P90X - Week 5 Completed

Man, I thought Plyometrics was bad, the worst (as in most painful) one in the series, and then we did Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps last week. WTF came up with the idea to add clapping in between push-ups? I was pretty intimidated by some of the exercises, but pleasantly surprised that I was able to do almost all of them without modification. Sure, I'm nowhere near the point of doing a real plyometric push-up, where your hands AND feet come off the floor, but at least I can get my hands up. If you had asked me 5 weeks ago if I thought I would be able to do that, I would have looked at you like you had three heads. Good times!

We're over a third of the way through! Husband has seen some pretty drastic changes. The pants that he bought two weeks ago are already hanging off of him and his belt is down to the smallest buckle. Yet he still claims not to see his awesomeness. (sigh.) Men.

Friday Fragments

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It's going to be 82 degrees and sunny today, and I'm stuck in my cube while both Charlies are at home playing.

There was no traffic on the way to work, which was nice, but also a reminder that I'm going to work today while everyone else gets to stay home and play.

I hope we get sent home early.

We're going to the zoo tomorrow! I can't wait. After the zoo we're going to spend the evening with some friends of ours and their kids. The first of many warm weekend evenings sipping drinks on the porch while the kids play together. I love summer!

I'm wearing my Mo jersey for the first time this spring! Two days until baseball starts! There are FOUR nationally televised Yankee games on this week. I'm a lucky girl!

I hope it's a great season. I'm so excited. I would love a repeat performance of last year's awesomeness.

Toddler Charlie has been wearing his Yankee cap pretty much constantly. I'm glad he likes it, but it makes him look like such a little person! (rather than a baby, I mean)

An iced caramel latte from Dunkin and a chocolate chip cookie from Jerry's makes a lovely breakfast. I just couldn't wait for dessert.

I wish I had a Google phone so that I could take a picture of my awesome breakfast and share it with you.

Toddler Recipe - Flourless Oatmeal Bites

Charlie is funny about his oatmeal. He usually likes it, especially if you add a little bit of brown sugar and some banana wheels, but as soon as any of it accidentally touches his skin he remembers the gross factor and refuses to eat the rest, instead shaking his hand furiously to remove the offending spot and giving us a chorus of "NONONONONOs."

I searched for a recipe that would let me cook oatmeal into another form. I didn't want to go with oatmeal cookies, because why add the extra sugar and butter and make it not as good for you? I tried making oatmeal and then baking them in a flattened ball form, but they dried out and didn't end up being very appetizing. Then I stumbled across this recipe for Flourless Oatmeal Bites at a site called Just Good Energy. I finally decided to give them a shot this weekend, after Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution made me realize that I was starting to slack off lately in the "from scratch" cooking. No more frozen waffles, even if they're made with all-natural ingredients. Well, not every day, anyway. These are much tastier, anyway.

Flourless Oatmeal Bites

This recipe uses banana and a nut butter to hold the cookies together. It's a pleasant combination and adds some protein and fruit to the final product. I used almond butter this time, but peanut butter would probably be pretty tasty, too.

2 cups rolled oats (if you don't have rolled you can use quick, but don't try steel cut or instant)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I also added nutmeg)
pinch of sea salt
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/3 cup nut butter (almond, peanut, sunflower, etc)
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup raisins (I left these out)


If you have a KitchenAid mixer you can just throw it all in one bowl and let it rip. If you're doing it by hand, you might want to actually use your hands to make sure it's well-mixed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt in a large bowl

Mix in mashed banana

Mix in nut butter, honey, and raisins (if you want)

Drop tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheet. The original instructions suggest flattening them with a spoon, but I prefer the jagged drop-biscuit look.

Bake 10-12 minutes





I tried, but failed, to crop out the evidence of my own personal taste test.

Things You Want Wednesday - Stronger Muscles Edition

Sooooo, I'm combining this week's post with The Mommyologist's Glam Check Wednesday. I don't usually have anything to share, but this week I have a good one. And by good I mean embarrassing. And by embarrassing I mean something that you'll probably laugh at me for. But it's still an important lesson for something that you want. So it fits, right?




P90X includes an exercise video called Plyometrics, which means "jump training." Jump training? Pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Here's a screenshot I found online.

