Week #2 = Accomplished...barely...

Week #2 is supposed to be the harder one to push through. Getting past week two separates the tough from the weak, or at least the weak from the weak-but-determined-to-get-stronger. A lot of people have setbacks and things that get in their way when it comes to their exercises and healthy eating, but for me and week two, all we had was setbacks. My hubby was gone to Cali and Mexico on a half business/half hunting trip the whole week, so I was left to be "Super Mom". Being a full-time single mom...I just can't imagine having to do that with no end in sight. I give PROPS to all the mommies out there who survive it.
At the end of the first week I was a wee bit discouraged that the scale didn't show me that I had made any improvements, but at the end of this week I FINALLY broke out of the 140's! I dropped 3-4 pounds to 138! I could've kissed the scale this morning when it told me the good news, except of course that would've been gross - People's bare feet have been on that thing!

Broke through my plateau weight!

Setback #1: I have been doing P90X, and the videos are an hour long on average - longer if it's an Ab Ripper X day. An hour to a baby is FOREVER and they get so bored! And when my girl gets bored, she lets me know, LOUD. I run back and forth, pressing the pause button, turning her over, giving her different toys, scooting her away from the foot of the table that she will most likely roll into and hurt herself...It's like double time mommy duty!
My Solution: I am seriously considering switching my exercise program from P90X to Turbo Fire. I read a bunch of reviews comparing the two Beachbody programs and from what I can tell, Turbo Fire workouts are short and are "high impact", so I'm hoping it will kick my butt in a much shorter amount of time. As much as I have loved P90X these past few years, it is more for "muscle-ing up" and my goal for the moment is to lose this baby weight! So I am opting for a new workout to get more cardio!

Not giving up on the challenge, just changing the game!

Setback #2: My normally sleeping-through-the-night baby decided to transform into a scoot-around-in-her-crib-and-wake-up-every-hour baby this week! SO NOT IDEAL. I felt groggy all week! Even though I always made time for my workouts, I just never felt like I was keeping up or doing my best. Sleep is so important for the body to work correctly!
My Solution: Tough it out until my hubby comes home! Because that was really my only option. I took naps when she would sleep during the day, but the chores piled up while I was sleeping and I gave up on napping so that I could have clean clothes and uncluttered floors to exercise on.

Setback #3: While the men are away, the women will...shop. My mother-in-law wanted us to be on the go all week while the boys were on the mainland, so I had a very hard time keeping up with my eating schedule. (It's not easy to pack for a trip with a baby AND pack snacks for yourself all on someone else's timeline.) Also when you are out shopping and trying to eat healthier, sometimes you have no options for lunch other than things that are miles away from your "approved foods"!
My Solution: I have got to learn to stand up for myself! As important as shopping is to my mother-in-law, I really should have handed her the baby and told her to wait while I made sure that I had my snacks and waters in the car. Too many times this week I ended up feeling the grumpiness creeping up inside my stomach when it was time to eat and wasn't able to do anything about it. This challenge is important to me and I need to make it (and myself) a higher priority!

Toting the baby around while out on the town!

This week I needed some pick-me-ups, so I browsed around and found motivating sayings, funny quotes and just plain random pictures to keep my spirits high while my poor body was lagging behind.

Yup. Motivational enough for me!

When I happened to be on schedule with my eating I was a very happy camper. I am a SALAD LOVER, so it is easy to eat my greens everyday and not feel like I have cut anything out of my diet. The trouble with people who don't love salad is that THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO! Salad does not have to be plain and boring! My momma taught me to liven up my salads. :) I add meat, other veggies, nuts or seeds (for crunch), dried cranberries (No Sugar Added!), and much more. I also only use homemade salad dressing so I am never in the dark about what is going into my body! If you are choosing to eat healthier, there are ways to spice it up! ;)

One of my less extravagant salads from this week.

A little off the regular health and exercise mumbo-jumbo for a minute here. In my research for ways to get a healthier, thinner, more fit, happier-in-my-own-skin version of me, I have discovered a new passion. If I remember to lather up everyday, I feel like I have accomplished so much by doing so little! I always do my exercises and I work hard at eating correctly and often, and now I am giving myself something else to make me feel like I am making progress in other departments. LOTION! I may still be young, but everyone's skin needs some help. My skin has been through the ringer this past year while I've gone from a size 2 to a 12 and now moving back down again. So I am going to be working on giving my poor skin some help on its way to healing and tightening back up. I am a mom, and lotion is my friend.

I am also using a c-section scar cream for obvious reasons, and at the end of this 12 weeks challenge I guess we'll see the results!

This week felt like it was never going to end, and I know that it probably felt that way for a few of the other ladies in my challenge group too. All week I had to keep reminding myself WHY I am doing this and how IT IS ALL GOING TO BE WORTH IT. When you find things you want to work toward, write them down or take a picture of it! Those reminders will help you to keep going when the days or weeks seem to get the better of you. I know it WILL all be worth it and I am going to keep finding new ways to motivate myself and push through this 12 week challenge to the end!

'Nuff said.