Archives

August 11-17: A Hike, Datenight, Longruns, and Walks with the boys.

Aug17
August 11, 2014

August 11, 2014

 

Monday 8/11: Week 5 Day1  5 mile run. Did this one at the end of the day.

2.85 mile walk with the boys

Leg Workout at Home using zbodyfitnessinc BetterBooty program:

Glute Bridges 25lbs

Deadlifts 50lbs

Bulgarian SplitSquat: 40lbs

Glute Kickbacks with resistance band

Superset:

Walking Lunges 40lbs

Sumo Squat 25lbs

Jump Squats 40lbs

Those jump squats were tough.

Ended with Piyo Drench

August 12, 2014

Tuesday 8/12: Week5 Day2 8mile progression run.  Ran on a flat course and it was so much easier.

Ended with Piyo Core .

Boys left today to go camping with their grandma for a few days. Spent the morning with them before they left. Relaxed with Ben for the day and did my run when he took a nap for work. Had some yummy sushi for dinner.

August 13, 2014

August 13, 2014

Wenesday 8/13: Week5 Day3 6mile slow run

Kid free! So what do we do for fun? Go on a 13+ mile hike by Alpine Lake. Did not plan on going so far but we missed the turn off to do the shorter loop and doubled back to it. We were feeling adventurous so we decided to do the loop anyways after already doing 6+ miles. OMG! My calves and feet ached so badly afterwards. There were some really steep climbs and soooo many steps.  The views were great and we had a good time just hanging out together. I was impressed Ben did the whole thing. Turns out he likes hiking and camping so we’ll be doing more in the future.  After a yummy seafood dinner in Fairfax. we came home, showered, and went straight to bed.

Check out pics from our hike here: http://flipagram.com/f/HCQdjMgd47

Aug 14th Date Night

Aug 14th Date Night

Thursday 8/14: Piyo Sculpt

So glad for a rest day from running. My calves were so sore from the hike, but other than that, I felt pretty good. We spent most of the day relaxing by cleaning and organizing. I got the boys’ wardrobes ready for school and we finally dropped off a the big donation pile at goodwill. We went to comedy show in the city with one of Ben’s coworkers and her husband. Josh Blue is hilarious. Ben took an overtime mid shift so I dropped him off at work right after the show. And yes, I was up at 4a to pick him up. I did piyo after I got home.

August 15/16, 2014

August 15/16, 2014

Friday 8/15: Week5 Day5 2 miles with strides at the track.

Boys came back home from the camping trip.

Calves were still sore but they didn’t bother me while I was running.  I think it helped that I ran on the track. Gio came along and played at the skate park while I ran and then did sprints. It’s probably one of the better times I’ve had with him lately.

Saturday night walk with the boys.

Saturday night walk with the boys.

Saturday 8/16: Week5 Day6 12 mile trial run.

2mile walk with the boys.

Did this on the flat bay trail. Not quite where I want to be yet with my pace but I was happy to be sub 9 and I think I did pretty good with my pacing. I had to stop for two bathroom breaks. The restrooms along this course are much nicer than the ones on the trail I usually run – meaning they flushed and didn’t stink as badly.  Legs didn’t feel as worn out as they usually do and I think not having a huge hill to climb up and down made a difference.  They did start to tighten up as the day wore on but the short walk with the boys helped to loosen them up a bit.

I was suppose to do Piyo today but I’m tired so I will see if I can make up the missed ones tomorrow since it’s a rest day for running.

Sunday 8/17: Rest Day. Spent the day relaxing, watching the Little League World Series and some football. I just wasn’t in the mood to do anything.  Kind of cranky today.  I did pretty good with my diet – just one cookie after lunch :-) Drank lots of water.

I have to adjust my training for next week since we’re going a long camping trip. I’ll be doing all the longer runs the next 3 days before we leave and keeping the shorter ones for the camping trip. We’ll be doing lots of hiking too so I’ll be staying active. I won’t have internet after Thursday so next week’s post will be a little late.

