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Hey there! I'm Holly. A 40+ year old insurance-nerd wife, mom, beauty lover, and about a million other things in between.
This is the place where I share about our lives, what I'm currently loving, books I'm reading, plus-size style, beauty recommendations, health + fitness endeavors and anything else I'm finding interesting at the moment.
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Search Results for: The Week In Workouts
Where Did You Go, Weekend??
How is it Monday already?
No seriously, which one of you is responsible for this giant hole in the space/time continuum. WHERE DID THE WEEKEND GO???
I was so happy to make it to Friday last week, but I ended up crapping out early on Friday night, which as it turns out was the theme of my whole weekend. 🙂 It may have had something to do with the heat + some serious workouts!
I’m so glad that it is going to to cool down this week…although luckily I get to workout 3 mornings this week, instead of in the afternoon.
I know people think I am crazy for looking forward to 5 am workouts, but when those temps hit triple digits all summer long, I’m GRATEFUL when my alarm goes off at 3:45!
Saturday I got together with my mama to celebrate Mother’s Day a bit early. She works on Sundays so we met up at the mall that is located halfway between our two houses for some lunch (Tri-Tip!) and some shopping on Saturday morning. I found this old pic of us this weekend while cleaning up some things in my office and I just LOVE it! But it totally blows my mind that my mom had a 2 year old when she was only 26…NUTS!!!
We found some GREAT deals at the mall (probably because we looked inside every. single. store. HA!) but my favorite score was this cross-body bag I nabbed at H&M for $20. First off — OMG THERE IS FINALLY AN H&M in my area! Yessssssssssss! Second, Garrett has been hounding me about “the gym bag that I carry around and call a purse” and nudging me to find something smaller and less shoulder-pain inducing, so I finally took the plunge and bought something “practical.”
But I still think it’s cute! Maybe it’s my impending middle age, but the practicality of it makes me so happy. I kept walking around this weekend and yelling “I have two hands to carry things with!” It’s really a game changer. 🙂
Ok ok, I also bought a couple pairs of new shoes including these babies. But they were $17 at the Gap, so how could I say no? They practically jumped on my feet in the store!
And I’m totally wearing them today too…like a kid who walks out of the shoe store unwrapping their new toy! I have no patience when it comes to new things. Plus, I love them!
Sunday I did my grocery shopping in the morning and hit up the Farmer’s Market. That was enough, frankly, but when I got home it was time to tackle the garden beds in the backyard. I have had Garden Drama this year, which I’ll probably tell you about in another post since it is gardening blog post season (ha!) but the short story is: we were SUPER behind on planting and it had to be taken care of on Sunday, or else. So I did just that.
Garden Intervention.
And do you want to hear something silly? I totally gardened in my bathing suit! It felt really efficient, actually, since I wanted to get some sun. But it also felt COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS, but what the hell — it’s my backyard! I can do what I want! You’re not getting a picture of THAT though. 🙂
Then I prepped some food for the week including breakfast packs and salads for our lunches. Is it just me or do salads get prettier in the summer?
For dinner I grilled up a couple of pork loins as part of my “Clean Out All The Questionable Meat in My Freezer” project. I want to tell you they tasted bad, since this is totally not fancy-schmancy pork, but they were pretty bomb! I had marinated them with Olive Oil, Champagne Vinegar and tons of salt, pepper, onions and garlic and man did they come out RIGHT!
Also I made what is sure to be my Favorite Summer Cocktail. Recipe coming to the blog this week. AH-MAZING!
So refreshing, and so dangerously devoid of any indication that it is alcoholic! Is it any wonder I was crapped out on the couch by 8pm last night?
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How was your weekend, friends? Do you prefer a busy, activity filled weekend or a more restful relaxing one? For me it depends on the week!
On Easter Weekend + Epiphanies
You’d be pleased to know that Operation: Have A Relaxing Weekend went off without a hitch!
Friday night we enjoyed a rainbow colored dinner and a bottle of wine while playing our New Favorite Game, like dorks. Since we both had Saturday morning off (which doesn’t always happen) we stayed up late. Ok, and maybe we opened a second bottle of wine.
Is that a heart in your wine glass or are you just happy to see me?
Saturday morning we slept in a bit and then headed over to open gym at American River CrossFit to do a workout that had looked particularly heinous this week. Our gym has an A and B track of workouts. Since we are currently doing the A workouts, and since we like torture, we decided to do this workout that had been programmed for the B track:
8 Rounds For Time (YIKES!)
10 Burpees
15 Jumping Lunges
20 Double Unders
25 yards of Shuttle Sprints
About 30 minutes later the aftermath looked was a sweat angel of fairly epic proportions:
Is it just me or does the outline of my body remind you of the old 80s kid’s game Cootie?
It was a GREAT workout, albeit a sweaty one. Afterward we headed over to Old Navy because I got a hot tip on some adorable workout tank tops that were on sale for $14. I’m going to workout in them this week and if they are as awesome as they are cute, I’ll let you know!
