So Much To Say, So Much to Say

And now you have Dave Matthews stuck in your head. You can thank me later.

Side note #1: speaking of Dave, Katie and I saw him in Des Moines this past summer. We also saw him in 2009 at a -- very fragrant -- outdoor event.

We looked so much younger -- about six years younger -- in 2009!

While I had a blast both times, I don't think I need to see Dave live again.

Side note #2: Katie and I are going to the Mumford & Songs concert in St. Paul in April. I can't wait. I love live music (and Katie) so much.

Okay, so back to -- or to start, actually -- the actual post: despite all of my best intentions, I have not blogged for nearly two weeks. I have so much to tell you about, and I don't even know where to start. It's been a super-busy few weeks (hence the lack of writing), and everything with which I have been busy is totally applicable to this blog. Let's get started, shall we?

First, I have been to the gym every day since December 29th, the day that I re-emerged as a human (from Stomach Flu 2015) and that I returned to Minneapolis from my Chrismukkah vacation in Omaha.

I cannot even tell you how much I love this place. I wrote a lengthy Instagram post about it, but essentially, this place is my second home, my refuge. Time flies when I'm at the gym: my mind is clear, my body is focused, my sweat is on.

I think it also helps that I am most often there with Sunni:

Sunni, too, is addicted to the gym. This doesn't surprise me at all since we're basically the exact same person.

We have been killing our workouts. It is so helpful to have Sunni with me -- and my beautiful sister-in-law Aly with us from afar -- as we bust our butts with Alexa Jean's Sore to the Core 30-Day Ab Challenge.

Here we are after a particularly tough abs workout. Sexyyyyyyyy.

You guys, this ab routine is working wonders. We are now done with two weeks of ab workouts, and I have noticed some major change. I posted on Instagram yesterday that I had a non-scale victory with my skinny jeans not giving me muffin top (woo hoo!), and this morning I woke up feeling extra lean, so I decided to take some photos.

This is TWO WEEKS into a 30-day program (that will likely become an every-week-until-I-get-sick-of-it program for me):

In addition to doing an ab workout four days a week, Sunni and I are doing a lot of lifting and cardio as well.

Here was this week's workout, for instance:

On the days that I didn't run, I still headed upstairs to the treadmills to get some steps in, as I am doing a 10,000 steps challenge with Aly and my sister, Erin. So far, we are 14 days into the challenge, and all three of us have reached our goal every single day. (Admittedly, though, I still have 4,000 steps to go today. There may or may not be a lot of marching in place happening in my apartment tonight. Or, who knows? Maybe I'll head back to the gym for some more treadmill work. I am, after all, still sitting in my sweaty workout clothes -- because I'm a classy lady, you know.)

As you can see by the workout calendar, I have it pretty well divvied up so that we're only working each muscle group once a week. (I am pretty proud of myself, by the way, for figuring out this plan all by myself.)

I am also doing a fairly good job of listening to my body. I was supposed to run 1.5 miles on Wednesday, for instance, but as soon as I got up to the treadmill, I was not feeling it. I did my "long" run on Sunday followed by a really-fast-for-me mile (9:10) on Monday and a heavy leg day on Tuesday. I started off my run on Wednesday at a 6.0 pace and then dropped down to 5.5 and then finally to a walk; I tried to up it again to run, but my body was like, "Heck no," and I ended up walking the rest. I have been killing it with my runs lately, and apparently I just needed a break. So I walked on Wednesday and ran on Thursday. And that was just fine.

Please notice my "extra" workout last Sunday. Yes, friends, I did a pole dancing class. Laurie, one of my besties from work, asked me to go with her. This is the same friend with whom I attended an aerial fitness class a couple of months ago.

The website said that we should wear shorts and heels. I don't ever wear shorts, y'all -- never to work out and very, very rarely in the summer. I don't even know why I had these itty-bitty spandex shorts in my closet, but I did. I put them on with my four-inch heels and my are-you-kidding-me face and immediately snapped a picture to send to Laurie.

Thankfully, my heels stayed in my gym bag for the entire hour-long class. But you guys, that workout was incredible. We went to Dollhouse Pole Dance studio in Northeast and had the toughest -- and most empowering -- workout of our lives. Both Laurie and I were sore for days after the class, and despite our aching muscles and bruised bodies, both of us were raring to go back immediately.

Lucky for us (i.e. my bank account), there's a Groupon available for the studio now.

If you haven't tried pole fitness, I highly recommend it and promise that you won't be disappointed.

In addition to working out like a madwoman, I am on Day Six of my second Whole30. This one is going a bit differently than Round One a couple of years ago.

First, I am not having difficulty at all with the eating plan. I am not craving non-compliant food, and I'm not sick of eggs, meat, etc. I really don't feel like I've had to change much about my nutrition, so that's good. I haven't experienced the carb flu, major fatigue (other than the pure exhaustion from my crazy-busy week), or bloating like many do in the early stages of the challenge.

Second, I have not done a great job of meal planning this go-around. I need to be much better about that this week and will likely spend a chunk of tomorrow figuring that out. I epically screwed up Thursday: I didn't eat breakfast until about 9:00, and then because the day was so busy, I didn't eat "lunch" until around 6:00. As a result, I didn't eat "dinner" and woke up hungry in the middle of the night and slammed a Larabar. That shouldn't happen again, obviously.

I have had some delicious meals:

Uova in Purgatorio -- Nom Nom Paleo

Thai Chicken Curry -- Home in Disarray

Both were very easy and will certainly make appearances again during this challenge. Uova in Purgatorio, in fact, might be a weekly occurrence because it's just as good for breakfast as it is for lunch and dinner.

I do foresee a few challenges with this Whole30, and those mainly revolve around events that are coming up. (I did not schedule this well.) I have a friend in town this weekend, a friend in town the following weekend, and I have a trip to Des Moines scheduled the weekend after that. That whole "no booze" thing is really going to suck. But, I can do it.

Whew! If you've made it this far in the post, congratulations! And thanks for hanging in there with me! I hope to start blogging more regularly.

What content would you like to see on this ol' blog?

How are your New Year's resolutions coming along? Any wonderful meal/workout plans you'd like to share?

Stay warm, friends!