Interestingly enough, this is the P90X kids doing the exact exercise that led to my seriously un-glamorous moment.

All of the already-moms know that there is a certain muscle group that gets weakened during pregnancy and in childbirth (um, snissing anyone?). My pre- and post-natal yoga videos were insistent on working that muscle group, constantly mentioning how important it is in the real world. I must have done that "elevator move" a million times. Consider yourself lucky if you don't know what I'm talking about. I thought I had strengthened them enough, especially considering that I'm now almost 20 months past that delightful modesty-stripping experience called labor and delivery.

Anyway, I'll spare you the full-out intricate details. Just imagine having those muscles being not-quite-as-strong-as-they-apparently-should-be, drinking lots of water all day, and then jumping around wildly like they're doing in that picture up there. Apparently they haven’t gained back as much strength as I thought….

Thank goodness we're doing the program in the comfort of our own basement. That would have been quite the walk of shame.

Deja-vu All Over Again

Toddlers are fickle people. Apparently we're back to hating baths. I mean HATING. The screaming starts as soon as he hears the water running. He scrunches up his face and gives a big "NONONONONO" at just the mention of the word. He started liking baths again back in October. I have proof.



I've tried everything I can think of. Bubble bath, bath toys, cups to pour, a bucket, and getting in the tub with him. Nothing helps, he just shrieks like we're pulling out his toenails.

I just don't know what to do. He obviously needs to be cleaned, so I guess it's just going to be a "suck it up and deal with it" character-building experience. Geez, I sound like Calvin's dad.

It's going to be a looooong, hot summer if we don't get over this quickly.

P90X - Week 4 Complete

Week 4 was our first Recovery Week. It was nice to not have any strenuous lifting days, but I definitely wouldn't say that it was in any way relaxing. It's not supposed to be!

I'm just glad it didn't include any Plyometrics. My knees needed a break. It did include two days of Yoga X, and that sucked. I love yoga, it's one of my favorite activities, but I do NOT love Tony Horton yoga. It's long (really long, 90 minutes!) and boring and doesn't give me that relaxed satisfaction that "real" yoga classes do. I might need to find something else to replace it with. I can only handle so many vinyasas, know what I mean? I think that my irritation was compounded by the fact that we did Cardio X instead of Plyometrics. The first 20 minutes of the routine is straight out of the yoga video.

We started week 5 on Saturday with Core Synergistics, which I love, and then yesterday we were back to Plyometrics. My butt is killing me today! Knees aren't doing so well, either. Tonight is shoulders, triceps, and something else, and after reading the book description of the moves I'm feeling pretty intimidated. I don't know about those push-ups with claps in the middle. We'll see how that goes.

We took our 30 day pictures and Charlie's progress has been absolutely amazing! I'm trying to convince him to let me blog about them, because I'm so proud of how well he's doing. Mine are just "meh," but everything I've read has said that women tend to peak later in the program than men. Tony even suggested that for women it should be called "P120X." I'm definitely getting stronger and leaner, my body fat percentage has gone down to the "lean" range, and I have a lot more endurance (well, except for superman bananas, from which I only have bruised hip bones). I've decided to try upping my daily caloric intake from 1400ish to 1600ish to see if that helps. Sounds counter-intuitive, which is why I'm having a psychological problem with it, but we'll see what happens!

Speaking of food, Coach Lynn is about to start an entire week of eating off just the top two tiers of Michi's Ladder. I can't wait to hear how it goes! She's a great inspiration for fit living.

Here's my Superman Banana!

Friday Fragments

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Can I just say how much I love the name "Mrs4444?" 4 is my favorite little number, and there are 4 4s. If you sum them, it equals 16, which is also 4 squared. 16 is my favorite medium number. Yes, I'm weird and I think about numbers too much. In case you're interested, my absolute favorite number is 64, which is also a square, and divisible by both 4 and 16.

There was snow on the ground this morning. WTF? It was 70 degrees the other day!

The parking lot at my office was a giant sheet of ice.

Only 9 days until Yankees opening day! Though you wouldn't guess that if you looked out the window right now.

We're going to the zoo tomorrow! I can't wait to take the new stroller out for a spin. It's supposed to be 60 degrees. I hate Cincinnati weather.

