Loving My Wii Fit (Again)

Wii Fits got me at 31. (Down from 41 a few weeks ago). Whew.
Originally uploaded by dpstyles™

Two days in a row! Who'd believe it? And I got 30 minutes in today! My Wii Fit age really was 31 today, but that isn't my picture. My arms were a little sore today-not sure if it was from the kung fu or the wing flapping! My 7 year old was trying all the new games today, so she had me try skateboarding, and it turns out I'm pretty good--on the Wii anyway. I wouldn't dare try it in real life any more, at least not without a lot of bubble wrap and duct tape! Don't laugh, but I used to be a skateboarder, back in the days when they were "uncool", I had one and I was the first kid on the street with one. I was pretty good too-no fancy tricks, mind you, but I didn't fall on my ass either.

The game with the math bumping was pretty funny. Numbers are not my strong suit, so I'm trying to bump the right numbers and not bump the wrong ones, and I get a good chuckle out of it. And I practised my golf today too. I was wondering if I kept practicing here, if I went to the range, would what I learn here translate? See, I've got a picture in my mind of me golfing with Justin Timberlake and Chris Kirkpatrick--actually, forget Justin. I want to golf with Chris. He'd probably be a heck of a lot more laid back than JT and we could probably laugh at how badly I golf. So there's a training goal--I need to golf well enough to be able to golf with Chris. Ha ha. I didn't say it was a good goal, or even an attainable one, but it will serve to make me laugh while I try to hit a non-existent white ball with a non-existent club towards a non-existent green. I actually scored in the professional range today, which surprised the heck out of me. Perhaps I am a better golfer than I had been led to believe?

(Am I the only person who can bring celebrities into a discussion about the Wii Fit?)

And wow! is the cycling ever a good workout! I felt it when I was done! I'm sure my legs are going to be sore tomorrow. But it was fun and I'll give it another go tomorrow. Who needs to do all these fancy routines when you can just do the fun stuff and feel a difference?

Wii Fit + = Fun!

Snowball Fight!!
Originally uploaded by thelastminute

I actually got what I asked for this Christmas! My Wii Fit Plus. So far, I'm loving it--especially since it showed that I have lost weight in the last two weeks--and yes, that includes over Christmas! Woohoo! Not sure how I did that, but I'll take it.

Hubs and I had some fun tonight playing the multiplayer games. It was disappointing though to find out that the time I played on the multiplayer did not add into my total time for the day. Rats. Snowball fight was a lot of fun (hence today's picture). He beat me in that and the bird flapping game--seriously, I've never seen two grown adults flapping their "wings" before--too funny!--and he also beat me at the obstacle course, and he got one more spin than I did in hula hoops. Grr.

My favourite solo exercise so far was the kung fu. Turns out I'm not half bad at it. And even though I hate golf in real life, I gave it a shot (pun intended) and wow, can I ever feel my obliques. Hopefully that doesn't hurt in the morning. So I racked up 20 minutes plus the time I spent playing against hubby. Tomorrow, I'm taking him down!

Just Sayin'....

I'm used to getting ribbed about my "boyband obsession". Sure, I'm not in their target audience, but whatever--I like the music! And I regularlly listen to my *NSYNC music still, even though they haven't recorded anything new together for awhile. Well guess what? Billboard says *NSYNC had the top selling album of the decade--No Strings Attached. So there!

What does this have to do with my blog topic? Absolutely nothing! Isn't it great! I felt like changing it up a bit tonight. So there you go. I find it funny that people talk about Justin Timberlake as a solo artist all the time and how great he is--funny that as a solo artist, he hasn't topped the success of the group as a whole. Now that is as good a reason as any for *NSYNC to get back together for another album (even though JC Chasez says it won't happen). To be honest, I'd be happy with an album from JC &hearts. At least Chris Kirkpatrick's new group has an album in the works. If you want to hear Chris's band, Nigels11, you can check their myspace. I love "All She Wrote".

OK, so back to the whole *NSYNC thing. In honour of their accomplishment, allow me to present a video here of one of my favourite videos from the No Strings Attached album, It's Gonna Be Me. It's cute, it's fun, and hey--they're toys!

Medication change

Well, I made the decision to go back to my regular dosage. I was feeling pretty crummy and decided to go back to the original dosage. I'll talk with my doctor and see what he suggests. I did some research online about Effexor XR and it seems that there are a lot of withdrawl symptoms with this medication. Too bad they didn't tell me that when I first started taking it. Now I've had it in my system for 6 years and changing the dosage will be hell. In fact, one person's description of going off Effexor was literally "hell on earth". What is wrong with the drug companies? Why wouldn't they have told us so that at least we would have been making an informed decision about our health? I didn't ask for this.

It's ironic that I didn't realize I was feeling miserable because of the cut dosage. Then I started reading up--headaches, check. diarrhea, check. insomnia--whoa yeah--big time...feeling dizzy, confused, unable to concentrate...check check check. I wasn't sick, I was in withdrawal. Who knew? I can now sympathize with how hard it is to kick an illegal drug addiction, because trying just to change the dosage on this leagal perscription is hard, painful and makes me feel terrible about myself and ill. I felt almost as bad as when my depressin was not yet diagnosed. This sucks.

It's a Girl Thing

the chocolate orgy ended in love
Originally uploaded by Darwin Bell

I'm sharing this because I'm sure I'm not alone in doing things like this. I had to run out to the 24 hour drug store tonight (thankfully close by) because I ran out of "supplies". Normally I am prepared and have a stock of "supplies" on hand, but this month I ran out. I had a crazy day and wasn't able to get out to get some before work, so I had to go out after I came home (yeah, I could have stopped on the way home, but that would have required me to remember that I needed them before I got home). Anyway, since the store was fairly quiet (with the exception of the canned Christmas music), I spent some time browsing around for a few minutes. I came out with extra purchases, but not what I might have expected. Even after looking at Christmas gifts, I came out with 1 package of pads, 1 chocolate bar, 1 pack of cough candies and a fluffy woman's magazine. Thankfully the guy at the counter didn't bat an eye. When I left the store, I suddenly realized the combination of supplies and chocolate made a good PMS kit. Note to self, next month, buy chocolate and "supplies" before they are needed--although chocolate is OK at any time of the month!

The good news for me is that although I've adjusted my meds, the PMS was not out of control. I had a bit of a rough time at work one night, but once I was able to stop and remember it was just PMS, it was a bit easier to get back to where I needed to be. Almost 2 weeks now since I changed the dosage and I'm feeling pretty good :)

Reduced Meds, Day 5

Maple Twins
Originally uploaded by jpctalbot

So, I've got 5 days under my belt at the lower dosage of my antidepressant and I don't feel much different--which is, I guess, a good thing. The important thing is I feel in control. I'm not having any wicked mood swings and I feel pretty good. Since this medication is time-released, I'm not sure how long it will take for my body to feel the difference. I do know that people who have tried to go off of this medication find it very difficult to do. I've read countless stories of people having withdrawls from a medication which advertises itself as not being habit forming. Not that it matters as I am not intending to go off my medication, merely to reduce it a bit. It's funny, because I'm on a fairly low dosage of the medication anyway, but it does make a huge difference. I know that without antidepressants, I was a miserable, mood-swinging, unhappy person. Now I'm fairly level-mooded and I'm generally happy. I'm not dancing around singing in the rain or anything like that, but life looks pretty darn good now, know what I mean? Sure, I have down days, but the lows that I experience now are no where near the lows I once had.

So, 5 days down. Wonder what the next week will bring....

Hand Sanitizer Overload!!

I don't know about you, but I'm getting really tired of all this talk about hand washing and sanitizing. My workplace has gone so far as to have "Handwashing Steps" and "Hand Sanitizing Steps" display on our display boards throughout the day. Seriously. Steps in washing hands. And I'm not talking "Step 1, put soap on hands", but detailed instructions on how to actually rub the soap on your hands. Really? Seriously, I'm pretty sure that as a thirty-something woman, I know how to wash my hands by now. And the hand sanitizer? Give me a break. That stuff is nasty with a capital N. Thanks so much for delivering a small, company branded bottle of it and a Health Ontario brouchure to my desk this week. And thanks too for the detailed instructions on how to apply it (just in case I was not competent enough to figure it out by myself or follow the instructions on the bottle--remind me again why you hired me??).