 

August 4-10: Changing It Up

Aug12

My blogging came to a standstill once the Bikini Series ended. I haven’t even gotten around to posting results :-( I just couldn’t figure out how to balance everything and make time to sit and blog. It’s late as I’m typing this now. And it seemed like the only time I could give to my blog was late at night. Usually, I was tired and just trying to get the post typed up – like I’ll be doing with this one. Lol.  On top of blogging I was checking in on instagram, twitter and the TIU community. It was a bit overwhelming. When the Bikini Series ended, I lost my motivation to blog. I had and have so many ideas but just couldn’t find the time… or the desire to make the time.

Lately, I’ve gotten a little tired of social media. I spend way too much time just looking at all the posts on Facebook, twitter, and instagram. I was tired of posting my workouts. I posted them to help keep me accountable but I haven’t been doing that great of a job with it. I actually stopped even logging my workouts in my journal.  I never really got into a routine this summer. Having the boys home ALL summer hasn’t been easy. Diet hasn’t been the best and I’ve been feeling tired even when I sleep in – which  is every day. I just have not been on top of things.

So I want to try something new. I will be using my blog as my workout journal. Not daily but weekly. I think I will be able to stick to that much easier. Right now I am on my 5th week of half marathon training. I’ve transitioned my focus from weights to running. I am hoping to PR in my next half in October – the Rock N Roll San Jose.  I am using the Nike+ app for my training program. It’s pretty aggressive with 5-6 runs a week.  I still try to lift at least once a week with a nice and heavy leg day.  I’m also doing Piyo. I’m currently on the 6th week.  I try to follow the TIU calendar too but I will adjust when I do the workouts and use my runs for my cardio.

Here was what I did last week:

Monday Aug 4, 2014:

Aug 4, 2014

Aug 4, 2014

 

Gym Session:

5min max incline warmup walk

Legs Press 6×3 270lbs

Leg Press 10×3 180 lbs w/ Fwd-Bkwd Lunges in between each set 10×3 (each leg)

SuperSet:

Sumo Squats 12×4 50 lbs

Jump Squats 15×4

Deadlift 3×3 135lbs

SuperSet:

Weighted Glute Bridges 10×3 40lbs

Single Leg Gluet Bridges 10×3(each leg(

15 min Intervals on StairMaster

Week4Day1  5mile run

TIU BikiniBooty

Piyo Sculpt

Tuesday Aug 5, 2014:

Aug 5, 2014

Aug 5, 2014

Week4Day2 3.75 mile run – Speed training

UpperBody:

Assited Pull-ups 8×3 16lbs

Assisted Dips 10×3 16lbs

Super Set:

Bench Press 10×3 55lbs

Incline Pushups 10×3

Biceps 21’s  x3 10lbs

Front/Lateral Raises 10×3 8lbs

TIU Hotel Workout x3

TotalBliss x2

Piyo Sweat

Wednesday Aug 6, 2014

Aug 6-8, 2014

Aug 6-8, 2014

Week4Day3 6 mile run

2 hrs of Volleyball – I actually played setter for 4 games.

Piyo Core

Thursday Aug 7, 2014:

Week4Day4 3 mile run

Piyo Drench

Friday Aug 8, 2014:

Week4Day5 5mile run

Saturday/Sunday Aug 9-10, 2014:

Aug 9-10, 2014

Aug 9-10, 2014

Saturday – Week4Day6 12 mile run

Sunday – 4 mile walk with the boys

Piyo Strength Intervals and Buns

 

As you can see, my workouts kind of tapered off as the week went on. By Wednesday, I was pretty tired and tried to save my energy for my runs. I was sore from my Tuesday workout all week! I usually do any missed TIU workouts on Sunday but I decided to combine Sat and Sunday’s Piyo workouts since my legs were dead from my long on Saturday. Piyo is a pretty good workout and doing two of them back to back was tough.