I hate UK, maybe more than I hate OSU, and I wish that they would just lose already.

Charlie has developed an interesting attachment to Byron Barton's Book of Trucks. It goes everywhere with him and I have to pry it out of his hands when we get to "school" every morning.

I'm rather tired of the stupidity posted all over Facebook since the health care vote on Sunday. I get that not everyone agrees with it, but at least find a better argument than crying "socialism!" while insisting that the government keep their hands off of medicare.

I'm feeling mopey again about living so far away from my family.


(a picture can be a fragment, right?)

I'm giving myself a cheat meal tonight so that I can test out one of the new Ben & Jerry's flavors. I don't know how much of a cheat it actually is though, since I managed to build a meal plan for today that almost exactly meets my targets, anyway. Hmm, maybe I should add more ice cream!

The Quinny Zapp

I guess if there had to be a good side to our strollers getting stolen it would be coming upon this super-clearanced Quinny Zapp at Babies R' Us last week.

I'm not one to spend a lot of money on things, which is why I own only two pairs of shoes and not a single purse. We were planning on buying a cheapish umbrella stroller to replace the one that was taken and the Quinny obviously wasn't going to make our short list. I saw the bright yellow clearance tag and just about fell over when I realized that between the clearance price and my 20% off coupon I could get the super stroller for the same price as the graco stroller.

The best thing about this one is that it folds up into the smallest package I've ever seen. It's less than two feet long and one foot wide when you close it all up. Perfect for our family car that's not really a family-sized car. Should make road trips much more comfortable since it won't take up any room in the back seat.

The second best thing? It looks like a spaceship!



Black wouldn't have been my first color choice, but for half off retail price when all is said and done, I'll take what I can get!

Things You Want Wednesday - Consignment Sale Edition

I've posted before about my love for secondhand shopping when it comes to baby clothes and gear. My personal feeling on the issue, especially when it comes to clothes, is why pay $25 for a pair of jeans at The Gap when they're only going to wear them for a short period of time? I can barely justify spending that kind of $$ on pants for myself, and those will last me a lot longer than a pair of 18 month pants are going to last Charlie. So Craigslist and consignment sales have become my secret weapon against overpriced baby stuff.

The biggest scores have come from the huge consignment sales that happen around my area every spring and fall. Most cities have mom groups, and those mom groups have sales. The sales usually start at 8:00, but if you're looking for something big then you need to get there early - people start lining up an hour before the doors open and then it's a mad dash to where the big ticket items are located - the strollers, high chairs, jumperoos, big toys, and furniture. Last year I was after toys - I came away with a push toy and a ride-on toy for $5 each, both in great working condition. This year I was only after clothes. Charlie needed a spring/summer wardrobe.

What did I end up with? This lovely collection.



Four pairs of shorts (1 Jumping Bean, 1 The Gap - new with tags, 2 Old Navy), two pairs of cargo pants (1 Cherokee - new with tags, 1 Old Navy), a bathing suit (Old Navy - new with tags), and a UV protection shirt (Old Navy). None of the used clothes had any stains or tears or marks that indicated that they had been worn before. How much did I pay for all of this? $13.

That's pretty good for a stash of shorts that should last him the whole spring and summer. I might need another pair or two, but there's a calendar full of consignment sales running through the next month.

My extra bonus was this wooden Tonka Truck - it didn't come with the box, but it's in perfect condition. I bought it for $1, and it's going in Charlie's pagan fertility ritual easter basket.

Ben and Jerry, Why Must You Torture Me?

Do you know what today is? I just got an email reminder.

Our only scoop shop closed two years ago while I was pregnant, right before free cone day. Just thinking about it makes me sad all over again. It was such a dark time in my life, knowing that the only way I was going to get Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz was by driving 90 minutes north to a Dayton suburb. No more free cones for me. I still haven't gotten my hands on last year's flavor Orange and Cream, and now there's an even newer flavor called Milk and Cookies. I'm really slacking, here!

OMFG! I just went to look at the Milk and Cookies page, and there's also a BOSTON CREAM PIE ice cream! And Mud Pie! Oh my god. I should have never looked at that link.

