Whirlwind Weeks

Hi friends!

(Side note: at the beginning of each period, I greet each class by saying, "Hi friends!" I try to avoid gendered language as much as possible, and calling my students "friends" has been pretty effective. On the rare occasion I greet my sixth-period class with something different, one of my little girls emphatically exclaims, "Um, hi FRIEND!" The little things kids notice -- and care about -- crack me up.)

Evidence that I do, in fact, sometimes wear real clothes, not workout attire.

So I obviously haven't written for a while -- 15 days, to be exact. This was totally not my intention. I have had dozens of ideas and updates brewing in my head every single day, but I have been so darn busy. I am done with work at 2:30 but often have meetings until 3:30, and then I go to the gym for an hour-and-a-half to two hours, and then I go home and put everything away (I hate clutter), and then I cook and eat dinner, and by the time I sit down to write, it's after 8:00, and I'm pooped.

I'd like to say that my lack-of-writing-regularly will change, but I cannot make any promises until life is a little less chaotic. Plus, I feel like I post most of what I would say here on Instagram, and I don't want you all to get bored.

Let's cut to the chase:

WHOLE30

I am on Day 22 of my second Whole30. And it's been a struggle.

I loved my first Whole30 -- so much, in fact, that I did it for 58 days straight and only stopped because I went out of town for a bachelorette party.

This time, I am going to make it 27.5 days and then call it good. Whatev.

So let's compare what's different:

Then: I enjoyed cooking up a storm.
Now: I still enjoy cooking, but there are times that I just want to go out to dinner and not have to worry about analyzing the menu ingredient-by-ingredient beforehand.

Then: I truly loved the recipes.
Now: I still love most of the recipes, but I need some variance in my life. I am so sick of sweet potatoes, eggs, and slabs of meat.

Then: I completely overhauled my diet and therefore felt a drastic (and phenomenal) change.
Now: I don't eat like absolute shit on a daily basis, so I haven't felt much different. I can say that I am less bloated than I was, but that's about the only difference.

Then: I was sleeping better than ever.
Now: It still takes me forever to fall asleep, and I still wake up several times a night.

Then: I was eating huge meals.
Now: I know that I am not eating enough. I just haven't been hungry. That also may be why I'm not feeling the "Tiger Blood" or experiencing the amazing sleep that Whole30 promises.

Then: I was not exercising at all.
Now: I am kicking my ass with lifting and running at least 90 minutes a day. This does not leave a lot of time for cooking. In addition, whereas Whole30 was my obsession the first time around, I am now way more obsessed with the gym, and nutrition, while important, is a side factor.

So anyway, I just want to be done.

And I really, really want a glass of wine. And a burrito bowl with rice. And one of my mom's chocolate chip cookies. And cheese in an omelet.


EXERCISE

Friends, I am killing it at the gym.

I am, however, still sucking at gym selfies.

I have been sticking with the schedule that I create every week. Here is this week's schedule:

If you've been keeping track, there are some new exercises this time around. I am switching up most of our accessory lifts so that our muscles don't get too used to doing the same movements. (Do you like how I pretend I know what I'm talking about? I actually have no idea, but it sounds good.)

Even when the "running" row is empty, I am still doing cardio work -- walking at a slow-ish speed on the treadmill in order to get all of my steps in. So far, despite technical difficulties with each of our trackers, my sister, my sister-in-law, and I have all reached 10,000 steps every day of our challenge. And all three of us have said that we are not going to stop after the 30 days is up.

This is what I look like after I run a reallllllllllly fast (for me) mile.

As far as the abs routine goes, Sunni and I finished Alexa Jean Fitness' 30-Day Abs Challenge (Sore to the Core), and we both have seen tremendous results:

The pictures on the left were from January 4th, and the pictures on the right were from yesterday, January 30th.

I am pretty damn proud of myself, and seeing this progress makes me really, really, really excited to continue. Sunni and I are going to do the first round of the program again, and then we are going to purchase the second round.

I used to be self-conscious in this top because it was skin-tight. Today, it was baggy.

I haven't stepped on the scale (Whole30 rules), so I don't know how much (if any) weight I've lost, but I know there have been some major changes taking place.

This top is a size medium -- AND IT FITS.

And although I don't have a photo of me in them (yet), the jeans that I haven't worn since 2012 fit -- with no muffin top!

These are the jeans -- that you can't even see. I just like this picture. :)

Although I am so ready to be done with Whole30, life is obviously going pretty darn well. I think I have turned into a gym rat, and I am totally okay with that. It's clearly making a positive impact -- both physically and emotionally.

Many of you have asked -- either in person or via Facebook, Instagram, or text -- about the Sore to the Core program and other apps I use for workouts. Fear not, friends. I am about to drop some info on you in a pending post. Stay tuned for that to come later this week.

Much love to you all!


Question: should I continue the blog, or would you prefer to keep updated on my not-super-interesting life via Instagram? If you would like me to continue writing, what kind of material would you like to read? Give me a topic, and I can talk for days. :)