bed! Score! 

Haha! I can't relax just yet. 

Not before I do a little work. Benefits of WFH and flexibility. 

I can work anytime, anywhere. It's amazing. 

And I just noticed that Seinfeld is on our TV screens. It's easily Steve's favorite show of all time. 

Bella is one tired girl. We let her snuggle in bed for a bit but she needs to spend the night in her crate. 

Ok, now for real. Time for bed. 6:30 gets here real fast. 

Working Out - 16 Weeks Into My Fitness Journey

Well my people.

I'm just as shocked as you all are.

I've made it 16 weeks.

Let me say that again.

SIXTEEN weeks of my "fitness journey."

I'm still going at it, although I have found that sometimes my motivation is...stalling.

But then I get through the workout and then feel amazing.

I haven't not done a workout because "I didn't feel like it."

Even when I don't feel ultra-motivated, once I get going, I find that I don't want to stop.

On my rest days, I feel sluggish and like I should be working out. I try to find a healthy alternative and will try to take up hiking/walking now that the weather is crisper and cooler.

Weekly Recaps:

13 Weeks In (September 16)

Getting up before 7 to workout has been...interesting. My chickens are LOUD. 

Running errands. It was a surprisingly hot day. Wearing my new favorite shorts. 

I am maintaining the daily workouts but man, now that I'm back to working full time, it's definitely harder to find the time. My work officially starts at 8am, which is an hour earlier than my previous job. Because we're working remotely, I'm feeling like I need to be available every second of the day. To prove that I'm actually working or something. 

When I was jobless, I was getting up around 7, working out and showering before the girls got up for the day (I know, I'm lucky they sleep in! Just remember this when they're teenagers). But now that I have to be doing work at 8am and juggling the girls, getting up earlier is getting harder.

I'm also finding that I'm legit exhausted by the end of the day. Which makes sense. I'm mentally tired from using my brain and doing real work all day! On top of waking up earlier and doing a workout - which makes me tired physically as well. 

SO.

I'm not giving up. I'm NOT going to let the "I can't find the time" be an excuse. 

So tonight (Wednesday) the night before my kids go to school in person for the first time this school year, I fit it in. Right after I wrapped up work around 5:15pm, I took the girls shoe shopping. After picking up new sneakers and new boots, we headed to Wegmans to pick up snacks and food for their lunch bags. 

We got home around 6:45pm. 

I needed to feed them dinner still and make the lunches and get their bags and shit ready and in the mudroom. 

I got all that done by 7:20 and I finally got to get a workout in.

Completed my workout by 8:10, which gave me enough time to still put the girls to bed and read stories and chat with them about their first day of school. 

I'm committed people. 

Also? Another new low.

Progress is so motivating. 

Thursday, (the girls' first day of in person school), I didn't have time to work out before starting the day. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

I was up around 6:30 and started getting breakfast ready and doing the morning chores (taking the dogs outside, feeding them). I got the girls up at 6:50.

We did the whole first day thing too, so I wanted to make sure we had time. You know, the first day pictures and stuff. 

I was able to squeeze in a short 25 minute workout during my lunch hour.

Also? A new low:

That's a total of 13.5 pounds lost in 13.5 weeks. With recomp happening - I can feel it. It's nuts! 

Now I'm completely aware that the number on the scale is NOT the goal here. And it's basically a complete lie. Haha. I can easily wake up tomorrow with the scale being 114 again. Because how? Water. 

There's no way a person gains 1.5lbs of fat OVERNIGHT. It just doesn't happen. 

But, this number has been consistently going down each week - averaging a pound a week. And this is without doing any real dieting. Just watching what I eat and how much. 

I'm a little nervous about doing the whole bulking up thing - I mean, I completely get it - it makes total sense, but to be completely transparent, I'm nervous. I'm not sure why? I wonder if it's possible to keep building muscle while not bulking? I mean, perhaps if you're obese? I have to do more research.

