Raising the bar!

I started RevoltNowFitness with some pretty basic equipment.  I had an old set of weights that my mom bought for me from the sears catalog when I was a teenager.  3, 5, and 8 pound dumb bells.  I went out and purchased a $10 yoga mat and a $20 stability ball.  The challenge this week was to "raise the bar" and so I'm trying to do 5 sets instead of 4... which I accomplished yesterday!  But I'm also thinking its time to go invest in some more equipment.  I am always using my 8 pound weights and they are not as challenging as they were when I first started (yippee!  I'm getting stronger!).  So the only problem is that I need to scrape together enough money...those things are NOT cheap!  I want to get two 15 pound kettle balls and those things are 32.95 EACH!  Plus my yoga mat is not as sturdy as i would like and i find my shoes are starting to rip it up so I think I need to buy one of the more expensive gym mats I saw... another $30... and then I think I'd like 10 pound dumbbells... I'm just guessing that those will be close to $20 each.  Suddenly, I gotta spend close to $150 on equipment!  Boo!!!  But I suppose to get a gym membership is $150/year at the army base near here... which is super cheap but I'd still have to drive there and of course the big question of who will watch my kids for me while I go since hubby's work hours are LONG right now.  My other concern with this purchase is that I will need to "raise the bar" again in the near future.  I started this the 3rd week of June and in the 10 weeks I've been doing it I went from 5 to 8 pound weights.... so does that mean in another 10 weeks I'll need to spend more money??  

I'm still losing weight but it seems to be coming off slower now... which I suppose is understandable.  I'm a mere 18 pounds from my goal weight... which considering I've lost a whopping 72 pounds so far seems like a drop in the bucket!  But I was easily dropping 3-5 pounds per week in the first few months and have continued to lose around 2 pounds a week in the last few.  So I guess it stands to reason that I may only lose around 1 pound a week for this last bit.  I'm not giving up on that goal!  I set that goal back when my 5 year old was a newborn babe.  I lost around 40 pounds, then got pregnant.... lost 40 pounds, then got pregnant again.  So this is it, we aren't having any more babies... I am hitting that goal weight!!!!

Well my workout video is ready to go!  So I'm off to kick some butt again! 

Bad day...but didn't turn to food!!!

I shall tell you about my "fabulous" day yesterday.  I woke up in the morning and did my workout, showered, fed the kids breakfast... all that jazz.  Then hubby wakes (he had to work Sunday and didn't get home until midnight, so as his own boss, he gets to sleep in)  and I remind him that the older kids have an appointment at the eye doctor at 2:45.  He informs me that he has too much work lined up to take off early so I'll have to take all four kids to the appointment.  *scowl*  I had been reminding him regularly for a week.  So I accept my day is going to be chaotic.  I continue my morning catching up on mountains of laundry from our busy weekend spent at a family reunion and the beach.  Make lunch and laid down with my littlest lil to get her to nap before our busy afternoon. 

And then it begins.

I got up and washed up the dishes, looked at the clock and realized... its 2!  rats!  It takes 30 mins to drive to the city and I still have one kid napping and the rest are still running wild!  I get the older ones running in the direction of the van and fill up some water bottles (yes I always bring my water with me!  when aiming for a gallon a day, this task is a must!)  I take my diaper bag and water to the van and tried to start it to open the windows....bad thing #1 the battery is dead.  ugh.  I had left the headlights on.  While I begin dragging the battery charger and extension cord etc, I send my big girly to get the lil girly off my bed.  I get on the road at 2:26.  As I get to town I discover bad thing #2 my regular route is closed and I have to detour. Despite being late the appointment goes remarkably well, still no need to purchase expensive eyewear!  YIPPEE!

We head to McDonald's for some playtime.  I grab the kids a snack, had a minor run in with some grumpy family who apparantly get thoroughly irritated when OTHER families at McDonald's don't make their children eat their food before playing in the play structure and then moved on to Wal-Mart.  Getting the kids out of the van I'm holding lil girly in my arms, as I pull the sliding door shut she sees her blankie on the floor and reaches out her hand to point at it.... bad thing #3 I closed the door on her tiny little finger!!!!!!!!  OMG!!!!  I am the worst mother in the world!!!!!  I survey the damage and thankfully it does not appear broken and I'm able to calm her down with cuddles, kisses and apologies.

Collected all the groceries and headed to the checkout.... I turn to do a headcount and bad thing #4 my lil wild man is missing!  At first I'm pretty calm... I retrace my steps thinking "he must be nearby, he was just here a moment ago."  As I wander around the worry and pit in my stomach sets in, realizing that he is NOT nearby.  I don't believe it was very long but it felt like FOREVER!  I head to customer service and inform the clerk that my lil boy is lost.  They ask for a description and as I hear the intercom announce some sort of code color followed by "lost child, 3 year old little boy with a brown mohawk....." its trails off in my mind as I can't hold it together anymore and I start to bawl.  A nice clerk assures me that the employees are watching the exists, he will be in the building somewhere.  My lil girly pats my hand and says "hi mama".  I cry more.  I'm still scanning everywhere looking for him.  Finally, after what I'm sure was the longest few minutes of my life I see the lil wild man!!!!  I run towards him and scoop him up!!!!  So happy to be reunited!!!!

After all this crap, I did not turn to food.  I'm so happy to report that fact.  I feel like the crappiest mother on earth.  Hoping for a better day today.

Still working hard!

 Well, I'm still working hard at revolt!  I am only 20 pounds away from my goal weight and that feels fabulous!  I LOVE the way I look in clothes now!  I feel so much more confident and happy with my appearance.  I actually love doing my workouts now.  I used to HATE working out because I could hardly do the exercises and most definitely could not keep pace with Nichole.  But now I can do almost all of them (there's still a few that just frustrate me) and I can pretty much keep pace with her!  Yippee! 

 My 5 year old son was my workout photographer on Saturday.

I really struggles with pushups.  I watched this YouTube video last week and I'm going to try some of the ideas to work on my ability to do pushups.  Even modified pushups are a flop for me so I really need to work on that. 

White Hot August!!

This month there is a before and after pic challenge at Revolt!  The challenge is to buy an article of white clothing that is too tight, take a pic and then work the program and take an after pic at the end of the month!  I'm super excited!  I bought a pair of white shorts, size 12 that I can just barely do up.  Here's my pics.

I can't wait till the end of August to show you my awesome after pics and hopefully win that gift card!!!!

My current stats, which make me feel pretty awesome by the way, are....

Weight   172
Waist      34"
Bust        39"
Chest      34"
Hips        39"
Thighs     24"
Biceps     12"

My overall body fat percentage is currently 24.8%  (which is will add is considered "average")
I have a lean mass of 129.3 pounds!

Those last 2 numbers make me feel pretty freakin awesome because I'm down 4% body fat and up 12 pounds lean mass!!!!!  So while I lost only about 6 pounds since July 11... I've GAINED 12 pounds of muscle!!!!!  These numbers feel fantastic!!!!

I have always been a slave to that number on the scale but thanks to Nichole and all the other wonderful women doing Revolt I started taking my body fat measurements using calipers in addition to my scale weight and I must say it is more than a little encouraging to know how much muscle I'm gaining!!!!

Off to go kick some butt in my workout today!  I saw a great motivational quote yesterday that I'll share to hopefully inspire you.... "There's 7 days in the week and 'someday' isn't one of them"  Get on this TODAY!!!!!