Making Some Resolutions with Jillian Micheals Wii Fit

Today, I got a great gift from my husband and kids. Bless him, but my husband always struggles with buying me gifts. I usually try to give him some ideas of what I might be interested in, and sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn't. Well, this year he listened and he didn't listen. Yup. My list contained just a few items, but most of them were things that I thought might help me get more active. He didn't get me any of those items though. Oh now. He bought me this:



The poor man was worried that I'd be mad that he got me something to do with weight loss. I wasn't though, because I had another of those moments this week where I realized that my weight was creeping up again. It's one thing when it stays the same, but when it goes up? That's really frustrating. I've said it before, but I don't want to be skinny. I want to be healthy and right now I'm not. I can be healthy and curvy though and that is my goal.

Hubby told me he didn't think the Wii Fit on it's own was doing me much good because it's pretty easy. The truth is, it would do me more good if I would actually do it! He hadn't heard of Jillian Micheals before, but he thought this program looked like it would be a real workout. Ha. I told him that Michaels was one of the trainers from Biggest Loser and that she was mean. He told me that maybe mean was what I needed. Yeah. That's what he said until he did a workout on it and he didn't do so well and heard the comments. He looked at me with his jaw on his chest, "She's so mean!" Yup. I did it--"I told you so!".

I started pretty "easy" today just trying out a couple of single exercises. I did the sledge swing, running (and I think I've mentioned before how much I love running--sarcasm intended!!!), and jumping jacks. I'm sorry, but I don't think that 90 reps of the jumping jacks should be the easy level. That's crazy! Anyway, it felt good to get my body moving again. I set up my first resolution for one month and chose my own excercises to start off. When I set up my profile, I found out that my weight is higher than it's ever been. Now, I don't know what my highest pregnancy weight was, so it may not be my highest weight ever, but definitely excluding pregnancy, my highest weight. And it's time for it to come down, baby.

The funny thing is that I was starting to think about signing up for Weight Watchers Online again, so this comes at a really good time for me. I like making resolutions on my birthday anyway (rather than New Years'--I'm weird like that). And I've made hubby sign up for a month long resolution as well because he is supposed to be getting more exercise. So hopefully we will be getting healthy together.

I'll let you know how it's going.

Stress Reduction with Technology

signs, signs...
Originally uploaded by jayewalking

If you've read my blog at all in the past, you know that I have depression. Paired with that depression is anxiety. The good thing is that my anxiety has been pretty much under control for the last few years. But once in awhile, it creeps up on me.

Last week, we took the kids to the Toronto Zoo and I was fine outside, but as soon as we went into the first pavillion, it was warm and crowded and my anxiety levels spiked. Rather than force myself to go through the whole building, I turned around and went out through the do not enter door. As soon as I got outside, I was fine.

One thing that causes me anxiety that I can't always get away from is driving. Recently, I've become the only driver in the family, or the only insured driver that is. I'm fine when I know where I am, but as soon as you throw in new places or throw me a curve ball like a road closure or a detour, I panic. As you can imagine, having a panic attack while driving is not a good option.

What I decided to do to ease my anxiety was purchase a GPS unit. Let me tell you, this has been one of the best things I've done for myself in a long time. I just plug the address in and let the GPS tell me what turns to make. Now sometimes, I don't make the turns that the unit wants me to do, but it always recalculates and figures the next best way to get me where I need to be.



Our GPS is a Garmin unit and it has a variety of voices you can choose from. Right now, I'm stuck with a character called "Squirrely" because my kids actually get upset if he's not the one they hear. Squirrely has a squirrely voice and has lots of fun sayings. If you miss a turn, he says, "Aw, nuts! Hold on, I'll get us out of here!" And randomly, he tells you things like, "Sometimes I get distracted, it's like I-hey, wanna get some peanut brittle?" How can you not have fun when listening to this silly guy?

Another thing I've done is to set up my Outlook calendar to share with my husband's. We both put our appointments in and "invite" the other person to the event. This lets us both see when we are booked and makes it a little easier to balance our schedules. I've also set myself a reminder in Outlook every evening to remind me to check the next day's schedule. The idea is if I remember to check what is on tomorrow, it won't surprise me--of course, this only works if everyone's schedule is up to date and if I remember to check it.

So I'm interested to hear from you. What ways are you using technology to help reduce your stress levels? Share your insights, comment below!

PS--do you like the picture? It's one of my own!

Making Change

047-365 Interchangeable
Originally uploaded by amp'ed

Well, I've hit an impasse. I don't know how to make the changes I need to in order to get healthier. I don't know how to lose the weight. I try and then I get discouraged, so I quit. It's easier to give up than to keep trying. I don't like failing at this. I don't like seeing my weight keep going up. I really don't like how I look in a bathing suit. We took the kids to a hotel for one night over March break and let's just say, the image in the mirror was not a pleasant one. I need a mirror like the one I saw in a Victorian house today, It was designed to make you look thinner and taller so that girls would not want to over-tighten their corsets which could cause them to faint. Maybe we all need a mirror like that. It feels like I'm looking in a mirror that makes me look shorter and wider lately. I think it's a ploy by the diet industry to make you feel bad about yourself so that you'll spend more money. What do you think?

