Weekend Download

Happy Labor Day! And unofficial last day of summer!

My kiddies go back to school tomorrow, so we tried to make the most of our weekend stay-cation!  Fortunately we live near some great locations that the big city folk flock to for their getaways. Wow, did we ever get around!

First I started the weekend with a bang.  I went short with the locks, straightened for the first time ever, and went with RED highlights.  Whoa!  Did the family flip.  I am still getting use to this look!

My alter ego

 

We then started the weekend with some final school shopping and lunch with the kiddos. We tried a new place that a co-worker recommended - Senor Taco's Cantina.  The decor was fun. The draw to this place is it's salsa bar.  We had fun experimenting.  There were like 20 different salsa's.

 











Chile relleno plate



Wasn't the greatest stuff, we've had MUCH better, but always a filling choice. We rewarded our goal oriented shopping day with some more fro-yo, but who needs an excuse?

 

expresso/sea salt caramel pretzel and strawberries

 

We decided to do some maritime exploring for the weekend.  Lots of history in the Great Lakes and lots of great scenery to enjoy!

We visited during the olympics, can you tell? :)

We had gone to visit a lighthouse earlier in the summer and were hooked.  We decided to visit another this weekend, the Cana Island Lighthouse. This one was much larger and views were fantastic.

 



 

The island was fun exploring too, there is a walkway out to the island, but water levels are so low in the midwest right now, you can walk out into usually submerged rocky areas.

I could have taken a ton more pics, but I grabbed the wrong battery that morning!  I can tell you there was family hiking, lots of exploring, more beautiful scenery and old fashioned mint chip ice cream while we watched an amazing sunset.  Have I said it here before? I love Door County!  Sometimes its a good thing when your camera dies, you can just enjoy the moments!!

Next day I went back to my curly self.  Liking the RED highlights!

We went to the Maritime Museum and explored a WWII submarine.  Love the history lessons.  The guide was a Korean War Navy vet, and was very knowledgeable and a hoot.

Amazing what our vets have done for us.

We searched for other lighthouses on the coast and did some lounging around.

 

Then we made a long overdue trip to one of Milwaukee's favorites -Water Street Brewery!

I was soo excited to find this Veggie Mezzo Burger on the menu - falafel burger!  Yes, again - anything chickpea makes me happy :)

 

The burger was paired with some root veggie chips and of course we have the cold beer - root beer that is! lol  Hubby's german sausage meal is in the background.  Mmmmm.

 

And more mmmm... look at that beast!

 

 

We were in the neighborhood, so we made a stop at Trader Joe's - yay! Nearly 2 hours away from home so we couldn't pass up the opportunity.   

 

 I think I'm in love.

 

Between the kids and I these lovelies were gone before we pulled into the driveway.  Reeally wish we had bought more.

 

 

Hubby was back at work this morning and we are getting ourselves laundered, straightened and groceried for the first week back at school. 

 

But we had to end it with some relaxing for the adults with a viewing of Hunger Games.

 



 

 

Lovely.

 

How about you?  What adventures did you have this weekend?

Now I'm a believer

Hello! I'm back. 

Well getting there anyway.  A drive from Wisconsin to Florida, non-stop, with three littles, takes a lot out of a girl. 

Who knew?

The big news is that while we were there and the rest of the country was sunny, and starving for some rain, we were in the midst of Tropical Storm Debby.  And we had front row seats!  Guess I can cross that of my bucket list.  Um...oh yeah, I'll add it first, then cross it off.

Source

It eventually cleared up and the vacation was great.  Unfortunately our wi-fi was out at the resort after the storm, so I was completely cut off from my fitmixer workouts!

I did workout sessions fitmixer style (and all from memory) the first few days.  Then we were go, go, go taking advantage of the clearing skies the remaining days.  We walked MILES I am sure at the parks.  From about 9a to 12p we were on our feet.  My feet were shredded at the end of each day.  I would have paid anyone ready with a bucket to soak my feet in each night.

So you would have thought I would have avoided the extra vacation lbs - nope! Not yet! Food options are not stellar, and I know that when I am busy or tired, both of which occurred on our trip, my eating morals go down the drain.  Carb disasters!  Ah well, as dear Candice said, I can sweat it off.  And with the HIGH temps here this week, that shouldn't be a problem.

Being back home and back on schedule has been so welcome!  How I missed my GREENS!  There were few places that I could find greens that weren't pre-drenched in dressing.  And veggie burgers are yummy, but who can resist that side of fries.  Smart-me would have asked that they not bring them out.  But tired me, who was not doing a good job at sticking to eating 6x a day, was not so savvy.

I started Monday with a Full House workout (working through the entire deck of cards doing 4 exercises). Tuesday was strength moves.  Wednesday was a Tabata session (my favorite!).

My brain must still be on vacation because I completely forgot to drink my fitmixer aminos during the workouts, just had plain water.

source

Silly, silly me.