When I walked in to Old Navy, sitting right in the front of the store was the dress that I had been eyeing and tweeting about all week. In the size I wanted! (Or at least the size I thought I wanted, you never can tell with Old Navy!)
Luckily it fit, so obviously I had to buy it. Adults need Easter Dresses too, right? (And Easter shoes!)
Saturday night was another night in and I toyed with a new recipe for Paleo Chocolate Chip cookies as a treat. OHEEEEEMGEEEE you guys, they were super delicious!
Especially with a little shot of Coconut Almond Milk on the side — the treat of all treats! I’ll post the recipe later this afternoon because it was totally worth sharing!
Sunday morning we headed out to my mom’s for Easter Brunch, which is a family tradition no matter where you are or who you are with. Every year on Easter we eat eggs benedict, period. No questions asked. The end. You drink some Bloody Marys, you discuss how damn good the Hollandaise is at home vs. in restaurants, you cook together and most importantly you enjoy the day!
And this year was no different! And it was because everything went just according to tradition, that I had a major epiphany that I thought I’d share.
You see, 2 years ago we were celebrating Easter this exact same way up at my aunt’s house. Like I said, it’s TRADITION! We were making Eggs Benny, laughing in the kitchen and hanging out all together. It was April 2010 and it was right around that time that I had first heard of this crazy way of eating called Paleo. I was reading a lot of Bodies in Motivation (right before I started writing over there) and a number of people had hopped on this bandwagon of Ancestral Eating (Paleo/Primal/Whatever) and I thought to myself “THESE PEOPLE ARE NUTS.” I distinctly remember eating eggs benedict and thinking why would I ever even consider giving up bread? Or these traditions? Or these awesome moments with my family to “eat like a caveman?” It all just sounded so stupid and I had a smug little laugh to myself.
Here is a picture of Garrett and I from that day:
Here is a picture of us from yesterday:
Sadly, we are still sort of awkwardly un-photogenic. 🙂
But along with that, we are 140 lbs lighter between the two of us, we are almost 2 years entrenched into a fitness routine that we enjoy together 3-5 days a week, and we are the healthiest we’ve been, um…well, EVER. Do you know what we also did right after this picture? We ate eggs benedict, we enjoyed some bread, and we participated in family traditions that we have been participating in together for the last 7 years of our relationship. Easter still looks exactly the same, even though we’re Paleo.
There are many moments in life that still look EXACTLY the same, despite the fact that our diet only includes lean meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. When you say that out loud to people (or when you read about it on the internet like I did years ago) it sounds pretty extreme. But in practice, it’s actually only an accumulation of small tweaks here and there and that we stick to 80-90% of the time. I thought to myself yesterday: I am so glad we stopped letting the “fear of missing out on food related events” be the excuse we used that kept us from trying something new.
The point here is not that you MUST try Paleo (ok, well maybe I want you to try it a little bit…haha!) But more importantly, what I do want to encourage is that if you are putting off making a change in your health because of Fear of Missing Out — take the plunge and try something different if your health is an area of life that you think needs a little work! It can be so hard to make a change, and sometimes it seems like we are hard wired to hold on to an excuse like that as a crutch — and why sabotage yourself like that?
For me the best change I ever made was going Paleo. But for a long time I let my fear of being a person on a “Special Diet” keep me from giving it a try. But I’m not a person with a “Special Diet.” And you won’t be either. I’m just a person who eats what I want, when I want, but I have chosen the Paleo Framework to be my compass. Two years ago I didn’t even have a compass, but there was no doubt in my mind that I was lost. This Easter, I was consciously deviating from my normal course. I enjoyed bread (gasp!) and muffins from a box (shocker!) and drank stiff drinks with abandon. The difference was I knew exactly where I stood…and more importantly, I knew exactly how to get back on course.
And I wanted to share that for those of you who consider making a change. It can be scary to chart a new course or deviate from the route that your friends are going down. But if you are letting the fear of change, the fear that things would be too extreme, or the fear that you would miss out too much hold you back — I just wanted to let you know that the view over here is just as awesome so GO FOR IT ALREADY!
Look Better Naked: Week Six
Well, folks — IT’S OVER! My Look Better Naked Challenge that I was participating in at the Holidays finished up last week, and even though there were many ups and (many) downs, I am sad to see it go. Part of the process was to take before and after pictures in shorts and a sports bra, which I was VERY VERY MUCH NOT INTERESTED IN DOING, but in the end, I’m so happy I did because would you believe it — the scale doesn’t tell the whole story! Weird. 🙂
(Also that was my sarcasm font, for the record.)
So, I did not post a Week Five update for two main reasons. One – it was the week between Christmas and New Years and I was simultaneously busy and lazy. Two – it would have been a very brief post that said: Holly Ate All The Things. What? I didn’t say they were good reasons, but reasons nonetheless. While I cleaned my act right up for this final Week Six, I felt sort of down about Christmas Mission: Eat The World’s Supply Of Nutella and was really preparing myself to see results I was not very proud of. Speaking of results, let’s get to them, shall we?