So readers of mine (whom ever you may be), I need some help! Please, let me know how you get motivated to be healthy and stay that way. What has worked for you? I need to make some changes before things get out of control...although it already feels as if they are. What is one small change that I can make and keep up with? I'm going to do this in baby steps because if I go full tilt, I'll crash and burn (again).

"Waving Flag" Video by Young Artists For Haiti

Both of my kids absolutely love this song. Even the little one who can't sing along can sing "Then it goes back..." I liked it too, even before it was released in this form. The original song is by K'naan and it is the official song of the World Cup 2010.

So bearing in mind that I love this song, what is their definition of "young"? 'Cause some of these artists are not young-by a long shot. I wish they had put everyone's names on the screen because I only recognize a few, Avril Lavigne, and Derek Whibley (from Sum41), and Justin Beiber. Oh well. And they probably should have just included the American flag beside the Haiti and Canada flags because those were not all Canadian singers.

My little mini-rant aside, the important thing about this song is that proceeds are going to three Canadian charaties: World Vision, Free the Children and War Child. It's giving "young" people a chance to connect with what is happening in Haiti and Chile and other places where natural disasters have struck recently. And it's getting them involved through music which as we know is something that a lot of young people are into. So, if you like the song, buy it! Support the Young Artists for Haiti.

More JC Chasez with Videos this time!

Eek! I can't believe I forgot to add videos to yesterday's post! D'oh! I spent all that time writing about JC's talented singing and song-writing and I didn't even include any examples of his work at all. So, I'm going to start with one of the songs from Schizophrenic, "Blowin' Me Up (with Her Love)"



Going on YouTube reminded me of all the songs that leaked from JC's second album. I hadn't listened to most of them before because I wanted to hear them the way he intended to have them heard, with all the finishing and everything, but I listened to one tonight that just blew me away. I know JC left Jive and all that, but I really wish he would still release Kate, because I think it will blow people away.

For now I will settle with catching him on America's Best Dance Crew. He's a great judge and always gives constructive feedback. Looking forward to seeing Sunday's Disco challenge (no spoilers if you've seen it already! It airs in the US on Thursday, but we don't get it up here until Sunday-wah!)

And on that note, one more video, from the *NSYNC era, "Music of My Heart". Love this song!

It's Official, JC Chasez is in Demand Here!

How sad...I write about my life with depression, trying to get fit, healthy and organized and occasionally, I go off topic with my love for Mr. JC Chasez, and he is the bigger draw to my blog-more people come here through a search for JC than any other topic! Ha ha! It's a good thing that JC is a topic that I am more than happy to talk about again and again and again...you get the picture. And I'm glad to see that so many other people seem to be interested in JC as well. And why not, he is a very talented musician--writer, singer, producer, performer....again, you get the picture.

I recently located my Schizophrenic CD (JC's 2004 debut album for those not in the know) and have been playing it pretty much non-stop when I'm in the car alone. I would play it in the car with the kids, but I really don't want to hear my 3 year old singing "All day long I dream about sex and all night long I think about sex..." Now I'm not saying that anyone hid my CD or anything, but it was in the car the whole time! It was actually in the driver's side door and since I have only recently become the main driver in the family and my husband was prior to that...well, you see where this is going. I'll just leave it at that.

When I listen to one song on this CD, it always makes me smile. The song is "Something Special" and the reason it makes me smile is that it came to me at one of those life defining moments. I had recently been laid off of work, was dealing with what I then thouht was postpartum depression (later found out it was clinical depression) and I was feeling just really crummy about myself. I was loading my oldest daughter into her car seat (at the time, she was my only daughter) and I was running late to drop her off at my mother-in-law's house so I could go to a career coaching appointment and try to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Finally got her strapped in and got myself into the car as well. Took a deep breath before starting the car, and when the CD player came to life, JC was singing, "Babe, I've been dyin' to tell you something...you're something special!" I know he wasn't actually singing, let alone singing to me, but that line sunk in and I realized that I was special and things would eventually be OK. It basically gave me some perspective in my life and gave me permission to feel good about myself, even when I had so much going against me at the time. So, that, in a nutshell is another reason I have a soft spot for JC Chasez. Just in case you wanted to know. And even if you didn't.

If you don't have this album, you should get it! This is one that I can listen to for days on end without being bored. I love it!

Watch Your Back, Tony Hawk!

Skateboarding in New Tampa, Florida
Originally uploaded by eron_gpsfs

According to the Wii Fit Plus, I am a professional skateboarder. Who would have thought, huh? It's actually pretty funny considering it's been 23 days since I last used the Fit and trust me, the Balance Board let me know, oh yeah, and just to rub it in, I gained back the kilo I had lost. Man, that sucks! I wasn't surprised, but I was still hopeful.

So, what happened to doing the Wii everyday, you ask? I wish that I knew. It started with coming home from work being completely exhausted and it snowballed from there. I think part of it was just February. I really hate February. It drags me down and the depression always gets worse in February. I'm convinced that February is the shortest month of the year because if it wasn't we'd all go crazy. I'm not kidding. February sucks.

So now it's March and I'm going to have to get my butt back in gear before it (my butt) gets any bigger. No more Ms NiceGuy-the weight is coming off. It has to. There is no choice--I can't continue the way I've been going. I'm going to kick it into high gear and really start taking care of me.