Moms of Kids and Tweens January - March

[TonyaK]

Hello!

Pratima, I used to love Cathe's step workouts, but lately I feel dizzy from spinning around. I wonder if that will pass or if I am done with spinning around forever. It is funny how tastes change and how circumstances make you change.

I hope your DD's leg pains will stop soon! OMG, I'm glad my DD didn't start her period when she was 10. She is mature in some ways and still a little kid in some ways. It's hard to imagine her dealing with that, especially at school. I think I was almost 13 when I started; maybe DD will be that old, too.

On Family Link, you can set a daily maximum time limit per device, and also you can make a "bedtime" so the internet won't work between the hours you set. Maybe you already did both and she is still getting past those somehow? Mine haven't figured out how to get around that (yet).

Is your strength coming back quickly, now that you feel recovered from surgery? I have been really happy at how quickly some of mine has returned, after losing a chunk of strength last year. I need to work on cardio, endurance, and flexibility, too. Also, my body doesn't really want to jump that much right now. When I try a bouncy cardio workout, something always complains: a foot, ankle, shin bone, knee, hip, etc... I need to build up gradually, apparently.

I've been doing phase 3 of STS, but adding extra leg workouts. You can choose between Pylo Legs or Squat Rack Legs, but I've been doing both. I decided to cut out the Plyo Legs for now. They are so tough for me, I have a bit of dread about them. Also, I feel like I am over-training. I am not fit enough to work that hard as often as I've been trying to. I am *trying* to listen to my body and pull back a bit and hopefully I'll build up that endurance or whatever I'm missing. I feel super tired sometimes during this phase of heavy lifting. I think it's normal to feel tired from it, but not this tired.

It is super cold here today! It's only 12 degrees and feels like 2. The high is 15! The kids are home with a snow day Tomorrow is also supposed to be very cold. We have had such a warm winter, for the most part, it feels so strange that it's SO COLD! Many days have been in the 40s, 50s, and 60s this winter.

Ok, I'm going to do some moderate cardio and try to accept that I have to build up gradually and do easier cardio workouts consistently. Wish me luck!

[Pratima]

TonyaK, I used to love the dancy step workouts. Now I'm pretty sure I'd have trouble even finding the step in one of those! I think that's why I mostly run or spin--can't get dizzy doing those! I feel like it's taking longer to build up strength than cardio somehow. The two weeks off really impacted my fitness level. I think it was 2 weeks completely off, then another 2 or 3 weeks of walking and super light weights. The big thing, just like postpartum, is the lack of core strength. It's tough to lift heavier weights when your back hurts and when your wrists are too weak to hold them for long. I'm getting there though and you will too.

I have time limits and bedtime set for Family Link. I don't think it's per device though--when I go into it, it says "Daily limits apply to each Android device or Chromebook your child uses. For example, if you set a daily limit of 2 hours, your child would get 2 hours of time on each device." So there's that, and sometimes I'll go in there and it says "canceled." I've read how if they access certain things, like Google Assistant, it'll basically unlock the device and I'm guessing she discovered that on accident.

I do also have Microsoft Family on her laptop and it sets a time limit overall and one for specific games (e.g., Roblox) and apps. Seriously though, she's at school half the day and at practice for 3 hours three weeknights so she really shouldn't be on her devices that much!! I do realize most kids are on them even more though.

Yesterday was crazy and I did it to myself. Mondays are always busy because DH works and I have to do school dropoff and pickup and take DS to taekwondo and then pick DD up from the gym. Yesterday DD got out at 1145. I had set up a private coaching session for her (very first time) at the gym at 2 and had to get DS at 3. Got him a little late and then headed home to do two virtual conferences with her teacher (both confirmed she's adjusting fine to the new school).

I had gotten up at 430 AM to run 5 miles at 5 so I should have gone to bed early but instead did some revenge procrastination, which meant watching two episodes of Grimm and going to bed around 10:45. Still managed to get up and do 15 minutes of rowing and Fierce 4 Phase 2 Lower Body.

I'm really enjoying the Fierce 4 workouts AND these runs, even really early. The Sedona 10K is Saturday and I'm thinking of doing a 15K on March. It's supposed to be about 35 degrees for the race this weekend so I want to see how I feel after that!