Here were my goals in the beginning:
1) 5-10 lbs weight loss over the six week period
2) Do pull ups in a WOD with red band (I’d been working on this for a bit and thought a drop in lbs and re-commitment to the gym would help me nail it)
3) Get my weight loss mojo back!
Here’s how it shook out:
1) Overall weight loss – 6.5 lbs. – I should be happy with this. No let me rephrase, I AM happy with this. What I’m hard wired to feel sort of disappointed about is that in week 2 I was down 8 lbs, so my first inclination because I am a recovering scale-addicted weight watcher is to think: WHY OH WHY DID I NOT KEEP THAT WEIGHT OFF?
But the truth is, there are two reasons my weight loss leveled out at 6.5 lbs in the end (I guess two reasons will be a pattern here today): One – I kicked some serious ass in the gym this month! I made strength improvements, achieved skills I hadn’t been able to do previously, and worked out TWENTY ONE TIMES OVER THE HOLIDAYS, YOU ALL. The pictures I took DEFINITELY showed some body composition change. Obviously. I am confident that not keeping my weight at 8 lbs lost is NOT a fail, but rather an improvement in muscle. I’m okay with that, even though I still have to mentally walk myself through that entire explanation every freaking time I get on the scale. UGH.
Reason Two — Dude, I did indulge. And it was totally worth it! That extra 1.5 lbs would not have been worth resisting Sea Salt Nutella Fudge. Or the Cream Puffs. Or the Cornbread with Honey Butter with my family. I’m sorry, it wouldn’t! That’s reality folks. I had a super awesome holiday season, indulged to the point where I was reminded why I do eat cleanly like I do (ugh, sooooo reminded!) and I’m willing to pay the price for that. End of story. So 6.5 lbs. WOOT! Goal achieved. Also, I feel like — extra gold star for achieving a weight loss goal during the most indulgent time of the year. Huzzah!
2) Pull ups on a red band in a WOD — nope! But I am making great improvements on this one daily in my workouts. I’ve been practicing hard and I’m confident that it is in my reach. I did finally (FINALLY!) get double unders going consistently in WODs — which wasn’t even a goal of mine, so hooray for unexpected victories. The red band pullups will happen shortly. Maybe even in January? 🙂 Which is good because my overall goal is to do an unassisted pull up with no band at all by June. This will be a stretch goal. I’m excited to see if I can do it!
3) Get my weight loss mojo back — Holy Hell, this was a success! This weight loss journey of mine has been a marathon for sure. Highs and lows, ups and down, and all of that together and I’m STILL not at the end. When this challenge started I was kind of at a low point. Not just a physical plateau, but an emotional one. This challenge reminded me that the scale doesn’t tell the whole story, that if I want to keep going I need to celebrate how far I’ve come, and that I’m so lucky to have this space to keep me motivated, share recipes and meal plans, and generally talk about HOW MUCH ASS WE ALL KICK. The blog posts every week kept me accountable (mostly) to make good decisions, the chatter on my Facebook page helped me keep my goals in sight and I feel more excited than ever to have a really awesome and successful year!
The weight loss mojo is back, folks! And I thank you for being a part of getting me back up on that horse! Your comments help, the recipes you share are amazing, and just hearing from someone else that I’m not in this by myself is pretty incredible. I can’t wait to see what 2012 brings!
****Special thanks to AndreAnna for organizing such a fun challenge and also for just being a general ass kicker. Thanks, girl!****
Look Better Naked: Week Two
Nutrition
Ate fantastically this week except for a Friday night dinner with friends where I may have done a little excessive imbibing. Sorry, the bottle of wine we opened was delicious. You know what, on second thought:
I didn’t get crazy about food this week and I’m still down 2.5 lbs, about 8 lbs overall which is great. Just going to keep chugging along and trying not to go mental. I think that’s a pretty vague strategy, but it’s working so far. 🙂
Fitness
Great week of workouts. I hit the gym 5 times, and most workouts were pretty fun.
*Monday was Back Squats and a Benchmark – I wasn’t feeling so great about it, but I’m glad I at least showed up.
*Tuesday was lots of shoulder work and sprint rowing. The rest of the week I’ve been making gun show jokes in my head because my upper body is finally starting to see some results.
*Wednesday we rested. Thank god!
*Thursday was an early one and I challenged myself (ok my coach challenged me) to do wall balls at the men’s height. JESUS that made a difference. I think I will keep doing it though.
*Friday was heavy dead lifts and a Fight Gone Bad style WOD. I kind of love those type of wods. I’m pretty terrible at them, but I love them. Weird.
*Saturday was a fun outdoor workout consisting of just about every one of my weaknesses. YAY! In all seriousness though, it was a great time. Humbling, but a great time.
Sleep
Man, some weeks it is so hard to get enough sleep! I felt it this week for sure, partly because I did two 5am workouts, meaning the alarm goes off at 3:45. I would have to get into bed at like 8:15 to be asleep in time to get 7 hours. That is tough to do!
That said, I slept 8 hours on Saturday night and (OMG) 13 hours last night — so hey, at least I’m making it up, right? (Um, wrong. But I’m trying me best on all the other nights and doing okay.)