For the most part, I was happy with my runs.  These 6 run weeks are tough. Starting at the opposite end of the trail for my long run helped.  Not that putting the big hill in the middle of my run made it any easier but it did make it easier for me to really pick up my pace for my last mile.

I will still have a post on my BikiniSeries results – hopefully sometime later this week. I will try to have my weekly workout posts up by Sunday night (fingers crossed).

 

 

Let’s try this again

Jan5

So my 2013 resolution/goal to blog more was an epic fail. There just never seemed to be enough time. I gave myself so much to do but I didn’t make time for my blog. 2013 was a bit of a blur. It seems like every year, time flies faster… if that’s even possible?

I was so focused on my running goals that I worked everything around it. It was frustrating for me because races became a hassle when they use to be fun. Ben works weekends, so I had to find a sitter or rush back as soon as I was finished.  Most of the races, I did by myself.  It seemed like a big inconvenience for everyone around me. And yes, that made me angry and dig my heels in more. But the harder I pushed myself, the further I got from my goals.  My life was definitely unbalanced.

And of course, there are the boys.  Their schedules for school and sports kept me busy. I was pretty much at their old school every day. At every game, I was doing something. I spread myself thin, so there was little time for me to just sit and write(type). I was lucky if I could get to bed by midnight most nights, and I was up at 6a the next day.

I was ready for the year to end by September but I had races lined up through November.  I backed off on the running and clean eating, having fast food more often than I would have liked. It was just easier. I was tired of planning, prepping and cooking meals. I was tired of not having a break from anything.

Now that 2014 has begun, I wanted to get back to my goal of giving my blog more attention.  So here I am making an effort to do this at least once a week.  What do I have planned for 2104? I’m making it a “Less is More” year. Yes, I am still running but only 3-4 times a week and I only want to do 2 halfs this year. I want to do two that I haven’t done before. The Rock N Roll Las Vegas one is looking like a real possibility.  I’ve backed off volunteering at the boys’ new school. I still help out when I can, but I’m not at the school every day all day.

What I’d really like to do this year, is help others to reach their fitness goals. I’m not quite sure how I’ll go about it. I don’t want to charge people. I just want to offer my tips, advice, and support to those who might be having a hard time. I’d like to be that person who is cheering them on and pushing them along the way.  I guess it’s all a bit intimidating with all these big companies who offer these great products with great results. But I guess, I’d want to show people that they can reach their goals without having to buy any special product or service.  You have everything you need to get started. With hard work and determination, you can have great results. Well that’s my dream for 2014 and I guess I won’t know until I go for it.

Now What Do I Do?

Sep5

Finally! Both boys are in school ALL Day!!! I have been looking forward to this for a while, especially the last month. Relaxation didn’t start one the first day. We got back from our Disney vacation the day before school started so I had a lot if cleaning, organizing, and prepping to do the first couple days. Now that bags have been unpacked, the fridge is full, school supplies are purchased, and new clothes hung in the closet, I can now enjoy my freedom :-)

I have time to workout (uninterrupted), sit on my balcony drinking my green tea while I look out st the amazing view, and of course blog! There is so much I want to blog about that I hardly know where to start.

So I’ll start by answering the question I asked myself when I sat down in my zero gravity chair, inhaled a relaxing breath, and looked out at the world: Now What Do I Do? I wasn’t thinking about the laundry or dishes or even what workout I was going to do. I was wondering what I was going to do with my personal goals/dreams now that I had time to give them attention. Now that My boys are growing up and need me less, ts time for me to grow up too :-)

Do I go back to school and finish my degree? Do I get w second job and help make us more financially comfortable? Do I start my own business? I guess I should have been thinking about this for a while and actually have a plan. But the truth is, I don’t Know what I really want to do. A part of me wants to go back to school because I love learning and getting a degree was a goal I had for myself before having kids. But did I make that goal for me or for someone else? As I’ve learned more about myself, I’ve realized that for a long time, I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted so I let others’ expectations dictate my goals. A college degree was always expected of me by my family. I am still deciding whether or not its something I really wanted.

