Breaking Band

WATCH OUT! For my rocking thighs people. That's right. I broke an o-ring band while doing my outer thigh exercises. BOO-YAH. It was on the upswing and took me totally by surprise. My right leg shot up like a rocket because the resistance disappeared out of nowhere as my o-ring snapped and went flying into the air. It was pretty awesome :) I have to be honest though, every time the instructor tells us to grab our o-rings, it sounds like they're asking us all to grab our birth control devices....You know what I'm talking about, isn't there a commercial for something called a nuvaring? HA.

I'm taking Isla to the zoo this morning with my sister Kelly and three of my nieces, Maisy, Lily and Avery. We won't be outside of course, we're just going to the museum part with all different exhibits. Should be fun. It was so cute, Lily (3) is worried Isla might not like the "roar" part of the dinosaur exhibit because she's "still pretty little" - I told her Isla would still have fun watching them have fun.

PS: I'm really digging the song "Lonely Boy" by the Black Keys. Have a great one everybody!

Portion control!

I missed my workout yesterday morning :( I've just still felt so "gunky" (you know what I mean!) - so I thought I'd sleep in a bit yesterday before heading off to the office. I feel tons better today. This morning's kickboxing class was crazy good! Everything was kind of switched up from the usual routine and we were all exhausted by the end - even most of the veterans were spent. It felt great though. I'm going to treat Wednesday as my "cheat day" so I'll just push through the whole weekend without any goodies.

To "make up" yesterday morning's missed workout, I'm going to go snow-shoeing or cross county skiing on Sunday with a new group of people I've hooked up with. The other day when I had all my metabolic measurements figured out, I met this WONDERFULLY AWESOME gal named Amy. She's this tiny little thing - so full of energy. The measurements and discussion took only around 15 minutes - Amy and I talked for 20 minutes after that! We just clicked. Anyway, Amy started a group in town called "Run for God." It's basically a group of Christians who want to get/keep in shape together. I don't have all the details yet, but I think they try to meet once a week; Amy also sends out weekly scripture passages/lessons that combine faith with a healthy lifestyle. I thought I'd share the first email I received this week with you all that are interested:


Day 14: God is my portion


Thought for the Day: “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ ” (Lamentations 3:22–24)


The term “portion control” took on a whole new meaning for me one day when I read the response that God’s people had after Moses led them out of slavery in Egypt. God had performed several sensational miracles to help them escape their captors. Yet they panicked when food became scarce. They even asked to go back to slavery in Egypt where food was supposedly abundant. But God planned to use their desire for food to teach them about daily dependence upon Him.


As Israelites traveled through the desert, each morning God would rain down exactly what they needed for nourishment — a provision called “manna,” which I imagine was something like little, sweet, potato flakes. They were to collect just enough manna for the day. They couldn’t gather extra, except before the Sabbath day of rest, or it would rot. This daily process was intended to put them in the habit of dependence on God, and only God.


However, the Israelites began to grumble and turned their hearts against God. So He took them on a detour. Instead of heading straight to the Promised Land of freedom, they wandered in the desert for forty years while they learned how to truly depend on God.


I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend the next forty years of my life learning this lesson. I want to stop grumbling about my weight and embrace this valuable lesson to walk in the freedom of God’s provision. As we apply this same process to our struggles, we can find that God is the perfect portion for everything we need, every longing we have, every desperate desire of our soul.


God is there when my husband and I have a big argument, my kids are unruly, a business deal doesn’t go as planned, or the bills start piling up. Instead of grabbing a tub of ice cream or ordering pizza, I ask God to be my daily portion in these tough times.


For example, if your boyfriend breaks up with you, instead of inhaling a big bowl of chips and dip, ask God to be your daily portion of companionship in this lonely time. “God, I hate this rejection and hurt. Sometimes I feel like the loneliness is going to swallow me alive. I can’t deal with this on my own. Will You be my portion of healing and companionship just for this day?”


Or, when your kids are driving you crazy, instead of chowing down three pieces of chocolate cake, you might pray, “God, I so desperately want to be a patient mom. I don’t know if I can be a patient mom the rest of my life. But with Your portion of strength I can rely on You in this moment and not try to medicate my shortcomings with food.”


Whatever your situation, ask God to be your daily portion of companionship, provision, and patience — over and over. Soon, you’ll find yourself walking in victory over those things instead of looking back over tears and a pile of cake crumbs.