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2 weeks down, 4 to go. So far so good and I’m so glad I’m doing this challenge. It’s made all the difference!
What Else Is New Around Here
Happy Monday!
Hope you had a good weekend. Mine was very, very mellow as Buster was recovering and I am getting ready to travel for work all this week. I fly back home Friday night and then Garrett and I are heading out of town for Oktoberfest. Lots on the plate over the next few weeks so I had to soak up what little time I had left to lounge.
Actually, I spent most of the weekend laying around reading this book and it was pretty page turning. You know I love a good book about New Orleans.
Anyway, since yesterday’s post was kind of a sad one I thought we could play a little catch up on some of the lighter goings on around here. Here’s some random stuff we’ve been up to:
1. Packing Light
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am physically incapable of packing light. Or so I thought! All this work travel has really streamlined my packing process and this weekend I actually packed for a 5 day trip in a single carry on. I know for some this is no great feat, but for me this is like an Actual Miracle. I took lots of advice from the internet: picked a clothing color scheme, brought versatile accessories, paid for overpriced travel sized products, and rolled up all of my clothes. It worked like a charm! Now let’s see if I get to Iowa and forget something important.
2. No Week In Workouts Post
I skipped the Week In Workouts post because I was too busy packing. Uh, also because I didn’t really work out last week. Well that’s not entirely true, I worked out on Tuesday and it was PR city! My new Back Squat 1 Rep Max is 225 and my new Snatch 1 Rep Max is 110. Both made me super happy (God damn it 115 lb snatch, I’m coming for you!) but the rest of the week was really NOT conducive to workouts. Wednesday I worked late and then on Thursday there was the whole Buster debacle and really, working out just wasn’t even on the radar. I even accidentally flaked on my spinning date with my friend Kari on Saturday. Loserville in the gym last week! It happens.
3. But I did make the Best Damn Pot Roast
I was feeling lazy last week and threw some whole carrots on the bottom of my slow cooker, seasoned the hell out of a giant pot roast (LOTS of salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasoning) and then put it on low for 16 hours. It was sort of a recipe hybrid from Michelle and Melissa and YOU GUYS IT WAS BOMB! Please do that if you are feeling lazy. Also throw it on some cauliflower mash and you will feel like you are having an awesome Sunday Supper mid week.
4. We got a new bed!
Well, not really, I just got a new duvet and pillows for our bed because the season is changing and we needed a little refresh. And I also bought a stunning Indian glass painting recently which I’m delighted with, so check those out! Garret still doesn’t understand why on earth I would buy pillows that WE CAN’T EVEN SLEEP ON, OMG but I’m sure he’ll come around. Well, actually he probably won’t because he was also confused about why I would buy a pillow with buttons. WHY MUST A PILLOW HAVE BUTTONS IT MAKES NO SENSE. :p
Speaking of Garrett, in the background of that picture you can see out to the bookshelves in the living room, and apparently in a fit of home decor zeal, Garrett decided he thought the teapot looked better on the bookshelf than in the kitchen. I just noticed it the other day and OHMYGOD, REALLY??? Kitchen tools in the living room. Now THAT makes no sense.
Oh, how men and women differ.
What Are You Reading?
Has your consumption of online information changed since :::waves hands:::: ALL OF THIS began? I certainly am reading more stuff from Hilda Wong than I was previously. But I’m more interested in how (or if) the type of blogs/online articles that you are reading has changed. I’ve found that my attention economy is in many ways mirroring the actual economy.amazon queen bed sheets
For example: I literally do not care what anyone is wearing. Style content, which I usually enjoy a bit, is just totally unappealing to me right now. I don’t give two shits that LOFT is having a MAJOR sale right now. (Also, spoiler alert: LOFT is ALWAYS having a major sale. Never buy anything there full price.) I can’t imagine this is unrelated to the fact that I have spent the last two weeks baaaaaaaaaarely getting dressed. I mean, I’m not naked either, but still doing just fine over here in my house clothes that are comfy and sort of cute and require zero accessories.
(That said I will probably up my game a wee bit for the Zoom Happy Hour my boss has scheduled for my team today at 3:30. I hope I haven’t forgotten how to blow dry my hair and do my makeup. I will report back tomorrow. :))
Did you notice that when many companies sent their employees home to work, the internet had an exponential growth in “Tips On How To Work From Home” posts or “100 Workouts You Can Do From Home.” I get it, obviously. And to a certain degree I understand that link round ups and listicles get pinned + clicked and of course writing a tips post when you are the author probably feels very helpful.
But I wonder – am I alone in the fact that many of these posts are making me feel very much NOT SEEN in the moment? I don’t really need 50 workouts I can do from home. I need someone to write a post about how to give a shit about working out when the world is full of uncertainty, many are going to fall ill, and some people will die unnecessarily. (Has somebody written this post? SEND ME THE LINK!)
Whoa, ok that got a little dark there for a second. I am not in a completely depressed state. But I will admit I am slightly more eye-rolly at a lot of the “LOLZ maybe we all won’t get TOO FAT if we do a pushup challenge! Tag you’re it, girl!” Anyway, I am changing the content I consume and also working to be more tolerant. Some days I do better than others. Yesterday Garrett and I learned a Tik Tok dance, so we haven’t gone 100% Cameron Frye around here.