P90X - Week 3 Complete

Technically it's been complete since Friday, but I took a vacation day and didn't feel like sitting in front of a computer to blog when it was 70 degrees and sunny outside!

Right now we're in the recovery week of phase one. When they say "recovery" they definitely don't mean "rest," as Saturday was 90 minutes of Yoga, Sunday was Core Synergistics (possibly my least favorite because it hurts so good), and last night was Kenpo. I know most people LOVE Kenpo, but I'm just not feeling it. It's not bad, but it's all about kicking and punching and maybe I need to get a punching bag to use as a target because I just get frustrated that I'm not actually kicking or punching anything. That might be a better way to work out some irritations.

Last weekend I finally crashed on the 50/30/20 diet. We were doing Core Synergistics and it got to the point where I just couldn't physically move anymore. I guess that's what Tony refers to as "bonking." I moved up to the 40% protein / 40% carbs / 20% fat phase and things are better. It's more manageable from an energy standpoint and from a food standpoint, since I can choose from a wider variety. Still eating a lot of ground turkey and chicken breasts. I guess that was the point, though, to show you what different food types do for your body. Last night I had pasta for the first time in a month. I measured out my 56 grams and thought that it didn't really look like very much on the plate, but once I sat down to dinner I could barely even finish it.

We get to take our 30 day pictures on Sunday! I'm more excited for C than I am for myself. I think he's made great progress so far.

Friday Fragments

I love that we're having warm weather right now. Unfortunately it's going to turn rainy just in time for the weekend.

I'm taking the day off from work to go shopping for pants and a new stroller. Can't wait!

I hate clothes shopping, it always makes me feel lumpy and unstylish. I need to get someone to take along with me next time and steer me out of my comfort zone.

Tomorrow I'm going to hit up one of our area's biggest consignment sales with my BFF who's expecting twins. I hope I get some good loot.

I love thrift shopping.

I wish I was more crafty so I could re-purpose old t-shirts and other odds and ends. I have the perfect idea for a gift for my sister but don't have the skillz to make it come to life.

Charlie won't wear his Yankees baseball cap :( He wears the knit hat for winter but isn't a fan of the cap style. I only have 16 days to turn this trend around before Opening Day!

Charlie bit me in the leg the other night while I was cooking. He doesn't bite other kids, only me, and I'm not really sure why or how to stop it.

His latest obsession is hanging out in the pantry with the door shut. How random is that?

I have plans to see a friend tonight and watch the movie Kids.



I'm afraid the movie is going to suck horribly and I'll be left with yet another reminder about how questionable my judgment was as a teenager.

The thing that sucks the most about P90X is that I haven't had time to devote to any of my other hobbies - reading and photography. That's why I'm awake at 6:00 in the morning on my day off - to get some pictures uploaded before the rest of the house wakes up.

The Immortal Burger

Really, I never post things like this because I don't like to push my views on other people, but that Consumerist story has just spawned a ton of different interesting things to look at.

Check out The Immortal Burger. Ew.

And This is What People Eat

I don't usually re-post news stories or blog links in place of my own posts, but this one deserves to be here since I spend so much mental energy considering the food that my family eats.

As if I needed another reason to not eat fast food, ever, The Consumerist posted this article yesterday.

Have you ever wondered what a McDonald's Happy Meal looks like after it's sat on a shelf (not in a freezer) for a year? This seems like one of those things I would learn accidentally, but writer Nonna Joann Bruso decided to find out on purpose.

The results? Not as disgusting as you might think, which itself is sort of disgusting.


She wrote:

“
It smelled delicious for a few days. I’d get a whiff of those yummy French fries every time I walked into my office. After a week or so, you could hardly smell it. My husband worried that when the food began to decompose, there would be a terrible odor in our home. He also worried the food would attract ants and mice. He questioned my sanity.

NOPE, no worries at all. My Happy Meal is one year old today and it looks pretty good. It NEVER smelled bad. The food did NOT decompose. It did NOT get moldy, at all.
”

The pitiful, slightly pained expression on the Littlest Pet Shop dog included with the meal says it all.