I'm having one of those times where training and fitting in workouts is good rather than drudgery even though I'm so busy with kid stuff. Know what I mean?

Waves to Stephanie and mbramer!

[Pratima]

It suddenly cooled off here quite a bit. Mornings this week were around 32 degrees. Still made it outside yesterday at 5:30 am for four miles. It was good practice for my 10K tomorrow. It's supposed to be around 32 at the start and 37 when we finish. It'll be sunny so hopefully not too bad.

I did the Phase 2 Fierce 4 workouts this week. I didn't like the upper body one as much as the Phase 1 workouts. I'm not sure what workouts I'm supposed to use in Phase 4. Phase 3 is a recovery week of mostly Pilates. I think some of the workouts were released just before I got to Phase 2 so now I'm wondering if there are going to be Phase 4 and 5 workouts added at some point.

I have to get up around 3:15 AM tomorrow to drive up for the Sedona 10K! Not looking forward to that. But I am actually looking forward to DD's meet Sunday evening even less. It's at the convention center in downtown Phoenix. It's about a 45 minute drive, parking will probably be a pain, and supposedly it's a huge event. And I get to navigate it all with just the kids because DH has to work.

Hopefully the trip up north tomorrow will put me in a good enough mood to deal with it!

[Pratima]

Sedona was fun! I woke up at 3:15, ate a bagel and coffee and headed to the one lady's house. She drove me and the two others up. Packet pickup and the start line was kind of disorganized. We couldn't park near it as we were told and the shuttle seemed to only be for the marathon (which I didn't know existed). I also forgot my phone and ran about half a mile back to the car and got to the start 30 seconds before the gun went off!

I took my time and lots of pictures. It was 30 degrees at the start and hilly the whole way so I had no big expectations. Afterward we went to a cute, old local place for brunch and headed back. I think I got home around 2:30.

Sunday night was DDs' meet. There was some construction and I was so confused about parking I circled the block 3 times and ended up parking catty-corner from it. Walked the kids in, thought I forgot my wallet so went ALL the way back and then didn't see it so called DD and she confirmed my wallet was in fact in the backpack I'd left with them.

Her meet went well but we didn't get home until 11 PM so we were all tired the next day and I'm still tired!

After doing 10K, I nixed the idea of a 15K I was considering next month. Sticking with 10K or less for now!

On that note, I'm finishing up Phase 2 of Fierce 4. Next week is a recovery week and you're supposed to do her Pilates and whatever cardio you choose, but I'll probably try out her barre workouts. After that it looks like you do the workouts from Phase 1 and 2 again. If that's the case and she doesn't put out new ones, I'll probably move on to a different series, keep the membership for two months total and then cancel.

Anyone watching the Olympics? I know Stephanie has some thoughts about it!

[Pratima]

Happy Valentine's Day! Anyone celebrate? DH got me flowers and he got candy and strawberries for the kids. The very first year we were together he sent me an expensive bouquet of fancy roses. I told him to never do that again b/c it was a waste of money and made me sad when the roses die! Now he gets Gerber daisies.

I don't know if it was from the overly busy weekend or PMS or what, but I was SO tired last week! I slept 9 hours on I think 3 nights and felt better yesterday.

I started off my weekend by getting all upset at DD while we were all watching a movie Friday night. I can't even remember why now. DH got up and made us all dessert, which seemed odd at the time and sounds weird now but somehow worked.

Thanks to all that (tiredness, crankiness, etc.), I took the weekend "off" from as much as possible. I slept in Saturday and he took DD to practice and DS to taekwondo (I did pick DD up at noon and get groceries). I was supposed to hike with friends yesterday but my back's been bothering me since the day before Sedona so I skipped it and instead did 30 minutes on an elliptical at the gym yesterday.

Going to see a PT tomorrow about my back, the same one DD sees. Whether there's something actively wrong or not, I could definitely use some core strengthening!

We're heading to Seattle Friday. DD has a meet Monday. The kids will miss 2 days of school and DS has been fretting about getting carsick driving around. The weather won't be great but hopefully we can do some fun things and I can see a couple of friends who live in the area.

[Pratima]

Hi all! I realized I haven't checked in for a while. We were in Seattle two weekends ago and I feel like I'm still catching up.