Through the last 7 weeks I have taken it religiously and while I have been sore most of those days, it wasn't awful or debilitating?

On Monday after nearly 100 jack squats combined with about 100 burpees, my inner thighs were totally shredded.  Jillian has nothing on those fitmixer ladies!

As the week has gone on my soreness has gotten progressively worse! And yesterday it finally occurred to me after my workout.  I forgot to drink my aminos!!! I am desperately regretting that oversight today.  I am walking around very awkwardly and if I am still for any length of time (desk job!), it is tougher to get moving normally.

Do I start gulping it down by the bucket today?  Maybe.  Am thinking it's going to have me extremely wired (it has caffeine), but my muscles are demanding it!

Wow, I am such a believer in those aminos now.  And I just noticed they are getting low!  Time for a re-order, stat!!

Traveling Fit

We have some catching up to do!

I have been UBER busy with the kids, and their summer activities. We have the girlies set up for a summer day camp which they are already loving. But that meant a change to ALL of our schedules, as well as a start up of their summer sports and activities. 

My kiddies are active ones! It's something I really purpose for them. I pretty much grew up in a closed up house (city kid), watched too many movies and played video games. I am probably the first of that generation of kids. Don't get me wrong, I definitely was somewhat active back then - tennis, bike-riding, walks by the lake - were all favorites but not truly an integral part of my lifestyle.  About the time I went to college, somewhere, SOMEthing went wrong for me to have gained SOOO much weight, right?

Fitmixer bootcamp - going strong.  I have to stay I am LOVING the workouts.  Okay, not so much when I am actually doing them - like the 3rd rep I am in despise mode - but afterwards - woohoo!  Feels so awesome.  Body has been continuously sore for the past 5 weeks.  LOVE that hurt! To date the LBS are down 6.8!  Its great, but honestly I was hoping for a full 10 at this point and I only have myself to blame.

cauliflower crust pizza. a not so guilty pleasure a la janetha

I am having food issues.  I always do. Period.  But especially when working out consistently.  I just get HUNGRY, or too busy (i.e. lazy?) to keep up with my food planning and logging.  And summer has always been a KILLER for my weight loss.  On the go, lots of cook outs and get togethers, and inconsistent eating schedules are all obstacles for this girl.

On the upside?  Sooo many people commenting about how good I look, so I know that even if the poundage isn't moving, my body IS CHANGING!  Working out the other day I noticed that my legs are looking slimmer, just in time for shorts and skirts season!  Best compliment? My chiropractor mentioned it at my last visit! I see him about once a month and his words when he walked in the room were:  "Now YOU have lost weight! What are you doing?" 

Winning!

Big on my list this week?  Florida Vacation!

I've been excited and nervous about this since starting the bootcamp.  It was on my list of reasons why I shouldn't try to do the bootcamp this summer.  Vacations are hard, but when you have family at the destination that likes to show their love by feeding you and cook EXTREMELY awesome, puerto rican, WILL make you chubby food that you just CAN'T pass up, AND you will be going to theme parks with crazy awful, yummy, so tempting JUNK food.  Ugh- it's a land mine.

And how do we start this trip?  On the ROAD of course!  Looong Wisconsin to Florida drive.  Gas stations, fast food - and you know all about fatigue eating!  

BUT. HOWEVER. NEVERTHELESS. AT ANY RATE.  IN SPITE OF ALL THAT.

Here is what I plan to do to stay on track:

1.  Pack a cooler.My plan is to have healthy fruits, veggies, yogurts, granola on hand for some healthy snacking.
2.  Pack workout clothes!  This is a first for me! I have NEVER planned to workout on a trip. I have never WANTED to!  On days we are not walking endlessly at amusement parks I plan to do my bootcamp workouts. I am so glad that I don't need any equipment to keep up with this one.  I will have my kindle fire along to quickly log in for the daily workouts, and will take along some of the note cards where I would sum up past workouts - just in case. Prepared!
3.  Plan for indulgences.  I know the day we see my family I WILL eat some not so great, but oh so yummy things.  I plan on eating ONE meal of such items, making the best choices I can and eating that one or two things that I can't resist as my treats.  At the parks, I plan on having one treat per park, and sticking to my food plan the rest of the day which would mean that I COULD stay in my calorie range. ( i think I can, I think I can...)
4.  Drink lots of water!  If I can stay hydrated I will avoid food temptations and help my body clear out any of those indulgences.
5.  Rest!  I will strive to get a good night's sleep every night, and take time to actually RELAX by the pool!
6.  Be kind to myself!  I will not compare myself to bikini clad women.  I will not focus on the weight I need to lose, but what I have lost.  I will forgive myself if I do not adhere to any of the above, and just try to be better the next meal and the next day.
7.  Focus on doing stuff!  Sometimes vacations can just be an excuse to overindulge.  My life has changed! I am a different person, and this vacation is going to be a reflection of the active and healthy person I have become.  I am looking forward to being on the move with my active family!

So what do you all do to stay fit and healthy on your vacations?