Getting a second job would help with finances. There are medical bills, car maintenance, boys sports and saving for retirement that would be easier to deal with if there were two incomes. It’s s a shame that being a SAHM isn’t considered worthy enough to be a paid job. I do consider it my job and take pride in it. It’s also annoying that it doesn’t help get you hired in anything besides minimum wage jobs. I would have to go back into a world out of my comfort zone and probably be miserable. Plus, I’d have less time with my kids. It’s not appealing but sometimes we have to make sacrifices. I could start my own business. A scary thought. I don’t know what I would do. I’m really not a fan of those home businesses where you are trying to convince people to buy a certain product. I’m not a great salesperson.

As you can see, I’m a bit lost as to where to go. Taking some time to do some soul searching and find what I would love to do. I’m actually very happy with my Life right now. Despite the challenges Life has thrown at us the last month, I have no complaints. I have live in a great place w/ a million dollar view and weather that’s tough to beat. I wake up next to the man I love everyday. He loves me as I am and supports my dreams/goals. He supports our family and works hard. We made two beautiful boys. They drive me crazy but I couldn’t imagine my life without them. We have a great family. There really isn’t anything more I need or want.

My 1st and 3rd Grader ready for their first day of school:

20130905-094233.jpg

My 2012 Recap

Jan8

Now that 2013 is here,  I wanted to take a look back on 2012.  It was an amazing year! So much happened. I definitely learned a lot about myself this past year. And it went by so fast!

We had a lot of family fun this year:

Camping at Hatcreek – This is a special place for our family and I Love that I can share this wonderful place with my boys. I’m also very grateful that they got to spend time with their great grandpa who has had such a big influence on the person I am today.

Hatcreek 2012

Fishing Trip to Eagle Lake – so proud of the boys for waking up at 3:30 in the morning for three days straight and toughed out 5-6 hours of fishing.  Seppe wound up being the one to catch not one but 2, fish.

Eagle Lake 2012

San Francisco Zoo with our close friends the McCauley’s – the boys had so much fun. It was everyone’s first time to the SF zoo.

SF Zoo 2012

Great America w/ season passes – we enjoyed having the McCauley’s join us and we went back many times until the season ended.

Great America 2012

TBall for the Boys (Seppe’s 1st year, Gio’s 2nd) Seppe was on the Mets and Gio was a Pirate this year.

Seppe's 1st Season of TBall

Seppe’s 1st Season of TBall

Gio's 2nd Season of Tball

Gio’s 2nd Season of Tball

Disneyland and Universal Studios Vacation – 3 days of Disney and 1 day at Universal. Seppe enjoyed every minute of it. Gio was only happy when he was on a ride. He did not like waiting. lol.

Disney:Universal

Vegas Trip for Benny and Me

Vegas 2012

Berkley Shoe Camp Out (first and last!)

Berkley CampOut

We had a scary moment in March when Ben wound up in the hospital. He came close to dying but we were so fortunate that the doctors were able save him. It really helped put things in perspective for me and made me appreciate just how precious life is.

Hospital

For my Personal Fitness, I achieved so many goals and went well pass what I thought I was going to when the year started. I learned that I can always push myself harder.

Completed BeachBody Turbo Fire Challenge

Left - Day1 of BB TurboFireRight - Day after the Last Day

Left – Day1 of BB TurboFire
Right – Day after the Last Day

Fist 10K (Gio’s first 1/2 mile race)

Capital City Classic 10K

Capital City Classic 10K

Big Sur 9miler (w/ Aunt and Sister)

Big Sur 9Miler

Big Sur 9Miler

Disneyland Half Marathon (mini vacation w/ Benny) – first half marathon

1st Half Marathon

1st Half Marathon

NWM Half

Second Half Marathon 6weeks later

Second Half Marathon 6weeks later

Thanksgiving Run To Feed the Hungry  (w/ the family) – beat my time from last year :-)