I went to my mom's to visit and I saw my sister's new workout mat. I'm SUPER pumped that me choosing to do this has also now encouraged and motivated my sister to do the same! She has a whole set up in the basement. I saw her new mat and immediately wanted one. 

It's the same mat the girl I follow on YouTube uses. It's this one.

And? I happened to find a $20 off coupon for the 7' x 5' mat which makes it the same price as the smaller 6' x 4'3" so I obviously got the bigger one. I'm super excited about this!

I also purchased this slam ball. I've been doing workouts for long enough that I don't want to get bored of the same routines. I have found that I like the one girl and how she does her workouts, but I want to try other things to keep it interesting. This will give me more variety. 

Because we decided to get this big mat, Steve and I talked about finally finding a corner of the basement to use as a workout space. If you know me IRL, you'll know that I have a massively large basement. 

It's a walkout basement and has a set of windows so I plan on setting up by the windows. Right now each time I want to work out, I have to get all my stuff, get set up (usually in the living room) and then put it all away when I'm done.

Not a big deal by any means, but it means that my workout stuff is generally out - I tuck it behind some chairs, but it's still not ideal.

We've been talking about making a section of our basement a home gym, but just never got around to it and has plenty of things that were much higher on the priority list. But now that we're going to be home a lot more because of the pandemic...and I'm finally taking my health seriously, it's time.

I'll post separately about that to show the progress, minor renovations if needed and befores/afters. 

Please ignore our disgusting carpet. It's getting pulled up and floors put in...soon hopefully! That spot HAS been cleaned. Just too late (ugh). 

I'm LOVING the definition in my arms! 

Friday was a busier than normal Friday (I mean, for a work Friday haha) and after I picked up the girls from school, I had a virtual happy hour with the whole agency (all 15 of us). It was great! I mean, we really chatted and had fun together. I'm really going to like this place. These people. 

But, after the happy hour ended around 4:30, the Owner just kinda said "ok folks, may as well sign off for the day and start our weekends!" so that was nice. 

I was able to squeeze in a good workout since the one I did the day before wasn't all that great. 

Sunday is my Rest Day this week. 

14 Weeks In (Wednesday, September 23)

Week 14 started out with a bang. I found this lady on Instagram and really liked her. I started following her and watching her videos and then it I found a video where she's like "4 years ago when I was 46..." and it stopped me dead in my tracks. WHAT? This lady is fucking 50? WTF? She looks amazing.

She competed for the first time in her 40's. If I remember correctly, she was 46 at her first competition. Holy shit. If that's not motivation. 

So I started doing her shoulder and upper body routines and OMG I'm on FIRE. Like it's SO GOOD, but Jesus fuck it's hard. I'm almost crying through the sets lol. Ok, it's not that bad, but after 30 solid minutes (very little rest in between supersets!) I'm dyyyiiinnngg. But in a good way. 

I wish I could see my back better. LOL. 

This is the second week the girls are in school and nope - no way I can fit in the workout before getting them to school. It's just too much. I'm already up at 6:30 to get breakfast going and take care of the dogs and stuff. We are out the door at 8:15ish and I'm back around 8:50am. Since my work officially starts at 8:00, I'm already late. So I hope on my computer as soon as I walk in the door. (What's awesome though is that I have all the necessary apps on my phone so I'm able to communicate with my team while I wait in the drop off line...)

Because of this, I've done quick 25 minute workouts during lunch or I've had to wait until after work to get a good workout in. 

But it's working so far. 5 days a week I can get up before everyone and work out. 2 days a week I have to figure it out. 

I should make one of those school days my rest days...that would be smart. 

Another thing to note this week is the arrival of my new Slam Ball! (I needed the basement to be cleaned up so I could slam it on the concrete floor!)

I used it for the first time on Tuesday (September 29) after I did legs/glutes and upper body circuits. I picked up the ball and threw it over my shoulder for 5 solid minutes with no resting. Squat to pick up, up over my left and right shoulders. I was a SWEATY mess after! 