I'm really looking forward to this Sunday. I'm sure  you parents out there know how hard it can be to meet new and interesting people! Usually Luke and I are so content to stay at home playing with Isla or hanging out with my family that we don't get out like we used to. If the group is half as cool as Amy is, I'm going to stick with them! :) Have a great day everyone! DRIVE SAFE! I slid into a curb this morning on my way to FXB. It wasn't a big deal, I'd stopped accelerating once I realized my tires were floating on the snow so it really just a bump, but it could have been worse.

Swamp Volcano

A commercial just came on for a new SciFi channel movie and it's called "Swamp Volcano." I wish I was joking. I wonder what the actors think when their agents hand them a script with that title...."well, I guess it's over?" Okay, that was a bit harsh - at least they're making movies, right?

Awesome workout this morning! Kickboxing today was intense - so was our extra credit work out.  Wait a minute....I felt a lot like a SWAMP VOLCANO!! I knew there was a reason I saw that commercial :) Afterwards, I stopped by the store to pick up some stuff for our adopted soldier in Afghanistan. If you're interested in sending care packages overseas you should check out this website - I've been adopting soldiers since 2003 and it's a great way to give back.

Oh, yesterday I went and had diagnostics done at Envive Chiropractic to get the most advanced body composition data available - my metabolic rate, BMI, fat content, lean muscle content, etc. It's not the "Bod Pod," which some places have - I've done that in the past. With this test, you're hooked up to electrodes and get ZAPPED LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW!!! Just kidding - it's totally painless, but they do hook you up to electrodes :) I assume there's some kind of magnetic pulse or dolphin sonar technology that figures out all the ins and outs. Who knows? I'm going to recheck it at my 5 week mark and at my 10 week mark. Fingers crossed!

Ice Cream!

Soooooooo, I got a little carried away this morning with my protein shake (vanilla protein powder, strawberry Oikos nonfat yogurt, water, ice) and put WAY too much ice in my shake. What does that get you? ICE CREAM!!! Yay! What a fun way to start the day....with brain freeze! :)

The lower body resistance workout this morning was killer. When the first words out of the instructor's mouth at the start of class are: "You're all going to remember what muscle fatigue feels like," you know you're in for a work out. I was hurting during class, but I feel so great right now (that could be the ice cream though).

Oh, in other completely unrelated news: I think I might run for a spot on city council. Not sure yet. Kinda sure. My dad says he'll vote for me :) I'll keep you posted.

PFC Lucille

Man was I a hot mess this past weekend. The sickness finally caught up with me and I missed my first FXB class on Saturday :( I was NOT happy about that, but boy did I need the rest. I pretty much stayed in bed most of Saturday and Sunday - except for a quick trip to the grocery store on Saturday to buy more cucumbers, apples and ginger for my "Mean Green" juice. Saturday was cold, windy and snowy so I wore what anyone would wear in that situation: a navy blue doo rag tied into my hair, a puffy winter jacket and black snow shoes that resembled combat boots. The piece de resistance was my bright red lip gloss (I couldn't find my chapstick and my lips were dry from coughing - my lip gloss was the only thing I could find that had extra moisturizers in it). That's right folks, I was Lucille Ball incarnate if she were attending storm trooper training. CLASSIC.

My meals this weekend were also way out of whack - not because I was eating crap so much as I just wasn't eating enough. Between sleeping and taking my meds, I basically subsisted off of protein shakes and juices. Last night during the New York/San Fran game something came over me and I annihilated half a bag of white popcorn. FOR SHAME! I know! I was delirious and sincerely hoping San Fran would stick it to the mealy mouthed younger Manning.

We're back on track this morning though. I just had a great kickboxing workout and, despite feeling like I was on the verge of hacking up a lung or passing out depending on how deep my roundhouses were, really worked hard. I'm still a little shaky as I type this, but I knew there was no way I was going to miss another workout. I'm positive I feel better now than if I would've slept in. My protein shake is making its' way down my gullet and I'm going to stop at the grocery store on my way to the office to pick up some healthy food for the day. Fake it 'till you make it people!

