Kickin' Ass

It is nearly time to get my ass to bed, but I thought I'd give a brief update.

I've been doing my workout program faithfully all week. Just finished my fifth consecutive day of "phase 2" in this workout program that I'm using. I am finding that it is a little easier each time and tonight I actually did not work up as much of a sweat as I did when I first hit that "play" button earlier this week. I am building endurance and muscle! And the scale is indicating that I'm doing something right! Tomorrow is my last workout day of the week before my schedule "rest day" and I think next week I might try out the "phase 3" video since I'm doing fairly well on "phase 2". There are still a couple of spots that burn my butt a bit, but overall I'm finding it much more do-able.

Today was an "off" day as far as food was concerned. I went to church for a "crafty ladies" luncheon and of course the lunch that was provided was homemade, super yummy, and not at all diet-friendly. Gotta love the little old church ladies and their delicious recipes! But, it meant that my calorie count was a bit on the high side for today. Nothing too disasterous, though, and I'm glad I still got in my workout to counteract some of the calories. I also learned that my body is adjusting to a diet without much refined sugar. I have not had much in the way of sweets since I started tracking my food and I definitely notice that I am not craving them quite as much. Today, however, I had a cookie mid-morning (had to try one - warm from the oven, no less - while baking some oatmeal raisin cookies for a memorial service at church tomorrow...you know - just to be sure they tasted all right), and about an hour later I was literally falling asleep on the couch! But, I couldn't understand why. Then, later at church I had some dessert and again I was feeling logy and out of sorts this afternoon. It was not until much later that I put two and two together and realized that I was likely experiencing a sugar crash. Doh. Amazing how quickly the body adapts and equally amazing how crappy refined sugar can make me feel now that I've decreased my exposure to it over the course of a few weeks.

Rick and I have a date night planned for Sunday - a little pre-Valentine's dinner and a movie date. I need to plan ahead that day to try to keep the calories at a decent level. I know they are going to be high - I just hope I can keep them from being SUPER high. Plus, it's my 'rest day' so I won't be working off those extra calories. Maybe I won't want to step on that scale on Monday morning...

As for the girls - a quick update: E never puked again and so far I've only taken her for brief 10-minute or less car rides. So far, so good. We can hope that she is slowly acclimating to her new perspective and that the lower, more reclined car seat is aiding in her comfort level. R just brought home her mid-year report card and she received glowing reviews! She is above grade level in reading and her math and writing skills are comparable to a 1st grader at the end of the year - so she's a good 6 months ahead in those skills as well. Her teacher noted that she has made excellent progress so far this year and indicated that we would receive more detailed notes on her progress soon (her teacher was out of school for a short while because of a death in her family so she's trying to play some catch up on some of the administrative tasks). As for little Miss A - she is continuing to love her preschool program and today she came with me to the luncheon at church. She was not thrilled about going but once we got there she settled in and was so excited that one of the women at the luncheon is a teacher who often substitutes at her preschool. She sat next to "Ann" at lunch and enjoyed chatting it up with all the ladies who asked her about preschool and about the things she likes to do.

Alright - time to go to bed! I need my beauty sleep...you know...it is not easy being this beautiful and glamorous. It really takes a lot of work...and plenty of sleep. Trust me.