Not only am I being totally patronized at work about how to keep my hands clean, but we've moved to a brand new office facility which has hands-free flushing toilets, soap dispensers, taps and hand dryers (I'm sure if they could have figured out how to do hands-free ass wiping, we'd have that too). So with all this technology to get our hands clean, why do they feel the need to have a hand sanitizer dispenser (also hands free) right inside the bathroom door? Am I supposed to sanitize on the way in or the way out? If I've just finished washing my hands (following their elaborate instructions), why would I need the sanitizer? And how the heck do you open the door after you've sanitized your hands? The door opens in, so it's not like you can just push your body against it. So what exactly was the purpose of this "convieniently placed" hand sanitizer?

My daughter's school sent home forms a couple weeks ago saying that they were offering special bottles of hand sanitizer that the kids could purchase that were able to be clipped to their belt loops. Please, let's give our children an alcohol based sanitizer for them to use without supervision. Because no child ever puts their fingers in their mouths or overdoes it with applying things like hand lotion. I learned when my oldest first started school that the hand sanitizers were not a good idea. She would go into the bathroom upon returning home from school to wash her hands. Instead of using soap and water, she decided she'd use the hand sanitizer instead. Let me tell you, we went through that bottle of hand sanitizer in no time flat. She'd come out of that bathroom just reeking of rubbing alcohol. Knowing that she'd be going from cleaning her hands to eating a sandwich, I decided to get rid of the sanitizer. I didn't want her ingesting it along with her lunch. Needless to say, we declined purchasing the sanitizer from the school. I think there are better ways to reduce the spread of germs in the classroom than sanitizing and sterilizing everything and everyone.

And that, my friends is the end of my hand sanitizing rant for today. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll return to this topic again soon!

Reduced Antidepressant--Am I Crazy?

Day 4: My Breakfast for almost 5 years
Originally uploaded by choking sun

OK, before anyone freaks out thinking that I'm going to be unstable without my antidepressants, let me assure you that I have talked to my doctor about doing this. We came to the conlusion last year that because it was so close to the holidays, it would be wise to wait to reduce the Effexor XR. So that was the plan. Then my grandfather got sick in January and passed away in February and I decided I wasn't ready to make any changes.

Why now? Well, I've been on this medication for about 6 1/2 years. That's a long time (especially when I was told by my original doctor that I'd only need it 6 months--ha!). Anyway, I've been on a lower dose before and I felt pretty good at that level. The only reason I changed it up was that I was going through the post partum thing again and needed the extra boost. Now my youngest is 3 and I'm ready to make a change.

Don't get me wrong. I know I need to take this medication, but at this level, it's hard to feel. It levels out my emotions so there's no big dips, but there's also no ups. Everything feels kind of flat. And I'm ready to feel again. So, following my doctor's suggestions, I've reduced my dosage by 1/3. We'll see how it goes and if I can't cope, I'll readjust.

Today is day 2. Yesterday was probably not the best day for me to have started. It was fine in the morning, but then DH was late with the car for me to get to work. He had gotten a flat tire and had to replace the whole thing. I had to take a different route to work (on the toll highway), and then the traffic was nuts and it just wasn't good. But know what? Even though I was stressed, it wasn't that bad. I had a mild caffeine craving, but survived without it.

So I'm feeling pretty good. I guess I'll just take it a day at a time and see how it goes.

And in answer to my title, nope, I'm not crazy and neither is anyone else who has depression. Depression is something that I have, not something that I am.

Decluttering bit by bit

Toybox
Originally uploaded by benfulton

Yesterday, I decided it was a good idea to declutter the kids' toy box. I'm still not sure why I thought it would be a good idea, but before I knew it, I was surrounded by bits and pieces of toys on the living room floor. I was able to throw some broken things out and donate some of the more babyish toys as well. I was planning on putting all the puzzles together, but my sanity returned and I decided it could wait for another day.

In the process, my little one found a whole bunch of toys I don't think she'd ever seen before. She thinks it's great, and I'm just happy to have the area around the box clear.

In other news, to my surprise, my husband actually started clearing up the basement office area. No, it wasn't because I had asked him to numerous times before (or at least asked for his help)....oh no, he decided to clean it up because his dad has offered us his old computer desk. To take the new desk, we have to dismanlte our old one and make more room. So, yeah, he cleaned because of his dad. The sad thing is that he really just moved the clutter from one spot to another rather than get rid of it. It's so frustrating because I'm glad that things are tidier, but since he's not actually getting rid of anything, it's just going to be a bigger mess in the long run. He's also got a habit of starting things and not finishing them, so once he gets the desk in, I'm pretty sure the clutter will stay where he's squirrelled it away to. Arg! At least our old desk will be getting out of here and going to his sister's house, so that will be one less thing to worry about. (the funny thing is that my parents have had a couch to give us for about 4 months, but he couldn't find the time nor inclination to move things around for that, but as soon as it comes to something for his computer, he's right there getting it done.)

Getting back to it again...

Boxed
Originally uploaded by recursion_see_recursion

So, you can probably guess that my 30 days of using the Wii Fit for 30 minutes fell by the wayside. All is not lost though, I did find that my clothes are fitting a bit better and I plan to try it again.....sometime. (procrastinators of the world, unite...tomorrow!).

I've had a busy week taking my little one around to all sorts of programs during the day. Thankfully I've had a few days off of work and a vehicle at my disposal, so it's worked otu well.

I'm getting back to the organizing, slowly but surely. I've given away some things on freecycle this week. I really love this as it allows me to find homes for things that I haven't a use for but someone else might. The biggest thing to go this week? Our old playpen--the old style that only folds in half and is really big. That has cleared up a lot of room in my basement. We also had two boxes of donations picked up by Cerebral Palsy today. Of course, after the driver was gone, I realized I had a third box as well. We regularly receive calls from Canadian Diabetes, Cerebral Palsy and Community Living and I say yes to all of them. It's a good way for me to make sure that I am decluttering and I don't even have to take it anywhere! The girls have both out grown a lot of clothes over the last few months, so boxes fill up pretty quickly here.

I even cleaned out my kitchen sink this week. It's not shining yet, but it's mostly empty, so I can live with that. I'm trying to keep on top of the dishes, but dinner is made and eaten while I'm at work. The last thing I want to do when I get home is clean up the kitchen. sigh...

Totally Off Topic: MTV VMAs Taylor Swift

Watching award shows is something I don't usually do. I haven't seen the VMAs for a long long time and Kanye West just confirmed for me why I don't. Taylor Swift won the Best Female Video and was in the middle of her acceptance speech when West decided to take the stage and the microphone right from her and say that Beyonce had the best video. Really. He totally disrespected Taylor Swift in a moment where she should have been celebratring, he makes it a slap in her face. What is wrong with this man? Show some respect for other people. For someone who was an underdog, you sure don't give props where they are due. Taylor Swift is an amazing artist. Beyonce's video? Dude, it's actually a little boring. She's dancing around, sure, but so what? Taylor's video actually tells a story.

She did an amazing job going on to do her performance after that. That shows a lot of class. You go, Taylor! You've gained a lot of respect from a lot of people because you're handling yourself so well. Someone else has lost all respect.

On another topic, what is up with Russell Brand? He is rude and very annoying. Why would MTV have brought him back? I am not even going to watch the rest of the show. It's just too annoying and stupid.

30 Minutes for 30 Days, Day 8 Wii Fit

technical difficulties
Originally uploaded by jadytron

We are experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by. OK, really, it's my balance board that is having technical difficutlies. I was actually all gung ho to exercise tonight. Did a 10 minute free run and felt pretty good about that. Then I tried to do the hula hooping. The balance board was low on batteries, so I plugged it in, then it couldn't find me even after rebooting several times. So, I've only done 10 minutes today. But even 10 minutes is better than doing no minutes! Hopefully when I try to use it tomorrow it will be fine!