Ugh

Snow, snow, snow, snow..... *sigh* I still made it to work out this morning, but I drove a max speed of 20 mph the whole way there. Good workout today - my throat is still sore so it felt like I was a lot thirstier than usual. It took forever to get back home. Luke is going to stay home with Isla today b/c she was up all night coughing. I might stay home for at least half a day so Luke can get outside and snowblow our driveway and sidewalks. Yeesh. It's just one of those days, you know? I think being sick is sucking some of the perkiness out of me :)

Oh, my juicer came yesterday! I made my first juice last night based on the "Mean Green" recipe from the flick I told  you about earlier: Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. The juice included the following:

6 kale leaves
1 cucumber
2 green apples
4 celery stalks
1 piece of ginger
1/2 lemon

It wasn't bad! No joke. I'm going to make another one this morning for my mid-morning snack. I just got done having an unconventional protein shake (at least for me). I wasn't really paying attention and put my husband's chocolate protein in my mixer instead of my usual vanilla. Added some water and BLUEBERRY flavored non-fat Greek yogurt with ice. It wasn't bad! Isla sure seemed to dig it when I let her take a small sip. Okay, I've got to SNAP OUT OF IT! :) Have a wonderful day everyone and please drive safe - this snow is going to continue to fall until mid-afternoon.

Feels like (-) 23

That's what the air temperature felt like with the wind chill this morning on my way to work out. Wanna know how I remembered that number for my wonderful readers even after obliterating my mind and quads to mush with this morning's lower body resistance training? I had to remember "Bad! Bad! Michael Jordan!" :) That was his number right? I'm more of a football fan.

Oh, and can someone remind me why I ever liked jumping rope when I was a kid? I've been staying after most mornings for "extra credit" workouts (usually abs). This morning we jumped rope for 2 minutes. If that doesn't seem long to you, go get a timer and a jump rope. Then talk to me :) After that we alternated straight arm planks, elbow planks, and a push-up position for around 4 minutes without putting our knees on the mat. Yikes. I did it, but I'm not going to lie, my butt went up in the air a couple of times when I needed to rest. Do what you can baby!

I'm drinking a super delicious shake this morning. This is one of my favs:

Water
Oikos Fruit on the Bottom Greek NonFat Yogurt (strawberry)
Small banana
TB raw honey
2 scoops protein
Ice

Sooooooooo good! Oh, and if you're looking for a healthy, balanced yogurt - I really recommend the Oikos brand. The total carbs are only 19g BUT the protein is 12g! That's a nice balance of protein to carb ratio. Plus, it tastes pretty damn good for a fat free yogurt. I'm more of a strawberry or blackberry girl; but, the other day I did buy some peach and that made for a nice, light tasting shake too.

In other news, I have a sore throat! (I'm shaking my fist dramatically toward the Heavens!). God still had the good grace to help me get to my workout this morning with a smile on my face and a Halls cough drop in my mouth :) Have a great day everyone!

POWERHOUSE!

According to today's kickboxing partner, Jason (veteran FXB), I have a "powerhouse left hook." That's right people! You'd better WATCH OUT :) Fantastic work out this morning - we worked our butts off. The last five minutes was an ab fatigue blitzkrieg. Instead of lowering my legs gracefully to the mat when we were allowed to put them down, I'm pretty sure I THWAPPED! them onto the ground with a groan. That's just pure awesomeness rearing it's gorgeous, pain-filled head baby! Yeah!

When I got home, Isla was sleeping and Luke was in the livingroom. I forced him to have a quick flex off - he won, but BARELY. He thinks he's SO cool with his 6 foot 2, 230 lbs of muscle. Whatevs! :) Speaking of my little Isla Badila Muffin, if you've ever wondered about my motivation, look no further than this little firecracker:

She and I like to jam out in the mornings after my workouts to songs like Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain," The Pixies' "Where is My Mind," Kenny Chesney's "You and Tequila," Rhianna's "We Found Love," DEV's "In the Dark," Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds' "Stay or Leave," and, Tool's "The Pot" and "Vicarious." Our taste runs a little eclectic sometimes :) Isla thinks I'm a pretty sweet dancer - at least that's how I interpret her laughing and double hand wave in my direction. Have a wonderful day everyone. Drive safe! Still kinda' slippery out there.

