Adventures In Personal Training

If you read the blog regularly, you know I have been working for nearly a year on my goal of shedding some pounds.  After Andrew and I got married two and a half years ago, the pounds started adding up.  I blame a great deal of factors for the weight gain;  Lack of regular workouts, a summer of no sleep on weekends and late night McDonald's runs after finishing working a wedding, a stressful job, and my own lack of concern. 

For several months last summer, I made the conscious effort to get to the gym at least three times per week.  In the past, that worked for me.  When I was 18, I worked out at Curves and dropped a significant amount of weight.  Slowly, the weight crept back on.  Before the wedding in 2011, I was attending Zumba classes at work once per week as well as a sculpting class.  In addition to those two forty minute classes each week, I was also working out in the gym at our apartment for thirty minutes once or twice each week.  The pounds came off and I was a happy camper.  I wouldn't say at any point we really started to "diet".  At some point, we began watching our sodium out of concern for Andrew's family history of heart conditions. 

After several months of working out and not seeing any results, I was frustrated and out of answers. At some point last June or July, I went to the doctor to have my thyroid tested; I was convinced that was what was preventing me from shedding the pounds.  My thyroid tested fine. My next attempt to drop the pounds that were continuing to creep on was to cut back on my carbs.  I cut out all our pasta, as much bread as possible, and anything with high sugar counts.  The hardest part of cutting carbs for me was to cut out my afternoon mocha.  I switched to black coffee with a little half and half.    Even with those the changes, the scale barely budged.  Late last year, I went back to my doctor for answers.  The answer I got was to see a dietitian.  I mulled that over for a few weeks and wasn't satisfied with that answer.

I have never had a total crap diet.  I don't go to McDonald's ever, except when they have shamrock shakes.  We cook and eat at home for the most part, I don't drink a ton of soda, I don't have junk food sitting around in the house.  I have always snacked on carrots and fruit.  I try to make fruits and veggies a regular part of my daily diet.  I will admit that I have a sweet tooth.  I love cookies, cake, and ice cream.  I am not willing to give up everything that tastes good.  After a while, I pushed all my issues with weight off on my stress level and decided there wasn't much else I could do about it.

I think I mentioned previously I had to find a new gym since leaving Principal.  Last week, I joined a local gym less than five minutes from our house.  As part of joining I had a couple free sessions with a personal trainer.  While working with my trainer last Friday, I realized it was time to make a total lifestyle change.  I signed up for 12 weeks of personal training; I am beyond thrilled!  We will work on strength and nutrition.  I will work with my trainer twice per week and hit the gym for cardio on my off days.  I feel like I am too young to be this out of shape and not happy with where my body is at.  I have taken responsibility for where I am at, how I got here, and how I am going to get where I want to be.  I will keep you all posted on my journey! 

Spring Cleaning

Since today is the first day of spring, I thought it was only appropriate to do a little bit of spring cleaning.  I am absolutely loving my new Dyson vacuum.  I think I have vacuumed more since I got the new vacuum than I did in the seven months we lived in this house before getting the vacuum.  That might be a little bit far from the truth, but I absolutely love using this vacuum!  I feel like the carpets are getting so much cleaner with it. 

So, the house got a good vacuum!  It always blows my mind how much hair it sucks up from the dogs.  I kind of wish I could vacuum down the dogs.... no matter how many times I brush them, I find white hair everywhere.  But, we wouldn't trade them for the world. 

The other thing I worked on tonight was cleaning out our bedroom.  With Andrew and I both being on the go lately, our bedroom has been a bit of a dumping ground.  There were suitcases everywhere and piles of laundry.  Everything has been picked up now, and I feel like it is a brand new room.  I felt like I had stacks of clothes all over the place and realized that we have two drawers in our bed for storage that weren't being used.  I put them to use, and man are they good storage!  I don't know about you guys, but there is something so satisfying about having an organized bedroom.  It is a huge stress reliever for me!   

The other thing I worked on while cleaning out our room was getting rid of some more clothes that I didn't wear this winter season.  If I go through a season and don't wear something, it gets put in the donate pile. 

My other spring "project" I finished this week, was signing up for a new gym.  When I worked at Principal, I worked out in the gym in my building.  Since I didn't have access to that gym any more, I needed to find a new one.  I lucked out that there is a gym less than five minutes from our house.  I have officially signed up and went to my first workout there today.  I'm excited to go to my first of two free sessions with a personal trainer tomorrow.  I hope to get some ideas to get past my current plateau. 

I hope the next spring cleaning project at this house involved cleaning up the yard and getting ready for landscaping projects.  If the weather would cooperate, I would be a happy camper. 

What is your spring cleaning routine?  Are you doing anything new and exciting this spring?  

Spring Is In The Air!

It is finally starting to feel like spring around here.  I am so sick of winter.  I know I'm not the only one in the house who has spring fever.  Andrew and I are ready to get out in the yard and start digging.  We have lots of plans for this year!

I'm glad to say I'm finally home from several weeks of being on the go for training for the new job.  I have spent a total of two weeks in Minneapolis for training and one week back home working with a co-worker.  I am really enjoying my new work and my new company.  It seems the last month, Andrew and I have been on the road on opposite weeks.  I will be glad to be in the same town for more than a few days. 

There are tons of things I look forward to in the spring!  I'm bummed this year because we only planted a few bulbs last fall.  We didn't have a ton of space to plant this year, but I hope to get more bulbs planted this coming fall.  If the bulbs come up that we did plant, we should have a few tulips and some iris to enjoy this spring.  I'm really looking forward to the lilac bushes blooming in the back yard.

My grandma always said not to plant flower pots until Mother's Day, so I will have to wait another month and a half before planting my flower points.  I'm thinking of painting a few of them this year to spruce things up a bit.

Until things starting peeking up out of the ground, I will have to look back at the bulbs I got to enjoy last spring in our old house!

Another New Toy!

Last weekend, while cleaning the house in preparation to be gone for training, our vacuum cleaner took a crapper.  Yes, it was something totally fixable, but not something I was willing to fix.  The belt on the vacuum broke; something that would cost probably $10 to fix by the time I ordered the part and had it shipped.  However, I had drawn my line in the sand with that vacuum.  We bought it when we first moved in together in the spring of 2010.  So, in vacuum age, I feel like four years really is not all that old.  Honestly, had we bought the belt and replaced it, we could have had several more years out of that thing.  But, I was done.  As the vacuum sat dead on the floor last Sunday, I decided it was time to cave and get what I had been drooling over since we got the dogs; a Dyson!  My hope is that it would like up to the hype and have some real suction to it to pick up the dog hair collecting in the house.  

I have had my eye on the Dyson vacuums for the past couple of years.  I came pretty close to getting one this past Black Friday, but didn't cave to the temptation.  I watched the prices get cut over the past couple on months as they prepared to launch the new lines.  When ours melted a belt last weekend and left the house smelling like burning rubber, I knew it was my chance.  I think Andrew agreed because he was sick of hearing me talk about it.  I read the exclusions on the 20% off Bed Bath & Beyond coupon very carefully, and it didn't mention anything about excluding Dyson's.  With coupon in hand, I went off to BBB to get my new vacuum. 

The assembly was quick on this vacuum, and I was soon off and running.  I was AMAZED at the sucking power of it.  I think there was probably dog hair sucked out of the carpet that had been there since we moved in.  The vacuum was also light as a feather to move around.  I am in love with this vacuum.  Obviously, I will want to determine the long term use on this vacuum to see if it was really worth the money and the hype, but so far I am satisfied with my purchase. 


We purchased the Dyson DC50 Animal Compact Ball Upright Vacuum.