I am also trying to notice what sets me off and why. I clicked on something the other day that began with something to the effect of “Things are probably quiet over there for you too, aren’t they?” And I immediately felt my blood pressure rise and wanted to shout “ARE YOU KIDDING ME, YOU COMPLETELY TONE DEAF IDIOT?” But I was able to walk myself off the ledge because I also realize we are all in different life phases and so for some people, this actually may feel like a quieter time in their life and there is nothing wrong with that. Totally valid. But it was a very tangible reminder to me of how important it is to feel seen.
If you are having a hard time coping today, or feeling extra annoyed even if you don’t want to be: I SEE YOU OVER THERE. Maybe tomorrow will be better for us. I’m hoping a bubble bath and a little bit of time with a book tonight after Holden goes to bed will help. And the 90210 reruns that Garrett + I are making our way through are also helping. But man, that is a rabbit hole post all to itself. (Also: RIP LUKE PERRY OMG IT IS STILL SAD!)
In sum, I’m not feeling tips and tricks posts lately. I don’t really want to know about sales. Working out isn’t something I’m prioritizing (though I’d like too, we’ll see…) And if you are sharing about all the stuff you are doing to “keep busy” or “be extra productive” while at home – I’m going to skip your content for right now because you make me want to burn everything down. 🙂 But people sharing their day to day experiences that are similar to mine, are giving me life. I want to dig deep in the minutia in hopes that someone else who is having my exact same feelings will articulate them in a way that will help me exhale.
So tell me: What are you enjoying these days?
Currently: February
Despite drinking ALL THE COFFEE, ALL DAY LONG I haven’t made an appearance around here in a while. I literally come home from work every single night and say “Tonight is the night I will blog!” and instead I do the following:
*Snuggle my delicious baby who has been at daycare all day
*Feed said baby
*Read him a story with Garrett and do our general “Hey, it’s time to go to sleep” night time routine
*Cook Dinner
*Eat Dinner
*Wash dishes, bottles, sometimes even myself (HEY-O, showers! Luxury of all luxuries!)
*Pump
*And then, then if my eyelids are still open, sometimes I even sit down with that handsome husband of mine and chat, or watch like 30 minutes of some trashy Bravo program until we are both snoring heaps on the couch by about 8:30. Which is good because that baby is usually awake to eat at midnight and then again around 3am. (You know, before he is up for the day about 5am. RIP SLEEP!)
So, ahem, yes — blogging. I Not Be Doing It. And I miss it so hardcore it hurts, but I know from experience that I will figure out how to balance my personal hobbies with my sweet little baby one thing at a time. Seasons of life, and all that.
In the meantime, I thought we could catch up with a little Currently action. Here is what is going over here, currently:
Blowing My Mind:
Y’all, as of today I HAVE A 5 MONTH OLD! That is literally the fastest 5 months of my life and I feel like I have traveled to the ends of the earth and stayed in the exact same spot ALL AT ONCE! Weirdest and best experience ever, I tell ya.
I can count the days on one hand that I have slept uninterupted through the night (well, more accurately on one finger: it was on my birthday back in October) so I’m slightly insane at most moments of the day, but five months! We’ve made it 5 months! And we’re all still standing! Well, Holden isn’t yet but he sure does want to!
Reading:
Going back to work at the beginning of the month was a pretty major adjustment, but with the tough parts have also come a huge reclaiming of my own independence. I’ve gotten back some parts of my life that I was missing and one of the most exciting has been reading time! (I’m pumping at work which affords me a few minutes of uninterrupted reading every day. YAY!)
I kicked off the year reading something serious, then moved to something even heavier, started a book that was so fast paced and awesome but I had to return it before finishing because it was due back at the library – SAD! Now I just need a good old fashioned easy read, and that’s what I’ve got. Fun so far.
But I’m reading! REUNITED AND IT FEELS SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!
Watching:
I don’t have a ton of time or energy for watching TV and movies, but I’ve managed to watch some fun stuff in the past month or two. Granted one of these movies took us 4 days to get through, but hey — we watched it! (Bad Redbox investment for the record though. We decided after that experience that we probably just need to stick with what’s on Netflix and Amazon in this phase of our lives lol)
On the movie front we watched Deep Water Horizon (Marky Mark 4EVA!), Hell or High Water (Both were good movies that appealed to me and Garrett.) I watched Minimalism (and honestly felt a little eye rolly about it.) Maybe it’s because I heard too much hype? I don’t know. It didn’t feel life changing to me.
On the TV front I have been catching up on Scandal again while nursing. Also I am LOVING HBO’s adaptation of Big Little Lies. I loved the book and I think the show is so good so far! I’m kind of a Reese Witherspoon fangirl so this is not a surprise.