30 Minutes for 30 Days, Day 7 Wii Fit

paperdolls044
Originally uploaded by ana_ng

Woohoo! 1 week down. And according to the Fit, I'm down in weight too. About 3.1 lbs. Not sure if I believe that or not yet. We'll see what it says tomorrow.

Curious about the picture? Well, today I seemed to be wearing many hats. I was on bus duty, walking my oldest to her bus stop this morning, then I was policing my youngest in her attempts to take over the household for once and for all, I was a mom, I was a driver, I was a travel agent (my real job) and now I'm a baker! How am I getting all this done? Mostly just necessity. I'm baking some tea biscuits because there is no bread left for big kid to use for her lunch tomorrow. At least this way she'll have something to eat and hopefully we can scrounge up some change to buy a loaf of bread tomorrow rather than waiting to pay day. I'm really not loving this living pay cheque to pay cheque thing right now.

Be that as it may, I got my 30 minutes in tonight even though I didn't want to. I got stuck late at work tonight, so I was late and hungry and not in the mood to exercise. Now that I'm done, I wonder what was so hard about doing it. Oh well. Maybe one day I'll actually want to do it instead of forcing myself too. Here's hoping!

30 Minutes for 30 Days, Day 6 Wii Fit

toe touch silhouette
Originally uploaded by mariachily

Woohoo! I touched my toes! I was doing the Sun Salutation yoga pose and I actually touched my toes! I know it doesn't seem like a big thing, but I couldn't reach them earlier this week. So, I guess doing the poses every day does help increase your flexibility.

For a change, I skipped most of the aerobics and the games and did more yoga than anything else. I even attempted the tree pose even though I cannot get it. I did end up wobbling myself right off the wii fit board, but hey, at least I tried it. And who knows, in another few weeks, I may even get it.

So, touching my toes is the first "positive" outcome of doing 30 minutes for 30 days. No weight loss to speak of yet, probably because I don't do it at a specific time each day. Maybe I should do a weigh in first thing in the morning and then do the exercises later in the day. Maybe I'll try that.

30 Minutes for 30 Days, Day 5 Wii Fit

(112/365) Ice cream is GOOD
Originally uploaded by Sarah G...

Can you guess from the picture what I used to motivate me to use my Fit tonight? Oh yes. I'm sitting here having a lovely bowl of icecream now that I've finished working out for 30 minutes. My ice cream does not look as appealing as the ice cream in the picture, but that's OK.

Anyway, I'm now 5 days in and I'm still alive, so that's a good sign. I focussed on the strength training and yoga today and then threw in some aerobics to get me over my time. Let me tell you, 10 minutes of Hula Hoops is not an easy feat!

30 Minutes for 30 Days, Day 4 Wii Fit

YOGA in nature's way
Originally uploaded by Tony George

I soooo did not want to exercise today, but some how, I did it. Even after I started, I still didn't want to do the whole 30 minutes. I did some yoga tonight. I'm still finding it funny that I'm not very flexible and I'm pretty unco-ordinated, but I'm scoring as a yoga trainer on some of the moves. Some of them are pretty darn tough!

What I"m having fun with is that you can change up your exercises on the Wii Fit all the time. You're not stuck in a rut of a routine and I don't have to try to do these poses in front of skinny people who get dressed up to go to work out (you know who you are). I can make a fool of myself in the comfort of my own home with no one watching me. I don't have to worry about what I look like or what someone else thinks about what I look like. I can try it and I may not get it right, but with practice I hope to. Then maybe I'll feel comfortable going out to a gym and trying some of this.

That reminds me, the other day, I did my fit time while the kids were still up. My oldest watches the board when I step on it and says, "Boy, mama, did you ever make the board go down low!" What is it that they say about kids telling the truth? Oh well.

I did get to visit with my best friend today. I haven't seen her for 9 years and it was awesome. It was like nothing had changed, no time had passed at all between us. So awesome!

30 Minutes for 30 Days, Day 3

Wii Fit box
Originally uploaded by camy west

You didn't think I'd get this far, did you? Actually, I'm pretty impressed with myself just because it's been so long since I was doing this every day. 3 days in, I'm not feeling any difference yet, except when the Wii board displays my BMI as having increased over the last three days. How is that possible? Ugh! And do they really need to show my Mii as underweight and then take it all the way up to obese? I get it, I'm obese. Just show me the Mii in all its obese glory rather than making her blimp up every session. It's not very conducive to building morale.

I skipped the Rythymic Boxing today and instead did a run. And I didn't just do an easy run--oh no, I did the Island Lap. What was I thinking? I haven't done any running in a long time and I go for the longest distance available to me? At least I worked up a good sweat, but I still think that was crazy.

I'm loving how the Yoga poses are so hard for me to do, but my score comes up as being a Yoga Expert. Ha ha ha ha! I do not think so!

Well, I'm 3 days down 27 to go. Hopefully I can get my time in tomorrow because I have a guest coming from out of province and I haven't seen her for 9 years. We're going to be talking all day and night!

30 Minutes for 30 Days, Day 2 Wii Fit

jump off - VoxEfx
Originally uploaded by √oхέƒx™

So, yesterday, I set myself a goal to do 30 minutes on my Wii Fit every day for 30 days. So far, I'm 2 for 2. My arms were a little sore today, and I couldn't figure out what I had done to cause the pain--until I picked up the remote and remembered I'd been boxing yesterday! D'oh! Guess that means it's working, right?

I did the Advanced step and Rythym boxing first off again today. I do that because it gives me 16 minutes completed right away. I was getting frustrated with the boxing because my dodging was not working right and I kept getting hit instead. I tired different ways of dodging, but nothing was working.

Did a couple yoga moves and strength training too. When I did the first move, if it gave me a second move to pair with it, I did that. The funny thing is I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to yoga, but I score very well! I don't have that problem with strength training though.

What's with the trainers though? Couldn't they give me a trainer who is struggling a bit or maybe looks like a real person? I use the male trainer and today I noticed for the first time that he has a tiny pony tail. What is with that??

Aaaaannnd today pushed me over 20 hours of time on the Wii Fit and I got a new piggy bank :) Yay me!

Getting back to it, Getting back to Fit

Burning off the pounds: 40/365
Originally uploaded by SashaW

I've been really lazy this summer as far as exercise goes. I was getting some exercise by taking the kids to the park, but we haven't been in awhile. Today I had some motivation. I'm just tired of feeling like my clothes don't fit and looking like I don't care. So I hopped back on my Wii Fit today. It's been 28 days since I last used it and it was probably close to that from my last use to the one before that. The good news is that I haven't gained a whole lot since the last use. My goal right now is for the month of September to do 30 minutes a day. We'll see how I do. The hardest part for me is making time to do the exercise. And it's hard to do that when the kids are underfoot and getting into things.

Today I did the advanced step (and got my highest score ever!) and rythym boxing (my trainer was disappointed and said I can do better and I can). I also did the single leg extensions (20 reps) and a few of the games. I got my highest score on the Zen sitting thing. The funny thing was that they have all this background noise that's supposed to distract you, but I had the kids making even more noise than that! It felt good to work up a sweat that was not heat induced. I really worked for it today. And my plan is that when I lose 5 lbs from using the Fit, I'm going to treat myself to a new Fit game. I think that will help motivate me because before I found the Fit was getting boring.

The mountain of paperwork on my dining room table has been reduced quite a bit. I've filed a whole lot and tossed a whole lot too. So I'm losing some paper weight, too bad that doesn't count. LOL. Oh well, onwards and upwards, my friends!

Burning My Candle at Both Ends

Burn
Originally uploaded by accent on eclectic

I've come to the realization that there are really not enough hours in a day. 24 just doesn't cut it. Of course, it could also be true that I am trying to do to much....nah, that couldn't be it, could it?