The Ghost of Shoulders Past

WTF? (Why the face? :) This morning's upper body resistance workout made me painfully aware of something: I NEVER use my shoulders. Okay, never is a strong word. I'm sure I use my shoulders when I lift one arm up to shave my underarms in the morning and switch sides; other than that, as a lawyer with a super handy husband, I NEVER use my freaking shoulders! They are so weak it's not even funny. My triceps are stronger than my shoulders. I'm seriously considering the utilization of a hammer curl motion when objecting in court :) Maybe that would help? I know hammer curls are more for the biceps, but if I really exaggerate the upswing I think I could be on to something.

Man I worked my butt off this morning! And that was just on the car ride to the gym :) Yes, South Dakota, we have our first substantial snow of the season. Craziness. Waking up to an inch of snow on January 17 is usually not surprising, but this winter has been pretty mild. People were slipping and sliding all over the place. I was almost side-swiped by an Escalade which would've been fine b/c clearly that driver has better insurance coverage than I do :) My workout was awesome as well - but realizing I have shoulder strength comparable to my one year old daughter was a wake up call!

Oh and in exciting nerdy news: I bought a juicer! FINALLY. I've been wanting one for a decade, but have always made due with my awesome Ninja blender. Anyhoo, I purchased the Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus Juicing Machine. Sounds ominous! I can't wait for it to get here. In the past, I've always done some kind of cleanse every 3-4 months. I've decided for my next go-around to try a 10 day juice fast every 3-4 months. I know the first 2-3 days will be annoying as all get out, but it'll be a great way to give my body a rest (digestively speaking of course :).

Speaking of juicing, I was cleaning the house the other night and decided to have Netflix on in the background. Since I've been re-dedicating myself to being awesome fitness-wise, I settled on a documentary called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead." Inspiring title right? :) You should watch it - it was a really amazing story of two men who basically re-set their sick bodies through juice fasting (I'm not talking 10 days, I'm talking 60 days!). One of the guys lives in Spirit Lake, IA! That's basically Okoboji Lake where I've been going with my family every summer since fetusdom. Pretty cool. The guy was an amazing inspiration. He went from something like 420 lbs down to 220 lbs. Just crazy - changed his whole lifestyle, etc. Pretty cool flick if you've got an hour or so.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

I keep hitting repeat peat peat peat peat peat!

Great kickboxing workout this morning! In between sets, I held my plank position for well over a minute. My tummy muscles were burning but it felt great! I had so much FREAKING energy this morning :) I stopped off at Hy-Vee to pick up some greek yogurt, carrots, pickles and thickener (for Isla's bottles) - I was bouncing back and forth on the balls of my feet chatting up the lovely blue hair behind the checkout line. I hope I didn't make her nervous :)

Sooooooooo, what did I do for my cheat day? Actually, I controlled myself pretty well. I ate well the whole day except for lunch I allowed myself some pepperoni pizza and a Coke. So decadent :) Later that night, I had a protein shake for dinner while I watched poor Tebow lose big time to the Patriots; I allowed myself some white popcorn as a snack. That was it! Not bad, huh? Pizza and popcorn. Back in the day I would have had pizza ALL day long, maybe some Mexican food, a couple sodas, you get the picture. But I'm feeling so good lately - like the old me - that I decided to hold back on the junk food.

So far I've eaten PERFECTLY since the start of my ten week FXB classes. The key everyone is PLANNING, PLANNING and, if you have some extra time, PLANNING! Make sure you have the good stuff around you at all times. Don't plan a protein bar as a meal, but have some on you in case of emergencies. I've been able to get through every day without having to resort to one of those trumped up candy bars. The key for me has been raw carrots. I'm such a baby when it comes to vegetables - I pretty much won't touch them unless it includes carrots, or steamed broccoli, corn, etc. Well, since I'm not steaming any broccoli at work during the day, I munch on baby carrots so I can get in around 3 servings of vegetables. I also always have bananas and pecans on hand in my office. Lots of water. You know the drill people :) Have a fantastic week everyone! My sister, Kelly, is starting her paleo diet (hunter-gatherer, unprocessed foods) today and is popping by for some before pictures this morning. We'll have to check in with her down the road to see how her diet is working.

Quads, Berlin and Pancreatic Cancer!

Man oh man oh man! What an AWESOME workout this morning! Woke up perky as all get out this a.m. at 6:00 to the sound of my beautiful daughter babbling. When I picked her up out of her crib she gave me the biggest smile - I felt compelled to dance around the room with her singing "this is the day the Lord has made! let us rejoice and be glad in it!" I know that doesn't rhyme, but Isla was DIGGING IT!