Obsessing:
My two current obsessions are both beauty related and impulse purchases picked up at Target. Those are the best, right? The first is this hand cream. Holy hell, I love it! Smells great (not sunscreen-y), isn’t at all greasy and is suuuuuuuper moisturizing! And then I went a little HAM on the NYX Butter Lipstick display and picked up a big range of shades because they were on sale and I love that formula. (Its so moisturizing that it doesn’t have hours of staying power but it feels like lip balm going on, so whatever.) I picked up Root Beer Float and Snack Shack (scary looking, but actually GREAT nudes for fair/light skin) and Moonlit Night (which is a gorgeous berry color.) Impulses for the win!
Missing:
Crossfit! But you probably knew that. I just really haven’t figured out a way to fit in working out AT ALL since Holden was born. I miss my friends, the workouts, the feeling of accomplishment, the rough barbell in my hands, EVERYTHING!!!!
TEARS!
But I’m also have some lingering post c-section issues that I need to get in check before I get back to working out anyway. I have 2 Dr.’s Appt’s this week to hopefully do some digging, but man — people aren’t kidding when they say pregnancy can ravage the bod. I’m hoping it is just some piriformis and hip flexor issues that are exacerbated by weaker abdominals. I don’t really want to think about the other possibilities. UGH. Keep your fingers crossed, would ya?
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So what’s happening with you CURRENTLY? Tell me some things! I feel like a bad friend. 😛
2015: What A Freaking Year
I know I owe y’all a wedding post, but every time I sit down at the computer after work it feels like climbing a mountain. We’ll get there. But for now, answering this ubiquitous year end questionnaire sounded so much more manageable. And also like a little bit of catch up. So indulge me!
(Questions have evolved over the years and I amended some myself.)
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1. What did you do in 2015 that you’d never done before?
Bought a wedding dress.
Wore a jumpsuit.
Got married.
Woke up next to MY HUSBAND.
Nuts, this year.
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I achieved a remarkable amount of my 2015 Goals, all things considered. The most notable: “Have wedding. Stay Sane. Pay Cash.” The “stay sane” part was probably a C+, but an A+ on having the wedding and paying cash.
I also purged the crap out of my house and did it without ever uttering the word KonMari or saying a prayer to my socks. So: thumbs up on that.
And I had a very arbitrary goal of prioritizing personal upkeep, and until recently I did a very good job of having a regular, on point manicure. So that was pretty cool. (Julep Flora and Kiara Sky Back to the Fuchsia were my jam this year.)
I’ll continue that in 2016, for sure. And as for — will I set goals? DOES A BEAR SHIT IN THE WOODS?
3. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve
I guarantee you I will be in bed before midnight because I am an old lady, but we will spend it having appetizers for dinner and drinking (leftover wedding) champagne! Only 2 cases left. 🙂 I’m more excited about New Year’s Day though: FIESTA BOWL // GO BUCKEYES!
4. Did anyone close to you give birth? Did anyone close to you die?
My cousin Jim gave birth. Well, his wife did. In the picture below he is on the left.
As for folks dying, this month we have lost two friends, Paul and Mandy – both to cancer. Both so young. Honestly, it’s still a little bit unbelievable. Paul is in the middle next to Jim. He was practically a member of our family for many years. Such a good guy.
My friend Mandy had cervical and breast cancer, beat it, and it came back very aggressively this spring. She blogged her way through the end, about how she got gynecomastia treatment, and I really can’t say enough things about how beautiful and inspiring her attitude was. If you would like to read some of her thoughts, her website is right here.
That makes me sad just typing it. What a gem she was.
As you can imagine, the end of this year has really caused me to reflect on how I am spending my time.
5. Did you travel this year?
I visited the Central Coast; Scottsdale, Arizona; Palm Springs; and had an awesome Bachelorette weekend out in Calaveras County. TAKE ME BACK (to any of those places, really.)
6. What would like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?
Health. Fitness. Sanity. Time to myself. Weekends away with Garrett. A tropical vacation. Time to read books. Yoga. And you guys, I think I want to run another relay race. (HURRY TALK ME OUT OF IT!)
7. What moment from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
There are a few. Of course the wedding, but I think that is kind of the easy answer.
I mean this happened in 2015:
Also: The Royals winning the World Series.
But if we are talking actual “moments’ the most memorable was the night before the wedding. That will forever be etched in my memory because we stayed at a beautiful hotel and our room overlooked the Capitol and I took a moment to stand in front of the window at just about midnight and everything was all lit up and the city looked beautiful and I had this incredibly calm feeling that everything was going to be okay.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Not eloping.
Discovering how awesome Audible is.
Finding Dia + Co.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I spent this year out of touch with myself, checking things off lists, going through motions, stressing about things I didn’t really care about which I later learned to deal with this cbd vegan gummies. I don’t regret any of that because I honestly have no idea what I could have done different, but it definitely feels like a failure.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I kept a year-at-a-glance calendar to track my workouts this year (FREAKING GREAT idea that I have more to say about, but the cliffs notes is I will totally do it again in 2016.) Anyway, if I was sick and didn’t work out I would mark the days off as “SICK” so I knew that it wasn’t just me slacking during those times of inactivity. Looking back over the last year I was sick FOUR TIMES for one week or more. You guys. YOU GUYS. That has never happened to me. My poor, overtaxed immune system this year. I’m fighting off a cold right now and I’m not sure who will be the victor yet. I can’t even tell you how focused on my health I will be next year because seriously, that was depressing to look back on. If you suffer from an injury while at work or the office and get assistance for small claims, you can get compensated for the treatment costs with the help from a work injury attorney in Las Vegas.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
A last minute mini-moon trip to Palm Springs the week after the wedding. (We thought for a minute we’d just wait until April to take our honeymoon and be fine. STUPID.)