One of the commenters references Michael Pollan, my personal favorite food philosopher. One of his cardinal rules of eating is that you shouldn't eat anything that won't eventually decompose (honey excluded). Click over here for an even better experiment - a 12 year old hamburger.

Things You Want Wednesday - Baby Swing Edition

I was initially swayed against the baby swing by the masses of random peeps who referred to them as "Neglect-O-Matics." I thought "Hey, I can just be a babywearer and wear the baby all day and keep him close to me for bonding and warmth and all that jazz and it will be all fantastic and pleasant and puppies and rainbows. I don't need to stick MY child in a swing. LOLZ." Then I got my outside baby and realized that things weren't as simple as they sounded.

First of all, the original baby carrier I had just wasn't going to cut it as a long-term solution. It was one of those sling pouches and it wasn't comfortable for me and didn't look very comfortable to him, either (I later found a Baby K'Tan carrier, but that's for another post). Second of all, there's the actual act of wearing an infant all day long. It gets tiring. I know they aren't that heavy, but after a few hours those 8 pounds start to wear on you. That and it's hard to do things that you need to do, like hook up to the pump, go to the bathroom, shower, eat, all those tasks that make it necessary to, you know, live and all.

When I got tired of having cold dinners we went to Target and bought a swing. We didn't get one of the big ones, just the portable swing that runs on batteries. It served its purpose well. The random-internet-peeps-induced-guilt I felt when I stuck him in it completely disappeared when I was able to sit down and enjoy a piping hot piece of lasagna.

I think he looked rather happy to be there.



It doubles as an argument warder-offer so that when your in-laws campaigners for the other guy come around during election season it's clear where your allegiances lie. Who's going to argue with a little baby?



You can also use it to show off your baby on Halloween so that your hands are free to eat hand out candy to the kids.

Gender Stereotypes

Someone asked me on Friday if I thought that it was appropriate to worry about a 2 year old boy who likes to wear high heels and play with barbies.

Um, no. He's TWO. Not TWENTY TWO.

But that's all he ever wants to play with! Not regular shoes, just high heels!

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe high heels are more fun? I wouldn't know, seeing as how I don't even own a pair, but I can easily see how a kid would prefer shoes that make him feel taller over flats. Dramatic play is an important part of child development, and it's sad that people feel that they need to stifle a child's creativity just because it doesn't meet their criteria of "acceptable."

One of Charlie's favorite books is called "Ten Tiny Fairies." It was a hand-me-down from someone at work. Why does he like it so much? Could be a number of things, really - the colors are vibrant, the pages have raised Fairies with sparkly colored dresses to touch and feel, and the last page has flashing lights. It's a pretty book to look at. Should I be concerned that my child is exhibiting questionable tendencies? Do I have a problem with him liking a "girl's book?" Absofreakinglutely not. Get your heads out of your asses, people. This is 20 freaking 10!

I guess it should have come as no surprise, since this is the same person who at one time told me that she believes women were just genetically inferior to men when it comes to intelligence, and that's why they're not as good at "math and sciency things." Excuse me, lady, but speak for yourself and consider who you're talking to. I'm a freaking statistician. I make my living doing math things.

I can only hope that I'm more conscious of how I'm raising Charlie and any future child that we might have. It saddens me that kids are still being exposed to this kind of thinking. The damage that could be done to a little girl hearing this garbage is just unbelievable.

Geek in Training

It's every parent's hope that their child will inherit some of their traits, and I guess Charlie is shaping up to be a Geek, just like his parents. 99% of the time, this boy will NOT watch TV, no matter what is on. No Sesame Street, no Blue's Clues, no Dora the Explorer, no Wiggles, no nothing. But Star Wars? You put Star Wars on and he's absolutely enthralled.



Now his favorite activity is buzzing around the room like a spaceship.

P90X - Week 2 Completed!

I know there are some people who are reeeeeeeeally tired of hearing people talk about P90X and how hurty it is and how great it is and all that, so I'm going to limit myself to one P90X-related post per week, at the completion of each week. Today is our "off day," and marks our completion of week 2 of 12. I'm so proud of myself for suffering through every last rep I've encountered.