Family Fitness on Thanksgiving

Family Fitness on Thanksgiving

Tone It Up’s Bikini Series and 3 rounds of the 5DSD – followed TIU Nutrition Plan for most of the year (slightly went off track at Christmas)

Progress throughout my 1st year on the ToneItUp Nutrition Plan after BikiniSeries

Progress throughout my 1st year on the ToneItUp Nutrition Plan after BikiniSeries

Started playing volleyball again :-)

Volleyball every Wed from 7-10

Volleyball every Wed from 7-10

I had so much fun in 2012. It’s been the happiest and healthiest so far.   And I can’t wait for More in 2013!

Lots of Me Time

May9

BeachBody Day81
So what do I do when I have half a day all to myself? Clean, workout and video editing. Isn’t my life so glamorous? Lol :-)

Bootycall: Love Your Legs x 3 with knee raises added to squats and star fish lunges. Plus 5 Min to Flat Abs routine from SELFmagazine.

After my morning workout with my new favorite shorts.

Morning workout: Drop10  Jiggle Sizzler on the elliptical. Resistance between 8-12. Followed by TurboFire.

Jiggle Sizzler done!

Turbo Fire Day 79– Fire55EZ. Felt completely exhausted afterwards.

Afternoon workout: Planned on doing stair circuit but went out on a family walk with the boys. Walked by the “beach” during high tide. Went further than planned – 3miles. Boys got a little whiny but it was mostly because we forgot to brig water :-/ They did really well and it helped wear them out. They went to bed right after dinner :-)

Climbing rocks and looking at the ocean :-)

Holding hands with my Seppe

Boys collected shells for me.

Ended with a 2min plank. That was all I had the energy to do. Better than nothing right?

Almost didn’t do my PlankADay, but I did :-)

Meals – Carbs at dinner for my long run tomorrow. Getting started on my half marathon training.

M1: Chobani Champions Very Berry with almond bitter and chia seeds. My quick go to breakfast :-)

M2: Luna bar to help prep for my morning workouts.

M3: Chocolate Shakeology with kale, banana, pineapple, mango, an almond butter to help recover from my workout.

Lunch while I work on editing tball videos.

M4: almond coconut KIND bar.

M5: spaghetti made with quinoa noodles and a turkey, spinach, squash and zucchini red sauce.

Quinoa pasta with Turkey/Spinach red sauce.

80 oz of water 1 Zico.

I’m Going to be an Aunt!!

May3

The Best news of the day: My brother called me tonight and told me that he and his wife are pregnant!! woo hoo! I’m finally going to be an Aunt! I am very excited and happy for my brother. He is going to be a Wonderful father.

Other good news: Ben is finally got his medical clearance to go back to work. It’s been over a month and it really didn’t have to take as long as it did. That’s the government for you :-P

BeachBody Day76 – I would have loved to do the Bikini Series challenge of the Drop10 Mojo Maker for my bootycall but Ben was at work early in the morning so I had to wait until after I dropped the boys off at school. I did the Drop10 Sculpting 12 reps X3s sets for my bootycall.

Morning Workout: Drop10 Mojo Maker on the elliptical 30 min. Followed with Turbo Fire.

Drop10 Mojo Maker

Turbo Fire Day 74 – I went for all the tuck jumps today for HIIT25. omg! That was soooo hard. I’m glad that I did the elliptical earlier because my knees were feeling it after I was done with the HIIT workout. I’m still sore from the Bikini Bootcamp workout so Tone30 was a little tough for me today. I really like the exercise with the lower body band that works the quads.

Afternoon Workout: I didn’t know what to do for my later workout. Part of it was because I wasn’t sure when Ben was coming home. If he got home early enough I thought I’d go for a bike ride. But he didn’t. Luckily Tone It Up posted their Throw Back Thursday workout: Beach Babe from last year’s Bikini Series. I really liked this one. When I looked at today, I realized that I was doing reps but the print out had 20-30 sec intervals.  I created an interval workout with my gymboss timer app and did 30 seconds for each exercise X3 rounds. This had me sweating!