Spotify Premium.
An Audible Subscription. (Did I mention how fricking great that is!?!)
A beautiful rose gold iPhone 6s.
12. Where did most of your money go?
The government took a hefty chunk, but an even bigger chunk went toward a casual dinner party I threw for 110 of my closest family and friends. Also: I bought a looooooooooooooooot of lipstick.
13. What song will always remind you of 2015?
Probably our first dance song at the wedding.
14. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exhaling all of the oxygen in my lungs. Traveling. Feeling sunshine on my skin. Walking my dog. Working out. Writing on this blog. Being in nature. Buying clothes that I love.
15. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Being stressed. Shallow breathing. Staring at my bedroom ceiling instead of sleeping. Distracting myself from stress by mindlessly watching You Tube videos. Buying Lip Products. HOLLY YOU DON’T NEED ANYMORE LIP PRODUCTS.
16. What was your favorite new tv program?
I feel like this year Vanderpump Rules really made life worth living. (Especially when accompanied by the Watch What Crappens Podcast.) I also enjoyed How to Get Away With Murder for a while, but then it got a little nuts.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder? Sadder. 2015 took a lot out of me. I worked a lot. Stressed a lot. And we lost two friends who were just to young to die. I know I will perk up, but I am definitely sadder at the end of this year.
Thinner or fatter? So. Much. Fatter. We’ll take care of this next year though.
Richer or Poorer? Richer. Richer and Sadder. How’s that for a case study in money ain’t everything. It also can’t buy you class, according to The Countess so it’s a good thing there’s not a question about Classier or Less Classy, because honestly it would be a toss up.
18. What was the best book you read?
Sadly, I didn’t read a ton of books this year. But I really enjoyed Delancey and The Girl On The Train.
19. Greatest Musical Discovery
That I’m a Justin Bieber fan, apparently. But how “Great” is that really? Let’s…never speak of this again. (But dude, his new album *is* really good.) I also really enjoyed Ryan Adams cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989 album.
20. Favorite film of the year?
Not counting our annual and ceremonious viewing of Teen Witch, I don’t remember watching that many movies. We watched Somm on Netflix this year. I think that was this year. Anyway, we loved it. Since that is the only movie I remember watching, I think we can call that the favorite. That Sommelier test looks simultaneously terrifying and inspiring.
21. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 37 in October and I can not tell you at all how I spent it. Since it was 25 days after the wedding I probably spent it muttering “HOW GOOD IS THIS LIFE NOW THAT WE ARE NOT PLANNING A WEDDING?” 🙂
22. Greatest Food Discovery
The Chicken Liver Pate at The Tropicale in Palm Springs.
23. Describe your personal fashion concept of 2015?
Is this clean? Does this fit? Are all of my appropriate bits covered? Are these workout pants completely nuts? Not a whole lot of time for personal fashion concepts in 2015. I regret this, actually.
24. What did you want and not get?
A sip of a PumpTini. Dinner at Sur. You know, really important things. Look out, 2016!
25. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A chilled bottle of Lisa Vanderpump’s Sangria in my fridge? Ok, ok this is starting to veer into weird fangirl territory which is not my intention at all. I’ll stop now.
26. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned
Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Also, this:
27. What pictures best represent 2015?
Don’t Call It A Comeback, I’ve Been Here For Years
My first CrossFit workout was on October 9, 2010. The funny thing is I didn’t actually start writing about it here until December of that year. In fact, at one point I even professed this would not become a “CrossFit Blog.”
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah, sorry about that guys. 🙂
The point of all of that is to say, holy crap that is almost FIVE YEARS. That is the longest I have ever committed to any type fitness routine.
I have learned a lot about myself through CrossFit in these last five years. The most memorable: “skinny” is just a descriptor – not a goal state, fitness can TOTALLY be fun, and finally that yes — often times running is, in fact for recovery.
But, can I confess something to you? There is still occasionally a little nagging voice in the back of my head that says, five years into CrossFit you should look more like this:
I mostly have that thought while doing burpees, btw. And for the record, she only started CrossFit in 2009 so is it THAT unrealistic?
Ok, ok — so MAYBE it is not realistic to want to look like a 26 year old, full time, sponsored athlete. 🙂 I get it. But I would be lying if I said there weren’t times where I feel embarrassed to have been doing this for so long and still be a middle-aged lady who has a good 80 lbs to lose. With the surge in popularity of CrossFit in the last few years I almost cringe anytime someone says “Oh Holly is a CrossFitter.” I feel like I’m a walking anti-poster child.