OK, yes, that is it. I'm home all day with my kids--and trust me, keeping up with my three year old who has special needs is a full time job in itself. Then I go to work in the evening. Yep. I talk on the phone for 5 hours to people and have to be "on" in order to provide good service (and keep my job). Then I come home, try to go to sleep, stay awake because of stress, post a blog and eventually fall asleep only to wak up and do everything over again.

By the time the weekend comes, I'm completely wiped out. When I went to work today, I could feel the bags under my eyes--not good. My company is all about "work/life balance", but I'm not feeling it right now.

How do other parents do it? Please, share your secrets with me.

JC Chasez Gallery on Perez Hilton

A while ago, I posted a mini rant about Perez Hilton posting about Robert Pattinson all the time.  I still fail to see the attraction of this greasy looking guy.  Really??  A sex symbol??  I don't think so!

Anyway, I was more than happy when Perez posted a gallery dedicated to one of my favourite artists on his birthday on August 8th.  (Yes, I know I'm like a month late here).  JC Chasez is pure talent.  There is something about the way he sings that I really connect with.  If I had to pick a word for it, that word would be passion.  He seems to be emotionally connected to his music, and in turn with his listeners.  Of course, I could be totally wrong here.  I mean what do I really know about the guy?  OK, it's probably best that I don't actually answer that quesiton!




Now is JC sexy?  I sure think so.  And not just because he looks good either.  It's because of his confidence, his passion for music and dare I even say his classiness?  I'm not sure that classiness is an actual word, but he is all class.  I've never heard him say anything negative about someone in the press.  He had nothing but nice things to say about Eva Longoria (his former girlfriend) when she was getting married. In a time when other celebrities are publicly shredding their former partners to pieces in the spotlight, he is a refreshing change.

I even enjoy watching him on America's Best Dance Crew when he gives constructive criticism.  This season he doesn't seem to be getting booed quite as much as earlier seasons.  The audiences love to boo his suggestions, but if they actually listen to what he says, he is usually giving them something that they can work on to make their next performance even better.  No routine is perfect, there is always room for improvement.  And he's been in the business for awile, so he (usually) knows what he's talking about.



But the guy has got to stop calling women "Honey"!  My guess is that he does this out of habit from meeting so many fans so he doesn't call someone by the wrong name...hmmm.  I actually counted how many times he used "Honey" in one episode--I think I could be on to a new drinking game...if I drank.

This post is totally off topic, but guess what?  I'm totally OK with it.  LOL.  Now please do not worry, I am not about to go stalking Mr. Chasez.  As much as I think he'd be a cool person to hang out with, I'm happily married to my Sweet Baboo (whom I also edit a blog with) and I'm far too busy with two kids to go traipsing around after a celebrity any way.  No fear, JC is safe from me. 

Busy Mama

Yep, I've been pretty quiet lately--mostly just because I've had both kids around all day this summer. Keeping them from being bored is enough to tire me out too.

In keeping busy, I've also started an online discussion group for special needs parents. Please join in:
by signing up here! I'd love to have you contribute and chat about the journey we're on together!

Depression Keeps Kicking Me Down, But I Keep Getting Back Up!

I know I've been a little quiet here lately. The truth is that my depression has been really difficult to cope with lately. I've been so stressed out with finances and trying to keep on top of the house (or to get out from underneath it) and worried about my daughter and having both kids home this summer and working part time in the evening while my husband works during the day and is self-employed. Yeah, just a tad bit stressed (sarcasm intended). When I'm stressed, I do an ostrich impression and bury my nose in a book and try to ignore the stress. It's not the best method, but it keeps me from running around screaming my head off. I'll have to see my doctor soon and get him to check my meds out. Yipee.

I decided today to try to do the Flylady thing again, so I got my kitchen sink emptied. I haven't shined it yet, but that is my goal for tomorrow. I'm taking babysteps here, folks. If I can get myself moving instead of sitting and letting things happen, I feel much better about things. So what if I only accomplish emptying the dishwasher? The point is that I have done something! I'm not going to let this stupid depression win. I'm going to fight it and I'm going to get the better of it in the end. So take that, depression!

So, that's life with Jaye today. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings!

Getting Fit without my Wii Fit!

You may have noticed I haven't really written much about my blog topic, getting fit, healthy and organized. Well, today we're getting back on topic! I've been spending a lot of time out of doors with the kids since the big one finished school. We go for at least one walk a day and we go to the park 3-4 days a week (sometimes more than once in a day!). It helps that Parks and Recreation have a summer program on for two hours a day for the big kid. While she plays there, I play in the park with the little kid going from the swings to the slides and back again. I'm also getting the chance to talk to other parents as well, so it's been very good all around.

Today we walked to the local library which is about a forty minute walk each way. The little one went in the stroller (I'm not quite that crazy!). We missed the toddler time, but we got both girls signed up for the summer reading program and I got to stock up on my summer reading again. Who am I kidding, I read all year round because I love it so much!

So, we're settling into a bit of a routine and it seems to be working fairly well. I'm getting exercise without using my Wii Fit. I dread the next time I use it because I know it's going to bug me about not signing in more often. To be honest, I've gotten a little bored of the basic program. I've heard of some workout programs, so I will have to check them out. I probably should log in again, just to update my weight, but I'm a little scared. While I'm trying to eat healthy food, it's very easy to slip into eating not so healthy foods, especially when I've got both kids with me all day.

OK, so we're getting fit and healthy. How about organized? Hmm, I'm trying, that's for sure. I'm scooping any clothes that don't fit the kids and putting them into boxes right away to be donated. I've got two boxes right now. I try to keep my eyes open to things around the house that we don't really need and pop them into the boxes when I see them. So far, no one has complained about anything that has been missing--and considering the amount of toys that I've stuck in the boxes in recent months, I'm truly surprised. I don't recommend leaving the boxes open or even in the house once you hit the toy box. They're bound to open one and ask why their beloved little toy that they never play with is in there...always fun to try to explain!

Life is a Circus

Ansar Shrine Circus
Originally uploaded by aka Kath

Well, I don't know that it's entirely true that life is a circus, but I'm finding it interesting how the media here in North America works. Michael Jackson, renowned pop star and tabloid phenomenon passed away and we're being inundated with media attention on every last detail of his death and his will and so much other trivial information. I understand that people are curious because Jackson was such an iconic figure who seemed to value his privacy as much as he seemed to court the media. I'm getting tired of it and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Yes, it's sad that he died just when he seemed to be making a comeback and yes, I'm sorry for his family and children. Do I need to know intimate details about his life? Not really. There are children in the world who are starving, children who are being beaten or mistreated. There are wars going on, people are dying. Incredible things are happening every where. I'd really rather have the media focus elsewhere for a little while.

Anyone else have Michael Jackson burnout?

Happy Canada Day!!

Canadian Flag - Maple Leaf
Originally uploaded by David Paul Ohmer


No, I haven't completely disappeared from here. Life has been a little crazy lately, and without a computer of my own, I don't get a lot of time to be online. That being said, I'm doing pretty well. The girls and I are getting outside a lot more, so we're getting lots of exercise. I'm even fitting into my smaller sized capri pants (yay!) again.

I've totally laxed with my Wii Fit. I think I'm in a rut and I'm bored. Time to find a new game to play on it to keep me interested. I was also getting frustrated that my weight wasn't showing a change even after so much time on it. I need to see results to keep going with it. Anyway, my little one is upstairs crying, so I should go give her some cuddles so she gets to sleep again soon.

A very happy Canada day to my fellow Canadians! True North Strong and Free!

Burn Out

menaced
Originally uploaded by psyberartist

I went searching for a picture that adequately describes how I am feeling and I found this one on flickr.com by psyberartist. It's beautiful, isn't it? The way the light plays on the burned out pieces of a building. I wish I felt the beauty in the rubble right now, but all I feel is burned out. I guess I've been so busy taking care of the kids, getting them where they need to be, going to work and trying to keep on top of things that I haven't taken the best care of myself. I'm like this building-the front of the building looks fine, but when you go beneath the surface and really look, it's just an empty shell. Depressing picture, isn't it? I don't feel depressed, just tired, like I have nothing more to give. I had hoped to finally get some "mama time" tomorrow and catch up with some old friends, but it's not to be. I have other obligations and I have to miss it again. I'm starting to feel trapped in my life--just nod and smile and go with the flow; that's all I can do right now. There's got to be a break in the clouds sometime, right?? Maybe?

