I am a 44 year old wife, mom and athlete. I started running in high school and have loved it ever since. As I got older, I had to stop running every day so I added in weight training and all sorts of fun work-outs like Insanity, P90X and Turbo Fire. I'm a certified personal trainer and I love all aspects of fitness.
I try to be real in all aspects of my life but I still think that what most people see is only part of the real me.
Most of the time people see the happy smiling version of me.
There are many times that my smile is just a surface smile. It is to cover up the inner turmoil or stress.
There are lots of times that I “fake” my happy – some days I can pull that off and end up truly being happy. Other days it is just a cover.
I have always been an overly independent person and for some reason I convinced myself that part of being independent meant never letting anyone think that I needed anything.
There are times that I feel very lonely and I think it is because I have spent so much of my life being the strong person who has everything together that I have put up walls.
Other than Chris (because I have told him), I don’t think that anyone who knows me realizes that there are many times that I appear happy but on the inside I’m the opposite of happy.
When someone asks me how I am I always say, “Fine.” Sometimes I want to say, “Well, actually, I could use some help” or “I need a hug” or “I have a great life but right now it doesn’t seem like things are great.”
But instead I just smile and carry on.
Do you have walls that keep people from knowing the true you? Do you ever feel like you have to pretend to be happy?
This was a good week of workouts! And, I’m happy that all of my morning workouts were back at 5:00am again!!!
Sunday 2/1 – 45 seated quad lifts with a dumbbell between my feet.
readyextend
I got in a nice run – 8 miles in 59:21 followed by 2.5 easy miles.
Monday 2/2 – 45 reverse curls with a stability ball under my legs.
ready – just holding the ball in place is HARD!!!curl up
My workout started with Jillian Michaels Hard Body Level 1. I thought about doing Level 2 also but knew that I would end up just going through the motions. Instead I did Kathy Smiths Tummy Trimmers – Standing Abs.
Tuesday 2/3 – 45 front-back sweep with foot while staying in a semi-squat.
Ready to move the right legmove foot frontmove foot back
I counted a front-back-front as 1 full rep. And, of course, after my left quad was on fire I had to switch and work my other leg!!!
ready to burn the other sidefrontback
After my quads were nice and shaky, I hopped on the treadmill for the first part of my run!
11 miles in 87:33 followed by 0.5 miles easy
I had to get off to take Hunter to school. After I got back home I hopped back on the treadmill and ran some more.
6 miles in 47:39 followed by 2.5 easy miles.
A decent running day of 17 good miles and 3 easy!!!
Wednesday 2/4 – 45 stability ball plank front-back rolls. This move is one that I saw in the cool video that Gigi (GiGi Eats Celebrities) showed the other day with her interview at Drench Fitness.
I’m not sure that my form was super because this move was hard!!
startroll ball forward
You can’t really tell that the ball moved much but trust me – you can feel this move!!!
I did a workout that is sort of fun while still focusing on toning – Skinny Bitch Fitness. Jordan walked through right at the end and saw the name of the DVD – he was not impressed!!!
Thursday 2/5 – 45 hamstring curls using the stability ball. This move came from the same video interview (see Wednesday) that GiGi did.
readyuse your hamstrings to roll the ball toward you
Since I workout at home, I’m always looking for new hamstring moves – this was a great one!!!
I did another run. 11 miles – 82:14 followed by 0.75 easy miles.
Friday 2/6 – 45 full sit-up to toe touch.
startroll up and reach for toes
I never rested my shoulders on the floor during my reps. The toe touch part was a nice stretch. I don’t do full sit-ups often anymore but I liked this version!
I decided that even though I needed a “rest” day I still wanted to workout some so I did Core Fusion Body Sculpt. This is a great body workout that is mostly body weight (you use light weights in the upper body portion) – it is about working the muscle to exhaustion!!
Saturday 2/7 – 45 soccer kicks.
This move is quick and fun!! Just lift your leg up and touch the inside part of your foot. I counted a right-left as 1 rep.
This was another day of running!!! I tried to push just a little faster than I have been lately.
7 miles – 47:54 followed by an 1 easy mile.
Even though I didn’t take any full rest days this week, I did several workouts that are like a rest while still getting in some activity.
4 days of running with 43 hard miles and 7.25 easy miles to finish the week just over 50 miles!!!
This might surprise some people but I really do like fast food!!! I know a lot of y’all don’t like any form of fast food but I pretty much like all of them!!!
Sonic makes a really great cheeseburger!!!
I love McDonald’s french fries!!!
Taco Bell was my go-to for years because I could eat there for under $2.00!!! (3 tacos for 0.49 each + ice water)
Yep! I love all of those places and many others (Burger King, Schlotzsky’s, Chipotle, pizza…..).
Just because I enjoy them doesn’t mean I eat them all the time though. In fact, we rarely eat out at all, fast food or otherwise. Most nights I cook and lunch is usually left-overs.
I’m an athlete and work every day to be the best form of me that I can be but I also like a lot of foods that many people would never even consider eating.
I will never give up fast food entirely but I also have no plans to eat it all the time!!
Do you eat fast food at all? What is your favorite?
I will be the first to tell you that I have zero rhythm!!! Chris, on the other hand, is a great dancer. At 46, he can still break dance – it is very impressive!!! (one day maybe he will make a video!!!)
This past Saturday Jordan went to his first dance!
The week leading up to the dance Chris wanted to make sure that Jordan knew how to dance.
There was a demo from Chris –
No, not like that.
Nope, not that either.
Close but no!!
Chris demoed the snap and sway!! I’m pretty sure that was from the 80s or ??????? I told him that kids don’t dance like that now.
As it turns out the big thing at dances now is –
music.
I guess Skrillex is a big deal?!
So, there is really no need to learn to dance – just jump and swing around to the “beat.”
Just dance and have fun!!!
Do you like to dance? What type of music do you like to dance to (or listen to)?
On Friday I went with Chris to see American Sniper. Chris really wanted to see this movie and I really didn’t think I did but…..
Chris is a pilot in the U.S. Air Force –
returning from a deployment (2011)
In order to live through the things that come with his job (numerous trips and deployments), I prefer to live in a “fantasy world.” Mostly that means that I don’t watch the news and I steer clear of anything that has to do with war.
Well, we saw the movie and it sucked me in. The images of the towns and the people in Iraq were beyond anything I could have imagined.
(I have never asked Chris about what he sees on trips “in country” – once I saw a picture of the base they were staying at and the bomb shelters sort of freaked me out – I never thought about the fact that those might be necessary!!!)
The fear that the people live with every day is awful! Even the women and children are willing to kill if it means they will be safe.
Watching Chris Kyle (played by Bradley Cooper) and the loyalty he felt for our country really reminded me of how fortunate we are to live in the country we do. He did 4 tours!!! That is a lot of time spent away from his family in order to fight for our country.
After the 4th tour he had a hard time adjusting to life at home. His issue wasn’t learning to live with all the people he had killed but learning to live with the fact that he couldn’t help more people. He met with a VA doctor who told him there were plenty of people in the hospitals he could help.
Helping the injured veterans try to learn to live again is what ultimately helped him resume his life at home.
And, it ultimately cost him his life.
This totally blind-sided me!! (Remember I live in a fantasy world and didn’t pay attention to the news 2 years ago!!!!) I completely lost it at the end of the movie.
I cried (the ugly kind because I was trying not to make any noise) through the entire funeral procession. It was incredible to see the support for an American Hero!!!
According to Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, February 2 is officially Chris Kyle Day in Texas!!
Have you seen American Sniper? Did it make an impact on you?