Beach Babe X3

Another part of today’s Bikini Series challenge was a 30min walk after dinner. I loved this idea – only problem was that it was raining and the boys were really fussy tonight. I had to wait until after I put them to bed and then I hit the gym. Walked on the elliptical for 30 min with an incline.

30min walk on an incline – Started at 8 ended at 3.

Found a 5min ab routine from Self Magazine that I wanted to try out. It took me a little longer than 5min. It was really tough. The reverse plank move was the hardest for me. I wasn’t good at balancing myself while crunching. Ended with 25 pushups and a 5min plank with tummy tucks and side planks.

1min plank, 1min tummy tucks, 30 sec side plank each side, 1min tummy tucks, 1 min plank

Meals:

M1: Chobani Champions Very Berry with almond butter and chia seeds. My favorite go to quick breakfast.

M2: grapes

M3: Lettuce wraps with shredded chicken, tomatoes, mangos, and avocado. Snapea Crisps on the side.

Lunch!

M4: Luna bar.

M5: Left over Panko Chicken with Turkey Spinach Red Sauce on top. Broccoli on the side. Basically just finished off all the left overs that no one else wanted to eat.

80 oz. water.

BeachBody Day51 – A Close Call

Apr14

And I’m back! Well… I’m trying to get back to my BeachBody Challenge and my workout routine in general.  It’s been a couple weeks :-/  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that I had a family emergency with a really scary close call with Ben in the hospital for 5 days. I am truly grateful to live in a time where modern medicine was able to save Ben’s life without having to cut him open.  He’s doing very well and already back to work :-)

The day he was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance was Day51 of my Beach Body Challenge and I was actually able to finish my workouts.  I went for an 8 mile bike ride in the morning. The boys wanted to go for a swim and Ben wanted to workout at the gym as soon as I got back. I couldn’t believe that the boys actually jumped into the pool. It was only 58 degrees out! In hind sight, Ben probably shouldn’t have worked out because he wound up throwing up when we got back home. The vomitting is what tore his stomach and it just happened to be right over an artery so he started to bleed out without knowing it until much later.

The beginning of our day: Top (R-L) - Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich, Seppe enjoying his lunch, Core20/Stretch40 workout. Bottom - 8 mile bike ride and the boys jumping into the pool.

He got through most of his shift before he started to feel light headed and looking really pale.  He had gone to the bathroom throughout  the day but didn’t realize that he was bleeding out.  He decided to take the rest of the day off but went to bathroom one last time and that was when he started throwing up blood :-( This was when they called the ambulance and sent him to the hospital.  I got the call just as I was starting dinner for the boys.  My heart sank but I focused on doing what needed to be done. I got the boys ready and out the door. I immediately called his parents hoping that one of them would come.  I wasn’t sure how bad Ben was. I was worried how the boys were going to handle the ER.

Fortunately, the ER wasn’t busy or crazy at all. Ben was in a room and looked terrified.  The boys were ok until they tried to put a tube down Ben’s nose and throat.  It started a vomitting fit and he threw up so much blood.  This scared both of the boys and I knew that it was time to go. It broke my heart to leave. I didn’t want to leave Ben there all alone. He kept asking what was wrong with him. Seppe was in full tears and Gio was doing his best to be strong but I could see tears in his eyes. I promised Ben that I’d be back. I was grateful that Ruth called and said that she would come that night.  I took the boys home and made them a late dinner. I didn’t have an appetite at all. I had to wait 2 hours for Ruth to come from Sacramento.

Turbo Fire Day 49 – While I waited, I did the Core20 and Stretch40.  I needed to keep busy. I was trying not to freak out and cry in front of the boys. It was really hard, but doing the workouts helped, especially the Stretch40.  The yoga really helped with the stress and tension. I didn’t enjoy the relaxation part as much. It was hard to clear my mind. I was so worried and scared. At least I didn’t spend an hour just sitting there freaking out.