Distractions!!

I can't believe how easily I've been distracted from my blog here lately. I started to write tonight and thought I'd find a picture to use. 20 minutes later, I'm scoping pictures and blogging is totally forgotten. So, no picture today.

My computer is dead, so I haven't been online as much as I would normally be. Really, it's not a bad thing, except that I haven't been able to post as many blogs lately. I have to wait until my hubs is sleeping and use his computer (my backup computer is running windows 98 and is sooooo s l o wwwwww....).

I've had more time for getting organized. And procrastinating about getting organized. I'm really bad for that. If I can keep the dishwasher and the laundry running all week long, I've had a pretty good week. If I can get anything else done, it's a great week. I'm also spending more time outside with my little one. She is enjoying the weather and likes to take walks around the neighbourhood.

And I've been so-so about using my Wii Fit. I'm still working on the Strengthening exercises. I can feel a difference the day after doing the jackknives, so perhaps they are working. Still no noticeable weight loss, but things are shifting around a bit, so maybe it's not all bad.

There are still not enough hours in a day, but I don't see that changing anytime soon--or ever. I guess that is why I need to get organized and set up some routines...if I ever get around to it.

Procrastinators of the world--Unite! (tomorrow)

Working out, Wii Fit Style!

Geo. Lurich (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

No, this is not a picture of me, but I do feel kind of strong and invincible today. I started doing the strength training exercises on my Wii Fit finally. I skip over the pushups and planks, but I'll try them again soon. Right now I'm doing a few of the leg exercises and the jack-knife which is surprisingly a favourite of mine! I opened the challenge the trainer on the jackknife and I've beaten my trainer both times so far--OK, maybe I didn't really buy it when he could only do 10 the first time. Today he wimped out at 20. I was just too stubborn to give in, even though my abs were burning. It's a sense of accomplishment when you feel that burn, isn't it?

I've been spending a lot of my downtime reading this week. I picked up a whole bunch of what I call "fluff" novels at the library. These are fun books that don't go too deep and don't require me to think too much. They're like the sit-coms of the literary world. You don't read them for knowledge or study, you just read them to escape for a bit. So when my little one is watching her videos, I sit down with a book. It's part of taking care of me.

I also had a chat this week with my mom about my frustrations in not being able to get anything done around the house because my little one needs a lot of attention. Mom actually told me to forget about the house and just focus on my daughter. It was an ah-ha moment for me and I realized that the house doesn't need to be perfect (another flyladyism as well), it just needs to be good enough. That doesn't mean that I don't need my husband to pitch in more, but I'm willing to get there gradually.

I even started writing this week! With a pen and paper no less (my personal computer is fried, so I use hubby's in the evening). It felt good to have some inspiration and follow through by writing it down. Nothing may come of it, but it was a creative start for me. And that's my week for now.

Robert Pattinson--I don't get it!

What's the big deal with this guy? Is it just because he was in Twilight? Because I just don't get the hype. Perez Hilton is always drooling over him on his site and he's said in interviews that Robert Pattison posts get a lot of hits. My question is why? Do I have to watch the film to get it? Maybe read the books? Has he acted in anything else that might be really good or something? I suppose I could go look him up on imdb.com, but to be honest I have no desire to do so. Perhaps I should face the possibility that I am getting old--out of touch, whatever you want to call it. Is it true? Am I now a hasbeen or a was? Are my kids going to start rolling their eyes over my style (or lack thereof)? Should I just admit to being a fogey? Am I no longer cool?

I've just looked through Perez's newest photo gallery of Robert Pattinson and I just don't get it. Is it the hair, the eyebrows, the smirk? What is it that makes this guy so popular?

Back to it!

Woman at work on motor, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

After three days off of work sick, I finally got back in on Saturday. I've never taken that much time off work at once, even when I was pregnant. Crazy!

Anyway, I got back on to the Wii Fit today after missing 7 days. Not good. How is it possible for me to be so ill and I still gain weight? I'm getting frustrated. It's a good thing I can see some difference in my abdominals and hips or I would be tempted just to chuck it all. I'm too darn stubborn to give up outright. I'm not going to let the balance board get the best of me. I will get into shape and I will bring my BMI down. I'm going to get healthy. I will not give up.

Sick...still

Insurance Ad, Boy in Bed
Originally uploaded by George Eastman House

Lousy week. 3 days off work. Finally went to doctor--strep throat! Ouch! Antibiotics--yuck! Nasal spray-gross!

Normally I probably wouldn't have taken so much time off, but since I could hardly talk and my job is in a call-center where I have to talk for my whole shift, I stayed home to rest up. Next time, I'll go to the doctor sooner rather than later. I just figured that he was going to tell me it was nothing and send me on my merry way, so what was the point in going (because we only have one car and hubs uses it for work, it takes a lot of effort to go anywhere during the week)? So the moral of my story is that if I'm going to try to get healthier, I'm going to have to be proactive and get myself to the doctor.

Both my girls were sick too, but thankfully just with colds. Now that I've had the antibiotics in my system for 24 hours, I'm feeling much better than I was. Of course, since I've been unwell for most of the week, the house has gone to crap around me (apparently, I'm the only one who knows how to do things like laundry!). Anyway, I'll be spending the weekend trying to get the house into some kind of order--wish me luck!

Hip to Be Square

hip experiment
Originally uploaded by mugley

I have the Huey Lewis and the News song running through my head, but it really has nothing to do with my blog today. I've done something to my hips--I'm not sure if it's from exercising or what, but I'm in a lot of pain in my hip joints. It's making it difficult to sleep because I sleep on my side. It has been so bad that I didn't even do my Body Test on the Wii Fit for two days in a row! I finally did do the test today and did some yoga poses in the hopes that the gentle stretching would help to ease the pain.

The yoga felt pretty good, (I didn't do any of the crazy one legged poses though!), but it still hurts! It's possible this pain is related to my cold or I'm just lucky to have a cold and hip pain. Who knows? A heat pad has not helped. Perhaps I will have to try a cold pack next (Brr!). Any suggestions?

Just for fun:

Lyrics | Huey Lewis And The News lyrics - Hip To Be Square lyrics

Sick and tired of being...sick and tired.

PICTORIAL REVIEW
Originally uploaded by George Eastman House

My little darling got sick this week and when she's sick, she's all about Mama. Daddy is the cool parent, but when she's sick, she would rather snuggle with me than him. She will climb into my bed in the middle of the night and lay on top of me and go back to sleep. I'm always surprised to wake up with the weight of a two year old pinning me to the bed. The fact that I can stay asleep when she climbs into bed should give you an indication of how tired I have been.

Now I know why I was feeling lethargic last week. My body must have been fighting off the illness--too bad it lost that fight today. I woke up coughing and I felt lousy all day. I had a huge list of things that I wanted to get done this weekend but instead spent much of my time in bed, putting most of the chores off to a time when I feel better. Of course, looking at the chaos that is my house, I don't feel better at all. Here's hoping I feel better enough tomorrow to get back to trying to declutter the mess that is my house. And maybe if we're feeling good enough, we'll go out and get some sunshine too.

So much for being organized!

busy schedule?
Originally uploaded by flik

I thought I was doing a pretty good job with keeping up with both of my daughters' schedules as well as my husband's work schedule (he works for himself, so it's always changing) and my own part time work schedule. Then I came downstairs today to find a letter from my oldest's choir teacher inviting parents to a performance on April 24. Yeah, it's May 2, so her performance is long past. I knew she had a performance coming at school and asked her about it and she told me straight out that parents were not invited. Then of course, she came home that day and told me her friends' parents had been there. With my new work schedule, I'm not home when she gets home from school. I thought we had a system worked out where she would show her school bag and communication bag to her dad, but I'm guessing that they've both let this practice slip. Which means that I'm going to have to go through her bag when I get home at night--of course at that point it will be too late to make sure she's done her homework, but at least I should be able to keep up with notes home from her teachers---maybe.