This morning the gym was packed more than usual (on Saturdays you don't have to stick to your regular class time). I went at 7:00 just to keep things consistent. We worked on abs and lower body resistance training. I had such a great workout and totally redeemed myself from yesterday.

On the way home, Berlin's song "Take My Breath Away" came on and I was struck with such a sense of longing for the innocence of my toddler youth when everything was new and fresh and parents were invincible. For those of you that don't know my dad has Stage IV pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed in February 2010 and basically given 3-6 months to live. Well guess what people? He's still alive and doing well almost two years later - he's still full of cancer of course but for some reason God has helped him beat the odds by a long shot.

What does this have to do with Berlin? Well, when I was little (1-3 years old) my parents had the soundtrack to Top Gun on VINYL :) and would play the record (among others). My dad would dance around with me, my feet on top of his. Every time I hear "Take My Breath Away" or Kim Carnes' "Betty Davis Eyes," I remember that time. I'm not going to lie, I teared up a bit this morning on the car ride home and was compelled to drive past my house and head the few blocks over to my parents' home. Dad was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him up, but I had a great chat with my mom and my sister Kelly about how to motivate Dad to continue taking all his meds and eating right. Sometimes we nag him to take all his pills every day because that's all we know how to do. But I think we should just remind him daily of how proud we are of him and how happy we are that he is doing so well and still here with us. I think that kind of positive reinforcement is more likely to keep Dad honest about taking his pills and taking care of himself than nagging. Don't you think?

Before leaving for my house I had the honor and privilege of flying my oldest niece, Maisy, (3 years old) around the living room in her fairy wings; I was also able to kiss Avery (1 year old niece) no less than 10 times and also help Lily (Maisy's twin) with her fairy wings and dance moves. I love my life! Two things that would have made the morning 100% perfect is (1) if my sister Meghan's daughter, Rylee (also 3) had been over at the house; and, (2) if Isla weren't sleeping right now so I could tackle her to the ground (gently :) and give her a giant raspberry on her tummy. Have a great weekend everyone!

My shoulders have stopped working!

Okay. This morning was TOUGH. I think this week finally caught up to me and landed in my right shoulder. Well, either this week caught up to me or my upper body workout yesterday - one or the other. Anyhoo, we had kickboxing this morning. Every time I hit the bag with my right arm I felt like my shoulder was not cooperating. Even though I was working my butt off and sweating like a fat kid in a sauna, my punches just didn't have the right "oomph" behind them. I still feel good because I know I worked out until I hit muscle exhaustion - it just felt like the exhaustion hit sooner than usual. Every day I know I'm getting stronger and stronger so I just need to brush off this morning and hit tomorrow's class with the same intensity I try to do every day. I couldn't stay for extra credit sit-ups this morning because I had to be at court by 8:45. I considered briefly showing up in my work out outfit, red sweaty face and crazy hair, but changed my mind and got my butt home to clean-up and change :)

Luke made some DELICIOUS pork lettuce wraps last night (he made chicken lettuce wraps last week that were to DIE for, but he said none of the chicken breasts looked good last night). I'm not sure what all goes into these bad boys; I glimpsed mushrooms, red bell peppers, fresh ginger (yum), garlic? I know there's some special sauce that goes in as well, but I haven't figured it out yet and he's holding his cards close to his chest. He usually won't tell me how he makes stuff unless I watch and learn how he does it. It makes sense. He knows I'm lazy and just like to wait for the awesome dinner; this way if I want to know a special ingredient I have to put in some effort. Personally, I think he just wants me near him in the kitchen because I'm so awesome :)

Have a wonderful day everyone! The weekend is almost here! I have one more workout tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. (lower body resistance training) and then I'm off Sunday. I'm supposed to have one day each week where I can throw caution to the wind and eat whatever I want. In the past my "reward day" was always Sunday. However, the thought of waking up early Monday morning for resistance training after a day of eating deliciously unhealthy foods is not appealing. I think I'll make my "reward day" tomorrow after my morning workout.