My BIG yoga mat also arrived.

Lifetime warranty, sweat towel, carry bag and a couple of velcro straps to keep it rolled up.

It's big and I love it!

We close out the week out by moving everything into the basement. You can check out that post here. 

15 Weeks In (September 30)

I'm still shocked at myself for making it this far. And keeping up with it as much as I have been. At this point, I definitely don't feel right if I don't work out. Weird how that is.

I've also NEVER been the one to EVER wake up early to work out BEFORE WORK. LIKE FUCK NO.

But this whole WFH situation really is helping me. 

Still getting up at 6:30/6:45 and getting a workout in and done by 7:30. Hop in the shower and be in front of my laptop ready for work by 8am. It's tight but I make it work. I may not have any make up on, but luckily for me, I try not to book any meetings for myself before 9am 😉

I started using my slam ball in week 15. 

So far the only thing I've been doing is adding in 5 minutes at the end of my workouts. Picking up the ball (squatting), holding the ball close to my body while standing up (holding in my core to prevent injury to my back), and throwing the 15lb ball over each shoulder. Alternating. 

Holy sweaty.

I was up and working out before 7am. In the shower by 8am. I'm so tired. 

Some updated pics as of 10/4/2020

Trying to get those #cappedshoulders

Seeing more definition in arms AND quads

Still struggling with getting pics of my back...but working on that taper...

Seeing and feeling the effects of working out is so motivational for me. There's a quote I came across recently "imagine yourself in 6 months - what do you look and feel like?" and having seen what my body and mind can achieve in 4 months...I'm excited for the next 6 months. 

Weight this week:

Holding steady.

Last pic before I officially hit SIXTEEN WEEKS. And, I think I have abs. 😂

You guys.

That's it.

I have officially completed 16 weeks of my fitness journey. 

112 days.

Let's see what the next 4 weeks brings! 

The morning of - NEW LOW WEIGHT. Holy FUCK people! 

Halloween Fun With Pumpkins

I planted our own pumpkins this year.

Only I thought they were all zucchini and squash. Oops. 

You can obviously see that the rest of my garden has gone to shit. Although my tomatoes are FINALLY getting ripe!

We've harvested 6 pumpkins so far and have a few more on the vines to pick. 

I found some fun pumpkin crafts when I was at ALDI the other day. Only $3 each!

So cute. I got 4 since they were so cheap.

The girls really enjoyed this indoor activity! Both of my girls love crafts and paint, so this was a perfect little gift for them. 

Fall Foliage - October 4, 2020

It's just getting prettier and prettier. 

Today was a bit of a cloudy day but the trees were so gorgeous - these pics don't do them justice. Some leaves legit looked on fire they were so orange and intense. 

I'm now super worried we won't have any leaves on the trees when we do our family photos in two weeks.

Oh well, nothing we can do about it - just make the best of it!

Fall Foliage - October 1

It's beautiful this time of year.

Especially if you live in the Finger Lakes like I do. 

I'm not gonna lie.

This view is gorgeous and I promise to never take it for granted. 

While it's beautiful, it's clearly not as full as it was before the Gypsy Moth infestation defoliated all my trees. 

Still beautiful.

<All of the pics are unedited and unfiltered>

My (Second) Favorite Time of Year

It's a toss up between Christmas time and Fall. I love them both so much.

There are several benefits of working from home.

Here's my view on a normal work day. This is up in our guest room. Window open. Crisp, cool air. (Inhale, exhale). 

I am using the last bits of warmth during these last couple days of September and going for walks during my lunch hour. 

My backyard. Family photos will be taking place on October 20. I'm hoping for some gorgeous colors! We haven't done family photos since Ava was born...whoops! 😬

These guys. This is literally right after they trampled me when I was trying to get a pic with them and they started doing crazy zoomies! 

Literally the most handsome dog ever! 

My pretty girl. 

They both found animal bones or something...

Enjoying as much of this weather/season as I can before the temps drop and everything goes to shit for a few months.