The diet has been the hardest part by far, but even that is getting more manageable. I'm pretty much right on my 50/30/20 targets. If anything, I'm struggling to get enough calories - I'm fuller faster and I stay full longer. It's really amazing how much more you need to eat to reach a reasonable calorie goal when you're eating the "right" foods. We're not talking about extreme calories here, either, I'm struggling to come up with 1400-1600. I'm also getting used to the protein shakes.

I definitely need to change up my lunch option - the easiest and most protein-efficient thing I could come up with was tuna salad, so that's what I've been eating for lunch Monday through Friday. I'm about over it.

Once I hit Phase 2 of the diet I'm going to incorporate a weekly cheat meal. This kind of deprivation isn't really sustainable for me, and every so often I'd like to have a nice bowl of tortilla soup from Apple Spice or a cookie. Nothing too crazy. I don't want to do it yet, because I know that I'm learning from the suffering :)

C and I were talking about the 90 days last night and realized that 90 days is pretty much 25% of a year. That's a very "well, duh" thing to say, but when you start out saying you're going to do something "just for 90 days" you don't really appreciate that it's more a long-term lifestyle change than a temporary commitment. I don't think I'll look at what I'm eating the same way again.

Also have to say another big thank you to Coach Lynn for her support and tips and recipes and awesome food tracker tool. It's always helpful to have someone on your side.

Friday Fragments

Someone stole our two strollers right out of our garage. It's always closed at night, which means it was sometime during the day while C was home. I'm SO PISSED OFF. It's so weird, because they didn't take the wagon or the trike, just the strollers. So now we need to find a new umbrella stroller. Any recommendations?

Got to hold a 3-week-old baby yesterday. I forgot how cute those little newborn gurgles and yawns are.

Got to hold a 3-week-old baby yesterday. I forgot how grating a newborn's cry is, and how it makes every muscle in your body tense up and your hair stand on end.

Ear infections suck. Double ear infections suck times two. Doubleplus Ungood.

Jon Stewart is awesome. I wish he was my friend.

I'm dying for some M&Ms after watching The Office last night.

Wasn't really a fan of the working parent guilt trip that Dwight gave Jim. Hit just a little too close to home.

I've noticed that I've started referring to the bathroom as "the potty." Even in adult company. As in, at work, "Let me run to the potty, and then we can talk about this analysis" WTF?

Final Fantasy XIII, the only reason we bought the PS3 over the XBOX a million years ago, is FINALLY here, and I don't have time to play it because of P90X. I guess we'll buy it in May and play the heck out of it when we're finished.

24 days until baseball season officially starts! I'm wearing my Posada shirt today to celebrate.

Three Words

While I was waiting for my photography class to start last night I decided to head up to the 10th floor to visit the Sociology department and see if there was anything interesting going on. I got off the elevator and started looking at the list of new publications and presentations, and then as I was walking over to check out the other bulletin board the photo board caught my eye. The photo board has pictures of all currently enrolled graduate students. Mine was still up there, but it had been moved to a new section. The "Not in Residence" section.



See? There I am, right in the middle. Look how happy and excited and hopeful I was when this picture was taken - fall of 2004, MA student orientation. I knew I was going to be kind of a big deal. I had goals, and I was going to be the best and make a difference and help change people's lives through important research and policy recommendations.



Sigh. I did meet my first goal, which was to finish my MA in two years, a rare accomplishment. I took extra courses, wrote tons of papers, and developed a love and appreciation for statistics and research methods. I found a thesis topic that was dear to my heart and could be spun into a million different dissertations. I presented at conferences, co-authored papers, and defended my thesis in front of some pretty tough critics.

And then I left. I left to take a paying job in the corporate world. I left to have affordable health insurance and a real paycheck and a 401(k) and paid sick time and vacation. But I was still going to finish my PhD, that was for sure. And I was going to finish it by 2010.

It's 2010 now. I had forgotten about that self-imposed deadline until I saw that picture last night. Life got in the way. Some of that was Good Life, and I wouldn't trade it for all the PhDs in the world. But then there's that piece of me (growing larger by the day) that completely regrets leaving the academic community. You see, to them, I committed a serious affront. I sold my soul, dug up my roots, and there's no going back. It's kind of a big deal. And now the research I do makes a difference only to the bottom line of companies, rather than to the population that needs help the most.