Guest Blogger: Kelly :-)

Hey all! Kelly here, one of Lyndsay's beautiful, younger sisters! Just thought I'd share a healthy and delicious Paleo pork chop recipe I tried the other night. Not only is it extremely yummy and good for you, but I put this recipe in my slow-cooker which made it super easy! I got the recipe from irontribefitness.com , which is a great Paleo & Crossfit resource for athletes. Here goes:

Ingredients

• 4 (1 to 1 1/2-inch thick) bone-in pork chops (or no bones)
• 2-3 apples (I used a Granny Smith, and a red one)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, julienned
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper (I think this is slightly too much pepper)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (I'd also decrease this a bit to 1/2 tsp.)

Directions

Place the apples in the slow cooker.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch stainless steel sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the pork chops on both sides until golden brown, approximately 5 to 6 minutes per side. Once browned, place the pork chops into the slow cooker atop the apples.

Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan followed by the onions and sauté until they begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth to the pan to deglaze. Add the black pepper and thyme and stir to combine. Transfer this to the slow cooker, set to high, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Decrease the heat to low and continue cooking for another 4 hours and 30 minutes or until the pork is tender and falling away from the bone.

(I just set my slow cooker to low and let cook over 8 hours. The meat falls off the bone and they are yummy!  And I served with steamed broccoli)

This turned out to be an excellent recipe that I will definitely try again.  Being a busy mom of 3 little ones, this recipe was very easy to prepare, minimal clean-up, and when supper time came the pork-chops were ready to serve with little effort on my part!  I highly recommend this one!

Kelly

Sexy BACK

I'm bringing my sexy back back :) Had our first upper body resistance training today. Really worked our butts off! My back (always my favorite muscle area to work out) is 2 bands stronger than the rest of my body! I stayed after again for the extra ab workout this morning. Like sharp knives going through my belly! Man, is my c-section incision getting a workout! WARNING: Although it's hard to believe, the picture below is NOT me. I repeat: NOT me :) Have a great day everyone! OMG, my bulldog Lucy just busted you know what - now my nose is getting a workout and it is not pleasant.

Ah-Nold

The calves have made an appearance!

Soooooo sore in my calves this morning on my way to Farrell's. But a "good" sore. That's a lie. It was more of a "grimace-y sore." :) GREAT kickboxing workout today. I even decided to stay after for "extra credit" with some of the veteran group working on extra ab exercises with a medicine ball. Right now, I'm chillaxing at the computer drinking a super delicious protein shake (vanilla whey, fat free blackberry yogurt, fat free milk, water, ice cubes, TB of honey and - CRAP! I forgot the banana!) and waiting for Luke to get out of the shower. I'm planning on a around-the-corner-towel-grab-sneak-attack. Works every time. Have a great day everybody!

I Found My Hamstrings!

First day of resistance training this morning using resistance bands. I've always been a free-weight girl and have never tried the bands. I always thought, "Bands, really? Pu-lease! I'm hardcore. I don't need no stinking bands!" Um...I stand corrected. The bands were AWESOME. We worked lower body and abs today and man did I feel it. By the end of the hour my legs could have been backup dancers for Beyonce they were shaking so hard! Since I signed up for the 7:00 a.m. classes, Luke has been in charge of getting our lovely little lady, Isla, to daycare in the morning. He was just leaving the house as I got home today - I was pretty pumped from my workout (read "borderline psychotic") and ran up to Luke. I stuck my left thigh out and said "touch it, go on, touch it" but in the voice Ben Stiller used in Starsky & Hutch when he tells Vince Vaughn to "do it!" Since I was blocking Luke's path to the car he was forced to comply but I'm pretty sure he was impressed :)

Tasty Chicken Tacos

Awesome dinner tonight - took some cooked chicken breast from the fridge (made it yesterday by cooking it in some coconut oil), shredded the HECK out of it and threw it in a pan. Medium heat. One to two tablespoons of chili powder. Stir. Add about 8 oz of Pace Picante Sauce and 1 can of black beans (drained). Bring to boil, stir on and off for around 15 minutes.  Yummm!  Add a whole grain tortilla, fat-free cheese and some spinach and you've got yourself a tasty chicken taco.