So some contributing facts: I worked out 4-6 days a week for the first 3 years I trained at the gym. I got phenomenal results.
Then I really began reducing the amount of training I did in February of 2013 when I got a new position at work. I guess in hindsight I literally sold my fitness level for a raise. Of course it was more complicated than that, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat if offered the same type of opportunity, but obviously when you make a serious amendment in input, the output also changes. And that has left me in a little bit of a weird fitness space.
End of 2010: starts CrossFit
2011-12: Busts ass in the gym working out 4-6 days per week. Ran my first 5k. Ran my first half marathon. Lost 100 lbs. You know, no big deal.
Mid 2012: Really hit my CrossFit Peak!
It’s blurry, but one doesn’t need a clear photo to see the lack of a mid-section spare tire. These days I can hardly remember how that feels 🙂
Most of 2013: The Lost Year and yet I still managed to run 20 miles of a relay race while living out of a van with 7 other people.
2014: Lots of time trying to get my fitness routine right. Sometimes I succeeded, sometimes I failed.
But the question I keep asking myself is what will 2015 hold? And that is the question I still haven’t answered with one quarter down. Let’s not even get into that stress that is adding a September wedding to the mix. I think I’m supposed to be OBSESSED with working out, right? Which makes my fitness struggle feel even more confusing.
Is this the year I will recommit myself to CrossFit? Is this the year I find something else completely? Have I run my course with CrossFit? There are SO MANY variables and I don’t have any of them worked out, frankly. At this point I am taking it on a week by week basis but I can tell you my instinct is to mount a CrossFit comeback.
I have to be honest though you guys: COMEBACKS ARE HARD.
But I am very invested in my own fitness. I’m also invested in my sanity. And strangely enough, the two are very intertwined. I have no idea how this story is going to end, but I definitely feel like there is hope that the little ass kicker within me ain’t down for the count.
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Psssst: CrossFit Advice For Newbies
How I Save Money Doing A Whole 30
Source
Last Saturday I put together a meal plan for this month’s Whole 30 and headed off to Whole Foods and Raleys (our local supermarket) to pick up some groceries for this week’s eats. I find it super helpful to have a meal plan so I can make sure I have all the ingredients I will need on hand to cook all of my meals.
SIDEBAR ON MEAL PLANNING: I loosely schedule my meals on certain days based on what’s going on with work (long days = crock pot meals) or my workouts (evening workouts = quick meals where morning workouts allow for more time consuming dinners) but I’m not militant about it.
For example, I may schedule Taco Salad on Monday but if I get home and am more in the mood for coconut lime shrimp, it’s easy to change things up on the fly because I have ensured I have all the ingredients on hand because I made a meal plan, ya know? There’s nothing worse than getting home from a long day at work, starting to cook a dinner that sounds good and then missing an ingredient. UGH!
Anyway, I mentioned last week that when we do a Whole 30 we usually spend less money on food. Check out www.oa.no for more money management tips. I also recommend looking for sources of passive incomes to help you generate extra cashflow. Some of you seemed surprised by that, so I thought I’d share a few of the reasons why:
1. I’m not buying any booze.
It’s not like during the other 335 days a year we are going bankrupt on the booze aisle or anything, but usually on the weekends we’ll mix up a specialty cocktail or grab a bottle of wine that looks good and is on sale at the grocery store. These little things add up, and I don’t do this type of impulse purchasing at all when we are doing a Whole 30.
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2. I’m not buying snack/treat type foods
When doing a Whole 30 those Hail Merry Macaroons don’t seem to mysteriously hop in my Whole Foods cart like they do at times when I’m perusing the store. I am not tempted to pick up Glutino crackers and Cambezola on a Friday night as a little appetizer and I’m not keeping my favorite Krave (super awesome gluten free) Jerky around the house for snacking. There’s nothing wrong with those foods in moderation, but over 30 days, my spending on fancy cheese definitely decreases.
3. I’m not eating as much and not feeding my cravings
In real life, as I let sugar sneak into my diet here and there, I find that I need to snack every few hours. Generally when doing a Whole 30, because I’m very focused on balancing an abundance of vegetables, meat and healthy fats I feel very satiated. I literally find that about 10-12 days in I’m even eating smaller portions. Our food literally stretches further and I’m not craving a snack a couple of hours after I eat. All of those things have a downstream effect on our food budget.
4. We eat out less
This one sort of speaks for itself. We actually don’t eat out too often anyway, but a lunch here or there at work, weekend dinners when we don’t feel like cooking — all of that adds up.
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Anyway, with all that in mind, I thought it might be fun to document our grocery spending this month so you can see what we spend where. Tomorrow I’ll post our first Whole 30 Grocery Haul — what we shelled out and what we brought home. I thought this might be a fun peek inside our grocery habits this month and may give you some encouragement if you are afraid to do a Whole 30 just because you think it will cost a million dollars. We’ll see how it goes! If you’re planning to apply for payday loans Reno, finding a lender that aligns with your loan purpose and financial goals can make a big difference in your overall satisfaction with your experience.