L-A-Z-Y

Lazy stance
Originally uploaded by clofresh

I've been trying to come up with a word that describes how I've been feeling this week. I started with relaxed, then changed to sloth-like and I've settled on lazy. I don't really feel lazy--there is lots that I want to do, I just have no get up and go. You might think that my lack of energy is because I gave up caffeine, but you'd be wrong. I am still drinking cola! I'm blaming my husband because he bought a case last week, but I have to be honest and admit that I didn't tell him not to. I thought I could handle the temptation. It turns out I can't.

I'm drained partly from dealing with my 2 year old this week. She's been sick and we took a trip to the emergency room this week (waited 5 hours for them to tell me she was fine--grr!). She hasn't been sleeping well and has been crawling into my bed part way through the night. As you can imagine, I'm not sleeping well. (I woke up this morning to her pushing me with her feet. I was on the very edge of the bed and my husband was already up--she had almost all of a queen sized bed to herself and she was still trying to get me out!). And when she's up, my darling ray of sunshine is into everything you can imagine. I really hope we have nice weather tomorrow so I can take her out for awhile.

Of course, it could be allergies as well. And the rain. I really don't know. I've been trying to eat better this week and I am doing some time on the Wii Fit even when I don't feel like it.

You would think that cola would help with my energy levels, but it doesn't seem to work. And to top it off, I'm still not showing any weight loss on the Wii Fit. I thought I was getting it, but then my weight crept up again (of course, I am bad about weighing in at the same time every day too).

Oh well. I've made a few small strides in decluttering this week. My timer comes in very handy. Set it for 15 minutes and then do something else when I'm done. I feel like I'm getting nowhere even when I know I'm doing the work and getting rid of stuff.

And then that makes me feel like not doing anything because what's the point? Depression sucks! I'm going to keep at it though. I have to believe that exercise and decluttering are going to make a difference because I really need it to be true. Here goes nothing!

Caffeine Update: Coke 2, Me 0

Retro Cola
Originally uploaded by Derbeth

So, are you wondering how I fared against the Coke this week? Well, wonder no more--Coke kicked my butt! After my last post, I still had half of a 591 mL bottle left. That made it to the next morning. Then I found my toddler had been playing in corn starch and was currently wearing it from head to toe. I caved and had the rest of the diet Coke in one long draught.

I thought I'd do better today because I had no Coke in the house at all. Then I got a migraine because of the weather change and I called my husband to bring me some acetaminophen (I was totally out) and a Coke. I know it sounds strange, but when my migraines are really bad, a Coke will usually help it to go. Anyway, darling hubby brought me a regular Coke and yes, I drank the whole thing. On the plus side, I didn't drink any diet Coke today, so at least I eliminated the aspartame today. I also drank a lot of water when I finished the Coke and made sure to give my teeth a good brushing. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be more successful in my endeavours to "can" Coke from my diet. Wish me luck!

Pondering Diet Colas...

Girl worker at lunch also absorbing California sunshine, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

I wouldn't say I'm addicted to diet cola, but sometimes I crave cola (diet or not). Those times are usually when I am under a lot of stress and the cola seems to help to lessen that stress. It also helps with my migraines too. Sometimes the caffeine is the kick that I need to get over the migraine. Weird, I know.

Anyway, I've known for awhile that the cola isn't good for my teeth (I'm really prone to cavities), and a conversation with a co-worker got me thinking today. He mentioned that he noticed I drink a lot of Diet Coke (I wouldn't say it's a lot, but he saw me drinking it two days in a row, so whatever!). He said that the aspartame wasn't good for you, etc. I did some web searching tonight and basically skimmed a few websites for information. It looks like there are two opposing camps in the diet cola debate--one says it's fine and the other says it's not. So, which camp is right? It would probably be smart to see who is funding which camp before coming to a definitive conclusion.

Be that as it may, since I'm trying to be healthier anyway, I'm going to take a huge step and try to cut cola in general and diet pop in particular from my diet. That's right, I'm going to have to start drinking coffee or tea if I want to get my caffeine fix and since I hate coffee, well, you get the idea, I'm basically going to try to cut caffeine out. Yikes! It's do-able, right? I won't fall to pieces without my caffeine fix, right? I can get through a day without it...maybe.

Wish me luck, my friends, wish me luck!

Upbeat Me

My last post was somewhat...well, depressing, and I haven't posted to let you know I've been much better since then. I found myself on the way to work the next day thinking that I just couldn't handle it anymore. I caught myself thinking that way and I started to repeat out loud, "I can do this, I can do this." It made a difference because I stopped focusing on the depressing thoughts and got out from underneath my dark cloud.

I'm still working on getting my exercise time in on the Wii Fit. I'm getting really good at the rhythm boxing. The trainer mentioned that you get double points if you hit in time with the music and I'm working on getting my points up there. My high score is 1062 and I'm trying to beat my best score every time--of course, that works a lot better when I get the footing right!

I spent some time and money on me last week and made a trip to the Body Shop to stock up on cleanser, moisturizer and body wash. I was completely out of all three, so it was time for me to get in there for sure. It felt good to be taking care of me, knowing that using the products will make me feel better about me. It was kind of fun to "spoil" myself, even though they are products I needed.

As for organizing, well, I'm not getting very far there. I just can't seem to keep up with the mess. I can get a whole bunch of papers picked up and into the recycling and the next day there is a whole whack more. Where does it end? I'm still trying to declutter a bit at a time though. This month my company is asking us to bring re-useable items in to the office to be donated to a youth center which will use the items in a fundraising garage sale. I'm going to try to find some items to take in every day if I can. That way I'm decluttering and I'm also getting it out of the house--and if I can help someone else with my items, so much the better. Wish me luck!

My Depression Rant

Mrs. Edwards & Frl. Kussin [boxing] (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

I didn't intend for my blog to focus on my depression, but today it is. I'm just frustrated today. Depression is like your shadow, it always is there. It never leaves you alone. And when everything is going along fine that's when depression suddenly sticks its foot out to trip you up. Whamo! It's always sudden too. One minute you could be happy as a lark and the next moment you want to cry for no real reason. I hate that. I wish there was a way to be cured from this stupid condition because I'm so over it.

My day was a little rough, but I was doing OK until I came home from work. That's when I just started to feel like I couldn't handle things any more. Now I'm sitting here procrastinating doing my Wii Fit workout because I feel so lousy. Yes, I know working out would probably make me feel better, but right now the amount of energy required to get up and do it feels overwhelming.

OK, I did it. I surprised myself and even when it seemed like I couldn't get my balance board charged, I didn't give up (the thought did cross my mind though!). I did the short body test and then went right to my rhythmic boxing. I got my highest score ever tonight :) Boxing is a great stress relief. Not only am I moving, I'm also getting out my agressions without actually hitting anything or anyone. I really got my heart pumping while boxing tonight. I won't say I feel fantastic, but I feel better than I did before. It was only 13 minutes of exercise, but it made a difference.

So here's something for me to ponder: If a little bit of exercise made a difference, what would a lot of exercise do? Could it improve my depression a lot? I've been fairly consistent with the exercise for 20 days now. It will be interesting to see if my depression improves over time as I exercise more consistently.

Ten Favourite Wii Fit Activities

Tonight I thought I'd do something different because I couldn't decide what activities to do. I used the favourites section which holds my top ten activities ranked in order for the most times I've tried them. Doing all 10 netted me 30 minutes!

10. Penguin Slide--Balance Game.
I don't hate this game, but it's not my favourite either. I mostly do it to make my 2 year old laugh to see Mama bouncing and sliding on the ice.

9. Zen--Balance Game.
Meh, it's not exciting, but sitting down for that time and allowing the spine feels great. I once lasted over a minute, but have not yet repeated the feat.

8. Rhythm Boxing-Aerobics.
Easily one of my top exercises. I get frustrated when I get my rights and lefts mixed up (I never was highly co-ordinated), but it's still fun and I like making the bag destruct at the end. I made my trainer say, "Nice job!" tonight. Love that.