Bouncing Calamity

I'm ALIVE! My first kickboxing class is done.  My face is slightly purple, my left quad is on fire and I'm sucking down a thicker than usual protein shake because I didn't put in enough POM juice to thin it out.  Isla's in the background smiling at me with her two beautiful teeth prominently displayed and I'm loving life.  This morning really kicked my butt! My punching bag partner was my coach, Don. I always try to do 100% in each of my workouts, but Don was great at egging me on to give a little more. With around ten minutes left in the workout, I had to take a short time out because I was certain I was going to throw up right there in front of everyone.  I didn't - thank the good Lord - but it reminded me about one area of my body that I'm more than ready to get back into fighting shape: my freakin' BOOBS! I'm naturally a small "D" cup, but currently I'm wearing a "DD." Thanks to my overly expanded chestal region, I have to wear a sports bra that is so tight I have a hard time taking deep breaths (this is to keep the jiggle to a minimum). Unfortunately, the feeling that I was going to throw up was really a bad case of being light-headed from sucking in short, insufficient breaths while working my tail feathers off. I can't wait until these bad boys settle back into their natural size.

Testing - Phase I

Holy smokes campers! I am OUT OF SHAPE!! But that's okay - my goal is to blow my Phase I testing results out of the water by week 5. Yesterday morning was actually a pretty fun and exciting time. There were around 100 new FXB students of varying weights, shapes, etc. Apparently our oldest student is in their 70's and the youngest student is 14. I was surprised at how many people were there that were extremely overweight - people that would not have been out of place as contestants on The Biggest Loser. I'm really impressed and inspired that those people are taking the class as well. Here I was worried about how out of shape I was going to be compared to the old me and these people have the courage to get out there and kick butt at much larger sizes and with much less experience working out. That's pretty cool in my book. Almost everyone there yesterday seemed really excited about the start of the 10 weeks. Sure there were some self-deprecating remarks and grimaces at some of the different stations (body fat measurements, body measurements, v-sit, push-ups, sit-ups, etc.) but there was excitement and hope in the air. Everyone was split up into groups and assigned to different coaches. The coaches aren't the ones that will be running the classes, but are former and current students that will participate during our chosen workout time and be available to answer questions and provide inspiration, etc. I was assigned to two coaches actually - a father/daughter team: Don and April. They seem genuinely interested in being there for our little group (I think our group is around 6 people).

In a perfect, voyeuristic world, I would tell you what my times, weight, measurements and results were. TOO BAD! Some things are sacred :) I will keep this blog informed of my success; i.e. how many inches and pounds I lose, how many more sit-ups and push-ups I can do, etc. If you're REALLY lucky, I'll post my after picture at the end of 10 weeks. Don't get too excited. The blogging world might not be ready for that much awesomeness. Here's a picture of my sweet boxing gloves and new pink wraps:

Necessary butt kicking apparel 

I'm not sure why this picture is so foggy-looking.  Probably because I live in South Dakota and forgot my I-Phone in my car overnight - NICE. Back in my awesome in-shape days (let's call that time The Before) I would kickbox fairly regularly and only used wraps - I've never used gloves before.  My husband already let me punch him a couple of times in his hands to get used to them.  In The Before, my knuckles would get pretty haggard looking after a while - especially in winter.  The gloves will probably keep my purty little mitts looking sexy.

Today I plan on working my kitchen and fridge over pretty hard-core; getting rid of some food, stocking up on good stuff, etc. I'm going to have Luke bring our mini-fridge to my office so I can make sure to have lots of good food on hand during my work day. I'm going old school on my diet - I used to be so disciplined. *sigh* It's easy for me to eat well when I look at food as merely fuel for my body. Since moving back to South Dakota and especially since having Isla, I became lazy in the nutrition department. In The Before I used to tell people to make sure they're not eating themselves to death one spoonful at a time. I haven't been listening to my old advice.

Each day is a chance to turn it all around - I'm excited and, more importantly, DEDICATED to finding the old Lyndsay again. Not to brag, but the old Lyndsay is pretty hot, pretty funny and generally awesome to hang out with :) Tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. is my first kickboxing class. I'm not too worried about tomorrow morning - excitement and adrenaline will get me through fairly easily. I'm more concerned about how I'll feel Tuesday morning when I get up for my second class. Fingers crossed everybody...

Is that Forest Gump?

