Unfinished business

There are a few things I needed to follow up on, so in the spirit of tying up loose ends as we come upon the weekend, here they are:

Butt lift: According to my husband, butt is plenty lifted. That's a relief, but I'm still sticking with kb swings, squats and lunges cuz they WORK!

GDE: Wouldn't you know it? Just when I decreed that dinner would happen at 6:30 nightly, Tucker joined the swim team and now has practice at 6:35 three nights a week! So now I see it as my job to have food available to whoever (whomever?) is around to eat it. The new plan includes black bean chili once a week, breakfast for dinner once a week, and a lot of flexibility on everyone's part. I do have spring salad mix around at all times, along with cut up veggies (peppers and lightly steamed broccoli are current favorites) which make salad making easy. And maybe once swim season is over, we'll get back to the new normal!

Learning: The quest for knowledge continues and the process is SO MUCH FUN! Tim accuses me of "working" all the time, and I suppose in one sense he's right, because I study fitness every chance I get. But is it work if you love it? I don't think so!

Clean eating: Is anyone eating clean these days? Cuz I'm sure not. I'm not going overboard or anything, but I have yet to find a diet plan that includes chocolate malt balls and lots of my son's Chinese leftovers as part of a weight loss effort. (Both were yummy, though!) Our family vacation is in three weeks -- New York City and Washington DC are on the agenda, and we plan to do every touristy thing we can fit into our time. And I'd like to have some ease, both physically and mentally, going into the vacation. So it's time to tighten up the food. The good news is that I know what I need to do, and I know it works.

Today's workout: My workout happened in 3 parts today, but that's not a problem as far as I'm concerned. Here's the rundown:

8:45

Run 4 (?) miles (2 with Stacy!)

11:30

Fun stability ball flow series consisting of

• glute lifts (3 sets of 10)

• push ups (3 sets of 10)

• knee ins (3 sets of 10)

(I really liked this progression as it went from lower body to upper body to core.)

Ball slams (3 sets of 25, 16 lb med ball)

Rope ups (lying on the ground and pulling yourself up using a rope and as little lower body involvement as possible) (10 times)

Swing/squat/swing/squat/swing (3 sets of 10 of each, 20 lb kb)

Dragon walks (3 sets of 20, 20 lb kb) (kind of like lunge walks)

Step ups (3 sets of 15, using 12 pound dumbbells)

1:30

Ball slams (3 sets of 20, 16 lb med ball)

Swing/squat/swing (2 sets of 10 of each, 20 lb kb)

Ring rows (2 sets of 10)

GREAT NEWS!!!: There's a BOXING GYM that's opened up like 10 minutes from my house. I have always wanted to learn how to do the speed bag and hit the heavy bag and do all sorts of boxing moves. The only thing I'm not ok with is getting hit. (Tim thinks that's hilarious!) So there is yet another fitness field trip in my future, and this one is like right in my own back yard!

Hill repeats: Tim and I did hill repeats (on the upper trail, for those of you who have experienced the trail) on Wednesday. We did 7 repeats (cuz it's the number I committed to, gosh!) and for the last 3 I was so exerted that I was nauseated. Don't usually feel like that, and since I don't EVER want to throw up from working out, I was quite happy to walk part of the way up. Tim charged up the hill each and every time. It was fun doing it together, but it took a bit of a mind shift, cuz when I'm alone, I'm the fastest one there! (Honestly, Tim pushes himself and his hard work pays off! Can you tell I'm proud?)