Welcome to my blog!!

Welp, here goes.....not sure how I'll do at this but I'll give it a whirl! Hope you enjoy. "Yearning to be Average" has to do with my desire & goal to just be an average size person.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Checking in...'real quick'

My dad always used to tease me because I would use the phrase 'real quick' often without realizing it. For instance, I would say "I'm going to practice piano real quick" or "I've gotta talk to Gabi real quick."  Not sure why, I'm just a weirdo.

Anyway....I do want to give a 'real quick' check-in as I'm at work and swamped. 

I've been doing REALLY well with my food choices and eating lately, been very strict about eating every 2-3 hours and eating only healthy stuff or watching my intake of anything not-so-healthy. We were at Lynn's (Nick & Sarah's mom) for a bit Saturday afternoon and they ordered pizza but I only had 1 slice.

My workouts have not been so great - been very sporadic again although when I do have them, they are good workouts overall.  My runs have not been great, I really need to build back up to longer distances.  Physically I'm sure I could do more, it's the mental block that is holding me back.  If I can break through that just one time it would make a huge difference.

The cold weather (it was 4* this morning!) doesn't help either, not very enticing to go outside at 4 in the morning on a day like today.

I'm aiming to go tomorrow though.   I am down 11 pounds though so that is great!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Shut up & squat .....how rude!?! lol

So not to overshare but my rear end is my new pet project in my fitness routine.  Along with trying to lose the weight I gained back and stay on track with food, I really want to get my butt into better shape (literally and figuratively!) 

I've always had kind of a flat butt - my legs/thighs tend to be pretty muscular when I'm working out.  I even had a woman at the gym compliment me on my legs last week!  Talk about making my day....I was doing weighted step-ups on one of the benches (these always make me sweat!) and she was asking me about the benefits of doing those, she said my legs are very muscular. Woo-hoo!! 

Anyway....I want to get my butt more toned, rounded, etc. and have been concentrating more on that, adding in new exercises, concentrating on going even lower in my squats, and adding more reps on the exercises that target that area. 

I follow quite a few fitness buffs on Instagram and they are great resources for recipes, exercises and general fitness info. 

I need to do some progress pics but don't feel comfortable posting them on Instagram (Isaiah would be mortified - haha!) but will probably do so on here.  That is one of the best ways to track progress, especially since I can't see my butt.  Haha!

I always do squats when at the gym, I actually squat more weight than Jerry does (heehee!).  I added in weighted plie squats this morning, I really liked those.  Basically you stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in front of you with arms fully extended down.  I did 3 sets of 10, moving up in dumbbell size each time.  Since it was my first time I didn't push it too much, but used a 20-lb, 22.5-lb and finished with a 25-lb weight. 

I've also been doing the glute machines at the gym, although I would love to do them every day to hurry up progress, that could actually be counterproductive so I'm doing them every other day or so.  Basically it is a machine where you lean over with your belly on a pad and push back on a weight alternatively with each foot - I'm up to 100 lbs, 120 and 140.  Could probably do more, haven't tried more weight yet though. That's one of my faults, I don't push as hard as I should, you don't realize how much your body can take! 

I was inspired today and since it was legs day, I figured it won't hurt to do squats whenever I go to the bathroom today.  Haha!  My office is pretty quiet, I'm the only one in the bathroom at any one time so I did 20 squats (no weights of course) when I was in there this morning.  I'm drinking more water so who knows how many squats I'll get done today!  Haha!  I won't do this every day, again so as not to be counterproductive -- I need to rest those muscles as well so they can heal & rebuild.

(I do lots more leg stuff as well, didn't want you to think I only do 3 exercises - too much to post here!)  Sometime maybe I will post my daily workouts - Jerry says he thinks I do one of the best workouts at our gym. Then again he's my trainer so that's probably him taking the credit for that.  Haha! Will keep you posted - and expect some pics maybe today or tomorrow! 

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

New year.....new motivation?

Happy New Year!  I had a quiet NYE myself, Jerry was at the firehouse so Isaiah and I munched on my friend Anita's dip recipe (2 cans Hormel chili - no beans, 1 block of cream cheese and diced jalapenos.  Mix together, put shredded taco mix cheese on top, bake in oven at 350* for approx 40 mins). YUMMY!! Not necessarily a healthy treat but it's soooo good!  I was in bed by 9pm.  Haha!

As I've said in a previous post, my weight-loss journey has been a little sidetracked for quite a while.  I've still gone to the gym but it's much more sporadic and my food choices haven't been great.

Not sure why, but a new year always gives you great motivation, a desire for a fresh start.  I want to lose 20-25 pounds (15 of which I had gained back) and tone up a LOT more.  I've been hitting weights really well lately and am working on the food thing.  I don't eat terribly, just not the best snack choices at home sometimes. 

So I'm back on the straight & narrow and have asked Jerry to really push me and keep me accountable.  He's already begun as he took away some of my spicy sweet potato fries last night. Lol

Here's to 2013 - it's GOT to be better than 2012.  Only way to go is up.  Haha!