7. Tightrope--Balance Game.
I cannot get this one! I get as far as the chomping thing and I jump off into the air no where near the rope. One day I'll keep doing it over and over until I conquer it (but not today).

6. Ski Jump--Balance Game.
I just realized yesterday that I should be keeping my red dot for my center of balance in line with the blue dot on the screen. Amazing how much farther you can jump when you do it right!

5. Slalom Skiing--Balance Game
I thought I was doing great when I got through the first half of the course with no misses. Then came the second half to show me just how crazy I was for thinking that.

4. Soccer Heading--Balance Game.
This one drives me nuts. Why can't these Miis keep their cleats on? Who taught them to tie their shoes? And what's with the panda heads? Still, I'm getting better, so I can't complain too much.

3. Advanced Step--Aerobics.
I think this is my favourite activity so far. It's fun and relatively easy, even for someone like me who gets directions confused so easily.

2. Ball Drop--Balance Game.
I like this one but I get so frustrated when I drop a ball off the table. My little one likes to watch me play this one and is always saying, "Aw, mama!" when I let one of the other characters fall off the board.

1. Bubble Balnce--Balance Game.
The reason this is number 1? Because I'm damn stubborn and kept trying and trying and trying one night to no avail. I still haven't gotten past the fork in the river, but I will one day!

Have you checked out your top ten activities? Which is your favourite?

You probably noticed the lack of Yoga and Strength Training in my list. I'm working on the yoga slowly but surely. Some of the poses are really great and then there are those crazy ones where I cannot balance at all, but I'll keep plugging away at them and I'll get them eventually. I'll probably add in the strength training eventually too. I just don't like the activities, so I don't feel motivated to give it a try.

Update Day 15 with my Wii Fit

I logged my 15th day on my Wii Fit today and I was really surprised that I've kept it up and still find it fun. I missed one day because when I got home I felt lousy, so I went to bed instead of exercising. Other than that, I've logged at least the body test and 15 minutes of exercise a day.

Has it made a difference? Well, not in my weight which seems to fluctuate up and down by a pound or two every log in (it would help if I did the body test at the same time each day). However, I feel stronger and I feel my core (abdominal) area tightening up a bit. My husband told me that I looked firmer too, so I guess it's making a difference there. I'm also sleeping a bit better lately too. Time will tell if this will have a long lasting effect on me or not.

I have been focused on doing the aerobic exercises and a few of the balance games each time I use the Fit. I like to do Rythym Boxing first in the Expert mode because that gets me thirteen minutes of time right away. It's not as easy as it looks, especially for someone unco-ordinated like me. I am fine with the steps to the front of the balance board, but the backward steps get me confused and I tend to mess those up. I was really proud of myself on the two occasions where the trainer told me "Nice Job!". Much better to hear than "You didn't even break a sweat, did you?" or "Let's train again this week."

I also love the Advanced Step routine. It's fun and fairly easy (except for when my feet get tangled up). I don't even moan any more when they speed it up part way through the workout! Yay me!

If I've got a lot of energy or time, I'll do the expert level of Super Hula Hoop. Ten minutes of Hula Hooping, 5 mintues to the right and 5 minutes to the left. By the end, I'm pretty sure my hips are going to just fall to the floor! I can really feel it work my thighs and hips, so hopefully its doing me some good.

After that, I'll do the Ball Drop and Bubble game and maybe a couple of others before I quit. I'm still trying to conquer the Bubble game. I get right to the fork in the river and I pop the bubble every time. I'm stubborn enough to want to keep trying until I get it.

I've done the yoga sporadically. I'm starting to get the hang of it and can really feel my muscles working on holding the poses. Once I get through all the poses more consistently, I'm planning on adding in the Strength Training exercises as well. I should probably switch back and forth between strength and yoga for optimum results. I should probably look into that and figure out which way it is best to do them.

So, I'm still having fun on my Wii Fit. Hopefully I'll be noticing some weight loss over the next few weeks. I'm really ready to lose this weight.

Ten Things I Like About My Wii Fit

Just for fun, I thought I'd make a list of ten things I like about my Wii Fit. Feel free to add to it, I don't mind.

1. Everyone in the family can use it (OK, with the exception of my 2 year old, but she still likes to watch us use it). My 6 year old loves the hula hooping and ski jumping, even if she can't get it quite right. Hubs can use it to do strength training and I use it right now mostly for aerobic activity. We took it to my parents' house this weekend because they were interested in it and my mom absolutely loved it!

2. It's fun. It doesn't feel like exercise.

3. It's my "me time" where I get to focus on me for a few minutes everyday.

4. There's always something new. Even though I've unlocked most of the activities and exercises, there are always different levels within the exercises, so I can keep interested.

5. It costs way less than a gym membership and I'm more likely to use it every day.

6. I feel motivated to do activities--whether to beat my score, complete an activity or just have fun.

7. I can montior my weight/BMI easily over time and it keeps me focussed on reaching my goals.

8. The Wii Fit has a sense of humour. No really, it does! On April Fool's Day, the balance board was wearing a hat and threw confetti and stuff and promised it wouldn't try to fool me. Guess what? It posted my Wii Fit Age and then dropped a higher number on it. Got me all excited for nothing.

9. I found out that I actually kind of like yoga after all. I'm not very good at it yet, but it's not as boring or hard as I had previously thought it to be.

10. Did I mention it's fun??

Why do you love your Wii Fit??

Getting Organized!

Since I post about the Wii Fit pretty much everyday, I thought I'd post a little video about it here. I wish my house looked as clean as all these other houses where they're using the Wii Fit! Anyway, I have been using the Wii Fit now for a full week--I did a minimum of 15 minutes plus the body test every day. I found it funny that my weight fluctuated quite a bit this week, but as the machine pointed out, I've been weighing in at different times each day.

Organized: I spent some time yesterday emptying out the laundry baskets. I'm really good at getting them washed, dried and folded, but then the baskets sit all week instead of being put away. Sigh. At least it's done for now. What I need to do is spend some time going through our closet and take out clothes that hubs and I are no longer wearing, are really old or just plain don't fit. The T-shirt I'm wearing now I've had since I was in university--and my 10 year anniversary is three years in the past. How sad is that? Time to thin out the closet a bit. That will be one of my focuses this week.

I also went through hubs' receipts that he finallybrought in from the car. Now I have to input them all in my spreadsheet so we can get them out to the accountant to take care of.

Today, I got all Flylady and actually shined my kitchen sink! I've had it done before, but it never lasts long. The idea is that you should start to build the habit by shining your sink every night before bed and by a month, the habit should be well, habit. So, I've got a nice clean and empty sink right now. Hopefully it will stay that way because it makes the whole kitchen look better and it makes me feel less stress. To put it simply, my shiny sink makes me smile.

Day 6, Still Kicking!

,So, I've made it six whole days doing a fitness test on my Wii Fit. I haven't been as consistent with the amount of time spent doing the activities, but I'm still having fun and trying to get it done. During the week, things are hectic here, so I'm hoping to log some extra time on the weekend. I've also been getting outside with my little one and getting some exercise in with her, so that helps too.

Organizing: My wonderful mother came by today because she knew I had some boxes to donate and she is having a pick up from the Canadian Diabetes Association tomorrow. I got 3 boxes of stuff that have been packed and ready to go out my door. It makes a huge difference! Now to get rid of some more stuff. Tomorrow I have to spend some time on paperwork for taxes (hubs has a small business)...lots of receipts to sort out and enter into my spread sheet. I'm going to try to organize it so that I can get the receipts entered monthly and keep up a bit better for next year.

And healthy: I'm proud to say I've been eating pretty well over the last few days. Spinach salad is my lunch lately. I'll probably change that up next week and get Romaine lettuce instead just so I don't get too bored of one or the other. I even went a whole day with no Coke products (Coke is my weakness and Diet Coke too!). I'm feeling pretty good, tired as normal, but otherwise pretty good. I'm looking forward to the weekend now :)

Day 4 on Wii Fit...