Seattle was great! DS was so unhappy about missing a school field trip and his friend's birthday party, and apprehensive about getting carsick. He took a LOT of Dramamine but made it through, and once the things he would miss passed, he really enjoyed it. We left Friday and the meet was Monday so we did some touristy stuff. Went to Pike Place market, Chihuly museum, and Space Needle. We also had DD's teammates to our rental house one evening for pizza and ate with them all after the meet too.

It was good time together for all of us, I felt. Nice to get away and DD and I weren't constantly battling over missed assignments and chores not getting done. Because that's what my life seems to have turned into!

While in Seattle I mostly did Peloton barre workouts. There was a little unheated room at the back of the house where the washer, dryer, and water heater were. There were also weights and a nice yoga mat so I took advantage of it all!

Still doing the Lindsay Brin Pretty Fierce 4 series. I'm in phase 3 of 4 so only about 2.5 weeks to go. I think it's helped me build up some muscle. I'm also doing PT for my weak core. I'm seriously mostly just stretching and doing like 3 or 4 exercises. Hopefully they'll ramp it up this week or next, though my back does still get cranky I guess from surgery.

[TonyaK]

Ahhh! Pratima, I'm sorry you were checking in alone for so long!!

My workouts have been sporadic. I haven't finished STS Muscle Endurance. I resubscribed to Lindsay's streaming service. I've been doing some of the beginner HIIT workouts.

We have decided to move to Fort Collins! We are under contract on a new build there. It's supposed to be finished on August 19th. Supposedly this builder has been accurate about their completion dates, within a week.

We are putting our house on the market in a few weeks. I am getting lots of movement by decluttering, packing, painting, and doing yard work. We are moving things to storage in FC to help our house look more spacious and inviting. It feels great to also donate a ton of things that have accumulated over the past 12 years.

I hope you are doing well! How are your dad and grandma?

[Pratima]

I'm here for a quick drive-by post!

TonyaK, I see your house is about to sell! I'll have to see how close you'll be to my MIL, though I don't know when we'll visit.

My dad passed away April 21. The whole family was there for a few days and then I stayed a bit longer and started cleaning out the house. He was seriously a hoarder who had a lot of money and a lot of space. I'd hoped to go one more time and clean the house out but now I think it'll take months.

I brought my 92 year old grandma back with me and am getting her settled. Thank goodness my job is super mellow and that I'm at this job and not the old one!

I'm a huge fan of 30 minute workouts! Mostly Peloton--I'll do upper body strength one day, lower another, and full body another. In GA I managed to get in a couple of runs. It's getting warm here but still not bad in the mornings.

Hope all are well and check in soon!

[TonyaK]

Hi Pratima,

I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm also sorry that you have so much to do to clean out his house. I think that's what it will be like at my in-laws' house someday.

How are you doing with having your grandma with you? Does she like being around the kids?

Yes, we are under contract to sell our house! We were on such an emotional roller coaster and then we got a really great offer. Phew! We are moving about an hour north. We'd love to see you guys!

Now that we've passed this milestone, I think I'll be able to get more workouts in. I did Cathe's beginner step workout yesterday, which felt nice. I had been kind of tensed up for a while, so it felt good to reach and stretch.

I hope you are doing okay!

Hi to all!

[Pratima]

Anyone still around?? I've been traveling back and forth for what feels like months now (sort of is) and got my grandma all moved in.

I have actually managed to work out pretty consistently. It's blazing hot here of course. I got in several runs while in GA and it was so pretty there. For about 2 months I did Peloton strength workouts with Adrian. I was doing upper, lower, and full body thirty minute workouts for a while and that was great.

Now I've switched to Les Mills for the summer. They have a new strength development program out which is way better than Body Pump, so I'm using it, doing Body Combat, and going to the gym occasionally.

We brought home lots of stuff from my dad's house (mostly art and random small electronics) and I'm still sorting through and finding places for all of it. I've also been doing a LOT of clearing out of our stuff.

My daughter actually started school today and my son goes Monday (they're in different districts).

I got tickets months ago to Lion King. A friend of mine is Timon in the traveling production but he was only here in early July and is now in S. America filming a TV series! Still, we're meeting up with my high school friends for dinner and the show. It all feels hectic but hopefully fun!

How is everyone? I know we need a new thread, just thought I'd check in here since it's the last one.