I'm 31, it's 2012, and I've decided to become a runner this year.  Yikes.  I haven't particularly liked running since I was around 8 years old. Up to that point, I've been told I loved to run everywhere - friends' houses, the store, down the block, etc. Then for some reason in 1988, my dad (God bless him!) thought it would be a good idea to require my younger sister and I to run a pre-mapped route of approximately 1.88 miles and time us. These "fun" runs occurred a few times each week. Looking back, I know my dad (a former marine) was trying to instill in us the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle. The actual result of course, at least for me, was to HATE running. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I never ran after that. As a soccer player throughout high school and part of college, running was always a part of my daily life whether on the field or working out. But running became something I HAD to do in my workouts, not something I actually enjoyed. I would hear about people getting that "runner's high" and wonder what the heck they were smoking. Running for me involved a treadmill if possible and at least 8 million glances at the clock to see if I was almost done yet.

Why then have I chosen my age-old nemesis as a goal?  Well, to be honest, I've always envied those who love to run.  Let's face it, you can take your running hobby/obsession anywhere you go.  It seems like a great way to relieve stress and focus your thoughts.  Over the years, I've started up running numerous times only to give up after a couple of weeks.  I never put much thought into these attempts simply figuring that I could start running and eventually get the hang of it.  Instead, I would often overdo the workouts resulting in shinsplints and other minor hangups.  This past November, I felt called to buy an edition of Runner's World magazine while browsing at my local Barnes & Noble.  One thing led to another and before I knew it I'd stumbled upon the book Run Your Butt Off! (RYBO):

Click here for the website 

I've really like what I've read so far and have even signed up for my first 1/2 marathon (don't worry kids, it's not scheduled until September 2012). I plan on running more competitions this year than just the one 1/2 marathon in September. I simply figured that September is more than enough time to get into the swing of things and the race will signify a big step in accomplishing my goal.

The best part about becoming a runner of course is the shoes! Check out this sexy little number from Mizuno:

Mizuno Wave Precision 12 running shoes

I KNOW! Too cool for school. They only weigh 8.3 oz - it feels like I'm not wearing shoes at all when I run.  I also purchased a pair of Vibram FiveFingers Bikala LS shoes (only 6.5 oz!) - to start I'll use them more for kickboxing, etc. Eventually, when I become a super duper running machine, I plan to use both the Mizunos and the barefoot shoes for running.  

What have I done so far this year to further my running goals? Hmmm....nothing? Okay, that's not exactly true. I decided that before I start the RYBO program, I'm going to get through at least the first 3-4 weeks of the Farrell's Extreme Body Shaping 10 week class (FXB) I signed up for. I just took my "before" picture yesterday. Talk about a fun time! Tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. is the required orientation and initial testing (how fast can I run a mile, push-ups, sit-ups, etc.). My first official class is Monday, January 9, 2012 at 7:00 a.m. The last day of the class will be Saturday, March 17, 2012 when I complete final testing to see where I ended up. I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing - I've never done anything like this before. My plan is after I get my body warmed up so-to-speak with the first 18 classes or so (3 weeks worth) I'll be comfortable enough to add the running workout to my daily schedule.    

The linchpin in my 2012 makeover is to reignite my relationship with God. I'm a Lutheran by trade, but these last few years or so I haven't been as faithful to my faith as I should be - scratch that - as I NEED to be. I'm generally a pretty sarcastic and pessimistic individual. I'm the first person to point out someone else's faults - my own included. Over the years I've developed into the type of person that could let one bad review or comment ruin my day and wipe out the 100 positive comments I received. I'm a wife to a wonderful husband; the mother to my daughter (a 1 year old super hero); and, the owner of a solo law practice. I live in a beautiful home with a HUGE yard and ridiculously huge deck (my husband went a bit nuts last summer) and I have an extremely close/tight-nit family. What in the H-E-L-L do I have to be negative and pessimistic about right? So, in another "called" moment at Barnes & Noble (what's with that place?), I purchased Joel Osteen's book on tape called Every Day a Friday. In the interest of full disclosure, I have NEVER been one to trust religious television personalities. Normally I just cannot get a giant neon edged picture of Tammy Faye Bakker out of my head when I see television church shows. Joel Osteen was not exempt from my distrust - I thought "Who in the heck smiles that much? He cannot be trusted." Over the last three weeks, I've listened to and re-listened to Joel's book. Something just clicked in my thick head - I've been actively practicing the art of being happy and I've never felt better. No joke.  

So, with all this in mind, I'm ready for my adventure.