OK, it's not as fun as Day 1 was. Perhaps because I am getting bored? Or mabye because it feels like a "have to" rather than a "want to". Well, it should feel like a have to because I have to get in shape. I have to start taking better care of myself. The truth of the matter is I have depression and that makes even fun stuff feel like a chore sometimes. Of course, my medication contributes to my weight gain. Oh yeah, did I mention I have PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrom)? Yeah, I'm just a ray of sunshine tonight. Sorry. It's been one of those days. I'm sure you don't want to hear all about it.

So, rather than be all depressing, I'll talk about why I want to get fit, organized and healthy. I just mentioned I have depression and PCOS. Anti-depressants are known to cause weight gain and since I've been on them for 6 years with no end in sight, I need to get that under control. PCOS is known to also cause weight gain and loss of weight is supposed to help alleviate the symptoms. Then there is diabetes in my family. My brother is Type I and my father, both grandfathers and a handful of uncles are/were Type II. If I'm going to avoid diabetes in the future, I need to get my weight under control now.

My BMI is high, scoring in the Obese range, so I'm just going to keep working at it to get it down. I lost some weight last year using Weight Watchers, but I got a little freaked out when my size went down because I didn't feel like me.

As for organized, I just feel that my CHAOS (Can't have anyone over syndrom--ala Flylady)contributes to my depression. It's hard to feel good about things when everything around you is a cluttered mess. So, I'm trying to build routines and making baby steps to get the clutter gone. It's not as easy as it sounds, but I keep working at it a little bit at a time. It's getting there slowly.

Anyway, on to the Wii Fit today. I was crazy and actually did the Island Lap on the run this afternoon and then tonight I did the short basic run. I'm finding that I have to hold the remote in my hand to get a good pace and I really don't run, it's more of a walk--a fast walk, but a walk all the same. I am a walker anyway, I walk with friends and we've walked in The Weekend To End Breast Cancer together. I've done it twice now, so I have a pretty fast pace when walking anyway. I haven't done a full hour today, but I may do a few yoga poses before calling it a night. I spent time while the wee one was napping doing some of the longer exercises so I could log time that way. And the silly machine says I gained more weight. Figures...I eat better and exercise more and gain weight...story of my life. Anyway, tomorrow is another day and hopefully the scales will show a better story then.

Feeling Naughty

I rush home from work tonight, open the door quietly and put my coat and shoes away. I tiptoe up the stairs, making sure to open the door slowly so as not to awaken my husband. I take off my jeans, put on my gym shorts and sneak back out of the room. Then I hurry downstairs and hook up my Wii Fit so I can exercise!

I didn't really want to exercise tonight, but since I was at home by myself with the rugrat, I didn't get much time in today. I did a few games and a walk, but that was it. So I waited until I came home to do my "serious" work out. I did a couple of the strength training moves--not my favourite for sure. I did the jacknife and the push ups/planks. Jacknife was surprsingly easy. The push ups are not. I apparently do not have much upper body strength. Still, I'll keep trying it every couple of days and hope that I can eventually get it. I spent a few minutes doing yoga. It's not my thing, but I'm happy to do it here in the comfort of my home rather than go to a gym and try to do it in front of all the perfect little yoga bodies out there (you know who I mean!). Then I did the Advanced Step and a new game called Zen. It's pretty silly, but fun.

I logged one hour today, not bad considering I'm trying to figure out how to work this into my schedule. Somehow my BMI and weight went up, but I'm trying to look at that more in the big picture of weightloss over time.

Couple of things I don't like. When my Mii gets weighed, and they post the BMI, she checks around her to see how fat she is. And why does the board have to say "Oh!" when I step on it like it wasn't expecting my weight or something? Thanks for the confidence boost. LOL.

I tried to watch what I ate today. I bought some healthier foods yesterday when I was shopping, so that helped a lot. Raisin bran for breakfast (yum!), a spinach salad for lunch and pork chop and potato for dinner. I love spinach salad, but it is such a pain preparing it! By the time I got to eat it, I was starving! Oh well. It's all for my benefit, right?

As for organize, I didn't do too much today. One thing I have been doing is keeping a box on the main level for clothes that don't fit anymore. My kids keep putting small stuff to the wash, so now, after it's washed, I fold it and put it in the give away box. Now the trick is to get the giveaway boxes out of my house! One step at a time, right?

Fun Run

I have mentioned before that I don't like to run unless there is an emergency of some sort (think toddler escaping and heading towards traffic). So I surprised myself by doing two of the runs on the Wii Fit. I found a way to have some fun. You see, you're supposed to run at a pace that keeps you behind your guide. I like to mess with my guide and try to overtake them. First they wave you back, then they start to run faster and then you get the message that you passed your guide. At that point, I'll slow down and let them lead again only to overtake them again. I even tripped another runner on the path today. I don't know how I did that, but it might be fun to randomly start tripping passersby. LOL. I'm not really evil, I just need to be motivated to exercise. ;)

Wii Fit & Me

So, it's day 2 with my Wii Fit. I'm truly surprised that it is so easy to break a sweat playing a computer game! I logged another 54 minutes today doing yoga, aerobic exercises and balance games.

I'm normally not a yoga or aerobic kinda girl, so I've surprised myself. I love the basic and advanced step exercises. Those are fun (better when I get my lefts and rights right, but still fun). And I surprised myself by doing the short and long basic runs because in real life, I won't run unless it's an emergency. Maybe it's time to start thinking about that marathon I was kind of toying with last year. Probably better not to get too far ahead of myself for now.

The yoga isn't easy, but it doesn't hurt too much either. I need to build up some strength to be able to hold the poses, especially the one legged poses.

I'm avoiding the strength training exercises right now. My excuse is that I want my time using the Wii Fit to be fun. Good excuse, no? No, you're right, it's a lousy excuse. I will try to do them later tonight or tomorrow. I tried yesterday and got to the second exercise and quit because it was too darn hard. I need to suck it up and do it, especially if my goal is to be fit and healthy.

I really felt the burn when I was doing Hula Hooping! I did it a few times yesterday, so when I did it again today, I felt the burn in the tops of my hips and the outside of my butt too. LOL. Maybe hula hoops are the key to a sexy butt...I'll let you know :) My BMI came down slightly as did my weight, but it's only been a day, so I'm holding my breath yet. I'm just going to keep having fun doing it and try to eat better at the same time.

Getting Fit, Organized and Healthy

Sounds like a lot to do, doesn't it? Well, I have big dreams-dreams of being fit by losing weight and getting in shape, of being organized through de-cluttering my life, inside and out and of being healthier in general by eating better. Is it doable? I surely hope so!

You may be wondering how I'm hoping to do all this. Well, I've got a few plans up my sleeve. First off, I asked for a Wii Fit for my birthday and I got one (a few days early, but I'm not complaining). I wanted one for awhile, but I was truly inspired by Julie's story at Cool Mom Guide. So I was very excited to get my Wii Fit today. I read all the instructions before I set it up, got changed into workout clothes and got on. Can I just say that my Mii looked great until they weighed me? Then she blimped out. I'd like to think that it's not a good representation of myself, but I might be wrong. Let's just say that I wasn't all that impressed when my 6 year old said, "Wow! Mama's fat---on the Wii." She was smart to tack on the last bit, don't you think? According to the Fit, my BMI is obese. The good news in all of this is that I had lost about 14 lbs last year using Weight Watchers and I have kept off some of it. I gained back 8 lbs because I stopped following the points system.

Anyway, on to organization. I'm all about the Flylady. I understand her principles, but I haven't been able to put them to practice yet. I'm still working on that--baby steps, as she says. I am working on decluttering, trying to reduce the amount of stuff in my house slowly but surely. It feels so good to be able to give away or donate things that we no longer use and I feel so much better without having to look at these things.

As for getting healthy, that's kind of tied to getting fit. I want to take care of myself better by eating healthier foods so I can lose the weight and be healthier overall.

So that's my plan right now. If you feel like coming along for the ride, I'd love to have the company! I can't promise that it won't be a bumpy ride, but it sure should be interesting!