As soon as I was finished, I got dressed and waited another half hour before Ruth arrived and went back to the hospital as soon as she got here. I went back to the ER but they had already transferred him to ICU.  This, of course, added to my worry. I had to wait a half hour before they let me in to see him.  He as so weak and pale.  He was half asleep. I was allowed to spend the night and I did. It was a Long night.  Neither one of us slept that much.  Ben was restless but was not allowed to get up at all. I helped bring him his bed pan and anything else he needed in between the nurses coming in to help. They were great at being there for pretty much everything. Ben was not happy because he wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything.  The enoscopy was scheduled for the morning and they needed his stomach to be as empty as possible.

Anytime Ben went to the bathroom he would also throw up blood. They were giving him blood to try and stay ahead of the blood loss. I think they didn’t realize how much he had already lost while at work and in the ER. They hoped that the procedure would help them find the cause of the bleed (they didn’t know yet) and stop it. The procedure in the morning didn’t help much.  It ruled out their first diagnosis of a stomach ulcer but there was so much blood that they weren’t able to see where it was coming from.  They decided to repeat the procedure in the afternoon with Ben completely sedated so they could suck out all the blood in area. It was a long 4 hours in between the procedures. Ben wasn’t doing well at this point. We knew that if they couldn’t find the the source of bleeding with the second enoscopy that he would need surgery.

The second enoscopy took longer so I was worried that he had gone into surgery. I was relieved when the nurse told me that they found the source of the bleed and were able to stop it.  When they allowed me back into his room, he was still sleeping but I could already see the color coming back to his skin.  I hadn’t noticed how pale he really was until I saw him with some color.  A couple hours later he was awake enough to talk to his dad and the boys :-) They were still giving him blood though because his blood count was still low.  I think this was when they realized that he had lost more than they originally thought.   It took 2 more nights in the ICU to get his blood count back up.  All in all he was given 12 units of blood. The GI doctor that worked on him told him it was the worst bleed he’d seen and all the nurses kept telling him that he was very lucky. They kept him one more day in MedSurge for observation and then let him go home. I stayed with him every night.

I am truly grateful for his parents who both came to help with the boys. We are extremely thankful for the Doctors and Nurses who saved Ben’s life. Also, Thank You to our Family and Friends who reached out to us by sending us your thoughts, prayers, wishes, txts, messages, calls and emails. I apologize if I did not reply to everyone. This whole situation has really shown me who I can really count on and what is really important. I have been focusing a lot on spending quality time with my family and enjoying Life.  Sorry that this was so long. Thank you to those of you who read the whole thing :-) Life is too Short and too Precious to waste.  Tell those that you care about that you Love them and Make Every Day Count!

5 days and 4 nights at the hospital (3 days in ICU): Top - Seppe and me in ICU, Gio playing w/ Ben's phone, Seppe with the skeleton doctor. Bottom - Ben's ICU room and Gio in Ben's MedSurge room.

 

Pretty much what I lived on while I was at the hospital with Ben. Didn't have much of an appetite for the first few days. Brought my water bottle to stay hydrated.

BeachBody Challenge Day46

Mar20

I forced myself out of bed at 6a today. I think my main problem is that I stay up way too late. Lol. Gotta make an effort to get to bed earlier so I have the energy to do my workouts and deal with Life.  Started with Day20 of MadAbs March. 32 Pushups!! It’s slow going once I hit 20, but I manage to do it all on my feet :-) Did Tone It UP’s SelfMagazine Drop10 Toning workout – used 6lb. medicine ball again for Side Slimmer and Kick Outs. The Total Transformer Move was really hard on my knees this morning so after the first set, I modified it by bending my knees and doing one leg at a time.

After dropping the boys off at school and doing some grocery shopping, it was time for Turbo Fire.

Restocked my Fruit Bowl

Turbo Fire Day44 – Started with Sculpt30. I really focus on making the bands tighter for the bicep curls. I want to have some guns :-) Lol. Mini ones at least. Did some more pushups on my feet for this workout.  After doing 32, a set of 4 and a set of 8 wasn’t too bad. The tricep exercises were tough today because my arms were sore from doing the Drop10 workout.  I went all out for Fire30.  Did all the jumps and turns.  I Punched and Kicked hard. Having so much fun now that I know all the moves.

Before dinner I hit the gym to do Tone It Up’s Max Burn Pyramid X2. For the 5 minute runs, I did it an incline of 5 – to get some hill training in. I was drenched with sweat at the end. I’ve been wanting to do this workout since it was posted. I love it.

Total Miles doing Max Burn Pyramid

Counting the Side Planks from this mornings’ Mad Abs Day20 and the two planks for the MaxBurn Pyramid as part of my plankaday. I’m just way too tired to do a separate on tonight. I’ll make sure to do a long one tomorrow.

Meals – Fuel up day for my long run tomorrow so a little more carbs.

M1: Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk w/ almond butter and chia seeds.

M2: Half a banana that Gio didn’t want to eat for breakfast, a small pear and 6 dark chocolate almonds.

Fruit, Nuts and Chocolate :-)

M3: Left over Seafood, Veggies, Quinoa, and Black Bean Collard Wrap w/ frozen grapes. Seppe ate half the grapes – looks like someone else has realized how yummy frozen grapes are :-)

Collard Wrap with Grapes

M4: Almond Coconute Kind Bar

M5: Whole Wheat past with ground turkey and spinach red sauce.

Whole Wheat pasta to carb up for tomorrow's long run.

80 oz. of water and a Zico.

Following Through

Feb25

I did it. I followed through with my punishment with the boys. It’s not that I usually don’t, but today I tried something different. And usually I’ll feel guilty or I’ll just take the shorter route – spanking or time outs.

Today I had asked the boys to clean up their room. Gio did his usual and ignored me – not even acknowledging that he heard me. Seppe did his usual whining baby act. I asked several times and even though they went to their room – they did not clean. It was obvious that they were just playing with the toys they were suppose to be putting away. After a few more attempts at asking them to clean their room, I started to get really mad. I started to raise my voice.

Then I found a bunch of toys – good and expensive toys- broken. I asked what had happened and who had done it. Turns out they had gotten into a fight and made each other mad so they broke the other’s toys. I just about lost it.

It was sooooo frustrating!! It had been a long morning. I was tired and annoyed as it is. Ben’s car broke down and had to go to the shop. The house was a mess. I really wanted to just Scream!

Let’s face it, we all yell at our kids at some point. I feel like that’s all I’ve been doing lately in order for them to listen – especially with Gio

Just when I thought I was going to freaking lose it – I stopped myself. Why Do I have to yell? I don’t like to. I don’t have a problem with spanking but honesty, I’m over doing that too. It doesn’t seem to be working anyways.

Instead, I firmly told them to get into their beds and Stay there until I told them they could get out. You would think that this would be Easier to do than spanking or time out – but it wasn’t. Keeping them in their beds was a challenge. It took a spanking the first time they got up to show them I meant business.

I had them in their beds pretty much the whole day. They were not allowed to play with any of their toys and I told them that I was taking away a bunch of them. Obviously they have way too many toys and just take them for granted. I will be boxing quite a few of them up and until they show me they know how take care of their toys, they won’t see them. And these will be their favorites that I take.

There were tears and lots of “I’m Sorry” “You dont love me” “Let me out” and so on. I ignored it all. They got up to use the bathroom then back to bed. I let them come out for dinner and even let them have dessert – then it was time to get ready for bed. I gave them
Hugs and kisses and told them I loved them – like I always do.

It probably sounds extreme. But I’m really hoping that this gets through to them. I love my boys with all my heart but I refuse to continue to let them disrespect me. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day :-)